The National Science Foundation CAREER Awards are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors in the context of their organizations’ missions. The awards, presented once each year, include a federal grant for research and education activities for five consecutive years.
An excerpt from the abstract: “While the Standard Model of particle physics stands as one of our most well-tested physical theories, it is expected to break down under certain conditions, and unexplained observational evidence and theoretical puzzles call for understanding of physics beyond the Standard Model. Where and how this new physics originates are some of the biggest outstanding problems of physics; therefore testing the limits of the Standard Model is a primary goal of many high-profile experimental programs in nuclear physics.” “This research involves calculations supporting these high-impact nuclear experiments, utilizing some of the largest supercomputing facilities worldwide.”
Amy’s research focuses on understanding low-energy properties of the constituents of matter (hadrons, nuclei, and nuclear matter) by solving Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) using computational techniques. She is particularly interested in making theoretical connections with experiments searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics ( neutrinoless double-beta decay, direct dark matter detection, CP violation) as well as understanding the origins of matter in the Universe (baryogensis, Big Bang, and stellar nucleosynthesis) and phases of matter under extreme conditions, such as within the core of neutron stars.
To read the abstract for this award please visit NSF Award Search: Award # 2047185 – CAREER: Grounding Nuclear Physics in the Standard Model for New Physics Searches
An article written by Amy that will be featured in our upcoming department news magazine, will feature more information on her research.
You can visit her research page at https://nicholson.web.unc.edu/