Particle Physics

DPhil in Particle Physics

Course Code | 002550 

The work of this 5* sub-department is in experimental particle physics, particle astrophysics and accelerator physics. Particle physics is the study of basic constituents of matter and their interactions. This is accomplished either directly with accelerators that create the particles under study or by observing high-energy particles from outer space.

Our sub-department is one of the largest in the UK and is well equipped to carry out research in a wide range of topics, from the sub-structure of the proton to dark matter in the Universe. Our experiments are carried out at facilities around the world: Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Japan, USA and Canada.

Graduate students spend half of their first year on a lecture course in addition to starting their research, and if appropriate spend their second year onsite at their experiment. Both our laboratories here in Oxford and our experiments at overseas facilities provide access to a high-tech environment and excellent research training, directly applicable to a broad range of fields.

The next big accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, is running. Our present understanding of fundamental processes suggests that this machine will reach energies sufficient to find a particle thought to give mass to all elementary particles, the Higgs boson. The understanding of its properties is one of the main aims of the ATLAS detector. Elucidation of CP violation, one of the mysteries of particle physics, is the aim of our other LHC experiment, LHCb. Both experiments will be seeking students who will obtain data from the highest-energy machine in the world.

Experiments that use cosmic sources in the Department are varied in their goals. EURECA searches for dark matter passing through a cryogenic detector. This detector is also used to search for an electric dipole moment of the neutron. SNO+ studies the neutrino spectrum from the sun and the atmosphere and the fundamental nature of the neutrino.

The future of particle physics relies on the development of new ideas in accelerator physics. We are heavily involved in the development of these areas through the John Adams Institute. Graduate students in this area would be involved in a range of projects on general accelerators which would be used in high energy physics, nuclear physics, as X-ray sources, and in medical applications.

Information on other available research projects

Students are allocated their own desk in a shared office or laboratory. They will be provided with a centrally managed PC which is connected to several project-specific computing facilities through the network.

Depending on the project, students are often able to spend significant amounts of time away at the experimental site for their research. A similar level of provision will be available at these sites.

The particle physics doctoral programme at Oxford is ideally suited to those students who would like to pursue a career in research; either in academia or industry all over the world.

Our students have taken on a wide variety of jobs in other fields, including investment banking, business analysis, and consulting. Physics as a discipline is always in high demand.

In addition to experimental Particle Physics the John Adams Institute of accelerator physics (JAI) is contained within the sub-department. Students with an interest in particle accelerators and their uses in medicine, materials science, particle physics, and a range of other disciplines are encouraged to make this interest known on their graduate application forms.

The JAI is part of the particle physics sub-department and no separate application is needed. Projects or research areas mentioned in this prospectus with ‘JAI’ next to them are these accelerator-based projects.