The statement
We, the undersigned academics, wish to express our support for the following statement.
We are theoretical particle physicists from the UK and the wider international community. While our research covers many different areas of particle physics, we are united in expressing our deep concern regarding the funding cuts for the LHCb Upgrade II package by UK funding bodies. If not reversed, this will deal a serious blow to fundamental physics, threatening the progress of scientific discovery.
The LHCb experiment is a detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, designed to provide unique insights on why there is more matter than antimatter in the Universe, and which has discovered more particles than any other experiment in history. LHCb measurements have already enabled pioneering studies revealing a previously unknown constituent within atomic nuclei; confirming theoretical predictions about the force that holds matter together; and testing aspects of the Higgs mechanism in the most precise way possible.
The future programme is equally exciting: promising to
deliver information of unprecedented precision about the mysterious differences between matter and antimatter
and to provide data about the quark-gluon plasma
that characterises the first few microseconds after the Big Bang.
In short, LHCb delivers data that is essential for testing our most fundamental theories, which cannot be obtained anywhere else in the world.
However, this all hinges on the LHCb Upgrade II programme.
It is therefore inconceivable that previously awarded funding has been cut when its capabilities are so irreplaceable, and staggering that, ten months after the initial cut was announced, UKRI & STFC are unable to communicate a clear reason for the decision. We are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency, given that the STFC Science Board report which is the claimed scientific basis for the funding decisions has yet to be published.
As well as the scientific loss, the withdrawal of funding gravely weakens the UK's scientific leadership in an area where it has been historically world-leading. The UK forms a key part of the scientific base of the LHCb experiment -- researchers at UK institutions account for 15% of the collaboration, and both of the experiment’s two principal leadership roles are currently held by British scientists. Recent UK funding decisions related to ECRs have already led to a loss of capability in the UK particle physics community. The withdrawal of funding from LHCb Upgrade II inflicts irreparable damage to the UK's scientific reputation and credibility as a future scientific partner. The combined effect is a serious blow to fundamental physics, threatening the progress of scientific discovery, not just in the UK but across the whole of Europe.
We therefore urge the Government to publish in full the scientific basis on which the decision to cut funding from the LHCb Upgrade II programme was taken, to reconsider this decision, and to meet representatives from the UK particle theory community to discuss how this unique and world-leading capability can be protected.
Signatories
signatories
Name
Position
Institution
Comment
Dr Matthew Kirk
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Prof. David Politzer (Nobel laureate)
Richard Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics
California Institute of Technology
Professor Giorgio Parisi (Nobel laureate)
Professor
Università di Roma La Sapienza
Professor Luciano Maiani (former Director General of CERN)
Emeritus Professor
Università di Roma La Sapienza
Urs Achim Wiedemann
Head of the Theoretical Physics Department CERN
CERN
Nima Arkani-Hamed (Breakthrough Prize laureate)
Professor
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
LHCB is an incredibly important experiment; its future program is ambitious and exciting, with the potential to profoundly reshape our understanding of fundamental physics.
Prof Jeff Forshaw FRS
Professor and FRS
University of Manchester
I hope this terrible decision will be reversed - it is bizarre to cut a project where the UK is the global leader.
Professor Christopher Sachrajda (FRS)
Emeritus Professor
University of Southampton
The hugely successful LHCb experiment, which has had very significant UK leadership, continues to explore our understanding of fundamental particles and interactions with its precise searches for signatures of "new physics".
Professor Nigel Glover FRS
Emeritus professor of physics
IPPP Durham University
John Ellis CBE FRS
Emeritus Professor
King's College London
Prof. R. Keith Ellis FRS
Emeritus professor
IPPP, Durham
Professor Douglas Ross FRS
Emeritus Professor
University of Southampton
Professor Richard Ball FRSE
Professor of Mathematical Physics
University of Edinburgh
Prof. Gavin Salam FRS
Royal Society Research Professor
University of Oxford
Professor Frank Close OBE FRS
Professor Emeritus
Oxford University
The UK is a leader in this world unique experiment. For the current health of UK theoretical physics and inspiration for the next generation to pursue physics, an essential plank for the UK's competitiveness and also defence in a hi-tech world, it is imperative that we maintain a leading presence in this and support its development.
