Physicists are smashing protons together at the Large Hadron Collider to study the Higgs boson and search for signs of new fundamental forces. This research addresses a gap at the heart of physics: the Standard Model, which describes known particles and forces, cannot explain dark matter—the invisible substance that makes up about a quarter of the universe—nor why certain particle decays behave unexpectedly. The group is analysing data from three experiments: CMS and LHCb at the LHC, and the MIGDAL experiment in the UK. They will measure how the Higgs boson decays into pairs of tau leptons, search for extremely rare particle decays that might reveal new physics, and attempt to directly detect dark matter particles using the LUX-ZEPLIN detector. A key goal is the first observation of the "Migdal effect" in nuclear scattering, which could make dark matter detectors sensitive to lighter particles. This is fundamental science with no immediate practical application. However, similar curiosity-driven research into particle physics has historically led to technologies such as the World Wide Web, medical imaging, and particle accelerators used for cancer therapy. A deeper understanding of dark matter or new forces could, in the long term, reshape our grasp of how the universe works.
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This grant is to continue the group's programme of investigation into the properties of elementary particles and the fundamental forces of nature. In particular the focus is on the operation of, and data analysis from, three particular experiments: CMS and LHCb at the LHC and the MIGDAL experiment at RAL. One of the main objectives of this grant will be to support the exploitation of the LHC experiments which will be taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment will continue to characterize the Higgs boson, which provides a unique window onto new physics (NP), and to use such measurements to search for this physics. The di-tau final state provides a unique probe of some of the properties of the Higgs boson and this Higgs decay will be exploited. Greatest sensitivity to new physics comes from the combination of all decay modes and 'combination and interpretation' activities will be another focus of this grant. It will also be possible to extend our searches for long-lived particles and other new phenomena. All CMS posts will support our mission critical M&O activities, in areas where we have the academic leadership. The LHCb experiment will offer complementary tests of the Standard Model (SM) and beyond with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics, which are sensitive to contributions from new physics. Measurements led by the group have revealed deviations from the SM, potentially indicating lepton non-universality and NP. Such NP models predict much larger effects in events involving tau leptons, motivating our proposal to make a world-leading measurement of the tau anomalous magnetic moment. Around a quarter of the Universe is composed of dark matter and its nature is unknown. This has so far remained undetected in the laboratory and the group will continue its activity in searching for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate through the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, along with preparations for the next generation detector. Particular focus in this grant will be given to the first observation of the 'Migdal effect' in nuclear scattering. This effect can be used to extend the sensitivity of these searches to lighter particles.
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