Dr Jon Hays Project Abstracts

BSc Projects

Beyond the Standard Model Higgs at the LHC
Though the Higgs boson discovered by the LHC in 2012 looks, with current measurements, very much like that predicted by the standard model of Particle physics, this does not rule out richer theories with multiple Higgs bosons where only one of them looks like that predicted in the standard model. This project will identify kinematic variables to distinguish between standard model Higgs production, Higgs production in multi Higgs doublet models and standard model background processes. It involves programming in C++ to run event generators based on Monte-Carlo simulation techniques and simple analysis with the ROOT software. 
Prerequisites: Strong C++ programming skills 

Improving the categorization of events in the search for the Higgs boson in its decays to b quarks
The Higgs boson was discovered at the LHC in the Summer of 2012 with a mass of around 125 GeV. There is strong evidence for its production in a number of its decay modes. However, as yet, there is not a statistically significant signal in the channel where the Higgs decays to a b quark and an anti-b quark. A key parameter in the performance of the search in this important channel is the resolution with which the mass of the Higgs can be reconstructed from measurements of the decay products. Being able to separate events where the mass is well measured from those where it is poorly measured may have an important impact on the sensitivity of the analysis. In this project you will investigate multivariate approaches to estimating the mass resolution on an event-by-event basis. 
Prerequisites: Strong C++ programming skills

MSci Review Projects

After several decades since it was first proposed, the Higgs boson was discovered at the LHC in the Summer of 2012. Summarise the accelerators, detectors, theory and experiment that lead to this discovery.

MSci Research/Investigative Projects

Beyond the Standard Model Higgs at the LHC
Though the Higgs boson discovered by the LHC in 2012 looks, with current measurements, very much like that predicted by the standard model of Particle physics, this does not rule out richer theories with multiple Higgs bosons where only one of them looks like that predicted in the standard model. This project will identify kinematic variables to distinguish between standard model Higgs production, Higgs production in multi Higgs doublet models and standard model background processes. It involves programming in C++ to run event generators based on Monte-Carlo simulation techniques and simple analysis with the ROOT software. 

Prerequisites: Strong C++ programming skills 

Improving the categorization of events in the search for the Higgs boson in its decays to b quarks 
The Higgs boson was discovered at the LHC in the Summer of 2012 with a mass of around 125 GeV. There is strong evidence for its production in a number of its decay modes. However, as yet, there is not a statistically significant signal in the channel where the Higgs decays to a b quark and an anti-b quark. A key parameter in the performance of the search in this important channel is the resolution with which the mass of the Higgs can be reconstructed from measurements of the decay products. Being able to separate events where the mass is well measured from those where it is poorly measured may have an important impact on the sensitivity of the analysis. In this project you will investigate multivariate approaches to estimating the mass resolution on an event-by-event basis. 

Prerequisites: Strong C++ programming skills