Over the years, I've been involved in a variety of exciting projects that have allowed me to both enjoy and contribute to the understanding of the Universe’s constituents at a fundamental level.

I began by delving into the intriguing field of nucleon structure. My effort focused on developing an innovative analysis method that enabled HERMES to make unique measurements and extract the generalised parton distributions (GPDs) from the nucleon. I then successfully enhanced the ALICE detector's performance by introducing a new algorithm that significantly expanded the momentum determination of the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) in the TeV regime. This work also extended to cosmic muon observations conducted jointly with the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD), offering a compelling demonstration of the onset mechanism underlying transition radiation. Moving forward, I looked into nuclear medium effects in extreme conditions and led studies on particle production in jets. The development of a novel TPC Coherent Fit, pushing particle identification across an unprecedented momentum range, played a part in my receipt of the ALICE Best Technical Thesis Award.

Initially, I tried to detect upward-going neutrinos in the ALICE TPC. This led me to the neutrino field, where I quickly formed working groups in two international collaborations: T2K in Japan and MINERvA in the US. Our main focus was studying GeV neutrino interactions, in particular, using the new idea of TKI. Now, my students are pursuing refined and new measurements in these GeV accelerator neutrino experiments, including DUNE. Meanwhile, I started a working group for GeV neutrinos in JUNO, which is primarily a MeV reactor neutrino experiment but shows promise with atmospheric neutrinos. My interest extends to understanding GeV dynamics in nuclear and leptonic sectors, whether within or beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.

Having worked with TPCs for more than a decade, I’m thrilled about the opportunities provided by STFC and the Physics Department at Warwick to build a TPC lab from the ground up—we call it WarTPC. With the tremendous efforts of our collaborators, students, and technicians, our WarTPC is striving to become the UK platform for gas TPC R&D.

Research Focus: Transverse Kinematic Imbalance (TKI)

At the heart of my research lies the pioneering development and application of Transverse Kinematic Imbalance (TKI) in the study of neutrino interactions. TKI stands as a powerful technique that facilitates the measurement of neutrino energy spectra and cross-sections, providing unique insights into the interplay of particle and nuclear physics.

TKI is a methodology centred around the conservation of momentum in neutrino interactions. In essence, it entails examining the imbalance between the observed transverse momentum of the final-state particles and what would be expected from neutrino interactions with free nucleons. This "kinematic mismatch," along with its longitudinal and three-dimensional variations and the derived asymmetry, has been a crucial set of observables since 2015 ^{[1, 2, 3]}, establishing a pathway to extract valuable information about the participating particles and the underlying nuclear processes.

Recent results in MINERvA ^{[4, 5, 6]} and T2K ^{[7, 8]} underscore the efficacy of TKI, and help improve the precision of oscillation analyses. Beyond its implications for neutrino oscillations, TKI opens new avenues for studying neutrino-hydrogen interactions ^{[9, 10]}. This novel approach, highlighted in the proposed DUNE High-Pressure gas TPC (HPgTPC) project, showcases the versatility and transformative potential of TKI, an idea that is playing an increasing role in advancing our understanding of neutrino physics.

Internship Projects

VISOS (VISualisation of OScillation)