Proposal for IPPP (UK National Phenomenology Institute), 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Particle physics research informs us about the nature of matter on very small scales. As we step down the length scales below the length scale of the atom, 10^(-10) meters, and past the length scale of the atomic nucleus, 10^(-15) meters, we enter the realm of particle physics. In this realm there are three well identified interactions. First, the strong interactions, which are responsible for the binding of quarks and gluons to produce protons, neutrons and other particles collectively called hadrons. Second, the electroweak interactions, responsible both for the radiation of photons (light) from matter and the radiation of the carriers of the weak force, the W and Z bosons, discovered at CERN in the 1983. Third, the interactions of the Higgs bosons. The Higgs boson was discovered at CERN in 2012. The interactions of all of these ingredients are controlled by a mathematical structure, known as the Standard Model (SM) gauge theory of electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions. This theory has so far withstood all the challenges posed by various accelerators, of which the latest and most energetic is the LHC. The SM is confirmed - with the unification of electromagnetism and weak interactions proved and tested to one part per mille. Strong interaction effects have been tested to the percent level.
The quarks, the ingredients of the hadrons, come in six different types which are referred to as flavours. Flavour phenomena have contributed as much as the gauge principle in shaping the overall structure of the SM and it is the existence of flavours that gives the SM its family and generation structure. In the quark sector the SM description of flavour phenomena and the CKM picture of mixing and CP violation is now verified at the few per cent level. In the lepton sector, the flavours of leptons are the electron, the muon and the tau and their associated neutrinos. The observation of neutrino oscillations, and the consequence that neutrinos have mass, calls for an extension of the SM. Detailed examination of the charged and neutral leptons is of increasing importance.
Since 2015, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been accelerating and colliding protons at much higher energies than ever before, close to the design energy of 14 TeV. This higher energy probes much shorter distance scales than ever before. The high energy reach of the LHC will also allow the detailed study of the Higgs boson and exploration of TeV scale physics. However, the LHC experiments are significantly more complex than any previous particle physics experiment. Identifying the nature of physics at the TeV scale will require intense collaborative efforts between experimentalists and theorists. On the theoretical side, high-precision calculations of SM processes are needed to distinguish possible signals of new physics from SM backgrounds. Possible hints of new physics need to be compared with different models of physics beyond the SM in order to disentangle the underlying structure of TeV-scale physics. The IPPP has already established close connections with the UK and international experimental groups and is perfectly placed to help maximise the UK contribution to understanding the LHC data.
There is also a strong effort in planning and designing the next generation of particle physics experiments. The IPPP will continue its role in assessing the physics potential and the design of future accelerators. The next decade promises to be pivotal in our understanding of the microscopic world. The IPPP will address fundamental questions about electroweak symmetry breaking, the structure of space-time, flavour physics and CP violation, neutrinos and lepton-flavour violation, and how particle physics connects with astrophysics and cosmology.
The quarks, the ingredients of the hadrons, come in six different types which are referred to as flavours. Flavour phenomena have contributed as much as the gauge principle in shaping the overall structure of the SM and it is the existence of flavours that gives the SM its family and generation structure. In the quark sector the SM description of flavour phenomena and the CKM picture of mixing and CP violation is now verified at the few per cent level. In the lepton sector, the flavours of leptons are the electron, the muon and the tau and their associated neutrinos. The observation of neutrino oscillations, and the consequence that neutrinos have mass, calls for an extension of the SM. Detailed examination of the charged and neutral leptons is of increasing importance.
Since 2015, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been accelerating and colliding protons at much higher energies than ever before, close to the design energy of 14 TeV. This higher energy probes much shorter distance scales than ever before. The high energy reach of the LHC will also allow the detailed study of the Higgs boson and exploration of TeV scale physics. However, the LHC experiments are significantly more complex than any previous particle physics experiment. Identifying the nature of physics at the TeV scale will require intense collaborative efforts between experimentalists and theorists. On the theoretical side, high-precision calculations of SM processes are needed to distinguish possible signals of new physics from SM backgrounds. Possible hints of new physics need to be compared with different models of physics beyond the SM in order to disentangle the underlying structure of TeV-scale physics. The IPPP has already established close connections with the UK and international experimental groups and is perfectly placed to help maximise the UK contribution to understanding the LHC data.