Professor Bryan Webber FRS
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Cambridge
Professor Peter West FRS
Emeritus Professor
King's College
Professor Alan Martin FRS
Emeritus Professor
IPPP, University of Durham
Prof. JEAN ILIOPOULOS
Retired
Ecole Normale Supérieure
Professor Valentin V Khoze
Professor, Director of IPPP
IPPP Durham
Professor Juan Rojo
Head of the department of Physics and Astronomy
VU Amsterdam
LHCb is a unique experiment to scrutinise the laws of nature - after the significant investments so far, risking the full exploitation of its scientific program in the high-intensity era of the LHC, with its unprecedented rich dataset, would be disastrous for particle physics
Professor Samuel Wallon
Professor / Head of the Theoretical Physics Department of IJCLab
Paris-Saclay University / IJCLab (France)
Dr. Aoife Bharucha
Director of Research
Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille
Prof. Domènec Espriu
Professor of Theoretical Physics and Director
Institute of Cosmos Sciences, Universitat de Barcelona
Prof Antonin Portelli
Professor and Director
Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, The University of Edinburgh
Because of its focus on flavour physics, LHCb has great potential to play a key role in the discovery of new constituents of matter and new interactions. Cutting funding to LHCb would irreparably harm the UK's leadership in future major scientific discoveries.
Benjamin Grinstein
Distinguished Professor of Physics
University of California, San Diego
LHCb has uncovered many intriguing phenomena, from exotic hadronic states to a plethora of CPV processes (violation of the laws of nature under the combined action of particle-antiparticle exchange and of space inversion). It has the best potential for finding evidence, if it exists, of slight departures from the expected behavior of the forces between elementary particle, departures that would signal the existence of new forces and elementary particles in nature. And with additional data it will also allow scientists to better understand the dynamics of the strong interactions that bind quarks into hadrons as well as that of weak interactions responsible for nuclear disintegration
Professor Lisheng Geng
Dean and Professor of Physics
Beihang University
Professor Prem Kumar
Professor and Co-Head of Department
Swansea University
The UK has long been a world leader in fundamental physics. It is hard to fathom this decision which can only be described as an act of self-harm and a major setback not only for UK particle physics, but to the wider pursuit of curiosity driven research into the physical principles underlying Nature.
Lance Dixon
Professor Emeritus
SLAC & Stanford University
LHCb has WAY overperformed in B physics at a hadron collider, making measurements I wouldn't have thought possible. It has also made astounding discoveries concerning how quarks are bound into hadrons. LHCb Upgrade II would triple LHCb's impact in the HL-LHC era. It would be a terrible blow to the global particle physics community, and our understanding of nature at its most fundamental level, not to take advantage of this opportunity.
Professor Daniel Thompson
Co Head of the Department of Physics
Swansea University
Professor Jose Guilherme Milhano
Director
Laboratory for Experimental Particle Physics and Instrumentation (LIP)
Professor Neil Turok
Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics
University of Edinburgh
Prof Subir Sarkar
Professor Emeritus
University of Oxford
It is simply not acceptable for UKRI/STFC management to decide the fate of the LHCb upgrade without discussing the rationale with the UK physics community who have worked so hard to making it happen.
Dr Olivier Leroy
Research Director
CPPM, Marseille, France
Prof. dr. Jernej F. Kamenik
Head of department and vic-dean
Jozef Stefan Institute & University of Ljubljana
Prof. Dr. Christoph Hanhart
apl. Professor
Forschungszentrum Jülich
LHCb is a key player providing experimental input to our understanding of how matter forms from its fundamental building blocks. Future progress in the field needs the ongoing strong performance of LHCb that is jeopardised by the severe funding cuts.
Prof. Dr. Andrzej Buras
Professor Emeritus
Technical University Munich
Prof. Antonio Pich
Professor of Theoretical Physics
IFIC, University of Valencia - CSIC, Spain
Professor Jure Zupan
Professor
U. Cincinnati
Prof. Marek Karliner
Professor Emeritus
Tel Aviv University
Yuval Grossman
Professor
Cornell University
Professor Dr. Gino Isidori
Professor for Theoretical Physics
University of Zurich
The withdrawal of the funding foreseen for the upgrade of LHCb, despite previous assurances given over several years, places a severe burden on a major international collaboration involving scientists from many countries. It puts at risk an extremely interesting project that was recently reaffirmed as a top priority in the context of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. If not reversed, this decision will cause lasting damage to a field in which UK research groups have long played a leading role and possess world-class expertise. It will also undermine the confidence on which large international scientific collaborations necessarily depend.
