Department of Physics and Astronomy

Project Descriptions for Physics and Astronomy MSc Students

2013/14
Astronomy and Cosmology
Dr Mafalda Dias: M.Dias@sussex.ac.uk Room: Pevensey III 4C4
Reliable Predictions in Multifield Inflation
One of the most fascinating challenges for cosmology is to learn about the physics of the very
early universe via observations of the primordial distribution of matter. For this, we need to be
able to test models of inflation against cosmological data to high precision. A very important
class of inflation models are those involving several scalar fields, the so-called multifield models.
For these, it is not always easy to calculate predictions, and in fact, in some cases the ability to
make predictions is still an open question. It is of extreme importance to understand in which
cases this occurs. In this project, you will explore the challenges of computing reliable
predictions in inflation, in particular in multifield models, and develop tests that identify if a model
can or cannot be compared with data. The project will be mainly analytic but it will also require
some numerical work in Maple or Mathematica.
Dr Dipak Munshi: d.munshi@sussex.ac.uk Room Pevensey III 4C4
1. Estimation of 3D Power Spectrum from Cosmological Data
In the near future, surveys such as Euclid, will measure a large number of photometric redshifts.
This will allow determination of power-spectrum of density fluctuations not only in projection but
also in three dimensions (3D). The aim of this project is to develop analytical framework and
implement them numerically for estimation of power-spectrum from individual cosmological data
sets or cross-correlate two different data-sets in 3D. Results obtained will be useful in analysing
3D galaxy surveys to probe Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations or to analyze data from Weak
Lensing surveys and cross-correlate them against CMB surveys to extract 3D evolution of
secondaries. No prior knowledge of prior spectrum estimation from cosmological data set will be
assumed.
2. Statistical Characterization of CMB Secondaries
The aim of this project will be to understand the statistics of Cosmic Microwave Background
Radiation (CMB) temperature maps with special emphasis on morphological estimators such as
the Minkowski Functionals and higher order multi-spectra. We will focus on various secondaries
such as the lensing of CMB and its cross-correlation with other secondaries e.g. the Integrated
Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect or the thermal Sunyaev Zeldovich (tSZ) effect. The project will initially
focus on understanding the physics of CMB secondaries and their impact on the statistics of
temperature fluctuations. Finally simulations of CMB sky will be used to compare theoretical
predictions against numerical simulations. No prior knowledge of CMB physics or simulations
will be assumed. At the end of the project it is expected that student will understand the basics of
CMB and will be able to analyze simulated CMB maps or maps from CMB missions such as
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WMAP or Planck. The statistical tools that will be developed will have diverse applications in
other areas of cosmology.

Dr Ilian Iliev: I.T.Iliev@sussex.ac.uk

- Room: Pevensey III 4C5

1. Observational signatures of Cosmic Reionization

After the hot Big Bang the Universe expanded and cooled, eventually turning the primordial
soup of particles into a sea of neutral gas,starting the cosmic "Dark Ages". The light produced
by the First Stars gradually ionized the universe again and ended the Dark Ages. This
transition, called Cosmic Reionization had profound effects on the formation and character of
the early cosmological structures and left deep impressions on subsequent galaxy and star
formation. Within this project we will be analysing the results from state-of-the-art simulations of
this process to infer the observable features produced by the first structures and detectable by
the current generation of large dedicated observational facilities like the radio inferometer
LOFAR.
2. Properties of halos and large-scale structures
The small density inhomogeneties left over from the period of fast initial expansion of the
universe gradually grew under the force of gravity, and eventually formed the galaxies and
large-scale structures we see today. Within this project we will be using the results from
state-of-the-art numerical N-body simulations on supercomputers, some of which among the
largest ever performed to date, to understand this process. In particular, we will study the
non-linear evolution of structures - clustering, sub-structures and internal properties of galactic
and cluster dark matter halos, redshift-space distortions and others. We will be comparing
these features to data from large galaxy surveys in order to derive the fundamental parameters
describing the universe we live in.

Dr Antony Lewis: Antony.Lewis@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey III 4C7

Neutrino density perturbations in cosmology Neutrinos are known to have some small mass,
which can be important for the growth of cosmological structures. In linear theory this can be
calculated by tracking how the distribution of neutrinos with different speeds evolves with time,
and integrating over the distribution to find the density and pressure, which then effects the
growth of large scale structure in the universe. However this process is computationally time
consuming, and simpler methods should be accurate to track the evolution when the neutrinos
are highly relativistic or non-relativistic, or the fluctuations are very small compared to the
horizon size. You will investigate the use of fluid and other approximations for calculating the
evolution of the neutrino perturbations. The project will be fairly mathematical and require some
analytic as well as numerical work (adapting the Fortran 90 code CAMB to test different
approximations).
Dr Jon Loveday: J.Loveday@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Chichester III 3R347b

1. Galaxy properties and environment

The first part of this project is to measure the local density of galaxies in the Galaxy and Mass
Assembly (GAMA; http://www.gama-survey.org/) survey, correcting for survey boundaries and
the survey selection function. You will then go on to investigate correlations between
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environment and intrinsic galaxy properties, such as luminosity, colour, stellar mass and
star formation rate, determining the extent to which these properties are influenced by
environment.
2. Galaxy clustering: dependence on galaxy properties
Using proprietary data from the GAMA survey, you will investigate the dependence of galaxy
clustering on galaxy properties, including luminosity, colour and morphology. This will be
done using marked correlation functions, and can be used to constrain models of galaxy
formation and evolution by comparing with results from simulated galaxy catalogues.
3. What shapes galaxies?
Galaxies take on a variety of intrinsic three-dimensional shapes but are seen projected on the
sky. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, the true three-dimensional shapes of
galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (www.sdss.org) may be inferred. An
investigation of correlations between galaxy shapes and their intrinsic properties, such as
luminosity and colour, and environmental properties, such as local density, will allow you to
determine what physical processes are most important in determining galaxy shapes.
Professor Seb Oliver: S.Oliver@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Chichester III 3R346

