Memorandum submitted by LHCb experiment
CERN, Geneva (FC 20)
IMPACT OF THE STFC SPENDING CUTS OF THe LHCb
EXPERIMENT AND LHCb UPGRADE
1. INTRODUCTION
We are writing to the UK House of Commons Science
and Technology as the Spokesperson and Physics Coordinator of
the LHCb Collaboration at CERN, Geneva. LHCb is one of the four
main experiments at the Large Hadron Collider with 726 collaborators
from 54 research groups in 15 different countries including
10 UK research groups. As we are sure you are aware, the
LHC programme is just starting after decades of preparations and
investment, with LHCb offering a unique scientific programme based
at this new world leading facility. We are writing to offer some
observations on the impact of the recent spending cuts on science
and scientific research by the Science and Technology Facilities
Council (STFC). We focus on the effect of these cuts on the present
LHCb project and, in particular, on the next phase of this programme,
the upgraded LHCb experiment.
2. BACKGROUND
AND PHYSICS
MOTIVATION
We know our present description of fundamental
physics, the so-called Standard Model, to be incomplete. There
are compelling reasons to believe that evidence of a higher theory,
or "New Physics", will emerge at the energies probed
by the LHC accelerator at CERN. One way in which to discover this
New Physics will be to observe new particles directly produced
in the LHC collisions. This is the approach adopted by the ATLAS
and CMS experiments.
An alternative and complementary approach is
to detect the "virtual" presence of New Physics in the
decay of Standard Model particles. Very precise measurements of
rare processes involving, in particular, B-mesons are exceedingly
sensitive to perturbations due to New Physics effects, which subtly
alter the predictions from those of the Standard Model. This approach
is termed "flavour physics" and has an established record
of discovery in fundamental science, for example demonstrating
the existence of the charm quark, and the third generation of
bottom and top quarks, several years before their direct observation.
LHCb is a flavour physics experiment and was
approved in order to widen the discovery potential of the LHC,
giving the project many additional attributes to those provided
by the direct observation capabilities of ATLAS and CMS.
3. STATUS AND
PROSPECTS
The LHC delivered its first colliding beams
before Christmas of last year. With the limited data collected
it has proved possible to study the performance of all components
of the LHCb detector. In all cases the results are highly satisfactory,
giving confidence that when the LHC restarts next month, LHCb
will immediately embark on its core physics programme. In contrast
with the main studies planned at ATLAS and CMS, the measurements
to be made at LHCb do not require that the accelerator reach its
full design energy or luminosity. Thus there are good reasons
to expect that the first important discoveries at the LHC will
be made by LHCb.
4. THE ROLE
OF THE
UK AND CUTS
TO PHYSICS
EXPLOITATION
UK physicists were founding members of LHCb,
and now represent the single largest national group on the experiment.
The spokesperson, the physics coordinator, and several past and
present sub-detector project leaders are all UK physicists. The
UK has played a particularly prominent role in defining and preparing
the LHCb physics programme. It is with great regret, therefore,
to observe that the last couple of years have seen severe spending
cuts to LHCb within the UK. These cuts have caused great pain
to all participating UK institutes and have put at risk the effectiveness
of several groups in contributing to the experiment.
5. OUR GREATEST
CONCERN — THREAT
TO THE
LHCB UPGRADE
Despite these cuts, we welcome the continued
UK support for the LHCb project. Of much greater concern is the
recent STFC decision not to allocate any funds to the LHCb upgrade
and to cancel the peer review process for this project before
this process had even begun.
It is not sufficient to discover New Physics;
rather its nature must be understood. It is certain that measurements
in the flavour sector will have a pivotal role in distinguishing
between the various competing theories which will arise to explain
any New Physics discovery. Although some of this work will begin
with the present LHCb experiment, the history of particle physics
tells us that it will be essential to plan for an upgraded detector
with significantly enhanced precision. Conceptual designs and
R&D activities for such an upgraded LHCb are already well
advanced, again with very significant UK input.
The announcement of STFC to deny any funds to
the LHCb upgrade before even undertaking the appropriate peer
review of the project is, in our mind, disastrous, and indeed
endangers the project as a whole. It must be emphasised
that the studies which are foreseen at this next-generation experiment
are not accessible to the ATLAS and CMS detectors, in particular
when they are configured to run at very high luminosity. The LHC
is a unique facility, and as well as seeking for evidence of direct
production of particles at the highest energies, we also have
a responsibility to exploit fully the flavour-physics potential
of the accelerator. Not to do so would significantly diminish
the breadth of the project and represent a major waste of scientific
opportunity and of the investment in the whole LHC complex.
6. CONCLUSIONS
We hope these comments are useful. We urge the
Select Committee to make recommendations for the future funding
of fundamental science, which will allow the UK to maintain its
world-leading reputation in flavour-physics, and in particular
to ensure that this vital area is given full support throughout
the life-cycle of the LHC. Not to do so, sends a disastrously
negative signal to prospective UK scientists and international
partners about the UK's commitment to fundamental physics.
Professor Andrei Golutvin
(Imperial College
London)
LHCb Spokesperson
Dr Guy Wilkinson
(University of Oxford)
LHCb Physics Coordinator
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