A group of physicists led by The Catholic University of America Executive Vice President and Provost Aaron Dominguez were among the winners announced on April 5 for this year’s prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their groundbreaking research on the elementary particles that shape the universe at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider.
The Breakthrough Foundation gave a $3 million prize to four collaborations made up of thousands of researchers from across the world for their advancing knowledge of the Higgs boson, a quantum particle that is part of a field that gives mass to particles. The University’s High Energy Physics Group was honored for their role building pixel detectors that track the trajectory of charged particles for high energy collisions for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of two large general-purpose experiments at the LHC.
“Catholic University has a long tradition of cutting-edge research in fundamental physics and it is gratifying to see my friends and colleagues recognized,” said Provost Dominguez, a physicist who was part of the 2012 Higgs boson discovery. “Contributing to a deeper understanding of God’s creation would be impossible without their hard work and collaboration. I’m grateful that this University is a place where that kind of work can happen.”
Provost Dominguez founded the High Energy Physics Group in 2016, bringing LHC research in the Washington, D.C. region. The team is currently working on the next generation detector, designing and building thousands of detector modules in a lab on campus that will later be assembled by Cornell University before installation at the LHC.
“We’re building the next generation of thousands of detector devices right here on campus because the global scientific community trusts that we can get it done—and get it done right,” said Provost Dominguez.
The High Energy Physics Group currently includes the following: Rachel Bartek, physics research associate professor; Shin-Shan Yu, physics research associate professor; Ali Eren Simsek, postdoctoral research associate; Rhea Khatri, Lab Manager and Particle Physics Engineer; Shivam Raj, graduate research assistant; Bhavya Singhal, graduate research assistant.
“This award is for the detailed measurement of the Higgs boson, physics which our work in developing and installing the pixel detector enabled,” said Bartek, who conducts research at CERN with University graduate students. “This is a group of very talented people. People who have the curiosity about how the universe works in a fundamental way can do very well with the type of physics we are doing.”
