This award funds the research of Professor Ken Kiers at Taylor University.
The field of particle physics is entering a new era, now that data collection and analysis have begun in earnest at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). LHC experimentalists have already made significant progress in the search for the Higgs boson, and there are suggestive hints that the Higgs may soon be discovered. In addition to searching for the Higgs, the LHC has an ambitious program of research aimed at searching for "new physics" --- that is, physics beyond the Standard Model. The next few years could witness exciting discoveries as LHC experimentalists map out physics at the TeV energy scale. Professor Kiers will undertake a theoretical investigation focused on constructing observables that can be used to search for new physics and to distinguish among different types of new physics, should physics beyond the Standard Model be discovered. The research will be broken down into several projects. One of the main projects involves using the production and decay of the top quark to search for new physics. A second major project, which will be undertaken as part of a joint theoretical-experimental collaboration, focuses on supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. Finally, complementary projects are envisioned that could provide analytical tools to help search for or analyze new physics effects in other systems. New experimental results, as they become available, will also provide significant direction regarding which observables or models of new physics will be considered.
The work undertaken by Professor Kiers will also have a significant impact in a broader sense at Taylor University. In particular, the direct involvement of several undergraduate students in the research will enhance the educational experiences of those students and will better prepare them for entrance into top graduate schools. This level of undergraduate research will help the institution attract highly qualified undergraduate students to the physics program and will be particularly helpful in attracting more female and minority students, who are currently underrepresented in the physics program at Taylor.
