Dr. Susanne Westhoff
Assistant Professor High Energy Physics
Research in particle physics often goes as follows: We have a theory, we predict an observable, we measure it and draw conclusions about our theory. An effective theory is an approximation of a full theory. It allows us to make precise predictions, without having to worry about all the aspects of our theory that don't matter for the observable we are interested in.
In our group, we use effective field theories to connect observables at different experiments. If, for example, we predict that new heavy particles leave their trace in top-quark production at the LHC, we can calculate how the same particles modify meson decays at a flavor experiment like LHCb or Belle II. In an effective theory, this connection works even if we don't know anything about these new particles! By combining observables at different energy scales, we can test theories at very high energies and resolve their features much better than using data from one experiment alone.
Anh Vu Phan (PhD candidate) Mila Keijer (PhD candidate) - with Mara Senghi Soares Lotta van Broekhoven (Master student) Jan Groenendijk (Master students) - with Wim Beenakker Nora Locht (Master student) Daniel Mikkers (Master student) - with Wim Beenakker
Robin Rietman, Master student (2022-2023) - with Wim Beenakker
Bart Steeman, Master student (2022-2023) - with Charles Timmermans
Simone van der Wijck, Bachelor student (2023)
Lara Grabitz, Master student (2021-2022)
Finn Tillinger, Bachelor student (2021-2022)
Ruth Schaefer, PhD student (2019-2022)
Dr. Sebastian Bruggisser, postdoc (2018-2022)
Ruth Schaefer, Master student (2018-2019)
Dr. Simon Kast, postdoc (2018)
Anastasiia Filimonova, PhD student (2017-2020)
Katja Boehnke, PhD student (2016-2017)