This award funds the research activities of Professor Giovanni Ossola at the New York City College of Technology (City University of New York).
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the largest and most powerful particle collider ever built, has begun operations. A major objective of the LHC is to search for the last missing particle predicted in the Standard Model of fundamental interactions, namely the Higgs boson. However, the process of discovering new particles and interactions requires extraordinary efforts from both the experimental and the theoretical sides of the high-energy physics community in processing, analyzing, and then comparing a huge amount of data with theoretical models and predictions. The main objective of Professor Ossola's research is the development of new theoretical tools in order to increase the precision of these theoretical predictions. Specifically, his research seeks to develop new methods for the automated computation of multi-particle one-loop scattering amplitudes.
This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. Professor Ossola aims to establish and maintain a stronger connection between the events taking place at CERN and the New York City College of Technology (CUNY), one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in the United States. This connection will be achieved through presentations within the Physics Departments of the City University of New York, where the ongoing progress at the LHC will be discussed; through the organization of public presentations, which will be directed to a broader audience outside of the physics community; and through the involvement of undergraduate students in activities that will convey the excitement of the new discoveries of science. New ideas and computational techniques will also be integrated into the development of new courses and curricula, which will provide encourage interest and participation in the sciences and technologies.
