Research Projects

The Standard Model (SM) has provided a remarkably accurate description of particle physics for over half a century. Yet, it leaves many important questions unanswered. With no evidence so far for new particles at the energy frontier, focus has shifted to precision measurements, where signs of new physics may appear as subtle deviations from SM predictions. The Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) has become a key framework for interpreting such deviations systematically in a model-agnostic way. Determining EFT parameters is essential to understanding new physics and addressing questions such as the shape of the Higgs potential, its relation to electroweak baryogenesis and the origin of CP-violation, tied to matter-antimatter asymmetry. Precise theoretical predictions are crucial here and this is where the project aims to make important contributions. It will provide high-precision EFT predictions and analyse data to detect deviations from the SM or set bounds on new physics. The project is structured in four main directions: 1. The SMEFT describes new physics via higher-dimensional operators, yet some combinations of coefficients remain unconstrained even with precise electroweak, Higgs and top data. UV models such as vector-like quarks, leptoquarks or extra gauge bosons can produce tree-level interactions (eg. neutral triple gauge couplings, lepton dipole moments) that mimic loop-level or higher-order SMEFT effects, leading to misinterpretation. We will classify such scenarios by integrating out heavy particles up to one-loop and matching up to dimension-8, identifying overlaps with blind directions. Collider observables will be developed to disentangle SMEFT contributions from UV signatures and improve EFT constraints. 2. We will implement the first next-to-leading order EW corrections for SMEFT operators in vector boson scattering (VBS). VBS processes, highly sensitive at large energies and enhanced cross-sections, particularly in final states with longitudinal vector bosons (eg. pp \to jj V_L V_L) will be studied to probe the Higgs self-coupling, which remains unexplored in SMEFT at NLO. 3. In parallel, we will study signals of new physics involving light particles, such as Axion-Like Particles (ALPs). We will explore an EFT extending the SM by an ALP and examine novel ALP production mechanisms at the LHC and interference effects with SMEFT operators. 4. Finally, we aim to understand the electroweak phase transition (EWPT), closely linked to Higgs self-coupling measurements. By incorporating dimension-6 operators into the EFT framework at finite temperature, we will assess their impact on the EWPT and connect viable parameter space to collider signatures such as in multi-Higgs production. The proposal builds on my core research strengths and positions me to lead this ambitious project. The work targets timely questions in the field, aiming to advance the EFT program at colliders while closely integrating theory and experiment.