Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP)

Welcome to the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP)





Quick-Links: Lectures, Bachelor's and Master's Theses, Completed PhD Theses, Research and Applications.

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics describes our basic understanding of the building blocks of matter and how they interact with each other. It is an extremely successful theory that is able to describe particle physics phenomena from the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking all the way up to the Planck scale. With the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 - 48 years after its first postulation - the SM has been made structurally complete. Numerous high-precision experiments have tested the SM at the quantum level. Still, there are problems that cannot be explained within the SM, such as the nature of Dark Matter or the generation of the baryon-antibaryon asymmetry e.g. This situation calls for new physics extensions beyond the SM, entailing new particles and interactions implying new signatures to be studied at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN or future e+e- and hadron colliders.

The research at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP) is centered around theoretical particle physics. Our aim is to improve our understanding of nature by making high-precision predictions for observables to be tested at present and future high-energy colliders, both for the SM and new physics extensions beyond the SM. This effort is supported by the development of Monte Carlo algorithms to understand the production at the hadronic level. The research at ITP is complemented by analyses of fundamental aspects of quantum field theory, in particular gauge field theory, and by investigations of the structure of spacetime and the cosmological constant problem.

Members of the ITP also work very closely with the research groups in theoretical (astro-)particle physics at the Institute for Astroparticle Physics (IAP).


Bachelor's & Master's Theses at the ITP

If you are interested in doing your Bachelor's or Master's thesis on the topic of theoretical particle physics at the ITP, feel free to drop by on the 12th floor and talk to us or send us an e-mail. To get an idea of what we are working on, you can check out the research page of each group, or you can have a look at the completed Bachelor's and Master's theses at our institute.

Job Openings

For open PhD or postdoc positions at the ITP, check the Job Openings page or the News & Events ticker below.



News & Events

May 2023: Opening for a PhD position

In the group of Prof. Mühlleitner, there is an open PhD position within the Collaborative Research Center Particle Physics Phenomenology after the Higgs Discovery, TRR 257 (https://p3h.particle.kit.edu) with a starting date at the earliest possibility. A description of the position and how to apply can be found on the Job Openings page or by clicking on the title of this announcement. If needed, please contact Prof. Mühlleitner via e-mail (milada.muehlleitner@kit.edu) for further detailed information. The application process is now open and applications can be submitted until the position is filled.



01.06.2023: New ITP Internship Student (posted on: 01.06.2023)

We warmly welcome Anne-Solène Bornens who started an internship in the group of Prof. Heinrich. Anne-Solène sits in room 12-12. We wish her a pleasant and productive stay at our institute!

 

25.05.2023: ITP Seminar (posted on: 23.05.2023)

In the upcoming ITP seminar (Thursday, 25.05., 14h00), we will have two talks by Karim Elyaouti and Johann Plotnikov. The titles of their talks are “Freeze-In in different Phases of the N2HDM” and “Dark Matter Generation Mechanisms in the Model 'CP in the Dark',” respectively. The seminar will take place in room 12-01.

 

25.05.2023: KCETA Particle Physics Colloquium (posted on: 23.05.2023)

In the upcoming KCETA colloquium (Thursday, 25.05., 15h45–17h00), we will have Benedikt Maier (KIT, ETP) giving a talk on “A shot in the dark: How CMS searches for new particles in the dark sector”. The colloquium will take place in Kleiner Hörsaal A.

 

11.05.2023: ITP Seminar (posted on: 09.05.2023)

In the upcoming ITP seminar (Thursday, 11.05., 14h00), Martin Gabelmann (DESY) will talk about “Precise predictions for the trilinear Higgs coupling in the Standard Model and beyond”. The seminar will take place in room 12-01.

 

04.05.2023: KCETA Particle Physics Colloquium (posted on: 03.05.2023)

In the upcoming KCETA colloquium (Thursday, 04.05., 15h45–17h00), we will have Gabriela Araujo (University of Zurich) giving a talk on “Microscopy of color centers: A new avenue for neutrino and dark matter detection”. The colloquium will take place in-person at Campus Nord (Bld. 401, seminar room 410), but it will in addition be streamed to Kleiner Hörsaal A.

 


Research Groups at the Institute for Theoretical Physics

The Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) consists of five research groups. Their activities are described below.

Stefan Gieseke

Research interests: The simulation of exclusive final states at colliders with Monte Carlo Methods. Our research aims at the best possible description of all possible final states, first and foremost at the Large Hadron Collider but possibly also for collisions of electrons and positrons or hadrons when they are hit by cosmic particles at very high energies. We improve the standard model description, mostly of the strong interaction (Quantum Chromodynamics, QCD) with systematic perturbative methods or with models for strong hadronic interactions.

Detailed information

Gudrun Heinrich

Research interests: Exploring the Higgs sector: finding hints about New Physics through precision measurements requires precision calculations, which we do both within and beyond the Standard Model. We combine Effective Field Theory parametrisations of BSM effects with higher order corrections and perform studies of anomalous couplings in the Yukawa and gauge boson sectors. Scattering amplitudes: we aim to largely automate the calculation of scattering amplitudes beyond one loop. An important aspect here is the numerical evaluation of multi-loop Feynman diagrams, as well as a better understanding of their mathematical structure.

Detailed information

Frans R. Klinkhamer

Research interests: Fundamental aspects of quantum field theory, in particular gauge field theory. Structure of spacetime, both at very large and very small length scales. Cosmological constant problem.

Detailed information

Milada M. Mühlleitner

Research interests: Collider physics, phenomenological investigations of models beyond the Standard Model, including precision calculations to Higgs observables, namely production (single and double Higgs) and decay processes; cornering the validity of the models considering theoretical and experimental constraints; baryogenesis and Dark Matter.

Detailed information

Dieter Zeppenfeld

Research interests: Collider physics; QCD corrections; effective field theories; models of electroweak symmetry breaking; phenomenological investigations of mixed QCD/electroweak processes in hadronic collisions, e.g. vector boson scattering, weak boson pair production, etc.

Detailed information

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