Current Research
My research program addresses key open questions at the interface of particle physics, nuclear physics, and cosmology:
- Why does the Universe contain more matter than antimatter?
- What is the thermal history of electroweak symmetry-breaking?
- What is the origin of the tiny but non-zero neutrino masses?
- What are the new laws of nature that answer these and other puzzles not addressed by the Standard Model and General Relativity?
- How do we apply the ideas and methods of quantum field theory to answer these questions?
In the quest to tackle these challenges, my research team focuses on three broad areas:
- The quantum field theory of the early universe: What new theories of nature’s fundamental interactions can explain cosmological phenomena that the Standard Model and General Relativity cannot? How do we apply the concepts and methods of quantum field theory to reliably compute these phenomena?
- Tests of fundamental symmetries and studies of neutrino properties: How do the ways that theories of physics beyond the Standard Model respect or break various fundamental symmetries compare with the Standard Model? How might novel symmetry-breaking help solve puzzles, such as the origin of the cosmic matter-antimatter asymmetry or the neutrino masses?
- Precision calculations: How reliably can we compute physical processes that are being studied with high-precision experiments, such as measurements of parity-violating asymmetries in low-energy electron scattering or in high-energy e+e- collisions? What existing or novel methods in quantum field theory can be exploited to reduce the theoretical uncertainties in these computations?
All three areas present exciting scientific and career opportunities for early career theorists at both the Ph.D. student and post-doctoral levels. I welcome participation from anyone interested in tackling these challenges.