Phd Scholarship In Hadron Structure Physics At Compass Experiment

2 Nov 2023

Job Information

Organisation/Company

Charles University

Department

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

Research Field

Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Czech Republic

Application Deadline

28 Nov 2023 - 12:00 (Europe/Prague)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

40

Offer Starting Date

1 Feb 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Faculty of mathematics and physics of the Charles university (Prague, Czechia) is accepting applications in PhD study programmes (to start studying in February 2024). Details on the requirements and the procedure can be found in the faculty admissions page (deadline for applications is November 30). Practical info on living in Prague can be found here.

The COMPASS (CERN-NA-58) experiment group at the faculty is offering a topic of the future PhD thesis and a supplementary scholarship to one applicant in the study programme of particle and nuclear physics. As explained in the faculty admission page, having an approved PhD topic helps in the entrance examination. The scholarship would add to the default one given by the faculty to provide in total at least 25.000 CZK (about 1.000 EUR) per month and can be guaranteed for 2 years. The topic is described below. The study may be conducted in cooperation with University of Trieste in the framework of a 'cotutelle' agreement.

Production of pions, kaons and protons identified by a RICH detector in DIS at COMPASS experiment

The structure of hadrons is encoded in the equations of QCD. However, fifty years after the discovery of quarks the theoretical calculations are just beginning to realistically describe their arrangement in hadrons. The COMPASS collaboration collected data on semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of muons off hydrogen and off transversely polarised protons and deuterons. Hadrons produced in this process carry the information on the intrinsic transverse momentum and on the polarisation of quarks of different flavours – a 3D mapping of the nucleon in the momentum space.

In the context of high-energy particle collisions the hadron structure is described by transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMD PDFs). They are functions of the longitudinal momentum fraction x carried by a particular parton and of the intrinsic transverse momentum kT squared of the parton. They encode all possible correlations between the nucleon spin,the parton spin and kT. While the x -dependence is rather well known, accessing the distribution of kT is difficult, as it is not observable directly. Measuring transverse momentum PT of hadrons produced in DIS, one accesses a convolution of the kT of the struck quark and of the transverse momentum obtained in hadronisation. To disentangle the effects, one can use transverse-momentum-dependent multiplicities of hadrons produced in e+e− annihilation, which were recently published Belle, Phys.Rev.D99 (2019) 112006. Another way to access the intrinsic kT is via the Cahn effect – a modulation in the azimuthal angle phih of hadrons produced in DIS. However, the available COMPASS COMPASS, Nucl.Phys.B886, 2014 and HERMES results point to much smaller values of kT than those coming from the measurements of PT Barone et al., Phys.Rev.D91 (2015) 074019.

To understand the complicated picture, it is desirable to carry out a fully multi-dimensional measurement for identified hadron species (pi, K, p). One can also study the possibility to measure neutral pions and kaons and vector mesons such as rho. The large data sample collected by COMPASS in 2016–2017 on liquid hydrogen target allows such a measurement. The data collected in 2022 on polarised deuterium give in addition access to spin-dependent TMD PDFs, such as the polarisation of quarks in a transversely polarised nucleon (so- called transversity PDF) and the correlation between quark transverse momentum and nucleon transverse polarisation (Sivers TMD PDF).

Requirements

Research Field

Physics

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Knowledge of particle (sub-nuclear) physics on Master degree level. Background in hadron physics (parton model etc.) would be appreciated.

Experience with data analysis and computer programming, in the optimal case with ROOT (in C++ or Python) in particular.

English for professional communication and scientific writing.

Specific Requirements

To apply for the thesis topic , please send your brief CV and motivation letter to Jan Matousek and arrange for a letter of recommendation to be sent by a relevant referee as well.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Research Field

Physics

Additional Information Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

Country

Czech Republic

City

Prague

Postal Code

18000

Street

V Holešovičkách 747/2

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Prague 2

Website

https: // www. mff.cuni.cz/en

Street

Ke Karlovu 3

Postal Code

12116

STATUS: EXPIRED