Melvyn J. Shochet
The University of Chicago
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Primary Section: 13, Physics Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2006)
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Research Interests
As an experimental elementary particle physicist, I study particle collisions at the highest manmade energies. Since higher energy translates into improved spatial resolution, we are able to probe inside nuclear matter and investigate the basic interactions among the constituents of nature. At the Fermilab collider, we are studying the properties of the top quark, nature's most massive constituent, which we discovered a decade ago. The top quark, alone among the elementary particles, interacts strongly with the source of particle mass. Consequently, the top quark mass is an essential component of a precision test of the Standard Model of elementary particle interactions. We recently published the most precise measure of the mass of the top quark and are now working to further improve the precision. I also work on designing electronic systems for reconstructing, within microseconds, the trajectories of the particles produced in a collision. We are using data collected with such a system at Fermilab to search for the production of new types of particles. We are also developing a much more powerful system for use at the CERN LHC.
