My primary research is directed at the study of new particles and new interactions using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.  My group has been active in the commissioning of the ATLAS pixel detector, where we have participated in the development of the data acquisition system and various calibrations.  Although we are broadly involved in searches for new physics, we have historically been focused on the study of jets in high-energy proton-proton collisions.  Our present activities are directed towards the next high-energy run to begin in 2015.   Once the LHC restarts, our main physics interests are aimed at further searches for potential SUSY signatures as well as a more precise determination of the spin of the Higgs particle.

We are also pursuing R&D activities in collaboration with Brookhaven National Lab and Strasbourg (IPHC) on ultra-thin silicon detectors for future colliders. A significant research investment in undergraduate education is also attached to this laboratory work.
Finally, I have a program in the application of polarized noble gas for the study of human lung disease, in particular, COPD.  This research is funded by the NIH.

Via my background in nuclear physics activities, I have a deep interest in issues relevant to nuclear proliferation.  This interest has spawned an undergraduate program called the K1 project.

On the teaching front, I am the 2013 Chair of Frontiers of Science, a required undergraduate core course at Columbia College.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS (with large involvement from my group)

(1)  “ATLAS Pixel Detector Electronics and Sensors”, G. Aad et al., JINST 3, P07007 (2008).

   
(2)  “Measurement of multijet production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV center-of-mass energy with the ATLAS detector”, EPJC 71, 1763 (2011).

(3) “Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC”, Phys. Lett. B716, 1 (2012).

(4) “Search for pair-produced massive coloured scalars in four-jet final states with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV center-of-mass”, JHEP 12, 086 (2012).