Associate Professor Peter Skands

Focus on mathematical and computational models of particle physics, in particular so-called "event generators". These are basically virtual colliders, computer models that recreate the elementary processes happening in accelerators like CERN's Large Hadron Collider, in as much detail and accuracy as possible. Often, when you see a plot of experimental data compared with "theory", the theory curve is obtained using this kind of modeling. Hypothetical new phenomena can be included, to see how they would manifest themselves in an explicit dynamical setting, and model parameters can be varied to estimate the level of theoretical uncertainty. This research is mainly theoretical, but there are strong connections with experimental particle physics, with computer science (eg numerical models, computational algorithms, distributed computing), and with mathematics (eg quantum field theory, Markov chains, and random-number theory).
Currently, working mainly on projects aimed at improving the precision and discovery reach of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. With collaborators in Australia and overseas, I am developing a new formalism for quark and gluon bremsstrahlung, based on so-called QCD antennae. This formalism has the advantage that it can be matched to amplitudes calculated in perturbative quantum field theory in a relatively straightforward and highly efficient manner, improving the precision and speed of theory calculations for the LHC while simultaneously exploring this new language for treating perturbative quantum corrections. Our group at Monash is leading the development of the corresponding computer code, VINCIA. A second main project is the attempt to understand the
ubiquitous process of hadronization, by which partons - quarks and gluons - turn into hadrons, in particular via models based on strings.
This research is mainly in the context of the PYTHIA code - which is very widely used by both experimental and theoretical researchers. I also seek to engage the public in scientific research via projects like LHC @home 2.0 and Citizen Cyberlab, see links below.
Awards: ARC Future Fellowship, 2013. King Oscar II prize. Awarded for Best PhD thesis at the Natural Science Faculty, Lund University, 2004.