The CMS silicon strip tracker is the largest device of its type ever built. There are 24244 single-sided micro-strip sensors covering an active area of 198m2. While first data from collisions are coming in, the physics performances of the detector are being assessed and optimized. Members of UCL are playing a major role in the understanding of the silicon strip tracker and in the finalization of all tools needed for its configuration, control, monitoring and calibration. We are sharing the convener-ship of the tracker detector performance group (DPG).
External collaborators: CMS tracker collaboration.
At LHC, the Z boson can be produced in association with one or two b-quarks, which is here refereed as b(b)Z production. This process has been seen for the first time at LHC, and measurement of it is an important test of QCD calculations. For the first time, we observed the Z+b final state and measured of the Z+b/Z+j cross-section ratio in 35.9/pb of pp collisions at 7 TeV, using particle flow jets and simple secondary vertex b-tagging algorithm in the definition of the signal.Emphasis is put on kinematic properties of the jets. With more luminosity, we are working on the measurement of the cross-section for the b(b)Z process, with the identification of one or two b-jets.
External collaborators: Anne-Marie Magnan (IC London), Alexandre Nikitenko (IC London), Natalie Heracleous (Aachen-I), Adrian Perieanu (Aachen-I).
Search for Higgs boson(s) within the Standard Model and beyond and also withing a minimal extension of the scalar sector (2HDM). The final state under study is a Z decaying into a lepton pair associated with two b-jets. This topology is sensitive to a light SM Higgs via the associate ZH production, as well as a middle mass range SM Higgs boson via the inclusive Higgs production followed by its decay into ZZ with one Z decaying into a lepton pair and the other into bbar. It is also very sensitive to the production of a non standard heavy Higgs boson decaying into Z plus A (pseudo scalar Higgs boson).
External collaborators: Nick van Remortel (Belgium, UA), Barbara Clerbaux (Belgium, ULB), and CMS collaboration.
