Searching for New Physics with Colliders and Cosmology

粒子物理学试图描述自然界的基本组成部分和支配它们行为的法则。这导致了标准模型（SM）的发展，它解释了我们周围看到的绝大多数现象。然而，我们知道，SM不能完全解释宇宙是如何运行的。它无法解释占宇宙物质80%以上的暗物质，也无法解释物质多于反物质的现象。我建议开发新技术，用于当前和未来的实验，以回答这些基本问题。构建SM最重要的工具之一是来自粒子对撞机的数据，比如大型强子对撞机（LHC）。大型强子对撞机是一项全球努力，由加拿大物理界投入大量资金。我将开发新的方法来利用大型强子对撞机的数据，这可能会带来突破性的发现。例如，暗物质理论预测，新粒子在产生时是看不见的，但在经过部分实验后会衰变为可见粒子。这些特征要求开发新的发现技术。我还计划用希格斯玻色子来探索新现象。一种可能性是假设希格斯粒子衰变为新的长寿粒子，另一种可能性是对希格斯粒子进行更精确的测量，这可能会显示出与SM预测的细微偏差。即使是一个很小的偏差也会标志着SM的崩溃和新的自然规律的发现。我计划使用的另一个工具是宇宙学。2016年对引力波的实验探测是一个开创性的发现，我计划继续探索如何利用引力波来探测大爆炸后最初时刻我们宇宙的动力学。解释暗物质或希格斯质量的模型有时会包含一些新粒子，这些粒子除了引力之外，不会感受到我们所熟悉的任何力，这使得它们极难通过实验加以验证。我建议使用引力波和其他天体物理探测器，看看在不久的将来如何探测这些模型。在加拿大开发新的工具和技术将提高该国在全球科学界的形象。此外，这里提出的所有研究都将与学生和博士后合作完成，作为培养未来科学领袖努力的一部分。在完成粒子物理的学习后，学生在统计、计算和机器学习等领域具有独特的技术训练和解决问题的能力。最近，该领域的大部分毕业生没有继续在学术界工作，而是成为了数据科学家，这是一个需求旺盛的领域，是b谷歌等全球巨头和Shopify等加拿大领军企业的技术基础。拥有强大的粒子物理研究小组将使加拿大成为开发未来技术的中心。

Particle physics attempts to describe the fundamental building blocks of nature and the laws that govern their behaviour. This has led to the development of the Standard Model (SM) which explains the vast majority of phenomena that we see around us. We know, however, that the SM cannot be the full explanation of how the universe works. It cannot explain the dark matter that makes up more than 80% of the matter in the universe, and it cannot explain the excess of matter over antimatter. I propose to develop new techniques for use at current and future experiments that can answer these fundamental questions. One of the most important tools used in building the SM is data from particle colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is a global effort with significant investment by the Canadian physics community. I will develop new methods to exploit the data from LHC that could potentially lead to a groundbreaking discovery. For example, theories of dark matter predict new particles that are invisible when they are produced, but decay into visible particles after flying through part of the experiment. These signatures require development of new techniques for discovery. I also plan to use the Higgs boson as a way to explore new phenomena. One possibility is the hypothetical decay of the Higgs to new long lived particles, and another is to make more precise measurements of the Higgs that may display subtle deviations from the SM predictions. Even a small deviation would signal the breakdown of the SM and discovery of new laws of nature. Another tool I plan to use is cosmology. The experimental detection of gravitational waves in 2016 was a groundbreaking discovery, and I plan to continue my exploration of how gravitational waves can be used to probe the dynamics of our universe in the first instants after the big bang. Models that explain dark matter or the Higgs mass sometimes have new particles that do not feel any of our familiar forces except gravity, making them extremely hard to verify experimentally. I propose to use gravitational waves and other astrophysical probes to see how these models can be probed in the near future. Developing new tools and techniques in Canada would enhance the country's profile in the global scientific community. Furthermore, all the research proposed here will be done in collaboration with students and postdoctoral fellows as part of an effort to train future scientific leaders. After completing studies in particle physics, students possess unique technical training and problem solving abilities in areas such as statistics, computing, and machine learning. Recently, a large fraction of graduates from the field who do not continue in academia have become data scientists, a highly in demand area underlying the technology of global giants such as Google and Canadian leaders like Shopify. Having strong particle physics research groups would make Canada a hub for developing the technologies of the future.