Off-shell Higgs Physics

The project is to conduct research in the area of Off-shell Higgs Physics, where the incorporation of next-to-leading order OCD corrections into the Monte Carlo modelling of loop-induced processes is crucial and multi-jet mergeing effects are important. In this context, I will contribute to the development/validation/application of the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO Monte Carlo event generator framework in and beyond the standard model. This work will be applied to perform a novel analysis of the pioneering off-shell-enabled Higgs width constraint from LHC data recently obtained by ATLAS and CMS. The SM Effective Field Theory implementation in MG5_aMC will be used to perform a global fit that includes the coefficients of higher dimensional operators which can signficantly modify the off-shell distributions of four-lepton final states. The project will be supervised by and carried out with Nikolas Kauer, with support from the MG5_aMC team as well as Adrea Banfi and Veronica Sanz. They will contribute to the activities of the LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group.

The main beneficiaries of the research of our consortium outside academia will be business and industry, the education sector, school students, and the general public. The benefits will be delivered by outreach activities, by the training of highly skilled PhD students and post-docs, and by the exploration of opportunities for industrial engagement arising from the development of software tools for theoretical particle physics.

For schools and colleges we will develop activities and tools enriching students' understanding of the framework underpinning the Standard Model of particle physics. We will deliver them as part of our universities' physics outreach programme. We will also deliver talks on the research in this proposal both on and off campus.

For the general public we will disseminate our research through social media and public science events such as Nerd Nite. We will also seek to influence future decision makers amongst Arts and Humanities undergraduates through the Sussex module From Quarks to the Cosmos.

Business and the education sector will benefit from the rigorous scientific training we provide to the young researchers working with us on the research programme.
We will help students and postdocs wanting to make the transition out of academia with careers resources at department, university, and regional level.
We will also seek industrial partners for spin-offs from software we are developing, using our universities' structures supporting knowledge exchange.