Physicists are smashing particles together at three new experiments to hunt for the Higgs boson, dark matter, and the origins of mass itself. This research addresses the biggest gaps in our understanding of the universe: what gives particles mass, what makes up the invisible dark matter that dominates galaxies, and why matter survived over antimatter after the Big Bang. The team will analyse data from the CMS and LHCb experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, and from the T2K neutrino experiment in Japan. They will also prepare a future experiment to determine whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle—a discovery that would rewrite the rules of particle physics. This is fundamental science. There is no immediate practical application. But the work has a track record of unexpected spin-offs: the same accelerator techniques the group studies are already being adapted for cancer therapy and next-generation energy systems. The group also develops Grid computing infrastructure, which underpins large-scale data analysis far beyond physics. If they find evidence of new particles or forces, it would reshape our understanding of how the universe works at its most basic level—and history shows that such knowledge eventually finds its way into everyday technology.
View original technical description
This grant is to continue the groups programme of investigation into the properties of elementary particles and the fundamental forces of nature. One of the main objectives of this grant will be to support the exploitation of three new experiments which will start taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment will break new ground in studying the constituents of matter and their interactions, hoping to observe the Higgs particle and understand the origins of mass, as well as searching for new phenomena, such as finding evidence of potential dark matter candidates. The LHCb experiment will offer complementary tests of the Standard Model with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics which are sensitive to contributions from new physics, as well as measuring CP violation in the decays of B mesons. Both these experiments will make extensive use of Grid computing which the group will continue to develop and exploit. The T2K experiment will allow us to expand our understanding of the masses and mixings in the neutrino sector, and should provide a key measurement which will guide us as to whether we ultimately could see evidence of CP violation in the neutrino sector. Follow on experiments looking to measure CP violation in neutrinos would require a dedicate neutrino factory, and the group is heavily involved in understanding the issues in preparing an accelerator for such a facility. One of the other missing pieces of the neutrino puzzle is whether the neutrino is its own anti-particle. This grant will support preparation of a future experiment to attempt to determine if the neutrino is a Majorana particle. The universe may be largely composed of Dark Matter which until now remains un-detected. The group will continue is activity in searching for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate. Accelerators which are used in particle physics also have potential applications for energy, and healthcare, and the group will continue its research into how to apply techniques which have benefit for future research accelerators as well as applied use of accelerators. The group will also be active in preparing the next generation of detectors for future facilities, both at the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC, as well as for other future colliders.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know