Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Individual

The challenge of particle physics is to discover what the universe is made of and how it works. Our quest to understand nature has produced a remarkably detailed understanding of the structure of matter, space and time, a product of decades of advances in theory and experiment. We have come now to a tremendously exciting time when experiments in the next few years promise to shed light on two fundamental mysteries: the existence of mass in our universe, and the surprising weakness of gravity compared to the other forces of nature. I study new theories of particle physics beyond our current Standard Model that address these twin mysteries. Whatever is responsible for the existence of mass and the phenomenal weakness of gravity, it must manifest experimentally at or below the tera-electron-volt scale. This energy scale will be thoroughly explored by the Large Hadron Collider now beginning operations at CERN in Geneva -- in order to make good use of the data that will come out of this collider, we need detailed theory calculations of both the expectations within the Standard Model and the potential signals of a variety of new models. The calculation of these expectations is the focus of my research. In particular, I'm studying the collider predictions of a number of new models, including models with extra Higgs bosons that shed light on the origin of the mass of normal matter and also possibly of neutrinos. This involves formulating the new models, working out the particle content and interactions, running simulations of particle production events, and developing strategies that experimenters can use to distinguish genuine new physics signals from the familiar Standard Model backgrounds. I will continue to train undergraduate and graduate students in these areas of research in the next 5 years.