There is also a strong effort in planning and designing the next generation of particle physics experiments. The IPPP will continue its role in assessing the physics potential and the design of future accelerators. The next decade promises to be pivotal in our understanding of the microscopic world. The IPPP will address fundamental questions about electroweak symmetry breaking, the structure of space-time, flavour physics and CP violation, neutrinos and lepton-flavour violation, and how particle physics connects with astrophysics and cosmology.
Planned Impact
The excitement of basic science can have impact beyond the limits of Academia. In order to fulfil that promise the IPPP attaches great importance to publicizing its activities to the wider public, and in particular to raising the awareness of particle physics in schools. IPPP is also committed to equipping our PhD graduates and RAs with the necessary skills and experience for a rewarding career in academic or industrial research.
Outreach
-IPPP benefits from a full-time outreach officer, funded by the University
-Our innovative outreach project Higgs to Hubble (https://www.dur.ac.uk/physics.outreach/) continues to have a positive impact by using our research to engage and enthuse school children, their teachers and the wider community and stimulate their interest.
-Since 2012 IPPP has acted as host for a bi-annual residential Ogden Trust A2 Physics Symposium.
-Our programme for the general public has provided a broad spectrum of talks through a variety of learned organisations, including the British Association, the Royal Institution and the Institute of Physics, and through the many regional and nationally coordinated science festivals.
-We also create original and relevant teaching resources based upon our research and use this material in workshops as part of Continuing Professional Development courses and training support sessions for teachers.
-We also host an annual one day event for local teachers. A Day for Everyone Teaching Physics is designed to extend both specialist and non specialist teachers knowledge and understanding of physics and provide ideas for practical activities for the classroom.
-Since Autumn 2015, we have run "Saturday Morning Physics", an annual series of 6 public lectures primarily aimed at high-school students, with an audience of up to 50.
Education & Training
-We train our PhD graduates and RAs with the necessary skills and experience to allow them how to think independently and critically, and use analytic and computational skills to solve complex problems.
-Together with our colleagues in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, we run a formal training programme in theoretical particle physics for PhD students (and also MSc students, via the MSc in Particle, Fields and Cosmology).
-The main areas IPPP can contribute to training are in the close supervision in research projects that aid the development of a wide range of skills including advanced software development, abstract thought, high performance computing, as well as the capability of collaborative research both locally and internationally.
Outreach
-IPPP benefits from a full-time outreach officer, funded by the University
-Our innovative outreach project Higgs to Hubble (https://www.dur.ac.uk/physics.outreach/) continues to have a positive impact by using our research to engage and enthuse school children, their teachers and the wider community and stimulate their interest.
-Since 2012 IPPP has acted as host for a bi-annual residential Ogden Trust A2 Physics Symposium.
-Our programme for the general public has provided a broad spectrum of talks through a variety of learned organisations, including the British Association, the Royal Institution and the Institute of Physics, and through the many regional and nationally coordinated science festivals.
-We also create original and relevant teaching resources based upon our research and use this material in workshops as part of Continuing Professional Development courses and training support sessions for teachers.
-We also host an annual one day event for local teachers. A Day for Everyone Teaching Physics is designed to extend both specialist and non specialist teachers knowledge and understanding of physics and provide ideas for practical activities for the classroom.
-Since Autumn 2015, we have run "Saturday Morning Physics", an annual series of 6 public lectures primarily aimed at high-school students, with an audience of up to 50.
Education & Training
-We train our PhD graduates and RAs with the necessary skills and experience to allow them how to think independently and critically, and use analytic and computational skills to solve complex problems.
-Together with our colleagues in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, we run a formal training programme in theoretical particle physics for PhD students (and also MSc students, via the MSc in Particle, Fields and Cosmology).
-The main areas IPPP can contribute to training are in the close supervision in research projects that aid the development of a wide range of skills including advanced software development, abstract thought, high performance computing, as well as the capability of collaborative research both locally and internationally.
