Photo of Dr Carl Gwilliam

Dr Carl Gwilliam

Senior Lecturer Physics

Research

Research Overview

My ATLAS research is focused on studies of the Higgs boson and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). With the run-1 ATLAS data I made significant contributions to the search for the Higgs boson, discovered in 2012, particularly via its decay to a pair off b-quarks. Following the discovery, I was instrumental a wide range of searches for additional Higgs bosons (such as a heavier CP-even Higgs, a CP-odd Higgs or a charged Higgs) and spearheaded the first run-2 ATLAS Higgs searches as ATLAS BSM Higgs subgroup convener. I have subsequently utilised the Higgs boson as a new-physics probe. With the early 13 TeV data, I played a major role in the novel search for dark matter recoiling against a Higgs boson. As ATLAS Exotics Diboson and Multilepton (DBL) subgroup convener, I oversaw the searches for new diboson resonances with the 2015+16 data, probing uncharted masses. I subsequently led the search for the as-yet-unobserved Higgs pair production, which is a fundamental test of the Higgs mechanism, in the bbtautau channel, establishing the world's best limit on the SM di-Higgs cross section. From 2018-2020, I lead the ATLAS BSM search programme as Exotics Working group convener, overseeing over 500 international physicists. Besides physics analysis I have contributed significantly to ATLAS track reconstruction software and the identification and calibration of jets originating from b-quarks. I am currently the ATLAS UK Physics Coordinator and ramping up my involvement in the silicon tracker replacement for the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade.

I recently joined the upcoming FASER experiment to search for dark photons down-stream of ATLAS, where I am currently working on the simulation of the FASER calorimeter.

Research Group Membership

Research Grants

LIVERPOOL REQUEST FOR POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSISTANTS 2022

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL

April 2023 - September 2025

Experimental Particle Physics Consolidated Grant 2022

UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

October 2022 - September 2025

Research Collaborations

ATLAS

External: CERN

The ATLAS Collaboration at the LHC

FASER

External: CERN

The FASER Collaboration at the LHC

H1

External: DESY

The H1 Collaboration at the DESY Lab