Improving the Understanding of New Physics, from Particle Physics to Cosmology, at the LHC

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds the research activities of Professor Peisi Huang at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Large Hadron Collider is a vast underground machine that scatters beams of protons against each other in order to study the fundamental constituents of matter, known as elementary particles. Given huge amounts of data from the LHC and generations of colliders before it, we currently have a fairly robust understanding of the elementary particles and the forces between them that is encapsulated within the so-called Standard Model of particle physics. However, there is overwhelming evidence that there is new physics beyond the Standard Model. Professor Huang's research aims to substantially extend the discovery potential for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider by using theoretical insights in both particle physics and cosmology. As such, Professor Huang's research advances the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of new physical laws. This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. The proposed research will provide training opportunities for a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students. Professor Huang will also aim to increase participation in STEM by making a special effort to involve women, other underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students. More technically, in this research, three theoretical studies will be addressed to significantly enhance the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider. First, to propose novel searches, theoretical implications of the current LHC data will be interpreted and developed. Second, to enable indirect searches, this research will study the implications of precision Higgs measurements for new physics. Third, to leverage LHC for cosmology studies, this research will establish connections between the history of the universe and LHC physics by providing theoretical motivations and calculations of important processes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.