Overview
Experimental particle physics; physics beyond the standard model; weak interactions.
Research Focus
Our model of elementary particles describes an enormous number of experimental results, but it falls short of explaining phenomena such as dark matter, the disappearance of anti-matter from the universe, and the small size of the radiative corrections to the Higgs mass. My research uses data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to seek the new phenomena and particles that may explain these mysteries. Specifically, I look for particles with distinctly long lifetimes, since these would be unequivocal evidence for new phenomena and are predicted in numerous models.
In addition to my LHC research, I direct the Center for Bright Beams (CBB), which is an NSF Science and Technology Center that works to increase the brightness of electron beams in order to provide new capabilities for scientific research, industry and medicine. CBB research, which currently involves ten colleges and universities and three national labs, is exceptionally collaborative and highly interdisciplinary.
I also plan for the next collider, a Higgs Factory, which would explore the properties of the remarkable Higgs boson.
Graduate Students
Peace Kotamnives
Awards and Honors
- National Young Investigator, 1994-99
- Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1994-96
- Fellow, American Physical Society, elected 2003
- Provost’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship, 2005
- Department Chair 2009-11
- Director, Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE), 2012- present
- Director, Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE), 2012-2020
- Director, Center for Bright Beams, 2016-present
Professional Experience
- Research Associate, Cornell Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, 1990-93.
- Assistant Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 1994-99.
- Associate Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 1999-2005.
- Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 2005-present.
Publications
CMS Collaboration, “Search for long-lived particles decaying to jets with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV”, Physical Review D, 104 052011 (2021), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.052011
CMS Collaboration, Search for long-lived particles with displaced vertices in multijet events in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 98, 092011 (2018).
In the news
- After 75 years, accelerator physics still going strong in Newman Lab
- Accelerating the Power of Women in Physics
- $3.8M NSF grant begins a new era of early universe research
- Ten A&S faculty honored with endowed professorships
- Center for Bright Beams awarded $22M in grant renewal
- Campus community donates essential medical supplies
- Celebration marks prototype accelerator getting up to speed
- Five faculty members elected AAAS fellows
- Accelerator project gets push from National Academy of Sciences
- Lt. Gov. Hochul announces $15M from state for CHESS upgrade
- In Search of New Physics Phenomena