This award funds the research activities of Professor Neal Weiner at New York University.
The Standard Model is known to be an incomplete theory of nature. Most of the matter of the universe (the "dark matter", solidly established by astronomical and cosmological observations) consists of something undiscovered, and thus there must exist new particles not in the Standard Model. Additionally, the presence of the Higgs boson and the expected properties of a quantum field theory together suggest that new particles and fields will be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, because the properties of both of these new sets of particles are unknown, a broad theoretical study is required in order to evaluate what possible new particles might be discoverable with present techniques and what new search strategies might be needed. As part of this project, Professor Weiner intends to investigate a broad range of theoretical scenarios, both top-down (motivated by new and existing theoretical scenarios) and bottom-up (motivated by new signatures) as well as their experimental implications for the LHC and for direct-detection experiments. Additionally, Professor Weiner will pursue studies to understand the sensitivities of dark-matter searches, with a focus on the sensitivities of the astrophysical assumptions present in the existing analyses.
The broader impacts of this project will be wide ranging. Professor Weiner will involve both students and postdocs in his research program, providing opportunities to train future scientists. He will also continue his participation in physics summer schools (as invited), such as the TASI, CLASHEP, ICTP and Les Houches programs, to educate current PhD students on active research topics. Finally, he will continue his efforts to engage the public through public lectures as well as his outreach at the high-school level, anchored by his continued participation with the Governor's School summer program in North Carolina.
