The Shape of Jets to Come: Boosting the Search for New Physics at the LHC

Monday, February 18, 2013 at 4:00pm

Rockefeller Hall, Schwartz Auditorium Central Campus

Department of Physics Colloquium, Jesse Thaler, MIT. Refreshments at 3:30pm.

Abstract: Collision events at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are dominated by jets -- collimated sprays of particles arising from the fragmentation of underlying quarks and gluons. Jets are a crucial probe of possible new physics beyond the standard model, but the high energy and high luminosity of the LHC pose serious challenges for precision jets studies. In this colloquium, I will report on recent advances in using jet substructure to maximize the discovery potential of the LHC. These advances include new methods to extract properties of the Higgs boson, new observables to identify boosted resonances from high energy collisions, and new insights into the physics of hadronization.