I am working on the ATLAS detector in the B-physics group, specifically, on the measurement of the '4th' unitarity triangle angle delta-gamma. This is small in the SM and a larger value would indicate CP violation mechanisms not explained by the current theory. The channel of interest is Bs->JPsi(mu+mu-)Phi(K+K-). Analysis of the angular distribution of the decay products will indicate the relative magnitudes of the polarisation decay amplitudes, which will in turn lead to delta-gamma. I will assess the performance of ATLAS in measuring delta-gamma. For the past year I have been working on event generation, using PYTHIA and EvtGen to produce the correct angular distributions. Alongside this I am now developing analysis techniques to enable the reconstruction of the angular distributions (taking into account background processes, production asymmetry etc) and thereby assess the accuracy of the measurement of this quantity with ATLAS.

For my Ph.D. thesis I am working on the Belle experiment. Belle is the only detector in the KEK-B 'B Factory', an assymetric e+e- collider located in Tsukuba, Japan, which operates at the Upsilon(4S) resonance. I am measuring the branching fraction of a rare semi-leptonic B meson decay, B+ -> pi0 l+ nu, in which a charged B meson decays into a neutral pion, a charged lepton and a neutrino. I am about to expand my analysis into a measurement of the related decays B+ -> eta l+ nu B+ -> eta' l+ nu. Ultimately, I hope to provide an estimate of the CKM (quark-mixing) matrix element Vub.

For my PhD thesis, I am working on ATLAS, one of the four detectors which will operate at the LHC pp collider at CERN. I have taken part in the reconstruction of simulated data. I have also studied the performances of the b-tagging algorithm, depending on the detector layout and performances (inefficiencies, geometry, etc.). I am now responsible for the validation of the ATLAS software, regarding the b-tagging aspects, and currently working on the description of the geometry for the ATLAS combined test-beam software. My main task is to develop a method of calibration for the b-tagging at start of data-taking.

I am working on ZEUS, a general purpose detector at the HERA accelerator. The electron-proton collisions that the accelerator produces provide a good test ground for QCD. My analysis involves studying the properties of neutral strange particles, which are produced in large numbers in ZEUS. Particularly, I measure the polarisation of lambda and antilambda baryons, by observing the directions of the decay products with respect to the direction of the decaying lambda. This study should provide information about fragmentation and hadronisation, investigate the non-perturbative regime, and perhaps observe instantons.

For my PhD thesis I would like to study very high energy cosmic rays. When high energy cosmic rays undergo collisions with atoms of the upper atmosphere, they produce a cascade of 'secondary' particles that shower down through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface. Secondary cosmic rays include pions (which quickly decay to produce muons, neutrinos and gamma rays), as well as electrons and positrons produced by muon decay and gamma ray interactions with atmospheric atoms. The number of particles reaching the Earth's surface is related to the energy of the cosmic ray that struck the upper atmosphere. Cosmic rays with energies from 10^15eV to 10^20 eV are studied with large air shower' arrays of detectors distributed over many square kilometers that sample the particles produced. The frequency of air showers ranges from about 100 per m^2 per year for energies >10^15 eV to only about 1 per km^2 per century for energies beyond 10^20 eV.