Data intense large order Feynman graph evaluation

Student: Ana Isabel Costa Pereira
Supervisor: Martin Gorbahn, John Gracey (UoL)
Institution: University of Liverpool

The PhD Studentship lies in the area of Theoretical Particle Physics, now entering an exciting new era of high precision physics. A wealth of novel and interesting results are anticipated at currently running experiments (CERN, Fermilab, J-PARC, KEK, PSI), with the main goal to observe evidence for new particles and new physics. This will provide the much needed information and direction to construct theories that extend the Standard Model of particle physics. Disentangling such "Beyond the Standard Model“ events, expected to be rare, requires theoretical input and in particular very precise calculations. The core formalism for this is the evaluation of Feynman graphs in a perturbative expansion in the coupling strength of the particle interactions. High order results are now absolutely necessary to meet the precision demanded by experiments. To achieve this involves evaluating Feynman integrals whose number increases exponentially with coupling constant order. The underlying techniques and algorithms to achieve this are data intensive and require significant computer management.

The studentship sits within this framework and it is envisaged that the specific topic for the project will lie in either the strong or electroweak sector of the Standard Model. The co-supervisors will be Dr Martin Gorbahn and Prof John Gracey with the student joining the Fundamental Particle Physics team based in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the School of Physical Sciences.

The studentship will be funded in part by STFC (subject to confirmation) and the LIV.INNO Centre for Doctoral Training for Innovation in Data Intensive Science.

Throughout the project the student will have access to our comprehensive postgraduate training in Theoretical Particle Physics as well as targeted training in data science provided by LIV.INNO. The student will also have the opportunity to carry out a six month work placement in order to broaden their wider research and career skills. This will be within one of the software engineering teams at STFC’s DiRAC High Performance Computing facility with centres in Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh and Leicester. The PhD project will be carried out over 48 months and for the most part will be based on the University of Liverpool main campus.