I am a theoretical particle physicist working primarily on Beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) physics, but I also have strong interests in astro-particle physics, string phenomenology, and some aspects of strong-coupling physics in the standard model. BSM physics involves the development of new theories to describe the most fundamental aspects of the world around us. These include the nature of space and time, the origin and behaviour of the forces and matter we observe, the very early universe (first few seconds) and its origin, and the properties of black holes.  Research Group:  Elementary Particle Theory Recent publications Extra Dimensions and Brane Worlds This is the conjecture that we may be living on a higher-dimensional generalization of a membrane ( a `brane') embedded in a higher dimensional spacetime.  Phyiscs World article on Extra Dimensions and Brane-Worlds Supersymmetry Supersymmetry is a new form of quantum mechanical space-time symmetry that connects the properties of bosons with fermions.  In our world bosons are the mediators of long-range forces such as the graviton for gravity, or the gauge particles for electromagnetism and the weak and strong nuclear forces, and possibly, if it exists, the Higgs particle, and maybe other as-yet-unobserved particles.  Fermions include the matter particles such quarks and leptons, and again, possible as-yet-unobserved new particles. Correctly thought about, supersymmetry is really the possibility that the classical idea of a dimension might have a discrete intrinsically-quantum generalization CERN Courier article on Supersymmetry and Branes Dark Matter and Dark Energy I spend quite a lot of my time thinking about the nature of the dark matter and dark energy that is indirectly inferred to exist, and indeed appear to dominate the behaviour of our universe on large scales. Physics World article on Dark Matter Physics World article on Dark Energy