Title: The Herschel Multi-Tiered Extra-galactic Survey: HerMES

The formation of stars in the distant Universe is a process usually shrouded in dust. This dust
obscures the light from young stars which is absorbed and re-emitted as far infrared or
sub-millimetre radiation. This process is so significant that half of all the light received from
distant galaxies today half is seen at these long wavelengths. Thus understanding obscured
star formation is critical to understanding galaxy evolution and so far very challenging. The
European Space Agency (ESA) recently launched a major 1B mission, Herschel, to study
obscured star formation. The largest project on Herschel is HerMES is mapping 70 sq.
degrees of the sky and is led at Sussex by Prof. Oliver. This project has already discovered
10s of thousands of distant obscured galaxies (compared to about 2000 prior to
Herschel). Your project would contribute to HerMES, either in theoretically modelling the
populations of galaxies we find or observationally in processing and analysing the data from
Herschel and others telescopes observing the Herschel galaxies.
Dr Kathy Romer: Romer@sussex.ac.uk Room: Chichester III 3R347a
Clusters of galaxies as cosmological probes and astrophysical laboratories: making use of the
latest X-ray and optical surveys.
Supervisor: Dr A. Kathy Romer (in collaboration with the XMM Cluster Survey and Dark
Energy Survey international consortia)
Clusters of galaxies offer a unique window on the universe. As the largest collapsed objects in
the heavens, they can be used to probe cosmology in a variety of ways. Moreover, they are
host to a range of complex astrophysical processes and hold the key to unlocking mysteries
such as the evolution of galaxies. The XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) is an international, Sussex
led, project (~20 scientists) that has uncovered more X-ray bright clusters than any other
survey before it. This world leading project is ripe for scientific exploitation, with thousands of
clusters available for individual or ensemble analysis. The ultimate goal of the XCS is to
constrain models of Dark Energy, but a student would be able to choose from a variety of
different science and analysis applications. The student would also be able to take part
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in the much larger (~200 scientists) Dark Energy Survey (DES) - an optical project aiming to
detect up to 100 times more clusters than XCS using the signature of galaxy over density. MSc
students in Romer's group have the opportunity to work on projects related to either XCS or
DES (or both). Students with both a desire to go on to PhD student, and coding experience, are
particularly welcome (if you have no coding background, start teaching yourself Python before
you arrive).
Dr Stephen Wilkins: s.wilkins@sussex.ac.uk

Room Pevensey 3 4C8

The coolest stars

Brown dwarfs are very-low mass (<0.08 M_sol) sub-stellar objects. These objects have
relatively cool cores and consequently never trigger Hydrogen-1 fusion instead fusing
Deuterium and sometimes Lithium. These objects emit virtually all of their radiation in the
near-infrared and are consequently invisible to optical surveys. The recent NASA Wide-field
Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission has identified a new class of these objects with
extremely cool effective temperatures (<500 K). The aim of this project is to search deep ground
(from the VISTA telescope) and space (from Hubble) based near-infrared imaging for these
objects. In this project you will first design a technique to separate brown dwarfs from other
objects (in particular high-redshift galaxies) before applying this technique to the available
imaging.
Dr Mark Sargent:

mark.sargent@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey III 4C11

1. Spiral arm structure in distant disk galaxies

Spiral arms are among the visually most striking features of disk galaxies. Spiral patterns
ranging from classic 'grand design' spirals to flocculent/patchy spirals are observed in local
galaxies, depending on galaxy type, gas content and also observational wavelength. Little is
known, however, about the spiral structure of distant galaxies which have more gas and a more
turbulent interstellar medium due to the energy injected by the strong star-formation activity in
these systems.
In this project we will investigate the spiral structure of galaxies at redshift 0<z<1 (i.e. look-back
times of up to 8 Gyr) by studying, e.g., the degree of rotational symmetry, winding strength and
luminosity contrast with respect to the underlying stellar disk. You will analyse Hubble Space
Telescope images of several thousand disk galaxies located in the COSMOS survey field. You
will learn to apply image analysis tools commonly used in optical/near-IR astronomy and will
become familiar with the handling of large databases that are produced during extragalactic
surveys. Some coding experience and/or familiarity with IDL or an equivalent language would
be an advantage (interested students without these skills should be willing to teach themselves
the basics within the first few weeks of the project).
Professor Peter Thomas: P.A.Thomas@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Chichester III 3R345

