The aim of subatomic physics is to understand matter and the fundamental forces in the universe and ultimately form a Theory of Everything. The Standard Model of Particle Physics beautifully brings together three of the four forces of nature (strong, electromagnetic and weak) in a framework encompassing 6 quarks and 6 leptons, along with the gauge particles which mediate their interactions (photons, W and Z bosons, the Higgs particle, and gluons). Ultimately, we hope to incorporate the fourth force in nature, gravity, into this Standard Model, and the leading candidate theory for a Theory of Everything is String Theory.  Nuclear physics studies how fundamental forces behave in nuclei and has numerous applications in astrophysics, nuclear energy, and nuclear medicine.

Bubble Chamber Photograph
A classic Bubble chamber photograph
from CERN.

Particle and Subatomic Physics Facilities

Studying nature's tiniest particles, ironically, tends to require the largest experimental facilities found in physics. UBC's experimental particle physicists conduct experiments at several of the largest particle physics facilities in the world: the LHC at CERNSNOLABKEK and J-PARC near Tokyo. At UBC, we have such a facility on campus, TRIUMF, which serves as national infrastructure laboratory for all Canadian particle physics projects.

Faculty Engaged: Particle & Nuclear Physics

Name Position Research
Douglas Bryman Professor/Warren Chair, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: Particle Physics, Applied Physics (Radiation imaging)
Topics Include: Measurements of Rare Particle Decays
Rare Pion and Kaon decays: CERN NA62; TRIUMF PIENU
Colin Gay Professor and Head, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: Energy frontier physics (at the Large Hadron Collider)
Topics Include: Beyond Standard Model physics, Extra dimensions, CP violation
Michael Hasinoff Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Field: Experimental Subatomic Physics,low-energy particle physics
Topics Include: Physics Beyond the Standard Model-- A Search for the Dark Matter Boson X(17).
Christopher Hearty Professor/IPP Scientist, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Field: Subatomic Physics Belle II (see my research web site: http://www.physics.ubc.ca/~hearty/hearty.html)
Topics Include: Direct searches for new physics in e+ e- collisions; dark sector; light Higgs
Joanna Karczmarek Associate Professor, Theoretical Physics Research Website
Research Field: String theory
Topics Include: Matrix models, emergent spacetime, noncommutative geometry, time dependence
Alison Lister Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics ATLAS public web-page
Research Field: Energy frontier physics (ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider)
Topics Include: Top Quark measurements, Beyond the Standard Model physics, Dark Matter and Hidden Sector searches, Machine learning in particle physics
Thomas Mattison Associate Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: Experimental Particle Physics, Subatomic Physics
Topics Include: CP violation, B decays, Accelerator Physics, Next Linear Collider
Janis McKenna Professor , Particle & Nuclear Physics Research HEP Group Site
Research Field: Experimental Particle Physics
Topics Include: Heavy Quark Physics, Precision electroweak tests in Standard Model, CP violation
Scott Oser Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: Experimental Particle Physics (dark matter, neutrinos)
Topics Include: dark matter, statistical methods, neutrinos
Julio Parra-Martinez Assistant Professor, Theoretical Physics Personal Website
Research Field: Scattering Amplitudes, Effective Field Theory, General Relativity
Moshe Rozali Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: Particle Theory, String Theory
Gordon Semenoff Professor, Theoretical Physics Research Field: Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics
Topics Include: String Theory, quantum field theory, quantum gravity, statistical mechanics, theoretical condensed matter physics, MOEDAL experiment at CERN
Kris Sigurdson Associate Professor, Theoretical Physics Research Website
Research Field: Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Topics Include: Particle Dark Matter, Early Universe Cosmology, Particle Cosmology, Cosmological Perturbation Theory, Dark Energy, Inflation, Cosmic Microwave Background, Cosmic 21-cm Fluctuations
Mark Van Raamsdonk Professor, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Website
Research Field: String Theory, Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Gravity
Ariel Zhitnitsky Professor, Theoretical Physics Research Website
Research Field: Particle Theory/Astrophysics/Cosmology
Topics Include: Axions, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Vacuum energy in gauge theories

Postdoctoral Fellows & Research Associates Engaged in Particle & Nuclear Physics Research

Name Position Research
Panos Betzios Postdoctoral Fellow, Particle & Nuclear Physics
Aidan Chatwin-Davies Postdoctoral Fellow, Theoretical Physics https://phas.ubc.ca/~achatwin/
Research Field: Quantum Gravity and Quantum Information
Michael De Nuccio Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Particle & Nuclear Physics
Cole Helling Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Particle & Nuclear Physics
Arjun Kar Postdoctoral Fellow, Theoretical Physics Topics Include: Holography, string theory, quantum field theory, quantum information theory
Yan Liu Postdoctoral Fellow,
Emanuele Michielin Postdoctoral Fellow,
Felipe Rosso Postdoctoral Fellow, Particle & Nuclear Physics
Zhengcheng Tao Postdoctoral Fellow, Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Field: Experimental particle physics at energy frontier
Bob Velghe Research Associate (TRIUMF), Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Field: Rare Particle Decays
Vincent Wong Research Associate (TRIUMF), Particle & Nuclear Physics Research Field: Rare Particle Decays