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Cornell University

CLASSE

CLASSE stands for Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based ScienceS and Education

Ritchie Patterson

Helen T. Edwards Professor of Physics

Experimental particle physics; physics beyond the standard model; weak interactions.


Research

Our model of elementary particles describes an enormous number of experimental results, but it falls short of explaining phenomena such as dark matter, the disappearance of anti-matter from the universe, and the small size of the radiative corrections to the Higgs mass. My research uses data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to seek the new phenomena and particles that may explain these mysteries.  Specifically, I look for particles with distinctly long lifetimes, since these would be unequivocal evidence for new phenomena and are predicted in numerous models.

In addition to my LHC research, I direct the Center for Bright Beams (CBB), which is an NSF Science and Technology Center that works to increase the brightness of electron beams in order to provide new capabilities for scientific research, industry and medicine.  CBB research, which currently involves ten colleges and universities and three national labs, is exceptionally collaborative and highly interdisciplinary.


Educational Background

B.A., 1981, Physics, Cornell University. Ph.D., 1990, Physics, University of Chicago. Research Associate, Cornell Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, 1990-93. Assistant Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 1994-99; Associate Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 1999-2005; Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 2005-present. National Young Investigator, 1994-99; Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1994-96; Fellow, American Physical Society, elected 2003; Provost’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship, 2005; Department Chair 2009-11; Director, Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE), 2012- present; Director, Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE), 2012-2020; Director, Center for Bright Beams, 2016-present.