University of Louisville
A Jet Ratio Method for Measuring the Strong Coupling Constant
Institution
University of Louisville
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
David N. Brown
Abstract
The strength of the strong nuclear force in high energy physics is determined by the strong coupling constant, which varies with energy. We use data from the BaBar experiment at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) to measure the strong coupling constant in the 10 GeV energy region, where its value is not yet well-determined. Our method uses the JetFinder algorithm to study hadronic jet production rates. By varying the parameter JetFinder uses to partition energy into jets, we can infer the value of the strong coupling constant from the evolution of the relative fraction of two-, three-, and four-jet events.
A Jet Ratio Method for Measuring the Strong Coupling Constant
The strength of the strong nuclear force in high energy physics is determined by the strong coupling constant, which varies with energy. We use data from the BaBar experiment at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) to measure the strong coupling constant in the 10 GeV energy region, where its value is not yet well-determined. Our method uses the JetFinder algorithm to study hadronic jet production rates. By varying the parameter JetFinder uses to partition energy into jets, we can infer the value of the strong coupling constant from the evolution of the relative fraction of two-, three-, and four-jet events.