My current research is focused on observing and characterizing rare, multiboson SM processes with data collected during Runs 2 and 3 of the ATLAS detector. The first of process I focused on was the production of a W-boson in association with two photons. This process is predicted in the Standard Model but had not yet been observed. There are a number of ways the Standard Model allows for Wγγ production, but the (arguably) most interesting process is the following:

which requires a quartic gauge coupling between two W-bosons and two photons. With the dataset ATLAS collects between 2015 and 2018, we observed the low production cross-section Wγγ process with an observed significance of 5.6 standard deviations. This result is published in Physics Letters B:

If you rotate the quartic vertex slightly, you can also probe these quartic gauge boson coupligs via a process known as vector boson scattering, or electroweak producion of two bosons in association with two jets. The paper detailing the obsesrvation of this process was recently accepted for publication in EPJC! This paper also includes an effective field theory interpretation of the differential cross-section, which allows us to characterise the agreement of the result with standard model predictions in a model-independent manner.

My group and I are currently working on two extensions of the above papers: a combined effective field theory measurement of processes sensitive to quartic gauge couplings, and an inclusive diboson Wγ differetial cross-section measurement. We've also started looking at Run 3 data with a combined Run 2/Run 3 search for charged Higgs bosons produced via vector boson fusion. These charged Higgs bosons decay to W and/or Z bosons, and thus have a very similar topology to vector bosons scattering processes!

MATHUSLA is a proposed detector that would provide sensitivity to ultra long-lived particles produced in LHC collisions. Currently, even if they're being produced, these particles are undetectable with the traditional on-beam detectors at LHC. MATHUSLA would be located on the surface, around 60m away from the proton-proton interaction point:

This 60m, which is primarily rock, act as an absorber to eliminate large, Standard Model backgrounds from MATHUSLA LLP searches. Placing the detector on the surface allows for the construction of a large decay volume for the LLPs, unconstrained by the excavation of an underground cavern. Details about the MATHUSLA detector can be found in our latest publication, an update to the letter of intent:

or on our website mathusla-experiment.web.cern.ch. At UVic, I lead the MATHUSLA research group. We currently have a 64-channel test stand constructed from nominal detector materials on campus, and are studying the component performance with cosmic ray data.

From 2012 - 2017, my research focused on searches for hadronic, long-lived neutral particles. Most searches for physics beyond the standard model involve looking for some combination of standard model particles produced at the interaction point. However, there is also the possibility that new physics might look somewhat different.

Instead of a new particle being created in the proton-proton collision and immediately decaying into standard model particles, it is possible that these new particles could travel through the detector, not interacting with any of the material, before decaying into observable particles. These decays would leave a unique and striking signature in the detector: a burst of activity far away from the collision, with nothing in between.

For the most part, I focused on reconstructing and identifying possible displaced decays in the muon spectrometer. My main publications in this area are listed below: