Research interests are the area of Experimental High Energy Physics and are carried out at the CDF experiment at Fermilab where proton-antiproton collisions are studied with the goal of understanding the basic structure of nature; which are the most elementary particles and how they interact. His research has been focused on the discovery and further studies of the Top Quark; measurements of its (very heavy) mass and its production mechanism through quark-antiquark anihilation. Currently the CDF experiment is running and taking data with a fully upgraded detector and accelerator complex. The UF group has built, for this upgrade, a novel device that can monitor with high precision the rate of proton-antiproton collisions (“luminosity”) and that is used to calibrate the rates for all processes (and potential discoveries) detected in the CDF experiment. With the new data he continues studying the Top Quark and will also search for the last piece of the Standard Model of elementary particles: the Higgs boson. This elusive particle is linked to the very important question of how particles acquire mass and its discovery will provide crucial information that will further significantly our understanding of particle physics. New particles, beyond the Standard Model, such as predicted by Supersymmetry and other theories, could also be within the reach of the CDF experiment and it is part of our program to search for these as well. This is a very exciting time for the field and the UF group is in a prime position to partake in this adventure.
