Dark Matter & Hidden Particles at Colliders

The Universe is indescribably vast, with at least 100 billion galaxies composed of around 100 billion stars each. However, all of the light we see from these stars is only a small fraction of the total mass in the Universe: 80% of the matter is instead made up of "dark matter", and we don't know what it is or what it's made of. Our group does research in particle physics, and by studying the tiniest components of nature we seek to understand the composition and forces that make up dark matter.

The particle physics group at HMC is making progress on this question in two main ways. The focus of this project is on the first way: we use the data from high-energy particle collisions to look for unexpected signals of dark matter. HMC is a member of the BaBar Experiment, which is an electron-positron collider based at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and our local BaBar group has established several world-leading constraints on certain dark matter models; we have also used data and simulations to study the signals of dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. 

You will also interface with members of our group understanding how these new particles influence the evolution of the universe shortly after the Big Bang, so that collectively we can improve our understanding of these fundamental questions.

The work you will undertake depends on your interests and background, but can include Monte Carlo simulations, data analysis, machine learning techniques, and analytic calculations.

Short Paragraph "Essay": It would be helpful in a few sentences to hear about why you are interested in doing research, what appeals to you about research in particle physics, and if you have particular skills that could contribute to research in our group (including computational skills, math/physics training, communication, etc). Optional: if you have encountered any barriers to get to where you are now, or other considerations that you would like me to take into account in evaluating your responses, feel free to comment on these. I will keep your answers confidential.