About Us
The Scattering Amplitudes Group is led by Associate Professor Matthias Wilhelm and is part of the Center for Quantum Mathematics (QM) at the Department for Mathematics and Computer Science (IMADA) of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU).
The work of the Scattering Amplitudes Group is supported by grants from Villum Fonden as well as the Independent Research Fund Denmark.
Research Focus
Our research is focused on precision calculations in Quantum Field Theory (QFT). Quantum Field Theory combines Albert Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity with Quantum Mechanics and has provided a hugely successful framework for describing Nature across a vast range of scales.
A key quantity for calculating precision predictions in QFT are Scattering Amplitudes, with applications ranging from particle physics to classical gravity.
The discovery of the Higgs particle at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in 2012 was a major confirmation of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. The upcoming high-luminosity upgrade to the LHC will allow us to probe the Standard Model to unprecedented precision and discover potential signs of new physics. Achieving this requires calculating theoretical predictions to very high accuracy.
Similarly, the discovery of gravitational waves from inspiraling and coalescing pairs of black holes at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 was a huge confirmation of Einstein’s theory of gravity. With upcoming third-generation gravitational-wave observatories such as the Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, and LISA, this field is quickly moving towards precision physics. Techniques from QFT and Scattering Amplitudes can be applied to predict the form of gravitational waves during the inspiralling phase of such mergers.
What both cases have in common is that the results of high-precision calculations show surprising simplicity and rich mathematical structure. At high precision, Feynman integrals arise that contain intricate geometries and that integrate to new classes of transcendental functions. Understanding these functions is in particular a key towards reaching the desired precision for the upcoming experiments.
The research of the Scattering Amplitudes Group combines techniques from theoretical physics and pure mathematics, such as complex analysis, algebraic geometry and number theory, as well as machine learning.
Please reach out if you are interested in a Bachelor or Master project within the Scattering Amplitudes Group!
Contact
To get in touch, please write to Associate Professor Matthias Wilhelm: mwilhelm@imada.sdu.dk
Members
Current members of the group:
- Matthias Wilhelm
- Florian Seefeld
- Yuanhong Guo
Former members:
- Robin Marzucca
- Anne Spiering
- Chi Zhang
- Hjalte Frellesvig
- Matt von Hippel
- Roger Morales
- Alexander Tångberg Kristensson
- Alicia Astorga Elcarte
- Katharina Hauer
- Anna Liv Bjerregaard
- Alexander John Boccaletti
- Daniel Brammer
