Prize Scholar: Federica Devoto

I am a graduate student reading for a DPhil in Theoretical Physics.

My research focuses on precision particle physics and collider phenomenology. The current established theory which aims to explain how the fundamental interactions of our Universe work goes under the name of Standard Model.

It was developed as a framework capable to describe the electromagnetic and weak forces, as well as the theory of strong interactions (QCD).  My collaborators and I perform precision calculations of observables which are relevant to test the Standard Model at great accuracy and to search for deviations and hints of New Physics.

My last research project was focussed on constraining the Higgs boson decay width  by exploiting the quantum mechanical interference between the Higgs boson production via gluon fusion and its subsequent decay into a pair of photon with its continuum background process. This work was based on an idea developed many years ago by two great scientists in the particle physics community, and we managed to perform the calculation at a higher degree of precision.

I arrived in Oxford in 2020 and Merton has been a welcoming reality ever since. I enjoy spending time in college and I am grateful for the support that has been given to me all along the course of my degree.