Zoltan Ligeti
Senior Scientist
LBNL
Prof. Feng-Kun Guo
Professor
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Prof. Yosef Nir
Professor
Weizmann Institute of Science
LHCb is a unique experiment. It has been consistently producing exciting results, from which we learnt new facts about Nature. It is an asset to science and to humanity.
Professor Eulogio Oset
Emeritus Professor
University of Valencia
Professor Alexey A Petrov
Professor and USC Endowed Chair
University of South Carolina
Prof. Lawrence Hall
Professor of the Graduate School
University of California, Berkeley
The LHCb experiment will provide crucial tests of theories that I am currently working on. It is one of the most important experiments in particle physics as it will provide a unique probe of the interactions between the Higgs boson and quarks that determine the masses of the quarks and flavor mixing of the weak interactions. It is only through the LHCb experiment that evidence for the theories I am currently working on can be obtained.
Chancellor’s Professor Tim M.P. Tait
Chancellor’s Professor
University of California, Irvine
Luca Silvestrini
Director of Research
INFN, Rome
LHCb phase II upgrade represents a unique opportunity to improve our knowledge of fundamental interactions. It will allow us to test the Standard Model in the flavour sector with an unprecented accuracy, with a very high potential to uncover New Physics.
Dr. Michelangelo Mangano
Senior Scientist
CERN
Prof. Jean-Marie Frère
Prof; Research Director FNRS
ULB and BEL center
Prof. Dr. Heidi Rzehak
Professor
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Borut Bajc
Professor
Institut Jožef Stefan
Prof Fabrizio Caola
Professor
University of Oxford
Prof. Rikard Enberg
Professor of Theoretical Physics
Uppsala University
Apart from all the fantastic physics LHCb is known for, measurements from LHCb are crucial to pin down predictions for atmospheric and cosmic neutrino fluxes, which are necessary for the IceCube neutrino observatory that was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics. These are measurements in the forward region that the other LHC experiments cannot do.
Professor Maria Ubiali
Full Professor
University of Cambridge
Dr. Hector Gisbert Mullor
Professor
Universidad Europea de Valencia
prof. Guillermo Contreras
Full professor
Czech Technical University in Prague
Namit Mahajan
Professor
Theoretical physics Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. India
LHCb has contributed immensely to our understanding of weak and strong interactions in a way that's invaluable. And it is expected to do so even more in future, whether it's observing rare decay modes or measuring not so rare modes with unprecedented precision or discovering and revealing surprising properties of exotic states. Supporting the experiment and the collaboration should be a science priority.
Professor David Tong
Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Cambridge
Prof. Nick E. Mavromatos
Professor
King's College London
Prof. Dr. Alexander Lenz
Professor
Siegen University
Professor Roman Zwicky
Professor
Edinburgh University
Ever since I settled in the UK, LHCb has been a successful and proud flagship of the UK experimental particle physics!
Prof. Dr. Andreas Crivellin
ICREA Research Professor
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Professor Sebastian Jaeger
Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Sussex
I have seen UK involvement in LHCb grow, and seen its impact on some of the outstanding questions of fundamental physics such as the origin of mass and flavour. Since coming to the UK in 2009, I have seen additional groups join, the UK take the most senior leadership roles in LHCb, attract numerous outstanding theorists to the UK to work on LHCb phenomenology, and invigorate the world-class lattice QCD programme. The LHCb upgrade is a cornerstone of the European Strategy for Particle Physics and the CERN programme. It is a perfect example where the UK 'punches above its weight' as our leaders like to say. Needless to say, it also underpins an area of strong pull for prospective undergraduate physics students, who always tend to be drawn by the fundamental questions. I find it utterly incomprehensible to throw this away, with reputational harm and reduced UK leverage to follow and possibly even the LHCb upgrade itself at risk as a result. I do hope that the decisions to deprioritize and cut will be reconsidered and corrected.
Prof. Christoph Englert
Professor for Theoretical Physics
University of Manchester
Pr. Jean-Marc Richard
Emeritus Professor
Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis, Lyon, France
Professor Einan Gardi
Professor
University of Edinburgh
Prof. Benjamin Fuks
Distinguished Professor
LPTHE / Sorbonne Université
Dr, Prof. Svjetlana Fajfer
Full Professor
University of Ljubljana and J. Stefan Institute
Prof. Marek Schoenherr
Professor
Durham University
Professor Martin Gorbahn
Professor for Theoretical Physics
University of Liverpool
Prof.Dr. Gudrun Hiller
Staff/Professor
CERN/TU Dortmund
Professor Joaquim Matias
Professor
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, IFAE and Icrea Academia
LHCb will play a central role in the DISCOVERY ERA that is starting now, even more than other experiments. A cut in its budget will waste years of research, of knowledge and the leading position of UK in this DISCOVERY.
