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The study of Elementary Particle Physics, also known as High Energy Physics (HEP), explores matter's most fundamental building blocks and provides crucial insights into the Universe's development since the Big Bang. Experimental physicists from the University of Minnesota have significantly contributed to establishing the Standard Model of quarks and leptons and detecting initial signs of phenomena extending beyond it. Numerous unanswered questions persist, driving ongoing exploration as our faculty, researchers, and students design, operate, and interpret experiments at global research facilities. HEP investigations employ massive particle accelerators, subterranean detection systems, and extraordinarily precise instruments. Minnesota researchers actively participate in all three primary areas of the U.S. experimental HEP initiative. Working at the Energy Frontier, our CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) team examines the Higgs boson and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model using the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), currently the planet's most advanced particle accelerator.