Ayana T. Arce, Associate Professor  

Ayana T. Arce

Office Location: 269 Physics, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: ath11@duke.edu

Specialties:
Experimental high energy physics

Education:
Ph.D., Harvard University, 2006
B.S., Princeton University, 1998

Research Categories: Experimental elementary particle physics

Current projects: Searches for gauge and Higgs bosons produced in massive particle decays, Jet substructure observable reconstruction, ATLAS detector simulation software framework

Research Description: Researchers at hadron colliders are attempting to produce evidence of phenomena beyond the "Standard Model" of particle physics, which is our current, best description of how fundamental particles interact. This description works very well for collider experiments, but is known to be incomplete: it doesn't explain neutrino masses and mixings, it cannot account for dark matter, and it does not treat gravity or the accelerating expansion of the universe. The observation of particle interactions that the Standard Model cannot explain would help us build up a better theory -- one that accounts for these striking phenomena. In my research I concentrate on understanding what takes place in hadron collider events with complicated final state topologies, like the production and decay of top quarks and heavy gauge bosons. In these events, I am looking for any hint of non-Standard Model interactions. My current studies use the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and consequently, many of my recent research activities also support the broader experimental program of ATLAS.

Teaching (Spring 2025):   (typical courses)

  • Physics 162d.001, Fundamentals of physics ii Synopsis
    Physics 150, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM
  • Physics 162d.01d, Fundamentals of physics ii Synopsis
    Physics 047, M 11:30 AM-01:30 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Aad, G; Abbott, B; Abbott, DC; Abed Abud, A; Abeling, K; Abhayasinghe, DK; Abidi, SH; AbouZeid, OS; Abraham, NL; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; Abreu, R; Abulaiti, Y; Acharya, BS; Achkar, B; Adam, L; Adam Bourdarios, C; Adamczyk, L; Adamek, L; Adelman, J; Adersberger, M; Adiguzel, A; Adorni, S; Adye, T; Affolder, AA; Afik, Y; Agapopoulou, C; Agaras, MN; Aggarwal, A; Agheorghiesei, C; Aguilar-Saavedra, JA; Ahmad, A; Ahmadov, F; Ahmed, WS; Ai, X; Aielli, G; Akatsuka, S; Akbiyik, M; Åkesson, TPA; Akilli, E; Akimov, AV; Al Khoury, K; Alberghi, GL; Albert, J; Alconada Verzini, MJ; Alderweireldt, S; Aleksa, M; Aleksandrov, IN; Alexa, C; Alexopoulos, T; Alfonsi, A; Alfonsi, F; Alhroob, M; Ali, B; Ali, S; Aliev, M; Alimonti, G; Allaire, C; Allbrooke, BMM; Allen, BW; Allport, PP; Aloisio, A; Alonso, F; Alpigiani, C; Alunno Camelia, E; Alvarez Estevez, M; Alviggi, MG; Amaral Coutinho, Y; Ambler, A; Ambroz, L; Amelung, C; Amidei, D; Amor Dos Santos, SP; Amoroso, S; Amrouche, CS; An, F; Anastopoulos, C; Andari, N; Andeen, T; Anders, JK; Andrean, SY; Andreazza, A; Andrei, V; Anelli, CR; Angelidakis, S; Angerami, A; Anisenkov, AV; Annovi, A; Antel, C; Anthony, MT; Antipov, E; Antonelli, M; Antrim, DJA; Anulli, F; Aoki, M; Aparisi Pozo, JA; Aparo, MA; Aperio Bella, L; Aranzabal Barrio, N; Araujo Ferraz, V, The ATLAS trigger system for LHC Run 3 and trigger performance in 2022, Journal of Instrumentation, vol. 19 no. 6 (June, Accepted, 2024) [doi]  [abs].
  2. ATLAS Collaboration, Search for high-mass $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ resonances in the hadronic final state using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collisions at $\sqrts$= 13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector (August, 2021) [2779176] .
  3. ATLAS Collaboration, Search for single production of vector-like T quarks decaying to Ht or Zt in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector (August, 2021) [2779174] .
  4. Aad, G; Abbott, B; Abbott, DC; Abed Abud, A; Abeling, K; Abhayasinghe, DK; Abidi, SH; AbouZeid, OS; Abraham, NL; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; Abulaiti, Y; Acharya, BS; Achkar, B; Adam, L; Adam Bourdarios, C; Adamczyk, L; Adamek, L; Adelman, J; Adersberger, M; Adiguzel, A; Adorni, S; Adye, T; Affolder, AA; Afik, Y; Agapopoulou, C; Agaras, MN; Aggarwal, A; Agheorghiesei, C; Aguilar-Saavedra, JA; Ahmad, A; Ahmadov, F; Ahmed, WS; Ai, X; Aielli, G; Akatsuka, S; Akbiyik, M; Åkesson, TPA; Akilli, E; Akimov, AV; Al Khoury, K; Alberghi, GL; Albert, J; Alconada Verzini, MJ; Alderweireldt, S; Aleksa, M; Aleksandrov, IN; Alexa, C; Alexopoulos, T; Alfonsi, A; Alfonsi, F; Alhroob, M; Ali, B; Ali, S; Aliev, M; Alimonti, G; Allaire, C; Allbrooke, BMM; Allen, BW; Allport, PP; Aloisio, A; Alonso, F; Alpigiani, C; Alunno Camelia, E; Alvarez Estevez, M; Alviggi, MG; Amaral Coutinho, Y; Ambler, A; Ambroz, L; Amelung, C; Amidei, D; Amor Dos Santos, SP; Amoroso, S; Amrouche, CS; An, F; Anastopoulos, C; Andari, N; Andeen, T; Anders, JK; Andrean, SY; Andreazza, A; Andrei, V; Anelli, CR; Angelidakis, S; Angerami, A; Anisenkov, AV; Annovi, A; Antel, C; Anthony, MT; Antipov, E; Antonelli, M; Antrim, DJA; Anulli, F; Aoki, M; Aparisi Pozo, JA; Aparo, MA; Aperio Bella, L; Aranzabal, N; Araujo Ferraz, V; Araujo Pereira, R; Arcangeletti, C; Arce, ATH; Arduh, FA; Arguin, J-F; Argyropoulos, S; Arling, J-H; Armbruster, AJ; Armstrong, A; Arnaez, O; Arnold, H; Arrubarrena Tame, ZP; Artoni, G; Asada, H; Asai, K; Asai, S; Asawatavonvanich, T; Asbah, N; Asimakopoulou, EM; Asquith, L; Assahsah, J; Assamagan, K; Astalos, R; Atkin, RJ; Atkinson, M; Atlay, NB; Atmani, H; Augsten, K; Austrup, VA; Avolio, G; Ayoub, MK; Azuelos, G; Bachacou, H; Bachas, K; Backes, M; Backman, F; Bagnaia, P; Bahmani, M; Bahrasemani, H; Bailey, AJ; Bailey, VR; Baines, JT; Bakalis, C; Baker, OK; Bakker, PJ; Bakos, E; Bakshi Gupta, D; Balaji, S; Balasubramanian, R; Baldin, EM; Balek, P; Balli, F; Balunas, WK; Balz, J; Banas, E; Bandieramonte, M; Bandyopadhyay, A; Banerjee, S; Barak, L; Barbe, WM; Barberio, EL; Barberis, D; Barbero, M; Barbour, G; Barillari, T; Barisits, M-S; Barkeloo, J; Barklow, T; Barnea, R; Barnett, BM; Barnett, RM; Barnovska-Blenessy, Z; Baroncelli, A; Barone, G; Barr, AJ; Barranco Navarro, L; Barreiro, F; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, J; Barron, U; Barsov, S; Bartels, F; Bartoldus, R; Bartolini, G; Barton, AE; Bartos, P; Basalaev, A; Basan, A; Bassalat, A; Basso, MJ; Bates, RL; Batlamous, S; Batley, JR; Batool, B; Battaglia, M; Bauce, M; Bauer, F; Bauer, P; Bawa, HS; Bayirli, A; Beacham, JB; Beau, T; Beauchemin, PH; Becherer, F; Bechtle, P; Beck, HC; Beck, HP; Becker, K; Becot, C; Beddall, A; Beddall, AJ; Bednyakov, VA; Bedognetti, M; Bee, CP; Beermann, TA; Begalli, M; Begel, M; Behera, A; Behr, JK; Beisiegel, F; Belfkir, M; Bell, AS; Bella, G; Bellagamba, L; Bellerive, A; Bellos, P; Beloborodov, K; Belotskiy, K; Belyaev, NL; Benchekroun, D; Benekos, N; Benhammou, Y; Benjamin, DP; Benoit, M; Bensinger, JR; Bentvelsen, S; Beresford, L; Beretta, M; Berge, D; Bergeaas Kuutmann, E; Berger, N; Bergmann, B; Bergsten, LJ; Beringer, J; Berlendis, S; Bernardi, G; Bernius, C; Bernlochner, FU; Berry, T; Berta, P; Berthold, A; Bertram, IA; Bessidskaia Bylund, O; Besson, N; Bethani, A; Bethke, S; Betti, A; Bevan, AJ; Beyer, J; Bhattacharya, DS; Bhattarai, P; Bhopatkar, VS; Bi, R; Bianchi, RM; Biebel, O; Biedermann, D; Bielski, R; Bierwagen, K; Biesuz, NV; Biglietti, M; Billoud, TRV; Bindi, M; Bingul, A; Bini, C; Biondi, S; Birch-Sykes, CJ; Birman, M; Bisanz, T; Biswal, JP; Biswas, D; Bitadze, A; Bittrich, C; Bjørke, K; Blazek, T; Bloch, I; Blocker, C; Blue, A; Blumenschein, U; Bobbink, GJ; Bobrovnikov, VS; Bocchetta, SS; Bogavac, D; Bogdanchikov, AG; Bohm, C; Boisvert, V; Bokan, P; Bold, T; Bolz, AE; Bomben, M; Bona, M; Bonilla, JS; Boonekamp, M; Booth, CD; Borbély, AG; Borecka-Bielska, HM; Borgna, LS; Borisov, A; Borissov, G; Bortoletto, D; Boscherini, D; Bosman, M; Bossio Sola, JD; Bouaouda, K; Boudreau, J; Bouhova-Thacker, EV; Boumediene, D; Boveia, A; Boyd, J; Boye, D; Boyko, IR; Bozson, AJ; Bracinik, J; Brahimi, N; Brandt, G; Brandt, O; Braren, F; Brau, B; Brau, JE; Breaden Madden, WD; Brendlinger, K; Brener, R; Brenner, L; Brenner, R; Bressler, S; Brickwedde, B; Briglin, DL; Britton, D; Britzger, D; Brock, I; Brock, R; Brooijmans, G; Brooks, WK; Brost, E; Bruckman de Renstrom, PA; Brüers, B; Bruncko, D; Bruni, A; Bruni, G; Bruschi, M; Bruscino, N; Bryngemark, L; Buanes, T; Buat, Q; Buchholz, P; Buckley, AG; Budagov, IA; Bugge, MK; Bührer, F; Bulekov, O; Bullard, BA; Burch, TJ; Burdin, S; Burgard, CD; Burger, AM; Burghgrave, B; Burr, JTP; Burton, CD; Burzynski, JC; Büscher, V; Buschmann, E; Bussey, PJ; Butler, JM; Buttar, CM; Butterworth, JM; Butti, P; Buttinger, W; Buxo Vazquez, CJ; Buzatu, A; Buzykaev, AR; Cabras, G; Cabrera Urbán, S; Caforio, D; Cai, H; Cairo, VMM; Cakir, O; Calace, N; Calafiura, P; Calderini, G; Calfayan, P; Callea, G; Caloba, LP; Caltabiano, A; Calvente Lopez, S; Calvet, D; Calvet, S; Calvet, TP; Calvetti, M; Camacho Toro, R; Camarda, S; Camarero Munoz, D; Camarri, P; Camerlingo, MT; Cameron, D; Camincher, C; Campana, S; Campanelli, M; Camplani, A; Canale, V; Canesse, A; Cano Bret, M; Cantero, J; Cao, T; Cao, Y; Capeans Garrido, MDM; Capua, M; Cardarelli, R; Cardillo, F; Carducci, G; Carli, I; Carli, T; Carlino, G; Carlson, BT; Carlson, EM; Carminati, L; Carney, RMD; Caron, S; Carquin, E; Carrá, S; Carratta, G; Carter, JWS; Carter, TM; Casado, MP; Casha, AF; Castiglia, EG; Castillo, FL; Castillo Garcia, L; Castillo Gimenez, V; Castro, NF; Catinaccio, A; Catmore, JR; Cattai, A; Cavaliere, V; Cavasinni, V; Celebi, E; Celli, F; Cerny, K; Cerqueira, AS; Cerri, A; Cerrito, L; Cerutti, F; Cervelli, A; Cetin, SA; Chadi, Z; Chakraborty, D; Chan, J; Chan, WS; Chan, WY; Chapman, JD; Chargeishvili, B; Charlton, DG; Charman, TP; Chatterjee, M; Chau, CC; Che, S; Chekanov, S; Chekulaev, SV; Chelkov, GA; Chen, B; Chen, C; Chen, CH; Chen, H; Chen, J; Chen, S; Chen, SJ; Chen, X; Chen, Y; Chen, Y-H; Cheng, HC; Cheng, HJ; Cheplakov, A; Cheremushkina, E; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R; Cheu, E; Cheung, K; Chevalérias, TJA; Chevalier, L; Chiarella, V; Chiarelli, G; Chiodini, G; Chisholm, AS; Chitan, A; Chiu, I; Chiu, YH; Chizhov, MV; Choi, K; Chomont, AR; Chow, YS; Christopher, LD; Chu, MC; Chu, X; Chudoba, J; Chwastowski, JJ, Search for Heavy Resonances Decaying into a Photon and a Hadronically Decaying Higgs Boson in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS Detector., Physical review letters, vol. 125 no. 25 (December, Accepted, 2020), pp. 251802 [doi]  [abs].
  5. Aaboud, M; Aad, G; Abbott, B; Abdinov, O; Abeloos, B; Abhayasinghe, DK; Abidi, SH; AbouZeid, OS; Abraham, NL; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; Abulaiti, Y; Acharya, BS; Adachi, S; Adam, L; Adamczyk, L; Adelman, J; Adersberger, M; Adiguzel, A; Adye, T; Affolder, AA; Afik, Y; Agheorghiesei, C; Aguilar-Saavedra, JA; Ahmadov, F; Aielli, G; Akatsuka, S; Åkesson, TPA; Akilli, E; Akimov, AV; Alberghi, GL; Albert, J; Albicocco, P; Alconada Verzini, MJ; Alderweireldt, S; Aleksa, M; Aleksandrov, IN; Alexa, C; Alexopoulos, T; Alhroob, M; Ali, B; Alimonti, G; Alison, J; Alkire, SP; Allaire, C; Allbrooke, BMM; Allen, BW; Allport, PP; Aloisio, A; Alonso, A; Alonso, F; Alpigiani, C; Alshehri, AA; Alstaty, MI; Alvarez Gonzalez, B; Álvarez Piqueras, D; Alviggi, MG; Amadio, BT; Amaral Coutinho, Y; Ambler, A; Ambroz, L; Amelung, C; Amidei, D; Amor Dos Santos, SP; Amoroso, S; Amrouche, CS; Anastopoulos, C; Ancu, LS; Andari, N; Andeen, T; Anders, CF; Anders, JK; Anderson, KJ; Andreazza, A; Andrei, V; Anelli, CR; Angelidakis, S; Angelozzi, I; Angerami, A; Anisenkov, AV; Annovi, A; Antel, C; Anthony, MT; Antonelli, M; Antrim, DJA; Anulli, F; Aoki, M; Aparisi Pozo, JA; Aperio Bella, L; Arabidze, G; Araque, JP; Araujo Ferraz, V; Araujo Pereira, R; Arce, ATH; Ardell, RE; Arduh, FA; Arguin, JF; Argyropoulos, S; Armbruster, AJ; Armitage, LJ, ATLAS Collaboration, Nuclear Physics A, vol. 982 (February, Accepted, 2019), pp. 985-1009 [doi] .

Highlight:
Hadron colliders are attempting to produce evidence of phenomena beyond the "Standard Model" of particle physics, which is our current, best description of how fundamental particles interact. This description works very well for collider experiments, but is known to be incomplete: it doesn't explain neutrino masses and mixings, it cannot account for dark matter, and it doesn't treat gravity or the accelerating expansion of the universe. The observation of particle interactions that the Standard Model cannot explain would help us build up a better theory that accounts for these striking phenomena. In my research I concentrate on better understanding what takes place in hadron collider events with complicated final state topologies, like the production and decay of top quarks and heavy gauge bosons. In these events, I am looking for any hint of non-Standard Model interactions. My current studies use the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and consequently, many of my recent research activities also support the broader experimental program of ATLAS.

Current Ph.D. Students  

  • David M. Bjergaard  
  • Lei Li  
Selected Invited Lectures

  1. The ATLAS Experiment: Status and Prospects, October, 2010, SEAPS (Baton Rouge)    
  2. Prospects for New Physics at the LHC, February, 2010, APS (Washington)