Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Below are some examples of possible PhD projects.

Title: Searching for new physics in electroweak penguin decays

Data analysis has in recent years shown up a number of surprising measurements in the decays of b-hadrons with leptons in the final state. The so-called electroweak penguin decays are very sensitive to as-yet undiscovered new heavy particles and the measurements might be the sign of the next break-through in particle physics. In JHEP09(2024)026, we implemented a new method that better takes into account theoretical uncertainties. In the project we will apply this method to the very large datasets that will be obtained from run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider.

In the project, you will analyse data from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Advanced computational techniques involving multi-threading, machine learning and multi-dimensional optimisation will be tools that you will become familiar with a develop. Travel to CERN in Geneva will also be a part of the PhD.

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Title: Precision timing of Cherenkov light for optimising detectors and accelerators

The advancement of Silicon Photon Diodes have made it possible to detect Cherenkov light cheaply and with excellent resolution in the arrival time of the photons. Cherenkov light is emitted when charged particles pass through material above the local speed of light. The effect can be used for a time of flight detector at the upgrade of the LHCb experiment and can also be used to characterise beams in accelerators and thus improve performance.

In the project we will look at developing this method better through a collaboration with the ANSTO that runs the Australian Synchrotron. You will hus get the possibility to develop instrumentation both here in Australia as well as at CERN in Geneva where the Large Hadron Collider is located.
Travel to CERN in Geneva will be a part of the PhD.

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Title: Development of jet flavour tagging at a electron-positron collider

The next large collider to be built in the world will most likely be an electron-positron collider that will function as a Higgs and Z0 boson factory. One of the most exciting data analyses to carry out there will be to measure the couplings of the Higgs bosons to quarks from the first and second generation. However, this is super challenging as the Higgs boson coupling in the Standard Model is proportional to mass (and the first and second generation quarks are very light).

In the project we will look at how algorithms can be developed and detectors designed to optimise the measurement of the Higgs couplings. One of the particular aspects to look at is how those algorithms can be calibrated. This might have direct impact on the design of the detectors. Travel to CERN in Geneva and/or Beijing will be part of the PhD.