LHC Physics Center

What I will be working on:

I am also contributing to the phase-I upgrades of the hadron calorimeter (HCAL) readout electronics and improvements of the particle flow algorithms. Theses upgrades will maintain the discovery potential of the CMS detector during LHC operations at higher beam energies and intensities. The new front-end electronics will count with a new flash ADC chip known as QIE10/11 that is needed to take advantage of the new low-noise silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) sensors. My group is testing the QIE chips and designing cards to test the 24-channel HF boards.

My role in CMS past and present:

My main contributions to the CMS experiment have been in top quark physics. I am one of the main author of the 2010 measurement of the top pair production cross section in lepton plus jets events. Currently, I am measuring the top pair cross section associated with photons. I also searched for new physics with analyses such as the search for heavy top quark pair resonances, heavy W# bosons decaying to top and bottom quarks, and search for the production of four top quarks. In the next run period of the LHC, I will continue the search for new physics beyond the standard model using top quarks.

My leadership experience in CMS includes co-leadership of the four tops working group (2012), co-convenership of the b-tagging Performance Group (2011-2012), co-convenership of the Boosted Top Group (2007-2010), co-leadership of the LPC b-tagging Group (2009-2010), and co-leadership of the LPC top quark working group (2010). I have also supervised many undergraduate and graduate students, and postdocs stationed at Fermilab.

During the early commissioning of the CMS detector, I led the effort on the position determination of the luminous region, also known as beam spot. These monitoring tools are being used to scan the beam position and quality of the collisions. I have also developed tools to measure the b-tagging efficiencies using a data sample of muon-in-jets. These tools are widely used in CMS.

I have been instructor of the b-tagging and top quark analysis exercises in many of the CMS Data Analysis Schools (CMSDAS). My research projects are carried out in collaboration with several US institutions and the LPC at Fermilab.