Effective Quantum Field Theories for the LHC

Effective field theories are a powerful tool for tacking problems in quantum field theory characterised by two or more disparate energy scales. Expertise in effective theories can be applied to many areas of particle physics phenomenology, from generating all-orders perturbative results (i.e. resummation) for scattering cross sections, to searching for signs of new physics through non-standard interactions of Standard Model particles. A PhD project in this direction will thus involve becoming familiar with effective-field theory machinery in general, and then applying it to a specific directions in LHC phenomenology, which can be shaped according to the interests of the student. As concrete examples, my current PhD students are developing techniques for calculating quantum corrections to Higgs boson decays in the "Standard Model Effective Field Theory" on the one hand, and using machine learning and deep neural networks in order to search for new interactions at the LHC on the other. The Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) in Durham, has an outstanding expertise in the theoretical aspects of physics beyond the Standard Model and on its phenomenological signatures and it is an ideal place for this ambitious project.