Making galaxies
The formation of galaxies is one of the outstanding problems in contemporary
astrophysics. We understand how dark matter collapses under its own gravity to form small
clumps that gradually merge together to form larger and larger "galactic halos". However, the
simplest models of how galaxies form within these halos gives properties that disagree wildly
with observations. It seems that we need huge amounts of feedback of energy from
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supernovae (exploding stars) and active galactic nuclei (supermassive black holes).
Simulations of galaxy formation are in their infancy and cannot yet reproduce a realistic galaxy
population. Instead, major advances have been made using "semi-analytic models" for the
growth of galaxies within dark matter halos.
This project can be set at a variety of levels depending upon the experience of the student:
* Comparing the predictions of semi-analytic models to the latest observational data.
* Adapting an existing semi-analytic model to try to better reproduce the observations and/or
give greater insight into the processes governing galaxy formation.
You will work with the latest observational data from large galaxy surveys such as SDSS (the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey) or SERVS (the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey),
and simulations from the Vigo Supercomuting Consortium.
Familiarity with MATLAB (or IDL) is desirable.
Dr Chris Byrnes: ctb22@sussex.ac.uk Pevensey III 4C6
1.
There has been a tremendous progress in observations about the universe in the past
decade. Detailed observations of the cosmic microwave background have placed the field of
cosmology onto a firm footing. However, these observations are all made on the very largest
scales which exist in the visible universe. To learn more about the early universe and especially
the theory of inflation, we also need to learn about much smaller scales.
One way to do this is to study the formation of primordial black holes, which will form whenever
there are large over densities present in the early universe. The aim of this project is to study
how they likely they are to form in a few special models of inflation. This involves calculating the
probability of creating sufficiently large over densities depending on the probability density
function of the energy density distribution. Doing this will require both some analytical and
numerical work, for example using Maple or Mathematica. Some knowledge of cosmology is
required, but there is no need to have studied anything to do with black holes.
2. Implications from the Planck satellite on the curvaton scenario
In 2013 the Planck satellite has released the best ever snapshot of the big bang, more
specifically on an epoch of inflation during the very early universe. One of its biggest
achievements was strongly tightening the allowed deviations from a Gaussian distribution of the
primordial density/temperature perturbations. The curvaton model is a popular and special type
of inflationary model in which the perturbations are typically not Gaussian. The aim of this
project is to study how compatible the curvaton model remains today, in light of the excellent
Planck constraints. The curvaton model still satisfies the observations for some regions of
parameter space, but how finely tuned are these regions?
A strong level of mathematics is essential for this project. Some experience with programming
and producing plots is also desirable, e.g. using Maple or Mathematica.

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

Dr Jacob Dunningham: Room: Pevensey II 3A3
1. Quantum-enhanced sensing devices
One of the most exciting new potential technologies to emerge from quantum physics is the
ability to measure physical phenomena with unprecedented precision. This could allow us to
subject scientific theories to higher levels of scrutiny and lead to a range of new industrial
applications. Current sensors rely on conventional (classical) physics. However, by using a fully
quantum approach it is possible to achieve much greater sensitivities to phenomena such as
magnetic, electric, or gravitational fields or rotations. Quantum sensing could therefore be
applied to detecting and identifying remote objects or (in the case of rotations) improving the
precision of gyroscopes for navigation and stabilisation devices.
While the feasibility of these ideas has been demonstrated in principle, the key problem is
making them practical. The quantum states required for many schemes are difficult to engineer
and fragile to noise which is inevitably present in any real-world situation. In this project we will
study the principles of quantum enhanced sensing and develop schemes that overcome these
problems. The key aim will be to identify a way of achieving a sensitivity that surpasses
anything possible in classical physics even when the effects of noise are accounted for.
2. Particle localisation via measurement-induced entanglement
One of the mysteries of physics is why we have two very successful theories classical and
quantum physics that operate on different length scales. The correspondence principle states
that quantum theory should be able to describe both and that the quantum predictions should
match those of classical theory in the limit of large quantum numbers. However, there are
certain quantum features such as superposition that we dont see in the classical world.
This project aims to explore the boundary between the two theories in the context of quantum
entanglement. In particular, we will study how particles acquire well-defined spatial localisations
when light is scattered off them and detected. This process creates a specific type of
entanglement between pairs of particles that mimics the behaviour of classical particles but in
relative (rather than absolute) space. This suggests we can interpret classicality in terms of the
uniquely quantum feature of entanglement.
We will explore the nature of this process and understand the link between localisation and
entanglement. We will also aim to devise experiments that could be carried out to test this
theory and study the important effects of the particle dynamics on the localisation process.
Dr Claudia Eberlein: claudia@sussex.ac.uk Room: Pevensey II 4A16
Research area: Quantum Field Theory applied to quantum optics and cold-atom physics
Quantum mechanics and quantum field theory are well explored and very successful for
systems considered in isolation, for example for the description of the energy levels of a single
atom. However, when such an atom is found in close proximity to a material surface, quantum
fluctuations of the electromagnetic field lead to a shift in its energy levels and this shift depends
on the distance from the surface, leading to an attractive force on the atom. These kind of
effects are becoming increasingly important with the rapid progress in nanotechnology, and
there is a wide range of systems to explore where they might play a role. Students wanting to
work on a project in this area need excellent mathematical skills and solid knowledge of
electrodynamics, quantum mechanics to an advanced level, and condensed matter physics.
Most calculations will be analytic. Students will need to take a non-standard selection of
courses comprising quantum field theory, complex analysis and partial differential equations,
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and atomic physics. Some projects may be run in collaboration with an experimental physicist,
most likely with Jose Verdu.
Professor Barry Garraway: B.M.Garraway@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 4A11

Title: Decay of quantum systems

Description: There are two choices of project here which look at issues in the topic of
decoherence, or the decay of quantum systems. In the first project you will examine how a
quantum system coupled to an environment can be understood as a system coupled to a chain
of quantum oscillators. This has been of recent interest in understanding photosynthesis.
The project will model a simple system using the chain and examine how excitation travels
down the chain. In the second project a model will be made of a quantum system with three
resonances, which poses interesting issues for simple representations and approximations to
the system because of interferences.
Title: Control of cold atoms with electromagnetic gratings
Description: Ultra-cold atoms and BECs have the potential to revolutionise the technology of,
for example, interferometry, rotation sensing, and gravimetry. Improving this technology
requires new kinds of atom traps which are under design and construction. This theory project
will look at methods for ejecting atoms from their traps and in particular will examine the use of
electromagnetic gratings (such as standing waves) for creating momentum distributions from
the cold atoms (i.e. a beam splitter for atoms).
Titile: Cold atoms in rf traps
Description: In this project you will examine the behaviour of cold atoms in hybrid traps
composed of magnetic and electromagnetic fields. Modelling of experiments may be
undertaken. Double-well potentials leading to applications in matter wave interferometry are of
particular interest. (Computing ability is essential.)