Daniel Maitre
Professor
IPPP, Durham University
Professor Richard Kenway
Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Physics
University of Edinburgh
prof. dr. Sasa Prelovsek
professor
University of Ljubljana
Professor Mrinal Dasgupta
professor
University of Manchester
Dr Marc Knecht
Research Director
CNRS
Professor Frank Krauss
Professor
IPPP Durham
Professor Ben Allanach
Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Cambridge
Prof. Michele Papucci
Research Professor
California Institute of Technology
David London
Emeritus Professor
Université de Montréal
Prof. Vicente Vento
Emeritus Professor
Universitat de València
Prof. Dr. Joachim Kopp
University Professor
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Donal O’Connell
Professor
University of Edinburgh
Professor Alon Faraggi
Professor
University of Liverpool
Professor D.R.T. (Tim) Jones
Emeritus Professor
Liverpool University
Fundamental research is critical and this is fundamental.
Luigi Del Debbio
Professor
The University of Edinburgh
Prof. Alakabha Datta
Professor
University of Mississippi
Prof. Dr Robert Harlander
Professor
RWTH Aachen University
Professor Simon Hands FLSW
Professor
University of Liverpool
PD Dr. Bastian Kubis
Lecturer
University of Bonn
Joan Soto
Professor
Universitat de Barcelona
Prof. Shi-Lin Zhu
Professor
Peking University
Professor Xiang Liu
Professor
Lanzhou University
Prof. Francisco J. Botella
Emeritus Professor
Universitat de València
Prof Jennifer Smillie
Professor
University of Edinburgh
Prof. Clare Burrage
Professor
University of Nottingham
Qian Wang
Professor
South China Normal University
Professor Nick Evans
Professor
University of Southampton
Frontier experiments, which LHCb certainly is, are vital to the excitement that brings new, young talent into science. The death of the UKs engagement sends a signal that will damage the whole UK science base.
Prof. Thomas Becher
Professor
University of Bern
Prof. Malcolm Fairbairn
Professor
King's College London
Dr. Ahmed Ali
Emeritus Staff Member
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
LHCb has a solid record of carrying out precision flavor physics, in addition to the multiquark hadron physics. In both of these broad areas, LHCb is the world leader. It would be a shame if the UK-LHCb funding is cut at this stage. More so, as a major upgrade of the LHC is under way at CERN to which the UK government is contributing its share. One fails to understand the logic behind funding the HL-LHC and cutting the LHCb funds. I urge the UK science authorities to revise their decision and restore the LHCb funding. Every penny of this money is well-spent.
Professor Jia-Jun Wu
Professor
University of Chinese Academy of Science
Meng-Lin Du
Professor
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Keith Hamilton
Professor
UCL
Professor Jonathan Flynn
Emeritus Professor
University of Southampton
Dr. Andreas S. Kronfeld
Distinguished Scientist
Fermilab
Participation in LHCb has given the UK fantastic visibility in science. Who would want to end that and why?
Hyun Min Lee
Professor
Chung-Ang University
Iñaki García Etxebarria
Professor
Durham University
Dr. Craig McNeile
Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics
University of Plymouth
Patrick Dorey
Professor
Durham University
Prof. Gilad Perez
Prof.
Weizmann Institute
Guido Bell
Professor
University of Siegen
Professor Simon Ross
Professor
Durham University
Professor Thomas Teubner
Professor for Theoretical Physics
University of Liverpool
Akram Khan
Professor
Brunel, University of London
Professor Nazila Mahmoudi
Professor
Université Lyon 1 (France)
Prof. Adam Szczepaniak
Professor
Indiana University
Prof Chris Allton
Professor
Swansea University
Prof. Vincent Mathieu
Prof
University of Barcelona
Dr. Raffaele Tito D'Agnolo
Senior Staff Scientist
CEA IPhT Saclay
Professor Cesar Fernandez Ramirez
Professor
National University of Distance Education (UNED), Spain
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Nierste
Professor
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr. Oliver Witzel
Staff scientist
University of Siegen
Prof. Dr. Matthias Steinhauser
Professor
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr. Monika Blanke
Senior Scientist
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Feldmann
Professor
University of Siegen
Prof. Dr. Thomas Mannel
Full Professor
University of Siegen
Professor Simon Plaetzer
Full Professor
University of Siegen
Prof. Francesco Riva
Professor
Université de Geneve
Nicolas Garron
Academic
University of Liverpool & LHU
Prof. Dr. Tobias Huber
apl. Professor
University of Siegen
Funding cuts in a single country threaten the success of LHCb groups everywhere!
