We are excited about the smallest constituents of our world and about their interactions. Here are some of the big questions that are on our mind:
- What are Nature's fundamental constituents?
- What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy?
- Is our universe stable at all?
To approach these questions, we use a phenomenological approach that is quite common in science. We make theoretical predictions, for instance of how often certain particles scatter or into which other particles certain particles decay. These predictions are then tested in experiments, for instance cosmic-ray experiments or experiments taking place at particle colliders.
From the resulting observations we learn what the universe is like — or what it is not like.
Research focus
As one of our specialities here at Radboud University, we search for new fundamental physics that could show up at very different energies. We search for new particles that can easily hide from observation, either because they are so heavy that no existing experiment could produce them, or so light and weakly interacting that they escape detection. Through quantum effects such undetected heavy new particles could change the interactions between the particles that we already know and master. By either using effective field theories as a framework to describe such effects or by making precise predictions based on dedicated new-physics models (such as dark-matter models or supersymmetry), we combine information from observations at the LHC, at flavour experiments, and in measurements of electric or magnetic dipole moments of elementary particles. This is a powerful approach, because it enables us to detect even tiny effects of new particles if they show up in different places at the same time.