Dr Winni Hensinger: W.K.Hensinger@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 3A5

Ion Quantum Technology

Quantum theory can have powerful applications due to the possibility of implementing new
quantum technologies such as the quantum computer. While such a device could have very
important commercial and national security applications due to the existence of quantum
factoring algorithms, its existence would revolutionize modern day science by allowing true
quantum simulations of systems that may be modelled classically only insufficiently due to an
in-principle limitation of current computer technology. Recent developments in ion trapping
technology show that it should be possible to build a quantum computer with trapped ions. In
the Ion Quantum Technology group at Sussex, we are in the process to build an elementary
quantum computer, an effort that will be based in Sussex but include links to nanofabrication
facilities, ion trapping groups and theorists around the world. (More information on the web:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/physics/iqt/)
1.
Laser cooling of ytterbium ions
Trapping single atoms is being described as one of the most demanding experiments in atomic
physics. This project includes experimental work in trapping and cooling single ions towards the
realization of an ion trap quantum computer. You will learn about laser cooling of ytterbium ions.
Furthermore, you will study ways how to cool the ions to the quantum mechanical ground state.
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This project includes both theoretical and experimental parts. You will learn how to align lasers
onto the ion trap, operation of a laser locking scheme, and the handling of a complicated
imaging system as well as studying the theoretical foundations of how to manipulate ions using
lasers. Your work should leads towards the experimental realisation of ground state cooling
with trapped ions.
2.
Advanced ion chips
For large scale quantum computing to occur large scale ion trap arrays need to be designed
that allow optimal storage, shuttling and entanglement operations to be performed. The arrays
are constructed within an integrated microchip. In this project you will study how to add
advanced features to ion chips such as digital signal processing, on-chip cavities, fibre
connects along with on-chip resistors and capacitors. In addition, you will devise recipes for the
application of microwaves on the chip and the implementation of magnetic field gradients. You
will identify important issues in nanofabrication of ion traps and address such challenges with
advances in condensed matter physics.
3.
Exploring optimal ion trap geometries
At Sussex, we are actively researching optimal in trap geometries for the implementation of
large scale ion trap chips. This project will investigate different ion trap geometries and model
different ion trap junction types. The aim is to find optimal geometries for shuttling, storing and
manipulating single ions. Shuttling of single atomic ions that are used as quantum bits for a
quantum computer is a complicated process and we need to understand how single ions can
be efficiently separated from another, turn corners and be decelerated using optimal
geometries for this purpose. Electromagnetic field simulations will determine the ion trapping
characteristics of different trap geometries. In this project you will research such optimal ion
trap geometries and find scaling laws to understand such geometries in depth.
4.
Shuttling trapped ions inside arrays
In our group we develop advanced ion trap arrays on a chip. In order to transport ions through
such an array of electrodes the motion of the ion has to be carefully controlled. This project
investigates how ions can be carefully shuttled in such an ion trap array without changing their
motional quantum state. You will investigate optimal ways to transport individual ions and
develop voltage sequences that are applied to multiple electrodes in order to move ions along a
line, transport them through a junction or separate ions that are part of an ion string.

5.
Quantum hybrid systems and cryogenic vacuum systems
Realization of quantum hybrid systems is one of the major challenges in modern science. We
plan to couple the quantum state of an ion to that of a macroscopic object, a cantilever or
membrane. Realizing such a system may require the operation of a cryogenic vacuum system
operating at 4K. Within this project you will analyze what would be required to realize such a
system appropriate for our experiments. You will evaluate and design the system, learning
about cryogenics and determine optimal solutions. You will then design the system using CAD
software and investigate all relevant practical issues.
6.
Entanglement creation and quantum simulators Quantum technology, particularly
quantum computing relies on the ability to entangle ions. Entanglement has been referred by
Einstein as spooky and is one of the most counterintuitive predictions of quantum physics. In
order to create ion entanglement here at Sussex optimal ion quantum gates must be identified
and the ion trap experiment must be modified to allow for entanglement gates. This may involve
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some theory, programming and experimental work. You will also evaluate how to increase gate
fidelities in order to reduce error rates within quantum computing operations.
7.
Entanglement with magnetic field gradients.
You will devise recipes for the application of microwaves on the chip and the implementation of
magnetic field gradients for entanglement generation. You will design particular ion chips for
this purpose, optimize their performance and develop practical fabrication designs.
8.
Communicating quantum technology
A famous quantum physicist once proclaimed that the only physicists who understand quantum
physics are the ones who know that they dont understand it. Within this project you will analyze
the factors that lead to the difficulty in obtaining an intuitive understanding of quantum physics.
Once these factors become clear, you will devise strategies to circumvent such problems and
create a strategy to communicate quantum technology research to a number of different target
groups such as the general public, A-level students and undergraduate physics students. You
will then create appropriate materials such as websites, simulations, applets, handouts and
hand-on demonstrations in order effectively communicate quantum technology research. You
will also measure the efficiency of the created strategy and materials by analyzing its effect on
various target groups. Experience in making websites and interactive simulations would be very
useful.
Dr Matthias Keller: M.K.Keller@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 3A5a