Prof. Shirley Li
Assistant Professor
University of California, Irvine
Pr Michel H.G. Tytgat
Professor
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Professor Chao-Qiang Geng
Professor
Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuri Shirman
Professor
University of California Irvine
Dr hab. Richard Ruiz
Institute Professor & Senior Scientist
Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences
The UK's involvement in LHCb Phase 2 upgrades is instrumental to achieving the project's long-term science goals.
Dr. Melissa van Beekveld
Associate Professor (Staff)
Nikhef
Antonio Rodríguez-Sánchez
Assistant Professor
UCLM
Dr. Eva Santos
Senior Researcher
FZU - Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
JProf. Simone Biondini
Assistant Professor
University of Freiburg
Dr. Peter Filip
scientist
Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague
LHCb is very successful and important experiment.
Dr. Barry Dillon
Lecturer
Ulster University
Guido Martinelli Professor
Emeritus
Sapienza Università di Roma
Dr. Mureed Hussain
Lecturer in Physics
Higher Education Department, Punjab, Pakistan
Dr Jorge Martin Camalich
Staff Scientist
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Dr Timothy Burns
Associate Professor
Swansea University
Dr Sophie Renner
Senior Lecturer
University of Glasgow
LHCb is one of the global experiments in which the UK is a clear leader. The incredible success of LHCb within the LHC project is a testament to the expertise in our country, and provides world-leading training and research opportunities to UK students. It is an act of self-harm to defund that effort.
Dr Chris Bouchard
Senior Lecturer
University of Glasgow
Dr Dave Sutherland
Senior Lecturer
University of Glasgow
Dr Danny van Dyk
Associate Professor
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Dr. Méril Reboud
CNRS Researcher
CNRS
Dr Stefan Schacht
Ernest Rutherford Fellow, Assistant Professor
Durham University
Dr Salvador Rosauro-Alcaraz
Chargé de Recherche
CNRS
Olcyr Sumensari
CNRS researcher
IJCLab
Dr. Justus Tobias Tsang
Lecturer in Theoretical Physics
University of Liverpool
Professor Martin Jung
Associate Professor
University of Turin and INFN Turin
Assoc. Prof. Nejc Košnik
Associate professor and Senior researcher
Josef Stefan Institute and University of Ljubljana
Dr. Nico Gubernari
Emmy Noether Group Leader
University of Bonn
Djuna Croon
Associate professor
IPPP Durham
Dr. Jason Aebischer
PI at PSI
PSI
Dr. Juan M. Cruz-Martinez
Ramon y Cajal Fellow
University of Seville
prof. dr. Luka Leskovec
assistant professor
University of Ljubljana and Jozef Stefan Institute
please support LHCb its an amazing experiment :)
Dr. Gurtej Kanwar
Chancellor's Fellow / Reader in Physics
University of Edinburgh
Marco Nardecchia
Associate Professor
Sapienza Università di Roma
Dr. Syuhei Iguro
Designated Assistant Professor
Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute
Dr Lucien Heurtier
Ernest Rutherford Fellow
King's College London
We will never understand the true nature of matter and antimatter without the LHCb upgrade II. Our international partners, who are now deeply concerned about the UK's reliability, will.
Dr Jack Holguin
Leverhulme Fellow
The University of Manchester
Prof. Dr. Peter Stoffer
SNSF Professor
University of Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute
Dr Vera Guelpers
Lecturer
The University of Edinburgh
Dr Nils Hermansson Truedsson
Ernest Rutherford Fellow
University of Edinburgh
Dr. Simon Knapen
Senior Scientist
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Claudia Cornella
Staff Researcher
INFN
Ryan Plestid
Professeur Adjoint (incoming)
Université de Montréal
Prof. Matheus Hostert
Assistant Professor
University of Iowa
Dr. Stephane Lavignac
CNRS staff researcher
Institut de Physique Théorique (Saclay, France)
Prof. Bhubanjyoti Bhattacharya
Associate Professor of Physics
Lawrence Technological University
The LHCb experiment is an absolute must for the particle physics community and its upgrade II will certainly have huge implications for the physics community and humankind. Funding cuts will likely severely hurt this essential project with knock-on effects to be felt for years if not generations.
