Particle Physics

Experimental

The experimental High Energy Physics group is active in a range of experiments studying the fundamental constituents of matter. The work includes accelerator-based experiments, studies using nuclear reactors, and the detection of new particles from astrophysical sources. This research takes place within the Enrico Fermi Institute and in many cases is joint with faculty in other departments. Faculty also work in close collaboration with researchers at CERN, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. The University of Chicago manages the latter two laboratories for the Department of Energy. Current research in high-energy physics includes studies of p-p interactions using the LHC at CERN; searches for weakly interacting and/or long-lived particles at dedicated experiments near accelerators like the LHC; development of new technologies, sensor concepts, collider facilities, and accelerator concepts for future high-energy experiments; searches for supersymmetric particles, dark sectors, and other unobserved forms of matter; precision tests of electroweak theory through measurements of the properties of the top quark and the W and Z bosons; searches for dark matter, both in collider experiments and from astrophysical sources; study of neutrino oscillations; studies of the highest energy cosmic rays; high-precision measurement of CP violation in K decays and high-sensitivity search for rare K decays.
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Theoretical

The Particle Theory Group, part of the Enrico Fermi Institute and associated with the Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics carries out research on a wide range of theoretical topics in formal and phenomenological particle physics, including field theory, string theory, supersymmetry, the standard model and beyond, cosmology, and mathematical physics. Among the many research topics are string theory and unification, duality in gauge theory and string theory, solitons and topological structures, D-branes, non-commutative geometry, the AdS/CFT correspondence, inflationary cosmology, the cosmological constant problem, CP violation, B physics, baryogenesis, supersymmetric model building, precision electroweak measurements, low-energy supersymmetry, heavy quark physics, confinement in QCD, quantum theory of black holes, large extra dimensions, fermion mass hierarchy, and integrable systems. There are strong ties to the Fermilab Theoretical Physics Group, the Argonne Theoretical High Energy Group, and the High Energy Experiment group at Chicago. Detailed information about the Particle Theory Group can be found here.
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