Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Research Tools and Instruments

The Belle II experiment is operating at the SuperKEKB e+e- collider at the KEK laboratory in Japan. It is the successor to the successful Belle and BaBar experiments, which were cited for their contributions to the phenomenon of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics. Belle II is searching for evidence of new physics at the intensity frontier through a wide range of measurements including precision measurements of CP violation and other asymmetries, searches for rare/forbidden decays, and direct searches for new sub-GeV particles and mediators. The mass reach of the precision measurements can exceed that of the direct searches by ATLAS and CMS, and direct searches at Belle II strategically cover a mass gap that is challenging to probed by fixed target and energy frontier experiments. If new physics is found at the LHC, Belle II can explore its nature by looking for a pattern of deviations from the Standard Model in ways that are not feasible at a hadron collider. SuperKEKB has more than doubled the world-record for collider instantaneous luminosity and is currently in a major data-taking campaign. A major contribution by the Canadian Belle II group was the implementation of novel Dark Sector Triggers, which have opened a range of new discovery opportunities that were not feasible at previous B-Factories due to their restrictive triggers. The Canadian team leads several high-profile analyses that exploit these new triggers including Invisible and Visible Decays of Dark Photons and precision cross-section measurements for input to the muon g-2 theory prediction. SuperKEKB's unprecedented luminosity combined with the limited computing capacity of the Belle II High Level Trigger Processing Farm has recently forced our team to apply pre-scales to the novel Dark Sector Triggers that facilitate the major analyses led by the Canadian team. The requested equipment builds-on previous NSERC-RTI investments to boost the computing capacity of the Belle II High Level Trigger Processing Farm allowing the trigger pre-scales to be removed in order to sustain the highly competitive Canada-led Dark Sector Physics Program at Belle II. Numerous ongoing analyses by our HQP rely on these triggers. Additionally, the enhanced computing capacity will be used by our HQP to develop and deploy novel trigger algorithms. In addition, neutron detectors to augment the Canada-led Belle II Thermal Neutron Monitoring System are requested. This system is maintained and operated by several of our HQP. It has been highly successful to providing HQP training and real-time monitoring of the accelerator-induced backgrounds near the detector. We are requesting funds to expand the coverage of this system. The requested equipment will open unique training opportunities for HQP that will further world-wide knowledge of the fundamental constituents of matter in our Universe and induce economically beneficial innovation in the private and public sectors.