ATLAS Data Express

ATLAS Data Express is a short investigation using events from the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Students are put assigned “on-shift” to ATLAS Data Quality Management (DQM). They check the data quality to see that ATLAS is performing to specification by giving a good fit for the Z mass and/or the electron-to-muon ratio. They:

• Separate Z candidate events from other events by visual inspection and create a mass plot for the Z boson.
• Separate dielectron events from dimuon events by visual inspection and determine the ratio of diectron to dimuon events.

While this activity is richest pursuing both goals, each can stand on its own as a separate activity. This activity helps prepare students for a masterclass or to give students a masterclass-like experience in a short time (1-2 class periods.)