03 August 2026 Monday

In Claude Brain

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nXSN6gMbZp3XTaN9X9FAmbDGQ4K9kvqG1tW4MlbB_YQ/edit

I recommend Matteo for promotion. He has serverd in an important, highly sought-after leadership role within the CMS collaboration and has secured funding from several different funding sources. Since joining CMU, he has completed an analysis for a specific model of new physics and he has strategically refocused his efforts on detector commissioning and algorithm development for the High-Granularity Calorimeter, aligning with the existing strengths and expertise of the group. Matteo has planted a lot of seeds, and even if only a subset of them flourish, he will become an outstanding faculty member.

While dark matter may be produced at the LHC, it cannot be directly measured; any Dark matter particles would pass through the detectors without depositing any energy. However, their presence can be indirectly inferred from momentum imbalance, a strong indication that a non-interacting particle is carrying away momentum. This "missing momentum" signature is central to the physics program at CMS, utilized in everything from detailed measurements of known particles to searches for exotic potential signatures of physics beyond our current theories. Matteo convened the group within CMS that oversees the use of missing momentum in all analyses.

So far, Matteo has focused on applying his expertise in missing momentum to searches for theories in which a dark matter particle interacts with a new as yet undisoveded particle that is an analog for the known Higgs boson. This search repurposes existing tools to targets a very specific hypotheses regarding how dark matter may interact.

Recently, Matteo has begun to work on a broader physics program. He is currently working on a search for four-top quark produciton, Higgs bosons production in association with top quarks, and a search for new particles decaying to electorns. I beleive this program is largely driven by the interests of the other members of his group.

Matteo is pushing for the use of Graph Neural Networks for the High-Granularity Calorimeter reconstruciton. This work is nice R&D and attractive to various funding sources interested in pushing AI/ML. This work has the poential to tie in with other work in the department and has attracked the interested of several CMU CS students.