Organisations
Publications
Di Valentino E
(2021)
In the realm of the Hubble tension-a review of solutions *
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Andersen J
(2022)
HEJ 2.1: High-energy resummation with vector bosons and next-to-leading logarithms
in Computer Physics Communications
Sevillano Muñoz S
(2024)
FeynMG: A FeynRules extension for scalar-tensor theories of gravity
in Computer Physics Communications
Heinrich G
(2022)
Expansion by regions with pySecDec
in Computer Physics Communications
Croon D
(2025)
Gravitational waves from phase transitions
in Contemporary Physics
Di Valentino E
(2021)
Dark Energy with Phantom Crossing and the H0 Tension
in Entropy
Abel S
(2022)
Evolving Heterotic Gauge Backgrounds: Genetic Algorithms versus Reinforcement Learning
in Fortschritte der Physik
Abel S
(2022)
Ising Machines for Diophantine Problems in Physics
in Fortschritte der Physik
Abel S
(2022)
Cosmic Inflation and Genetic Algorithms
in Fortschritte der Physik
Alvarez E
(2022)
Unsupervised Quark/Gluon Jet Tagging With Poissonian Mixture Models.
in Frontiers in artificial intelligence
Atkinson O
(2022)
IRC-Safe Graph Autoencoder for Unsupervised Anomaly Detection.
in Frontiers in artificial intelligence
Brown C
(2024)
Quantum pathways for charged track finding in high-energy collisions.
in Frontiers in artificial intelligence
Djouadi A
(2022)
New fermions in the light of the (g - 2)µ
in Frontiers in Physics
Abud A
(2021)
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Conceptual Design Report
in Instruments
Croon D
(2024)
Dark matter (h)eats young planets
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Yang W
(2021)
2021-H 0 odyssey: closed, phantom and interacting dark energy cosmologies
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Shergold J
(2021)
Updated detection prospects for relic neutrinos using coherent scattering
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Heurtier L
(2023)
Cosmological imprints of SUSY breaking in models of sgoldstinoless non-oscillatory inflation
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Chadha-Day F
(2022)
Superradiance in stars: non-equilibrium approach to damping of fields in stellar media
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Chadha-Day F
(2022)
Axion-like particle oscillations
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Long Andrew J.
(2024)
Thermal pressure on ultrarelativistic bubbles from a semiclassical formalism
in JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS
Chadha-Day F
(2024)
ALP anarchy
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Schütte-Engel J
(2021)
Axion quasiparticles for axion dark matter detection
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Bell N
(2021)
Improved treatment of dark matter capture in white dwarfs
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Liu W
(2022)
Constraints from high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background: the case of disintegrating dark matter with ? or dynamical dark energy
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Bauer M
(2023)
Limits on the cosmic neutrino background
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Gunn J
(2025)
Primordial black hole hot spots and out-of-equilibrium dynamics
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Bhupal Dev P
(2024)
Relic neutrino decay solution to the excess radio background
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Croon D
(2024)
Cosmic microwave background constraints on extended dark matter objects
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Anchordoqui L
(2021)
Dissecting the H0 and S8 tensions with Planck + BAO + supernova type Ia in multi-parameter cosmologies
in Journal of High Energy Astrophysics
Boddy K
(2022)
Snowmass2021 theory frontier white paper: Astrophysical and cosmological probes of dark matter
in Journal of High Energy Astrophysics
Ghoshal A
(2023)
Primordial black hole archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Bakshi S
(2021)
EFT diagrammatica: UV roots of the CP-conserving SMEFT
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Gehrmann-De Ridder A
(2023)
Precision phenomenology with fiducial cross sections in the triple-differential Drell-Yan process
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Braun-White O
(2023)
A general algorithm to build real-radiation antenna functions for higher-order calculations
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Campbell J
(2022)
Non-local slicing approaches for NNLO QCD in MCFM
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Lindert J
(2023)
Precise predictions for V + 2 jet backgrounds in searches for invisible Higgs decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Chen X
(2022)
NNLO QCD corrections in full colour for jet production observables at the LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Gardi E
(2024)
Dissecting polytopes: Landau singularities and asymptotic expansions in 2 ? 2 scattering
in Journal of High Energy Physics
King D
(2022)
SU(3) breaking effects in B and D meson lifetimes
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Herren F
(2023)
A new approach to color-coherent parton evolution
