I am a graduate research student with a strong interest in silicon detectors and physics searches for beyond-Standard-Model (BSM) behaviour. My research in these directions is undertaken as part of the Oxford ATLAS and OPMD groups.
I am participating in the loading of ATLAS ITk pixel modules onto half-rings for new endcaps to be installed as part of the Phase 2 detector upgrade. Assembly is performed using a robotic gantry, and I have been involved in development of the procedures used for construction, as well as programming the gantry, and developing and assembling the electrical test system which will be used for QA/QC tests of half-rings post-production. I have been involved in the ATLAS system tests efforts and the outer barrel demonstrator at CERN, and in particular performed the hardware and DCS integration of the Phase-2 LISSY interlock into the demonstrator setup at SR1.
In addition to this, I am involved in a physics search for BSM behaviour - in particular, scalar and vector leptoquark models - in Drell-Yan processes with a di-tau (+ b-jet) final state within the Run 2 ATLAS dataset. I work within a relatively large analysis team, within which I am involved in developing and maintaining parts of the analysis chain, in particular related to preparation of the final distributions, and fitting to leptoquark models. I have also contributed signal region optimisation cuts for a subset of our signal regions, and have been involved in the implementation of fake factors for jets misidentified as taus in the decay channel with one tau decaying to a lepton and one to a hadron (which may be "faked" by a jet).
A strong personal research interest of mine relates to determinations and measurements of the material budget of future detectors during the R&D and early construction phases. Together with a team at CERN, I have performed a measurement of the fractional radiation length of an ATLAS ITk Pixel quad module at the CERN PS, using a 1.2GeV positron beam. Initial results have been made public as ITK-2023-002, and we are in the process of planning a follow-up measurement.