Dr Roni Harnik
Senior Scientist
Fermilab
Dr Thomas Cridge
Royal Society University Research Fellow
University of Manchester
Dr. Joachim Brod
Associate Professor
University of Cincinnati
Dr. Benjamin Stefanek
Assistant professor
University of Valencia
Prof. Hongwan Liu
Assistant Professor
Boston University
Dr. James N. Simone
Emeritus Senior Scientist
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dr Toby Opferkuch
Assistant Professor
SISSA
Dr. José Francisco Zurita
Junior Group Leader
IFIC, University of Valencia - CSIC, Spain
Yotam Soreq
Associate professor
Technion
Dr. Teppei Kitahara
Associate Professor
Chiba University
Dr Manuel Szewc
Associate Researcher
ICIFI, ECyT-UNSAM and CONICET, Argentina
Dr Miguel Escudero
Staff Scientist
CERN
Dr. Juan Miguel Nieves
CSIC Researcher
IFIC, University of Valencia - CSIC, Spain
Dr. Jorge Portolés
Associate Scientist
Instituto de Física Corpuscular, IFIC
Dr Clara Murgui
Junior staff researcher
CERN
Dr. Avelino Vicente
Associate Professor
IFIC, University of Valencia - CSIC, Spain
Dr. Felix Wilsch
SNSF Ambizione Fellow
University of Basel
Prof. Dr. Javier Fuentes Martín
Associate Professor
University of Granada
Dr. Javier Virto
Associate Professor
Universitat de Barcelona, ICCUB
LHCb has been one of the most successful experiments in the history of Particle Physics. Thousands of scientists (including theoretical and experimental physicists) have devoted 15 years of their careers to build on its outstanding output. Not funding its upgrade and extension is one of the most damaging political mistakes the UK can make.
Dr Tasos Avgoustidis
Associate Professor
University of Nottingham
Dr Yannick Ulrich
Lecturer
University of Liverpool
Dr Pavel Buividovich
Senior Lecturer
University of Liverpool
Dr. Prahar Mitra
Lecturer
University of Southampton
Dr Jacob Finkenrath
Research Group Leader
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Dr Tevong You
Associate Professor
King's College London
Dr Debasish Banerjee
Associate Professor
University of Southampton
Professor Martin Schmaltz
Advanced Investigator
Max Planck Institute for Physics, Garching, Germany
Dr. Gherardo Vita
Scientific Staff
CERN
Prof. Gordan Krnjaic
Associate Professor
Fermilab & University of Chicago
Dr. Andrew Lytle
Staff Scientist
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Mohamed Anber
Associate Professor
Durham University
Wolfgang Altmannshofer
Associate Professor
University of California, Santa Cruz
Dr Chiara Caprini
senior researcher
CERN and the University of Geneva
Dr Sebastian Ellis
Lecturer
King's College London
Dr. Elvira Gamiz
Associate Professor
Universidad de Granada
Stefano Cremonesi
Associate Professor
Durham University
Professor Quentin Bonnefoy
Associate Professor
University of Strasbourg
Jamie McDonald
Ernest Rutherford Fellow
University of Manchester
Dr. Alejandro Vaquero Avilés-Casco
Associate Professor
Universidad de Zaragoza
Alessandro Pilloni
Associate Professor
Messina University
Prof. Andrew Jackura
Assistant Professor
The College of William & Mary
Dr Joao Melo
Lecturer in Physics
Swansea University
Prof. Daniel Winney Corona
Associate Professor
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Azadeh Maleknejad
Senior Lecturer & Royal Society University Research Fellow
Swansea University
Britain’s scientific past is a source of pride, but it cannot substitute for a scientific future. Walking away from LHCb would be a retreat from the ambition that made the UK a pioneer in physics. We should be building on that legacy, not living off it.