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Maître D
(2023)
Multi-variable integration with a neural network
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Del Duca V
(2022)
The gluon Regge trajectory at three loops from planar Yang-Mills theory
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Heurtier L
(2021)
Resurrecting low-mass axion dark matter via a dynamical QCD scale
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Kelly K
(2022)
DUNE atmospheric neutrinos: Earth tomography
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Chen X
(2022)
Single photon production at hadron colliders at NNLO QCD with realistic photon isolation
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Blance A
(2021)
Unsupervised event classification with graphs on classical and photonic quantum computers
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Chien Y
(2024)
Jet angularities in dijet production in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Ju W
(2023)
Projected transverse momentum resummation in top-antitop pair production at LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Blance A
(2021)
Quantum machine learning for particle physics using a variational quantum classifier
in Journal of High Energy Physics
| Title | Light curves for variable, point-like microlensing, and extended objects microlensing sources with regular cadence and OGLE-II timestamps cadence. |
| Description | This is the dataset used in the paper Microlensing signatures of extended dark objects using machine learning, which should be read for more details, and the code repository for the simulation code. This dataset comprises 600,000 light curves designed for the detection of microlensing events. These curves are categorised into six classes: Cataclysmic Variables (CV), RR Lyrae and Cepheid Variables (VARIABLE), Mira Long-Period variable (LPV), Point-like Microlensing (ML), Boson Stars (BS), and NFW Subhalos (NFW). The dataset includes simulated light curves for each class, with 100,000 instances per class. ML light curves are simulated using MicroLIA, while BS and NFW light curves were simulated using the respective mass profiles first computed here. Selection criteria, including a minimum magnification of 1.34, were applied to mimic a survey selection. The light curves have magnitudes between 15 and 20, incorporate Gaussian noise, and were generated with two cadence scenarios: OGLE-II timestamps and Regular Daily Cadence. For the extended microlensing sources (BS and NFW), mass profiles depend on a parameter, t?, sampled logarithmically from a uniform distribution. The minimal impact parameter, u0, is sampled differently for each microlensing source class. A total of 148 features are computed for each light curve, encompassing statistics and derivatives of the time series. The dataset has 189 columns (see 'columns.txt' file), grouped by type identified by a prefix: 'lc' columns: light curve. 'gen' columns: generation parameters (metadata). 'sim' columns: simulation parameters (metadata). 'feat' columns: light curve time series features. See MicroLIA (and respective paper) for more details. Features computed on the derivative time series are marked with suffix 'deriv'. The dataset files are stored in 'parquet' format, which can be read in python using 'pandas' by installing the 'parquet' optional depence (i.e. 'pip install pandas[parquet]'). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10566869 |
| Title | Light curves for variable, point-like microlensing, and extended objects microlensing sources with regular cadence and OGLE-II timestamps cadence. |
| Description | This is the dataset used in the paper Microlensing signatures of extended dark objects using machine learning, which should be read for more details, and the code repository for the simulation code. This dataset comprises 600,000 light curves designed for the detection of microlensing events. These curves are categorised into six classes: Cataclysmic Variables (CV), RR Lyrae and Cepheid Variables (VARIABLE), Mira Long-Period variable (LPV), Point-like Microlensing (ML), Boson Stars (BS), and NFW Subhalos (NFW). The dataset includes simulated light curves for each class, with 100,000 instances per class. ML light curves are simulated using MicroLIA, while BS and NFW light curves were simulated using the respective mass profiles first computed here. Selection criteria, including a minimum magnification of 1.34, were applied to mimic a survey selection. The light curves have magnitudes between 15 and 20, incorporate Gaussian noise, and were generated with two cadence scenarios: OGLE-II timestamps and Regular Daily Cadence. For the extended microlensing sources (BS and NFW), mass profiles depend on a parameter, t?, sampled logarithmically from a uniform distribution. The minimal impact parameter, u0, is sampled differently for each microlensing source class. A total of 148 features are computed for each light curve, encompassing statistics and derivatives of the time series. The dataset has 189 columns (see 'columns.txt' file), grouped by type identified by a prefix: 'lc' columns: light curve. 