LHC Physics Center

What I will be working on:

The search for two Higgs bosons is the main window into understanding the shape of the Higgs potential. The VHH channel where there is a W or Z (that is, a vector boson, V) produced with two Higgs bosons expands the established search for two Higgs bosons to four bottom quarks. This full Run 2 analysis will be completed in 2021 and will significantly constrain the observed 2H-2V, c2V, coupling strength. Thus, this search will both directly and indirectly enhance the constraints on the Higgs self-coupling strength. In addition, I continue my involvement in and support of the CMS outer tracker module production--building test systems and refining burn-in procedures for High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) silicon detectors for CMS.

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. 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. I was the convener of CMS’s Hbb sub-group and the VH LHC HXCWG sub-group from Sept 2018 to Sept 2020. During Run 2 I have been heavily involved in luminosity measurements in CMS, and I was the convener of that group for the 2016 and 2017 calendar years.