Theoretical Particle Physics.

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The Staff (click on picture for research interests and full picture)

Research Interests

The research interests of the Particle Physics group will focus on the understanding of the forces and dynamics of Nature at the smallest distances and highest energies. The basic tools in this study have been relativistic quantum field theory and the study of symmetries. The successes of the last twenty years have been the unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces in the Salam-Weinberg model and the understanding of the strong interactions through Quantum Chromodynamics.

Although these theories have been highly successful there remain problems. For instance, so far there is no successful formulation of gravity in quantum theory. Even once we have reliable theories, accurate calculation remains difficult; a computation of the proton mass from first principles is still currently beyond us, despite intensive work on the world's most powerful computers.

Research in Particle Physics is aimed at answering these problems. At one end of the spectrum there is an interface with some of the most sophisticated areas of modern mathematics and at the other end, numerical simulation of quantum field theory and comparison with experiment. The Group has close contacts with most of the large Nuclear Research Laboratories and, in particular, with the European Centre for Nuclear Research ( CERN ) in Geneva.

Besides Professors Halliday and Olive the other members of the Group are Chris Allton, Nick Dorey, David Dunbar, Simon Hands, Tim Hollowood, Warren Perkins and Graham Shore.