Experience

Nanjing Normal University

Jan 2018 – Present Nanjing

Monash University

Aug 2015 – Jan 2018 Melbourne
Particle theory group lead by Prof Csaba Balazs

KBFI

Jan 2014 – Aug 2015 Tallinn
Particle theory group lead by Prof Martti Raidal

Sheffield University

Sep 2009 – Sep 2013
Supervised by Prof Leszek Roszkowski

Recent Publications

Thermal WIMPs and the Scale of New Physics: Global Fits of Dirac Dark Matter Effective Field Theories

We assess the status of a wide class of WIMP dark matter (DM) models in light of the latest experimental results using the global …

Nested sampling for frequentist computation: fast estimation of small $p$-values

We propose a novel method for computing $p$-values based on nested sampling (NS) applied to the sampling space rather than the …

Comment on "Reproducibility and Replication of Experimental Particle Physics Results"

I would like to thank Junk and Lyons for beginning a discussion about replication in high-energy physics (HEP). Junk and Lyons …

A comparison of optimisation algorithms for high-dimensional particle and astrophysics applications

Optimisation problems are ubiquitous in particle and astrophysics, and involve locating the optimum of a complicated function of many …

Simple and statistically sound strategies for analysing physical theories

Physical theories that depend on many parameters or are tested against data from many different experiments pose unique challenges to …

Objective Bayesian approach to the Jeffreys-Lindley paradox

We consider the Jeffreys-Lindley paradox from an objective Bayesian perspective by attempting to find priors representing complete …

Nested sampling with plateaus

It was recently shown by Riley (2019); Schittenhelm & Wacker (2020) that in the presence of plateaus in the likelihood function …

Global fits of axion-like particles to XENON1T and astrophysical data

The excess of electron recoil events seen by the XENON1T experiment has been interpreted as a potential signal of axion-like particles …

Nested sampling cross-checks using order statistics

Nested sampling (NS) is an invaluable tool in data analysis in modern astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational wave astronomy and …

PhaseTracer: tracing cosmological phases and calculating transition properties

We present a C++ software package called PhaseTracer for mapping out cosmological phases, and potential transitions between them, for …

Recent & Upcoming Talks

Nested sampling for frequentist computation: fast estimation of small $p$-values

We propose a novel method for computing $p$-values based on nested sampling (NS) applied to the sampling space rather than the …

Nested sampling for frequentist computation: fast estimation of small $p$-values

We propose a novel method for computing $p$-values based on nested sampling (NS) applied to the sampling space rather than the …

Pitfalls in likelihood land

The starting point for a statistically sound reinterpretation of an experimental result is the likelihood function, which encodes the …

Evidence for axion-like particles from XENON1T and astrophysical data

The excess of electron recoil events seen by the XENON1T experiment has been interpreted as a potential signal of axion-like particles …

Nested sampling cross-checks using order statistics

Nested sampling (NS) is an invaluable tool in data analysis in modern astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational wave astronomy and …

Nested sampling cross-checks using order statistics

Nested sampling (NS) is an invaluable tool in data analysis in modern astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational wave astronomy and …

Nested sampling cross-checks using order statistics

Nested sampling (NS) is an invaluable tool in data analysis in modern astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational wave astronomy and …

Combined collider constraints on neutralinos and charginos

Searches for supersymmetric electroweakinos have entered a crucial phase, as the integrated luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider is …

Bayesian and frequentist approaches to discoveries

I discuss findings from my recent comparison of Bayesian and frequentist approaches to resonance searches (1902.03243). I introduce a …

Projects

Bayes factors

Anomalies in high-energy physics with Bayes factors

BayesFits (2009 - 2013)

Fits of SUSY models, such as the CMSSM, in light of LHC data.

Fine-tuning and naturalness

Fine-tuning in physics with Bayesian statistics

GAMBIT

I am a member of GAMBIT - The Global And Modular BSM Inference Tool - lead by Dr. Pat Scott.

Uncertainty in the Dark Matter Velocity Profile

Using Quantified Maximum Entropy to model uncertainty in the dark matter velocity profile.

Resources

Jaynes

Typset copies of unpublished works and links.

Outreach & Teaching

• I gave a talk about the LHC to high-school children from Melbourne
• I have answered hundreds of questions at Physics Stack Exchange
• I cosupervised a PhD student at Monash University, Giancarlo Pozzo
• I supervised Michael Bardsley’s summer research project, resulting in a publication
• I taught a statistics course at Tartu University