Research Topics

 

CMS Experiment

We are conducting research on the Higgs boson using state-of-the-art analytical methods. Currently, we focus on the search for the production of two Higgs bosons, which gives information about the shape of the Higgs potential. Furthermore, we are investigating the associated production of Higgs bosons with the W and Z bosons and the coupling of the top quark to Higgs bosons. In these processes, we look for signs of new physical phenomena. In all of these data analyses, we use technologies that are at the forefront of modern digitization developments, including deep learning techniques. If you are interested in performing research with us as part of a Masters thesis, please feel free to contact us.

 

Pierre Auger Topic 2

a) Arrival directions and masses of ultrahigh-energy cosmic particles.

Using methods from deep learning techniques, we are developing advanced analyses for ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, reconstructing the nuclear mass of these particles, and mapping cosmic magnetic fields. In this way, we are approaching the solution to the puzzle: Where do cosmic rays come from?

b) Measure particle showers by radio signals.

We survey the antennas of the Pierre Auger Observatory using a research drone. From the atmospheric radio signals, we reconstruct the radio emission patterns in the atmosphere as well as the energy of the cosmic particles, which are exa-electronvolts, far above the energies of the LHC accelerator. If you are interested in researching with us as part of a Masters thesis, please feel free to contact us.

 

Bachelor

Theses topics in summer term 2023:

• Generation of particle collisions with diffusion models: Artificial particle collisions of proton-proton collisions are to be generated using diffusion models, such as those known from Dall-E.

• Optimization of a neural network for the classification of proton-proton collisions in the CMS experiment: New architectures such as transformer models will be tried and the impact of classifying the training data into meaningful physical subcategories.

• Z-Boson associated Higgs production in the invisible channel at the CMS experiment: First studies to analyze the HZ process with the decay of the Z boson to two neutrinos. The process provides a high number of expected events due to the high branching ratio of the Z to two neutrinos and involves the complex component of a neutrino reconstruction.

• Reconstruction of cosmic particle masses with transformer networks at the Pierre Auger Observatory: This work will compare the performance of pre-trained Transformer Networks with dedicated trained Deep Learning models.

• Information field theory for the Milky Way: characterization of the radio antennas of the Pierre Auger Observatory: Milky Way radio signals are processed using information field theory methods to measure the reception characteristics of Auger radio antennas.