Publications
Every recorded event is measured with seven values and compared with comparable events from the same phase of the game. The weakest value decides the verdict.
The seven values
PROF. QUARK
“Every event you record is measured with seven values: mass, resolution, significance, √s, pile-up, rarity and trigger. You'll find them in the measurement log.”
MASS
Reconstructed mass
Reconstructed from the decay products (for particles without a resonance the leading quantity, e.g. energy or ΣE_T). What is rated is the total error: the uncertainty plus the deviation from the true value. Smaller is better.
RESOLUTION
Mass resolution
How sharply the detector measures the quantity, σ/m. Calorimeter: a/√E ⊕ b, tracker: c·pT ⊕ d. Smaller is better.
SIGNIFICANCE
Significance
Signal against background in the mass window, in standard deviations. From 5 σ, a finding counts as a discovery in particle physics. Larger is better.
ENERGY √s
Centre-of-mass energy √s
Energy of the collision in the centre-of-mass frame, here relative to the particle's threshold. The further above it, the more room for the decay products. Larger is better.
PILE-UP
Pile-up
This many collisions overlap in the same bunch crossing and smear the interesting event. Fewer is cleaner.
RARITY
Rarity
On average this many collisions are needed for this particle (the real drop rate, without the detection boost of the sub-detectors). The find came with a bit more or less luck. Larger is better.
TRIGGER
Trigger efficiency
The trigger decides within microseconds whether an event is kept. The efficiency tells which fraction of such events gets through. Larger is better.
Percentiles
“Better than 60 %” means better than 60 out of 100 comparable events. Early in the game a good catch counts as much as a late one, because it is compared with events at a similar beam level.
PROF. QUARK
“Each value is compared with comparable events from the same phase of the game. “Better than 60%” means: better than 60 out of 100 comparable events.”
The minimum rule
Of the seven percentiles only the weakest counts. One weak value holds everything back, so a clean publication needs a balanced detector.
PROF. QUARK
“The weakest of the seven values decides: from 60% conference, from 80% paper, from 90% cover story, from 99.2% Nobel prize. One weak value holds back the whole event.”
Verdicts
- RAW DATAbelow 40 %
- NOTEfrom 40 %
- CONFERENCEfrom 60 %
- PAPERfrom 80 %
- COVER STORYfrom 90 %
- NOBEL PRIZEfrom 99.2 %
Publication slots
Every particle has its own slot for each of the four top verdicts: conference, paper, cover story and Nobel prize. That makes 104 possible publications. Empty slots fill automatically as soon as you record an event that is good enough.
PROF. QUARK
“Cleanly measured. Good events get published, in four tiers: conference, paper, cover story, Nobel prize – every particle has a slot for each tier. Which tier an event reaches depends on its weakest measurement; better detectors and upgrades raise it. The codex shows what is already published.”
- Photon
- Electron
- Pion
- Muon
- Kaon
- Proton
- J/ψ meson
- Tau
- B meson
- W boson
- Z boson
- Higgs boson
- Top quark
- Neutralino
- Z′ boson
- Dark photon
- Leptoquark
- Magnetic monopole
- Axion
- Heavy neutrino
- Graviton
- Sphaleron
- R-hadron
- WIMP
- String ball
- Micro black hole
How to get better
Expand the detector for resolution and trigger, keep pile-up low, and use resonance tuning for particles that can be tuned. Tap a value in the measurement log to see its range and tips.
PROF. QUARK
“Grey slots are still empty; they fill by themselves as soon as an event is good enough. For that, expand detector, resolution and trigger and keep pile-up low – tap a value to see which upgrade helps.”
Share it
Every publication has a poster that you can send with the iOS share sheet.
