Research in Theoretical Physics

The goal of my research in theoretical particle physics is to galvanize the search for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model as well as to illuminate the structure of the Standard Model itself. My work often combines first-principles calculations in quantum field theory with data analysis techniques from machine learning.

Papers by Year Inspire arXiv ORCID Google Scholar

Data Science and AI/ML

Machine learning has impacted many scientific fields, and particle physics is no exception. In my research, I aim to enhance the search for new phenomena at colliders by merging the performance of deep learning algorithms with the robustness of “deep thinking” approaches.

Selected Papers

• SHAPER: Can You Hear the Shape of a Jet?
  Demba Ba, Akshunna S. Dogra, Rikab Gambhir, Abiy Tasissa, and Jesse Thaler, JHEP 2023
• The Metric Space of Collider Events
  Patrick T. Komiske, Eric M. Metodiev, and Jesse Thaler, PRL 2019
• On the Topic of Jets: Disentangling Quarks and Gluons at Colliders
  Eric M. Metodiev and Jesse Thaler, PRL 2018
• Exposing the QCD Splitting Function with CMS Open Data
  Andrew Larkoski, Simone Marzani, Jesse Thaler, Aashish Tripathee, and Wei Xue, PRL 2017

Research Topics

Collider Physics and QCD

High-energy particle collisions are dominated by QCD (quantum chromodynamics), which describes fundamental interactions among quarks and gluons. My research has yielded new ways to analyze collider physics data and new ways to compute the properties of QCD.

Selected Papers

• Non-Gaussianities in Collider Energy Flux
  Hao Chen, Ian Moult, Jesse Thaler, and Hua Xing Zhu, JHEP 2022
• Sudakov Safety in Perturbative QCD
  Andrew J. Larkoski, Simone Marzani, and Jesse Thaler, PRD 2015
• Identifying Boosted Objects with N-subjettiness
  Jesse Thaler and Ken Van Tilburg, JHEP 2011

Research Topics

Beyond the Standard Model

The Standard Model has survived a half-century of precision tests, yets it leaves many unanswered questions, such as the nature of dark matter, the apparent weakness of gravity, and the symmetry structure of our Universe. In my research, I study hypothetical scenarios for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) and new experimental strategies to uncover evidence for new physics.

Selected Papers

• Broadband and Resonant Approaches to Axion Dark Matter Detection
  Yonatan Kahn, Benjamin R. Safdi, and Jesse Thaler, PRL 2016
• Flavor Mediation Delivers Natural SUSY
  Nathaniel Craig, Matthew McCullough, and Jesse Thaler, JHEP 2012
• Semi-annihilation of Dark Matter
  Francesco D’Eramo and Jesse Thaler, JHEP 2010

Research Topics