ATLAS: Search for supersymmetric partners of the top quark

The student will work on the analysis of the data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The existence of a partner of the top-quark (top squark) is postulated by Supersymmetry and could provide an answer to two important questions in particle physics, such as the hierarchy problem and the composition of dark matter. The top squark is expected to be within the reach of the LHC and could be discovered by analysing events where top-quark pairs are produced in association with missing transverse energy. The student will work in collaboration with an international team and will also be expected to participate to the ATLAS experimental work.
Frequent travel to CERN in Geneva will be required. There may also be the possibility of spending longer periods based at CERN.

The ATLAS group at the University of Sheffield has been involved in searches for Supersymmetry since the start of ATLAS and we are now heavily involved in the analysis of data from the second run of the LHC.