Brian Shuve

Associate Professor of Physics

My research is in the area of theoretical particle physics, and my work seeks to answer questions about the fundamental workings of nature: What is matter made of on the most basic level? How do the interactions of elementary particles shape the structure of the Universe and everything in it? What is the mysterious dark matter that fills the Universe but does not seem to be made of the same stuff as we are? Why are we made of matter and not anti-matter? In researching answers to these questions, I seek to uncover and test what kinds of new particles and forces could exist in nature, as well as to come to a better understanding of our current theories of physics and their limitations.

My work is firmly grounded in the experimental efforts needed to confirm or refute extensions of our current understanding of particle physics. In particular, I research how the discovery (or lack thereof) of new particles at high-energy colliders such as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider sheds light on the physical processes taking place in the early universe that influence the structure of our world, and I build connections between current experiments and dark matter (and other poorly understood phenomena in particle physics). This leads to close collaboration with experimentalists at the Large Hadron Collider and other, smaller-scale experiments, as well as physicists in related fields.

Research

Learn more about my research.