Photo: the DESY CMS Higgs group, October 2016

The DESY Hbb group in Summer 2022

The DESY Htautau group in Summer 2022

The DESY CMS Higgs group is engaged since many years in measurements of the SM Higgs boson in 3rd generation fermions (tau leptons and b-quarks) and in related searches for BSM (MSSM, 2HDM, NMSSM) Higgs bosons in the same channels.

We have contributed with our students and postdocs to the discovery of the Yukawa coupling to tau leptons and to b quarks and to the first direct measurement of the CP coupling to tau leptons (see Publications). We have now moved to simplified template cross sections in these channels and to extending the BSM searches at higher and lower masses and to more exotics decays. There are some anomalies observed in Run 2 and we plan to continue with those in Run 3 data.

As service work for the CMS Collaboration we are heavily involved in Tracker alignment, in reconstruction of taus with machine learning and in trigger with multiple b-jets in the final state.

We are continously offering theses on Higgs-related topics, presently with Run 2 data from the LHC, see below for possible topics, and moving towards Run 3 analyses at the same time.

For Run 3 we also aim to double Higgs production, these studies can also be started on the present Run 2 ultra-legacy data. Recently we have also started on projections at future colliders, especially for double Higgs production.

Additional topics in my group cover the Tracker Upgrade for the HL-LHC, determination of proton parton densities (PDFs) from Z+jets events and a search for Vector-Like Quarks in collaboration with a group in Lyon.

The DESY CMS Higgs group has presently ~ 15 people, with many students and postdocs and very international. We are well inserted in the CMS activities. We have a lively athmosphere in the group, with weekly meetings, personal or all together, please contact me for a possible project.

Topics for PhD students

Search for X in hY resonances in the 4 b final state
Identification of tau leptons in CMS for Run 3 and first Run 3 analysis for MSSM Higgs into tau tau, to clarify the Run 2 anomalies, developping new analysis strategies with machine learning
Analysis of the VBF, H ->cc/bb channel with Run 3 data
Activities in the Tracker Upgrade

Topics for Master theses

Search for X in hY resonances in the 4 b final state
Contraints on EFT operators from the VHbb channel or Htautau in Run 2
Tau fake rates at high transverse momenta for anomalies observed in Run 2 (leptoquarks, MSSM Higgs)
Tau ID developments
Double Higgs production at future hadron colliders (inside the activities of the Quantum Universe Cluster)
Activities for the CMS Tracker Upgrade

Topics for Bachelor theses

Tau ID developments with machine learning
Double Higgs production at a future collider
Activities for the CMS Tracker Upgrade

Learning outcomes for Bachelor and Master theses

Physics of the Standard Model and beyond and in particular physics at the Large Hadron Collider
Principles of detection of particles in modern experimental apparatuses
Analysis and critical interpretation of real and very actual data from the LHC
Statistical methods in high energy physics
Presentation skills
Team work in a highly international team
Writing up of own work, citation of the work of others
Programming in python and C++
Machine learning