1.
Spectroscopy of molecular ions
In order to perform high resolution spectroscopy on molecular ions the relevant transition
frequencies must be known to better than a few MHz. This requires novel spectroscopy
methods which combine the continuous generation of molecular ions and the extraction of a
spectroscopic signal. The molecular ions will be created in a low pressure gas discharge. The
increase of the molecules internal energy due to the absorption of light changes the properties
of the gas discharge which will serve as the spectroscopic signal.
The goal of this project is to design, build and test an opto-galvanic spectroscopy system and to
perform spectroscopy of molecular nitrogen.
Skills you will acquire:
Electronic design and circuit production
Optics design and alignment
Laser spectroscopy
Set up of diode lasers
Vacuum technology
2.
Micro-controller based Signal Processing
Electronic circuits are indispensible in modern molecular physics labs. Often, the required
processing of signals cant be easily done with analogue electronics. Using fast
analogue-to-digital converters together with a micro-controller can serve as a versatile signal
processing unit. The signal is digitalised and processed by the programmable micro-controller
and then converted back into an analogue signal.
The goal of this project is the programming of a PIC micro-controller to serve as a versatile
signal processing system. It includes the design and test of peripheral electronic circuits.
Skills you will acquire:
Electronic design and circuit production
Micro-controller programming
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3.
Frequency doubling of a IR diode laser
Continuous lasers in the ultra-violet are important tools for the laser cooling and state detection
of atomic ions. However, often there are no lasers available at the required wavelength. In
contrast, the near IR range of the light spectrum is entirely covered by diode lasers. These
lasers are easy to use, reliable and cheap. In order to generate UV laser radiation, the light of
an IR diode laser is frequency doubled by an intra-cavity non-linear crystal.
The goal of this project is to design, plan and build a frequency doubled diode laser system
consisting of an IR diode laser and an optical cavity to enhance the laser power.
Skills you will acquire:
Electronic design and circuit production
Optics design and alignment
Set up of diode lasers
High precision frequency reference for cavity-QED
Experiments in cavity-QED require the stabilisation of all components of the set-up, in particular
the optical resonator and the semiconductor laser sources used for excitation in our laboratory.
This is an important requirement for controlling the interaction of ions and photons in schemes
like single photon generation or long distance ion-photon entanglement. As a reference to
which all other tuneable components are stabilised, a semiconductor diode laser is used which
itself is locked to a transition in atomic caesium. In the project, the student will set up this stable
diode laser system and compare the precision of different Doppler-free stabilisation methods, in
particular polarization spectroscopy and modulation transfer spectroscopy. The project involves
work with diode lasers, optics and electronics.

Dr Jose Verdu: J.L.Verdu-Galiana@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 4A10

The geonium chip. Cryogenic Penning traps permit the control of the dynamics of a trapped
single electron with very high accuracy. The electron remains confined for months, highly
protected against decoherence. Moreover, the continuous Stern-Gerlach effect allows for
the coherent manipulation of its spin. A single electron in a Penning trap is known as a
geonium atom, where the role of the nucleus is played by the external trapping fields. The
geonium atom is an outstanding system for testing the laws of physics with very high
accuracy. In our new Atomic Physics laboratory at Sussex we are starting to set-up a
cryogenic system by means of a Pulse Tube Cryocooler, a closed cycle cryostat with base
temperature around 2.8 K. We have conceived a novel planar trap chip that uses
superconducting microwave resonators and where a single electron will be captured and
observed a geonium chip , which should become a versatile building block for future
quantum circuits.
Two experimental MSc projects are offered:
The first project regards the implementation of a cryogenic electron emitter for loading the
trap with electrons on-demand. This project requires simulations with electron-optics
software (SimIon) and the mechanical and electrical design of the system.
The second one regards the design and implementation of a cryogenic detector for
observing a single trapped electron. The task requires the construction and test of a high
quality-factor tank-circuit @ 30 MHz, its corresponding cryogenic amplifier and the room
temperature detection electronics.
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Theorists are also welcome to discuss about possible projects.

Experimental Particle Physics
Dr Alessandro Cerri: a.cerri@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 4A14

The physics of flavour with the ATLAS experiment

The Large Hadron Collider is colliding protons at the highest energies ever achieved in a
man-made experiment. This allows us to perfect our understanding of the dynamics of the
tiniest constituents of matter, as well as that of the evolution of our universe. These
understandings often happen through precision investigations of phenomena that are
already known, like the so called "flavour sector" of particle physics. Flavour physics is
indeed an ideal precision ground to look for indirect concrete evidences of new physics and
the ATLAS experiment has collected a large amount of data which can be used to
investigate and constrain these contributions, in a physics context which is rich, fruitful and
well understood. Measurements can range from precision determinations of particle
properties (production mechanisms, lifetimes etc.) to the search and identification of
properties of new particles: the ATLAS heavy flavour group is in fact the one responsible for
the very first new particle discovered at the LHC. In contributing to a study in this topic,
you will learn the basic tools of experimental measurements in particle physics: data
analysis, statistical methods and the simple beauty of this sector of particle physics.
Depending on your skills and interest, the activity can be focused on detector-related
studies, data analysis oriented programming (C++, as well as the ROOT analysis
framework) and the statistical treatment of data. In all cases you will become part of an
analysis team and contribute to the publication of a new result from the ATLAS experiment
at the LHC.
The identification of low-momentum muons in the ATLAS experiment
The first data taking period of the ATLAS experiment has come to a conclusion, and particle
physicists are working to obtain the best possible results out of the data collected so far.
The unprecedented energies achieved in the LHC collisions, as well as the large amount of
data collected, set the experiment in the ideal situation to look for very rare disintegrations
of known particles. Besides the intrinsic interest, these are very important because the tiny
probabilities involved could be significantly affected by the existence of yet undiscovered
particles: this could be one of the first exciting places where to look for what is around the
corner in our next steps of understanding of the physical universe! One of the most
sensitive and glamorous of these "rare decays" is the disintegration of b-quark bound states
known as "B mesons" into two light highly-penetrating muons. The purity and efficiency with
which these muons are identified has an immediate reflection in our ability to identify one of
the rarest (1 decay every ~ 1000000000) disintegrations ever observed. The aim of this
project is to employ the information coming from some of the most sophisticated parts of the
ATLAS detector using advanced statistical techniques to obtain the most precise and
accurate information on the candidate muons used to look for rare B decays. This can have
a huge impact in the reach for evidences of new physical processes, and will be part of one
of the most sought-after public results of the ATLAS experiment.
This project, although very specific and very instructive in terms of experimental particle
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physics data analysis, would benefit from the interest of a student keen on detector
performance and/or the statistical extraction of information from large amounts of data with
techniques not dissimilar from what used in several other areas (finance, market analysis,
machine learning, language and gesture recognition, geological data analysis and most
areas where sifting of large amounts of data is a relevant technique).

