For my Ph.D. thesis I am working on DZero, one of the two multi-purpose detectors at the Tevatron p+pbar collider at Fermilab.
My analysis topic is the search for supersymmetric particles in the mSUGRA model with high tan beta. Associated production of chargino and neutralino and their decay into three leptons plus missing energy is one of the most promising channels. As tan beta increases, chargino and neutralino decay dominantly into taus, which can be detected through their one prong and three prong hadronic decays. Therefore I am concentrating on tau identification. Now I am establishing a reference signal for taus, using Z decays into taus where one tau decays into an electron and the other one hadronically.
On the hardware side I am working on the central track trigger, which is plays an important role for triggering on taus. My work here includes writing and testing of code for programmable logic chips (FPGAs).

I am currently working on the D0 experiment at Fermilab where protons and antiprotons are collided together at a centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV in the Tevatron collider.
I am working with both the experimental and theoretical particle physics research groups at the University of Manchester.
Using the event generator HERWIG, I have been comparing theoretical predictions of the differential cross section for W and Z bosons with respect to their transverse momenta to the data collected by D0 during Run I at the Tevatron. I used these comparisons to tune the relevant parameters in HERWIG. I plan to repeat and develop the studies with the higher luminosities expected during Run II. I also made the first measurement of the Z->mumu cross section * branching ratio at a centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. I will be using this analysis on a regular basis in order to monitor efficiency measurements in the data.