Kei Yamamoto
Associate Professor
Iwate University
Dr. Shohei Okawa
Junior Research Group Leader
Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics
Seth Koren
Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow
IPPP Durham
Dr NORTIER Florian
Research Scientist
CNRS/IN2P3 - IP2I Lyon
Dr Giovanni Stagnitto
Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Genova and INFN
Dr. Nicolas Grimbaum Yamamoto
Wiener-Anspach Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Oxford
Dr. SUBHOJIT ROY
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Cincinnati
Dr. Racha Cheaib
Research Fellow
INFN Sezione di Ferrara
Dr Joseph Davighi
Ernest Rutherford Fellow
University of Cambridge
The LHCb experiment is a cornerstone of CERN's experimental program. It consistently delivers fantastic measurements and discoveries that drive the field of flavour physics - which concerns the properties of the three generations of matter and is central to our understanding of particle physics. Thanks to its sustained contributions to LHCb, the UK has long been a global leader in this field. Making our fair contribution to the planned Upgrade II of LHCb is essential to maintaining this leadership. It is moreover crucial to the success of LHCb itself as an international collaboration, and to making the most of the High-Luminosity LHC accelerator that will shape particle physics for the next two decades.
Dr Marco Fedele
MITP Senior Fellow
MITP
Dr Simon Jonathan Williams
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Karlsruhe Institute for Technology
Dr. Wrishik Naskar
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany
Dr Aleks Smolkovič
Scientific Associate
Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dr. Philipp Böer
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Matthew Black
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Edinburgh
Dr Dayanand Mishra
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Siegen
Dr. Xue-Ying Han
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Dr Gilberto Tetlalmatzi-Xolocotzi
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Siegen University
Dr. Haobo Yan
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Bern
Dr. Anton Olsson
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Dr Jack Shergold
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Liverpool
Dr. Aritra Biswas
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Siegen
Dr. Yingxuan Xu
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Prof. Andreas Jüttner
Staff
CERN and University of Southampton
Dr. Zachary Wüthrich
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Bonn
Dr Peter Stangl
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Dr Robert Mason
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr. Zachary Polonsky
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)
Dr. Jian-Peng Wang
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Siegen
Maksym Ovchynnikov, PhD
Research fellow
CERN, Theory department
Dr Brian Pendleton
Honorary Fellow
The University of Edinburgh, Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics
Dr Vitaly Magerya
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
CERN
UK is one of the world leaders in particle physics, this can not be let to slip away bit by bit.
Dr. Lukas Allwicher
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg
Dr. Alexander Karlberg
Senior Postdoctoral Researcher
Max Planck Institute for Physics
Dr. Bethany Suter
Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar
IFT, UAM/Fermilab
Dr, Lorenzo Ricci
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Peter Millington
Senior Research Fellow
University of Manchester
Dr Christiane Scherb
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Anders Eller Thomsen
Senior Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Bern
Dr. Nudzeim Selimovic
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Miguel Crispim Romão
Postdoctoral Research Associate
IPPP/Durham
Dr Saad Nabeebaccus
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Manchester
Dr. Alessandro Valenti
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Zurich
Dr Ross Jenkinson
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Manchester
Cutting funding for a groundbreaking scientific experiment to which the UK has made such significant contributions not only threatens future innovation and discovery in the field, but also sets a dangerous precedent in a world increasingly plagued by anti-intellectualism and misinformation. If we are unwilling to support fundamental research of this calibre, I fear for the future of scientific endeavour more broadly.
Dr Xavier Ponce Díaz
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Basel
Dr. Shashin Pavaskar
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr James Ingoldby
Research Fellow
CERN
Nicholas Rodd
Divisional Fellow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Dr. Ipsita Ray
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Montreal
Dr. Margarita Gavrilova
Postdoctoral Research Associate
California Institute of Technology
Dr Alexandre Carvunis
Postdoctoral Research Associate
TU Dortmund
Wenzer Qin
Postdoctoral fellow
New York University
Dr Patrick Hager
Research Fellow
CERN
LHCb's unique forward geometry offers an exceptional opportunity to probe fundamental aspects of QCD factorisation. It would be a real loss to the field if this potential were not fully realised in the High-Luminosity LHC era.
Dr. Giuseppe De Laurentis
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow
CERN
Dr. Julie Pagès
Postdoctoral Research Associate
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Dr. Avital Dery
Postdoctoral Fellow
CERN
Dr Federica Devoto
Postdoctoral Research Associate
SLAC
Pier Catinari
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Cornell University and Weizmann Institute
Dr Austin Batz
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Caltech
Jack Jenkins
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Siegen
Dr. Daniele Perri
Postdoctoral Research
IHEP Beijing
Dr Matteo Marcoli
Postdoc
CERN
Dr. Jacky Kumar
Research Scientist
University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Dr. José Calderón Infante
Postdoctoral Research Associate
California Institute of Technology
Dr. Marius Kongsore
Postdoctoral Scholar
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Dr. Florian Herren
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr. Venus Keus
Senior Fellow
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Dr Thomas Stone
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Dr. Jung-Wook Kim
Research Fellow
CERN
Felix Erben
Research fellow
CERN
The UK's ties to European endeavours, particularly in science, are more important than ever.