The optimal use of information in the study of rare B decays in ATLAS

Statistical data analysis is a major part of experimental particle physics studies. A student
particularly keen on mathematical/numerical methods with an interest
in particle physics could become a major asset to one of the flagship analyses of the ATLAS
experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. One of the challenging problems we are trying to
effectively address in this context is the extraction of the best possible limit on very rare
disintegrations of known particles: the probability of these events could be affected by new
phenomena and could be their first indication at the Large Hadron Collider.
Depending on the assumptions, the physics insight and the treatment of "boundary"
conditions, these analyses can be very significantly enhanced. The goal of this project is to
combine advanced statistical methods with the best physics insight into developing a smart
and effective tool to extract limits on a very specific use case: the development of the most
effective limit extraction tool in the search for Bs-> mu mu decays in the ATLAS experiment.
Extracting a limit is a common statistical inference technique, aimed at deriving from
uncertain observations well defined boundaries on the existenceof a certain phenomena.
Although this is a well assessed technique in abstract, its application - as it often happens
with statistics - presents a series of pitfalls and non-trivial aspects that require and stimulate
the development of insight in the problem itself.
This project can be approached by a student relatively new to the world of experimental
particle physics. The use of numerical computing as a tool for statistical inference will be its
main theme, and proficiency in C++ programming and the use of the ROOT analysis
environment is desirable or will need to be quickly gained at the early stages of this work.
Fast trajectory reconstruction and retina-like algorithms
We often learn how to better address a practical problem from the methods that nature has
selected in the biological world. The aim of this project is that of applying line-identification
techniques known to exist in the human visual cortex to a very common problem in particle
physics: the identification of charged particle trajectories from the position of passage
as detected by "tracking detectors" (devices capable of measuring with a given accuracy
the passage of particles through a sensitive plane or volume). This is a very innovative
technique which is still not fully explored. Its application to the ATLAS detector at the CERN
Large Hadron Collider could prove to be a novel interesting inter-disciplinary application
of the biology of human vision. The high parallelism and locality of this kind of algorithm is
well suited for devices like Graphics Processing Units, capable of "embarrassingly parallel"
computations. The aim of this project is that of developing and testing prototype algorithms
on such a platform, and evaluate their performances compared to other strategies
commonly used to address this kind of problems.
This project is more suitable for a student with a keen interest in low-level programming of
advanced digital electronic devices, in particular advanced graphics processors (GPU) and
the CUDA platform. Familiarity with the linux operating system, C/C++ programming and the
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basics of particle detection techniques are a major asset.

In parallel, a student keen in learning advanced digital electronics techniques and the use of
highly configurable digital electronic devices, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays,
could explore the implementation of this approach - as well as more standard
pattern-recognition techniques - on FPGA devices.

Professor Antonella De Santo: A.De-Santo@sussex.ac.uk Room: Pevensey II 4A12

Title: New Physics searches at ATLAS using Leptons
The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) physics program is in full swing, and preparations are
underway in view of future LHC luminosity upgrades. Following the long shutdown currently
underway, the LHC will resume operations in 2015, to reach design instantaneous luminosities
and centre-of-mass energies of up to 14 TeV. ATLAS is one of the two multi-purpose
experiments taking data at the LHC. The LHC luminosity upgrades are envisaged to happen in
two stages over the next decade, with expected integrated luminosities collected at ATLAS of
approximately 300 fb-1 (Phase-1 upgrade) and 3000 fb-1 (Phase-2 upgrade), respectively. In
the very challenging experimental conditions expected at higher luminosities, leptonic
signatures will continue to play a key role for the selection of electro-weak signals, including
from "new physics". Triggering will also be a crucial aspect of the event selection. For this
project, you will analyse ATLAS data, including from simulations, with the aim to optimise
triggering strategies as well as signal event selections for lepton-rich signals from
supersymmetric scenarios.
For a successful completion of this project, you will need good computing skills (Linux, C++)
and a willingness to develop them further as necessary. A solid knowledge of elementary
particle physics is required. Willingness and ability to work efficiently in a team are also
essential qualities for the success of this project.
Dr Simon Peeters: S.J.M.Peeters@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 4A5

1. The SNO+ neutrino experiment (http://snoplus.phy.queensu.ca/Home.html)

The SNO+ experiment attempts to determine to discover the fundamental nature of neutrinos
by looking at a process called neutrinoless double-beta decay, an extremely rare process that
is only possible in a limited amount of radioactive isotopes. This fundamental property is crucial
in the understanding of why there is matter in the universe and no anti-matter. In this project,
you will learn about and explore the fundamental physics involved with this experiment. You will
be looking at the calibration of this experiment, for which I am responsible, and contribute to a
detailed understanding of this extremely sophisticated instrument. This can be analysis of
calibration data, or contributing to the development of a calibration system. You will then link
this understanding to the physics performance of this instrument. Programming ability is
required, but the work can be either analysis focused or lab based.
2. The DEAP direct dark matter experiment (http://deapclean.org) The DEAP-3600 experiment
attempts to directly detect Dark Matter that should prevalent in the Universe. This fundamental,
indirectly observed matter has not been observed yet and requires novel experiments to detect
this. DEAP-3600 follows a very promising and unique approach. In this project, you will learn
about and explore the fundamental physics involved with this experiment. You will be looking at
the optical calibration of this experiment, for which I am responsible, and contribute to a
detailed understanding of this extremely sophisticated instrument. This can be analysis
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of calibration data, or contributing to the development of a calibration system. You will then link
this understanding to the physics performance of this instrument. Programming ability is
required, but the work can be either analysis focused or lab based.
Dr Mike Hardiman: M.Hardiman@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 3A6

