Department Colloquium | From Hadrons to Hidden Assumptions: My Recent Work in Quantum Chromodynamics and Foundations of Physics

Two recently initiated directions in my research will be discussed. I will present the first results from a new program at the LHCb experiment at CERN to study hadronization, i.e. how subnuclear particles called quarks and gluons form strong force bound states in quantum chromodynamics. These studies at LHCb over the upcoming decade will drive ideas about how to investigate various hadronization mechanisms further at the future Electron-Ion Collider, proposed for construction in the U.S. in the 2020s. I will additionally give an overview of a project exploring the foundations of physics that aims to find a set of minimal assumptions from which the known laws of physics can be rederived. Pinpointing the conditions under which the different branches of physics are valid should give a better understanding of them and may in turn provide new insights for future theories.