PHY Research Students attended Collider Physics Workshop in Japan

Located at the heart of rural northern Japan in Iwate Prefecture, two PhD candidates from the Physics Department, Leo Qiyuan Hu and Christian Heiderijk, had the opportunity to attend a fascinating collider physics workshop between the 24th of February and 1st of March 2025.

This collider workshop organized by Prof. Kentarou Mawatari from Iwate University, Morioka, allowed them to discover the computational tools that are used in the field of Particle Phenomenonlogy. This workshop was the occasion for them to build a bridge between experimentalists and theorists across Asia.

During this snowy workshop, they attended various lectures related to theoretical Particle Physics topics such as the Standard Model (SM), Supersymmetry (SUSY), or the Standard Model as an Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). This was necessary in order for them to understand the physics on which the machinery that they were going to use was based on. Then, they had several practical tutorials that introduced them to computational programs such as MadGraph, MadAnalysis, or FeynRules. These tools are required to simulate physical events that occur in particle colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

When asked about their experience, they particularly enjoyed this workshop since some time was spent on the immaculate slopes of the mountains of the Iwate region. Several Professors, Post-Docs and PhD candidates from various countries were attending this workshop, which gave rise to many passionate discussions. A poster session was organized permitting some exchange on various research areas of Particle Physics.

To summarize their experience, they would qualify it as: "One of the most adequate workshops for physicists who would like to understand how experimentalists and theorists should work hand in hand while enjoying a nice onsen!"