Instrumentation Development for the Cryogenic Neutron edm Experiment

CryoEDM is a particle physics experiment aiming to measure the electric dipole moment
(EDM) of the neutron to a precision of ~10-28ecm. The project follows the Sussex/RAL/ILL
nEDM experiment, which set the current best upper limit of 2.910-26ecm. To reach the
improved sensitivity, cryoEDM uses a new source of ultracold neutrons (UCN), which works
by scattering cold neutrons in superfluid helium. The experiment is located at the Institut
LaueLangevin in Grenoble.
The technique is essentially to perform magnetic resonance on stored ultra-cold neutrons,
whilst exposing them to a very high electric field. There are stringent requirements on the
stability of both the magnetic and electric fields. The project would be concerned with
development of some part of the instrumentation used to monitor one of these fields. It
will involve considerable experimental work in the laboratory, for which some aptitude is
desirable.
Professor Philip Harris: P.G.Harris@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 4A6

The search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron is one of the UK's
three top-priority particle-physics experiments: EDMs violate both parity and time-reversal
symmetries, and as such they are crucial in our quest to understand the dominance of matter
over antimatter in the Universe. This project will use computer simulations to study the
behaviour of stored ultracold neutrons within the EDM experiment in order to understand better
the observed features such as depolarization and energy-dependent losses.
Dr Fabrizio Salvatore: P.F.Salvatore@sussex.ac.uk

Room Pevensey II 4A4

1. Experimental Particle Physics: Search for susy partner of the top quark in decays to tau
leptons with the ATLAS Detector at CERN
Supersymmetry (SUSY) introduces a new symmetry between fermions and bosons, resulting in
a SUSY partner particle (sparticle) for each Standard Model (SM) particle, with identical mass
and quantum numbers except a difference by half a unit of spin. As none of these sparticles
have been observed with the same masses as their SM partners, SUSY must be a broken
symmetry if realised in nature, with the mass of the SUSY particles much higher than their SM
partners. One of the most important sparticles is the SUSY partner of the top quark (stop),
given that the top is the quark with the highest mass and therefore the one that couples strongly
with the newly discovered Higgs boson. SUSY particles decay through cascades involving
other sparticles until the lightest SUSY particle (LSP), which is stable, is produced. One
possible decay of the stop quark would be through the SUSY partner of the tau lepton (stau),
resulting at the end in final states with taus and missing energy from the escaping tau neutrinos
and LSPs. In this project the student will analyse newly simulated MC events produced by the
ATLAS experiment, where the decay chain stop--> stau is simulated. He/she will develop an
analysis strategy based on the generated events to estimate the sensitivity of an analysis
looking for final states containing one or mote tau leptons. The student will be developing the
analysis program in the C++ programming language, using the ROOT analysis framework
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(root.cern.ch).
2. Experimental Particle Physics: Looking for Supersymmetry (SUSY) at ATLAS in
tau+leptons final states.
Many SUSY models predict the presence of leptons in the final states of the interaction.
These leptons (electron/muon/tau) come from long cascade decays of the SUSY particles and
can be of the same flavour (ee/mumu/tautau) or of different flavour (emu/etau/mutau) and also
have the same or opposite charge. In this project the student will be using advanced analysis
programs to look for events in the ATLAS data and Montecarlo where 2 or more leptons are
produced, and study the kinematical properties of these events that can be used to separate
the signal event from the Standard Model background. In a second part of the project, the
student will study events with 2 same flavour leptons + an additional lepton of different flavour
in the final state, and study the increase in sensitivity to the SUSY parameter space with
respect to analyses where only 2 leptons are produced. The student will be developing the
analysis program in the C++ programming language, using the ROOT analysis framework
(root.cern.ch).
Dr Elisabeth Falk: E.Falk@sussex.ac.uk Room: Pevensey II 4A8
Neutrinoless double beta decay with the SNO+ experiment
Can the neutrino, one of the least understood building blocks of matter, be its own antiparticle?
The existence of an extremely rare form of radioactive decay called neutrinoless double beta
decay would give the answer "yes". This in turn would help us understand why the universe is
made up of matter and no anti-matter.
The SNO+ experiment is an exceedingly sensitive instrument located in a nickel mine 2 km
underground in Canada. Its main scientific goal is to search for neutrinoless double beta decay
in a particular radioactive isotope. A positive result would be a major scientific discovery.
The isotope will be dissolved in a liquid that emits light when electrically charged particles give
up energy to it. One of the calibration systems will inject light from LEDs into the liquid in order to
help determine the precision of the physics measurements. You will use simulated data and data
from a preparatory data-taking phase to study and optimise aspects of the calibration and
analysis of neutrinoless double beta decay data. There may also be opportunities to make
laboratory measurements as part of the optimisation of the calibration system.
Programming skills will be required; experience with Linux/C++ is an advantage.
Theoretical Particle Physics
Dr Xavier Calmet: X.Calmet@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 5A9

