Search for the Production of Four Top Quarks at CMS

The student will search for the production of four top quarks at CMS. In the standard model, this process has a cross section of approximately one femtobarn. With over 100/fb of LHC Run 2 data on disk (half of which has not yet been analysed), CMS should now be sensitive to this very rare process. A similar amount of data is expected in the first year of Run 3 (2021) which effectively guarantees a discovery of the standard model process during the time period of this studentship. If, in contrast, the standard model prediction is excluded, it would be a clear sign physics beyond the standard model.
The student will work with CMS collaborators, in Europe and elsewhere, to analyse the 2018 and 2021 data. They will perform simulations and data-driven techniques to evaluate the backgrounds and optimise the selection, and develop and improve deep machine learning techniques to enhance the signal significance. They will present their results at internal meetings and conferences, and play a leading role in writing one or more papers publishing the results.
They will also spend a fraction of their time performing operational and other tasks for the CMS collaboration, including taking shifts and working on tracker simulations.