'gen' columns: generation parameters (metadata). 'sim' columns: simulation parameters (metadata). 'feat' columns: light curve time series features. See MicroLIA (and respective paper) for more details. Features computed on the derivative time series are marked with suffix 'deriv'. The dataset files are stored in 'parquet' format, which can be read in python using 'pandas' by installing the 'parquet' optional depence (i.e. 'pip install pandas[parquet]'). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10566868 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/8188752 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7428689 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7436748 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/6541687 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/6541686 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7428701 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7427563 |
| Title | McMule dataset |
| Description | McMule is a generic framework for higher-order QED calculations of scattering and decay processes involving leptons. In this dataset we include all data used in McMule publications as well as the analysis code used. An up-to-date version can be found here. Sorry for the two version, misunderstood the interface. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7428678 |
| Title | Multi-Generational Black Hole Population Analysis with an Astrophysically Informed Mass Function |
| Description | We analyze the population statistics of black holes in the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA GWTC-3 catalog using a parametric mass function derived from simulations of massive stars experiencing pulsational pair-instability supernovae (PPISN). Our formalism enables us to separate the black hole mass function into sub-populations corresponding to mergers between objects formed via different astrophysical pathways, allowing us to infer the properties of black holes formed from stellar collapse and black holes formed via prior mergers separately. Applying this formalism, we find that this model fits the data better than the powerlaw+peak model with Bayes factor 9.7±0.1. We measure the location of the lower edge of the upper black hole mass gap to be 84.05-12.88+17.19 M?, providing evidence that the 35M? Gaussian peak detected in the data using other models is not associated with the PPISN pile-up predicted to precede this gap. Incorporating spin, we find that the normalized spins of stellar remnant black holes are close to zero while those of higher generation black holes tend to larger values. All of these results are in accordance with the predictions of stellar structure theory and black hole merger scenarios. Finally, we combine our mass function with the spectral siren method for measuring the Hubble constant to find H0=36.19-10.91+17.50 km/s/Mpc and discuss potential explanations of this low value. Our results demonstrate how astrophysically-informed mass functions can facilitate the interpretation of gravitational wave catalog data to provide information about black hole formation and cosmology. Future data releases will improve the precision of our measurements. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11242245 |
| Title | Multi-Generational Black Hole Population Analysis with an Astrophysically Informed Mass Function |
| Description | We analyze the population statistics of black holes in the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA GWTC-3 catalog using a parametric mass function derived from simulations of massive stars experiencing pulsational pair-instability supernovae (PPISN). Our formalism enables us to separate the black hole mass function into sub-populations corresponding to mergers between objects formed via different astrophysical pathways, allowing us to infer the properties of black holes formed from stellar collapse and black holes formed via prior mergers separately. Applying this formalism, we find that this model fits the data better than the powerlaw+peak model with Bayes factor 9.7±0.1. We measure the location of the lower edge of the upper black hole mass gap to be 84.05-12.88+17.19 M?, providing evidence that the 35M? Gaussian peak detected in the data using other models is not associated with the PPISN pile-up predicted to precede this gap. Incorporating spin, we find that the normalized spins of stellar remnant black holes are close to zero while those of higher generation black holes tend to larger values. All of these results are in accordance with the predictions of stellar structure theory and black hole merger scenarios. Finally, we combine our mass function with the spectral siren method for measuring the Hubble constant to find H0=36.19-10.91+17.50 km/s/Mpc and discuss potential explanations of this low value. Our results demonstrate how astrophysically-informed mass functions can facilitate the interpretation of gravitational wave catalog data to provide information about black hole formation and cosmology. Future data releases will improve the precision of our measurements. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11242244 |