Zu Chongzhi Mathematics Research Seminar

Date and Time (China standard time): Friday, May 10, 1:30-2:30 pm

Location: WDR 1007

Zoom: 918 8850 8562, Passcode: dkumath

Title: Testing fundamental theories with global fits

Speaker: Andrew Fowlie

Abstract: 

We all want to build fundamental theories and test them against experimental data. Testing our theories is made challenging, however, by the fact that our theories often have many unknown Lagrangian parameters and that the constraints come from numerous sophisticated experiments in collider physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Thus, exploring the parameter spaces of our models and correctly combining experimental constraints requires careful application of statistical principles and computational methods. In this talk, I describe the GAMBIT community and software framework for achieving these goals, and showcase results from recent global fits of fundamental theories.

Bio: 

I am Andrew Fowlie, a faculty member of theoretical physics at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). I work at the interface of physics and data science, and specialize in developing and applying statistical methods to physics beyond the Standard model, including LHC physics and dark matter. I’ve worked extensively on nested sampling, developing an important diagnostic test for faulty runs and pioneering its application to frequentist statistics, as well as on the foundations of statistics generally and its relevance for searches for new particles.