John Parsons
Columbia University, NY·Physics
What is dark matter? Why does the universe contain more matter than antimatter?
- Fields
Physics
Computer Science
Engineering
- Topics
particle physics
high energy physics
Large Hadron Collider
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Measure properties of the Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider to probe fundamental particles and possible links to dark energy.
- Search at the LHC for supersymmetry, a theory predicting partner particles that could explain dark matter, and for signs of extra spacetime dimensions.
- Investigate unexplained short-distance neutrino anomalies with MicroBooNE, SBN and CCM to test for sterile neutrinos or dark sector physics.
- Study the number of neutrino types and symmetries between neutrinos and antineutrinos using the DUNE and SBN experiments at Fermilab.
- Develop detector instrumentation, including readout electronics and the ATLAS High-Luminosity LHC upgrade, along with AI/ML methods for analyzing particle physics data.
More about the research
Do undiscovered particles or forces exist? Particle physics tackles these questions by measuring the most basic building blocks of nature. This program, based at Columbia's Nevis Laboratories, approaches them through two main routes: detailed study of the Higgs boson, the particle linked to how others get mass, and study of neutrinos, nearly massless particles that rarely interact with matter.
Why it matters
This is basic science aimed at understanding dark matter, the Higgs boson and neutrinos, which could reshape knowledge of the universe's fundamental makeup. The detector electronics and AI/ML techniques developed along the way may find wider use in other areas of science and technology.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Suyog Shrestha
Washington College, MD·Physics
Search ATLAS data from the Large Hadron Collider for new Higgs-like scalar particles that decay into two bottom quarks and two W bosons, in final states with one or two leptons, a decay channel ATLAS has not yet studied.
Kyoungchul Kong
University of Kansas, KS·Physics
Develop quantum algorithms for particle physics data analysis, collision event reconstruction and anomaly detection.
Doojin Kim
University of South Dakota, SD·Physics
Develop theory frameworks for MeV-scale dark-sector physics at beam neutrino experiments, including light Kaluza-Klein gravitons from extra dimensions and rare three-body charged-meson decays that could produce light mediators.
The school
Columbia University: 89 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 625 research doctorates a year.
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