LPC Distinguished Researcher

Name:

John Stupak

What I will be working on:

A SM Higgs with a mass of 125 GeV is expected to decay predominantly to b quark pairs, yet we do not have strong evidence for the presence of such a decay due to the large backgrounds. I will work on exploiting jet substructure techniques in the boosted regime of associated Higgs production to reduce these backgrounds, improve the sensitivity, and firmly establish the decay to b quarks (if this process indeed proceeds at the rate predicted by the SM). In addition to probing hVV and hbb coupling strengths, associated production allows us to probe the structure of the hVV coupling. I will therefore also work on a search for anomalous hVV couplings. Finally, I will conduct module testing and qualification for the FPIX Phase I upgrade.

My role in CMS past and present:

Since joining CMS two years ago, I have worked on searches for a Wprime, a charged Higgs boson, and anomalous hVV couplings. I am involved in the FPIX Phase I upgrade. I serve as the JME object expert for the B2G group, and work on jet software development in CMSSW.