About Me

Education

Post Doctorate: University of Victoria

Graduate: University of Maryland (Physics PhD)

Undergraduate: Stanford University (BS)

Research

My research has focused on analyzing high energy collisions collected by the ATLAS and CMS experiments to search for Dark Matter and rare Standard Model processes

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PROJECTS

Link to my gitlab account

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MONO-Z CHANNEL

Collider searches infer the presence of Dark Matter (DM) through missing transverse energy (ETmiss) in the detector. The Mono-Z channel is sensitive to an ETmiss signature generated when dark matter recoils against a visible Z-boson.

The expected backgrounds to this search, shown as colored stacks, are calculated through simulation and data driven methods. The dominant background is ZZ production, where a Z boson decays to neutrinos. Expected ETmiss distributions for two DM models are shown by the overlaid dashed lines. The black dots represent the observed number of events. No statistically significant excess over the background only hypothesis was observed.

MY EXPERIENCE

Roles & Responsibilities

January 2019 - Dec 2019

ANALYSIS CONTACT

Lead analysis performing a statistical combination of ATLAS Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDMa) searches. Worked with the searches to coordinate generation of monte carlo signal events and definition of signal regions.

January 2018 - May 2019

ANALYSIS LIAISON

Acted as liaison to the Dark Matter Review paper on behalf of the Mono-Z analysis. Summarized current standing of collider based Dark Matter searches and reinterpreted previous results for new Dark Matter models.

November 2016 - December 2019

POSTDOCTRORAL RESEARCHER

For the ATLAS experiment analyzed the Mono-Z channel, searching for dark matter production through well defined Z-boson plus missing energy signatures. Performed statistical interpretation of the results and optimized selection cuts for the full Run 2 dataset.

Worked on the the ATLAS Calorimeter, essential for measuring the energy and direction of particles produced in high energy collisions. Was responsible for testing the transmission efficiency and cross-talk of new electronic baseplanes. In preparation for the HL-LHC, also did upgrade studies for the readout electronics: simulating the expected occupancy levels of calorimeter cells and the performance of digital filtering algorithms.

July 2012 - May 2016

GRADUATE RESEARCHER

For the CMS experiment, made one of the first measurements of two rare Standard Model processes: Wγγ and Zγγ production. This is a test of the Electroweak theory and is sensitive to new physics in the form of anomalous quartic gauge couplings.

Worked on the CMS Calorimeter. In particular, simulated the integration of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) in the outer calorimeter with the Level-1 Muon Trigger, and setup a single photon test-stand to calibrate the labs photomultupier tubes and measure the light yield of LYSO crystals, the active material in next generation detectors.

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