TeV Jets at ATLAS - A Probe for New Physics

Abstract

The production of particle jets will be the dominant process at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and jets will thus be the signal or define the environment of many analyses at the ATLAS experiment. Their precise measurement is a vital requirement for many potential discoveries of new physics beyond the Standard Model. The first part of this thesis introduces a new method to constrain and correct errors of the energy measurement of jets in the TeV regime. The emphasis is on a very high reach in transverse jet momenta even with earliest ATLAS data. This is achievable by an intercalibration utilizing the large inclusive jet production cross section. In the second part inclusive jet measurements are used to probe the validity of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Several analyses are presented and their sensitivity is estimated using simulated data of an effective theory of a possible quark substructure. The search is then extended to effects of quantum gravity that could emerge at the LHC in scenarios of new physics, demonstrating that inclusive jet measurements are a powerful tool to probe QCD and a broad range of new physics models.