A quasi-model-independent search strategy for new high-pT physics at Tevatron Run II

Abstract

Compelling arguments suggest the presence of new physics at the electroweak scale, an energy regime accessible to the Fermilab Tevatron. Unfortunately, predictions for the form that new physics will take are all over the map. A quasi-model-independent search strategy for new physics (SLEUTH) was introduced in Tevatron Run I to allow a probe of high-pT hadron collider data. This dissertation prescribes the SLEUTH algorithm that will be used in Tevatron Run II. Improvements over the Run I algorithm are discussed, and an intuition is developed for SLEUTH'S performance by considering a number of beyond-the-standard-model examples. This dissertation defines a priori the SLEUTH algorithm, before its application to Tevatron Run II data, allowing an unbiased and rigorous a posteriori measure of the "interestingness" of any observed signal. This algorithm will also be used with small modifications at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In addition, a new detector simulation, TurboSim, was tested for physics analysis use for the first time.