LHC Physics Center

What I will be working on:

During my fellowship I will perform searches for new physics in the top quark sector, focusing on top-like exotica and Standard Model measurements with a sensitivity to new physics. As co-convener of the Beyond-Two-Generations physics group I also oversee such searches in CMS, particularly those focusing on exotic particles decaying to top quarks and production of exotic top-like particles such as fourth generation. The LPC Fellows program allows me to collaborate closer with the community at FNAL that is also working on these kind of searches, and the travel allowance gives me the opportunity to improve CMS' visibility in this subfield. The searches in the top sector are one of the most promising for new physics beyond the standard, and it is one where CMS still can gain some ground when compared to the competition, which I hope to be instrumental in. In addition I am interested in educating the future conveners during the CMSDAS and have an interest in upgrade physics studies.

My role in CMS past and present:

I have been working fully on CMS since 2005 when I moved to Imperial College London as a postdoc after a Ph.D. on all-hadronic top production with Nikhef-Amsterdam on the Dzero experiment. During my time as a postdoc with Cornell University I also developed an enthousiastic contribution to the CMS documentation and schooling effort through the CMSDAS and CMSSW software tutorials. My most significant contributions to CMS have been my activities as Pixel sub-DPG convener (2008-2009) during the startup of the 7 TeV run and the convenership of the Exotica top-like BSM subgroup (which eventually was promoted to a full-fledged physics group as the Beyond-Two-Generations PAG).