Walter Hopkins

My research focuses on searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Specifically, my work involves searching for evidence of new physics via the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson, discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, provides a unique window into physics beyond the Standard Model, including potential connections to dark matter, modifications to the Higgs self-coupling, and other exotic phenomena. I’m involved in exploring these possibilities with the ATLAS detector/collaboration at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.

More complex analysis methods, such as (deep) machine learning techniques (e.g., for event classification or anomaly detection), will become invaluable to our discovery potential for new physics as we transition from the large center-of-mass energy increases of Run 1 and 2 to the high-luminosity era. 

I’m also actively involved in improving the ATLAS simulation software and utilizing AI to enhance data quality monitoring. This includes adapting Monte Carlo simulators for use on High Performance Computing (HPC) systems, such as those available at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, and optimizing detector simulations to better model experimental data. These efforts aim to ensure that the ATLAS software infrastructure remains robust and efficient, facilitating the most precise analyses possible as the LHC enters its high-luminosity phase.