Particle Theory for LHC Physics

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This award funds the research activities of Professor Nikolaos Kidonakis at Kennesaw State University. This research project concerns theoretical particle physics that is relevant to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which has been the highest-energy particle collider in the world for many years. By colliding protons with protons at high energies at the LHC, physicists expect to learn more about the fundamental particles of matter and their interactions at higher energies and smaller distances than have ever been previously explored. The top quark is the most massive elementary particle that has been discovered, with many unique properties, and thus it is a central part of the physics program at the LHC. The Higgs boson is the particle responsible for generating masses for all of the other elementary particles, and the determination of its properties is a high priority. Professor Kidonakis will improve theoretical predictions for top-quark production, Higgs production, and other processes by performing state-of-the-art calculations. As such, this research will advance the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of elementary particles and the search for new physics. This project is also expected to have significant broader impacts. Professor Kidonakis will involve students in his research, and thereby provide critical training for junior physicists beginning research in this field. The project will also strengthen physics education and research at Kennesaw State University and the wider region. Professor Kidonakis will also continue to speak at conferences and remain active in outreach activities to the wider community and the public at large.More technically, the objective of this research project is to develop formalisms that can improve theoretical predictions for cross sections and differential distributions for various processes at the LHC, including top-quark production, Higgs production, and other processes in the Standard Model and in models of new physics. High-order corrections, including collinear and soft-gluon corrections, will be calculated for differential and total cross sections. Resummations will be derived for three-particle final states in various kinematics, thus greatly extending current methods. Theoretical calculations of soft anomalous dimensions will be performed to three-loop accuracy. These calculations are important for precision studies of the top quark, for understanding the Higgs boson and electroweak physics, and for the search for new physics at the LHC. The project will also advance the state-of-the-art in perturbative calculations. The inclusion of soft and collinear corrections is necessary to improve the accuracy of theoretical predictions for LHC physics. Differential distributions, including double-differential distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity, are very important because they are sensitive to new physics. Resummations for processes with three or more particles in the final state are also needed to improve theoretical predictions, in particular for processes that involve top quarks and Higgs bosons. The results of the project will therefore be important in making state-of-the-art predictions for various processes, for the interpretation of data from the LHC and the search for new physics, and for understanding the top quark and the Higgs boson. The results of this research will be widely disseminated through publication in refereed journals and presentations in international conferences and workshops.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.