Higgs boson physics with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider

This studentship focuses on Higgs boson interactions that were newly observed in 2018: the Higgs boson's decay to b-quarks, and Higgs production in association with a W or Z boson (VH). Precise characterisation of the Higgs boson is a top priority in collider physics, addressing the key question of what are the basic constituents of matter and how do they interact. Initial work will focus on the legacy measurements of these processes using the full LHC Run-2 dataset. Subsequently the focus will be on preparing for analysis of LHC Run-3 data, for example developing differential distribution measurements in VH-like diboson events with H->bb. These measurements will require the enhanced statistics from LHC Run 3 and the studentship will include the recommissioning of ATLAS and the acquisition of first Run-3 data, starting in 2021. They will also benefit from the increased Run-3 centre-of-mass energy, 14TeV. These measurements will be a powerful tool for constraining Beyond Standard Model (BSM) contributions to the VH couplings, especially in the 'boosted' regime where the Higgs boson has high momentum and needs special reconstruction techniques, and will give scope for working at the intersection of precision measurement and BSM interpretation.