1. Models of dark matter

The LHC at CERN has just confirmed the Standard Model by finding the Higgs boson which
was the last missing ingredient of that model. However, theorists know that this cannot be the
end of the story as there is no viable dark matter candidate within that model. You will study
extensions of the Standard Model which include a dark matter candidate taking into account the
recent data from the LHC. You will review the literature learning about the different indications
we have for dark matter, abundance calculations and study the different proposals on the
market to describe dark matter (axion, susy dark matter, primordial black holes etc.). You will
15

then formulate an effective field theory to describe dark matter and study bounds on its
parameters coming from particle physics measurements as well as cosmological observations.
Dr Stephan Huber: S.Huber@sussex.ac.uk Room: Pevensey II 5A13
1. Extra dimensions:
It is possible that there are more than three space dimensions in nature. These extra
dimensions could be responsible for observed properties of particles, e.g. their masses and
couplings. In this project you will study a higher dimensional version of the Standard Model and
investigate its consequences for particle colliders, such as the LHC.
2. Electroweak symmetry breaking in the early universe:
In the very early universe the electroweak symmetry of the Standard Model was unbroken, i.e.
there was no Higgs field present. Extensions of the Standard Model predict that the breaking of
this symmetry occurred via a first-order thermal phase transition (EWPT). This process could
be the origin of the cosmic baryon asymmetry, and generate an observable signal of
gravitational waves. You will study the properties of the EWPT (i.e. the jump in the Higgs field,
the latent heat, etc.) in a model with extra Higgs fields, and derive consequences for particles
physics and cosmology. This will be done by analysing the thermal potential of the Higgs fields.
One aim is to test if the model is capable of generating the baryon asymmetry.
3. Supersymmetry
Supersymmetry is one of the leading ideas for new physics. In the supersymmetric Standard
Model each known particle obtains a partner of different spin. These so called superpartners
are supposed to have masses around the electroweak scale and to date are intensively
searched for at LHC. In the project you will analyse the supersymmetric particle spectrum of a
specific realization of supersymmetry and draw conclusions on the possible signals at the LHC.
Dr Sebastian Jaeger: S.Jaeger@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 5A15

New physics models at the LHC

An exciting new era in particle physics has begun with the LHC experiments at CERN taking
data. Physicists expect ATLAS, CMS,and LHCb to discover new particles related to the
dynamics explaining the electroweak mass scale (supersymmetry, extra spacetime dimensions,
ore more 'exotic'), and explore their interactions.In this project, you will learn to make theoretical
predictions for LHC experiments and use these to constrain or identify new physics models.
Dr Daniel Litim: D.Litim@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 5A12

1.
Quantum gravity in higher dimensions
Many particle theory models assume that the fundamental theory for gravity involves more than
4 dimensions. In this project, you explore higher-dimensional gravity and it's connections with
the 4- dimensional theory using the renormalisation group.
2.
Infrared behaviour of gravity
In this project, you will explore the modifications to gravity as induced by long-distance quantum
effects. You will develop a code to study renormalisation group equations for gravity. We want
to understand whether infrared effects will lead to a modification of the gravitational force law.
3.
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Phase transitions and the renormalisation group

Phase transitions in Nature are either continuous (second order) or discontinuous (first order).
In this project, you apply the techniques of the renormalisation group to analyse first order
phase transitions as relevant for eg. the QCD phase transition.
4.
Large-N limit in field theory
This project deals with the large-N limit in field theory, where N is the number of fields. We want
to understand whether phase transitions and critical behaviour change in this particular limit, or
not. As an application, we will look into the seminal Bardeen, Moshe and Bander phenomenon
in 3d scalar theories, which we want to understand using modern renormalisation group
technique
5.
Black holes, quantum gravity and non-commutative geometry
This project aims at a comparison of salient features of black hole physics modified either by
quantum gravity or by effects from non- commutative geometry. You will learn the basics of
either set-up and evaluate similarities and differences of these two approaches when applied to
black holes.
Prof Mark Hindmarsh: M.B.Hindmarsh@sussex.ac.uk

Room: Pevensey II 5A11

Numerical Simulations of Phase Transitions in the Early Universe

Modern particle physics predicts that the very early Universe went through a series of phase
transitions, which may have produced extended objects called topological defects. In this
project the student will study phase transitions using numerical simulations: specific problems
include the propagation and collision of phase boundaries, the formation and evolution of
domain walls or cosmic strings. Basic knowledge of C is essential, and some familiarity with Unix
would be useful. Recommended courses: General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, C++.
Production of Gravitational Waves in the Early Universe
Violent processes in the early universe - such as phase transitions - would have generated
gravitational waves. In this project, the student can examine possible sources from new physics
at very high energy, calculate the amplitude and frequency spectrum of the resulting
gravitational waves, and assess the possibilities for detection by a future space-based
gravitational wave observatory. Recommended courses: General Relativity, Quantum Field
Theory, Early Universe.

Dr Andrea Banfi: a.banfi@sussex.ac.uk Room Pevensey II 5A16

Jet physics at the LHC
Hadronic jets, highly collimated bunches of energetic hadrons, are ubiquitous in today's particle
physics. The student will learn Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD), the theory underlying jet
physics, and will be able to compute an observable involving jets, relevant either for precision
studies or new physics searches at the LHC. During the project the student will also
become familiar with various technical tools, like methods for numerical analyses, and
programming in various languages (Fortran, C++,Perl, Python).
Dr Veronica Sanz: v.sanz@sussex.ac.uk Room Pevensey 2 5A14
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1. Warped Extra-dimensional models. In this project the student will learn about theories with
new dimensions of space-time, and implement in Feynrules (a Mathematica package) the
interactions of a very attractive model for the Large Hadron Collider, the bulk Randall-Sundrum
model.
2. Higgs couplings fits. The student will learn the basic concepts of the Higgs mechanism and
use data coming from the Large Hadron Colllider to produce a fit of the Higgs couplings.
The fit will be done in Mathematica, and then used to constrain new physics, such as
Supersymmetry.

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