LPC Distinguished Researcher

Name:

Christopher A Palmer

Institution:

Princeton

What I will be working on:

The search for two Higgs bosons is the main window into understanding the shape of the Higgs potential. During 2020, I will expand the established search for two Higgs bosons to four bottom quarks into the VHH channel where there is an additional W or Z (that is, a vector boson, V) produced with the two Higgs bosons. In addition, I will enhance my involvement in and support of the CMS outer tracker module production, preparation and testing for High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). The LPC has an experienced and engaged community where collaborations and strong partnerships can thrive in both of these arenas.

My role in CMS past and present:

During Run 1 I worked on the discovery of the Higgs boson in the di-photon channel in CMS as a PhD student. As a post-doc in Run 2 I have been focused on the search for the Higgs boson’s most frequent and most elusive decay—the decay to bottom quarks. With the analysis of CMS’s 2017 dataset in search of H→bb produce with a W or Z boson (VHbb search) and a combination of all CMS’s searches for H→bb, an observation of the decay was officially announced. Currently, I’m the convener of CMS’s Hbb sub-group and the VH LHC HXCWG sub-group. During Run 2 I was heavily involved with luminosity measurements in CMS and I was the convener of that group in 2016 and 2017.