A Bottom Up Approach to New Physics in Flavor Phenomenology

This award funds the research activities of Professor Alakabha Datta at the University of Mississippi. One of the main goals of particle physics research is to test our present understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions through very high precision experiments. In the process, physicists hope to find the limit at which our present theories break down and have to be replaced by new physical laws. In the future, it is possible that these new laws will be exploited to develop novel technologies. As a result, this kind of research advances the national interest not only by increasing our understanding of how nature works at the most fundamental level but also potentially by providing solutions to the nation's technological needs over the long term. As part of his research, Professor Datta will analyze data from various ongoing experimental facilities in order to rigorously test our present understanding of fundamental physics, as encapsulated within the so-called Standard Model. Professor Datta will also test various models of new physics beyond the Standard Model with data from different high precision experiments. This project will also have significant broader impacts. It will provide education and training to a graduate student. In particular, the graduate student will learn new research techniques and also learn to effectively communicate their research results via written publications and oral presentations. Professor Datta and his student will also give lectures on their research results at various research institutions and in public forums. Finally, Professor Datta will develop special courses on the new developments in the field based on his research. At a technical level, Professor Datta and his group will explore clean ways to look for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics in various precision flavor experiments. With the historic discovery of a new particle, the Higgs boson, by the Large Hadron Collider experiment, it is expected that many new particles may be found in the near future. Information on the couplings and other properties of these particles can be indirectly obtained from precision measurements in low energy flavor experiments. It is also likely that new physics not easily accessible at high-energy collider experiments may be probed by analyzing data from precision flavor physics measurements at low energies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.