Searching for Lepton Flavour Violation using top quark events in the ATLAS detector at the LHC

About the Project

The long-established RHUL ATLAS group is renowned for its expertise in physics (Higgs, top quark and exotic signatures involving electrons), statistical methods as well as trigger and data acquisition systems. The group is also heavily involved in the upcoming upgrades of the detector in view of the High-Luminosity running of the LHC.

The successful candidate will make use of the Run 2 dataset at the LHC (13 TeV collisions) to perform searches for Lepton Flavour Violation using top quark events. The top quark is the heaviest particle discovered so far and as such has a special relationship with the Higgs boson. According to the Standard Model, leptons of different flavours have identical properties. Recent results from the g-2 and LHCb experiments seem to indicate some violation of this principle, which, if confirmed, would be a dramatic development in our understanding of particle physics. Top quarks decay into a W boson and a b quark. The b quark hadronizes into a B-hadron. Comparing the rates of B-hadrons decaying into a muon or a tau will search for lepton flavour violation.

In addition, PhD students in the RHUL ATLAS group contribute to the development of the ATLAS trigger system, as well as to the operation of the ATLAS detector at CERN.

Applicants should submit their application using our Applicant Portal. Please note that a research proposal is not required.

Find out more about Research degree (PhD) opportunities at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Note: This project has been selected as a joint project with STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Candidates should submit an application to both RAL (by email) and Royal Holloway (by using our Applicant Portal).

Funding Notes

The funding normally comes with the possibility for Long Term Attachment funds to work at CERN for up to 18 months during the PhD.