Search for Higgs decays into charm quarks

After the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, the Higgs Yukawa coupling to fermions has been experimentally confirmed only for the heavy 3rd-generation fermions. Higgs decays into the lighter first and second-generation fermions have not yet been experimentally observed. This project will perform a search for Higgs Boson decays into charm quarks based on the dataset collected between 2016 and 2025 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The search will use the associated production of Higgs bosons with Z bosons, which so far was limited by the sample size and the modelling uncertainty of the background from associated Z + charm (Z + cc) production. Hence, we will start with measuring the Z + cc production cross section and then use the insights from this project to improve the search for Higgs decays into charm. 

The funding for this project is for four years including two 3-month placements.

Supervisor Contact Details:

For more information on this project please contact Ulla Blumenschein (u.blumenschein@qmul.ac.uk)

Deadline – 31st of May 2024

Application Method:

To apply for this studentship please select September entry in the following page:

https://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/physics.html

Requirements

The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good Honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.

If English is not your first language you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of 6.0 in Writing and 5.5 in all sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking).

Other PhD projects in SPCS can be found below:

https://www.qmul.ac.uk/spcs/pprc/phd/phd-projects-in-pprc/