From Higgs physics to dark matter searches: a quest for precision

2012年，臭名昭著的希格斯玻色子在瑞士欧洲核子研究中心的大型强子对撞机（LHC）上被发现-这是粒子物理学史上的里程碑。这种神秘的新粒子早在40多年前就被预测出来了，其动机是解决最小尺度下物质描述中的数学不一致性。随着希格斯玻色子的发现，所谓的粒子物理学标准模型已经完成。它提供了构成所有已知物质的基本粒子的连贯图像。然而，在最高能量尺度下的基本相互作用的描述仍然存在不一致。这些问题可以在标准模型之外的各种理论中得到解决。与此同时，天体物理学和宇宙学的测量表明，标准模型在解释宇宙最大尺度和最早期的所有观测现象方面存在缺陷。这些谜题被称为暗能量和暗物质-表明我们对它们的物理起源一无所知。对这些现象的解释是21世纪世纪最大的科学挑战之一。自从希格斯玻色子被发现以来，一场大规模的寻找标准模型之外的物理学线索和暗物质的粒子解释的运动已经在LHC中引发。这种暗示首先表现为LHC散射过程的产生概率与标准模型预测的微小变化。寻找这些线索就像是大海捞针一样，还有一个重要的额外挑战：我们不知道针是什么样的。越来越大的累积数据集允许将搜索扩展到越来越高的能量尺度和精度。然而，为了充分利用这些数据集，实验精度必须与标准模型中同样精确的理论预测相匹配，包括复杂的量子校正。也就是说，我们必须了解干草堆的每一个细节，才能找到针！我的研究涉及使用微扰理论对广泛的标准模型过程进行高精度预测和模拟，包括量子校正。这些预测在计算上非常复杂，需要开发专用的高效算法和软件工具。我工作的重点是研究一类在大能量尺度下变得特别重要的量子修正。对这些修正的控制将允许以前所未有的精度水平对标准模型进行压力测试。

In 2012 the infamous Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland - a milestone in the history of particle physics. This enigmatic new particle was predicted more than 40 years earlier with the motivation to cure mathematical inconsistencies in the description of matter at the smallest scales. With the discovery of the Higgs boson the so-called Standard Model of particle physics has been completed. It offers a coherent picture of fundamental particles that make up all known matter. However, yet again inconsistencies in the description of fundamental interactions at the highest energy scales remain. These could be cured within various theories beyond the Standard Model. At the same time, astrophysical and cosmological measurements indicate shortcomings of the Standard Model to explain all observed phenomena at the largest scales and earliest times of the Universe. These puzzles are denoted as Dark Energy and Dark Matter - indicating our ignorance about their physical origin. Explanations of these phenomena represent one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson a large-scale campaign in search for hints for physics beyond the Standard Model and for particle explanations for Dark Matter has been sparked at the LHC. Such hints will first manifest as tiny variations with respect to Standard Model predictions in the production probabilities for scattering processes at the LHC. The hunt for these hints represents the proverbial search for the needle in the haystack - with the important additional challenge: we don't know what the needle looks like. Larger and larger accumulated data sets allow to extend the search to higher and higher energy scales and precision. However, in order to fully harness these datasets the experimental precision has to be matched by equally precise theoretical predictions in the Standard Model including intricate quantum corrections. I.e. we have to understand every detail of our haystack to find the needle!My research concerns high-precision predictions and simulations for a broad range of Standard Model processes using perturbation theory to include quantum corrections. These predictions are computationally very complex and require the development of dedicated efficient algorithms and software tools. The focus of my work is the study of a certain class of quantum corrections that become particularly important at large energy scales. The control of these corrections will allow to stress-test the Standard Model at unprecedented levels of precision.