Dr. June-Haak Ee
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Marija Tomasevic
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr. Hantian Zhang
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Michael Udemba
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Manchester
Alessandro Lupo
Research Fellow
CERN
Dr. Tom Reichert
Postdoctoral Fellow
CERN
Dr. Carissa Cesarotti
TH Fellow
CERN
Dr Guilherme Guedes
Research fellow
CERN
Dr Eleftheria Malami
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Cambridge
Dr Weishuang Linda Xu
Postdoctoral Research Associate
SLAC/Stanford
Dr Mia West
Margarete von Wrangell Fellow
KIT
Matteo Di Carlo
Postdoctoral Research Associate
INFN Roma Tor Vergata
Dr Ahmed Abdelmotteleb
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Warwick
Dr. Matthias König
Postdoc
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Marina David
Postdoctoral Research Associate
CERN
Dr Drew Backhouse
Postdoctoral Research Associate
King's College London
Dr. Martin Lang
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Siegen
Chanju Park
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Toronto
Dr Carl Beadle
Postdoctoral researcher
University of Toronto
Dr Dimitrios Chatzis
Postdoctoral Researcher
IFT UNESP
Dr. Maria Laura Piscopo
MSCA Research Fellow
CERN
Dr Elie Hammou
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Nikhef
Dr. Vladyslav Shtabovenko
Senior postdoctoral researcher
University of Siegen
Dr. Amir Khan
Postdoc
TTP, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology
Dr. Francesco Moretti
Postdoctoral Researcher
Karlsruhe institute of technology
Carolina Figueiredo
Postdoctoral Researcher
Harvard University
Dr. Ali Mohamed
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Siegen University
Dr. Simone Romiti
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bern
Dr. Tim Kretz
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr Steven Cotterill
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Manchester
Dr Alexei Pivovarov
Research Associate
Siegen University, Germany
Dr Petr Jakubcik
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Oxford
The decision to cut funding for LHCb groups across the country would undermine the UK's credibility as a partner for large scientific experiments. An important part of particle physics expertise would be lost, with knock-on effects on industrial partners and higher education. False economy.
Dr. Jaco ter Hoeve
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, The University of Edinburgh
Dr Marvin Schnubel
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Nikhef
Dr. Alejo Nahuel Rossia
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Istituto Nazional di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sez. di Padova
Dr. Stefano Di Noi
PostDoc
KIT
Dr Joshua Davies
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Liverpool
Augustin Vestner
Postdoctoral researcher
IJCLab
Dr Despoina Farakou
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Oxford University
Anshika Bansal (Dr.)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Charles University
Dr Alberto Gálvez Ureña
Posdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Dr Kåre Fridell
Postdoctoral research associate
IPNP Charles University
Dr. Claudio Andrea Manzari
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Dr Jonah Stalknecht
Postdoctoral researcher
Charles University
Anh Vu Phan
Postdoctoral researcher
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr. Marko Pesut
SNSF Postdoc (Mobility fellow)
University of Cambridge
Luke Gallacher MSci
PhD Student
University of Glasgow
Mr Benjamin Smith
PhD student
University of Glasgow
Marta Burgos Marcos
PhD Candidate
Maastricht University - Nikhef
Isaac Clemenger
PhD Student
University of Edinburgh
Alexandre Jean
Postgraduate Researcher
Durham University, IPPP
Jinlong Dang
Ph D student
Peking University
Joanne Roper
PhD student
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Ansh Gupta
PhD student
King's College London
Benjamin Sutton
PhD Student
King’s College London
Sebastian Acuy Estrada
PhD Student
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Mr James Hamilton
PhD Student
IPPP, Durham University
Livia Maskos
PhD student
IPPP, Durham
Mr Finley Easton
PhD Student
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (University of Durham)
Alexander Hogg
PhD Student
University of Glasgow
Stefan Meiser
PhD Student
Universitat de Barcelona/ICCUB
Timur Sypchenko
PhD Student
IPPP
Lukas Born
PhD student
University of Bern
Pol Morell
PhD Student
University of Barcelona - ICCUB
Mr Graeme Crawford
PhD student
University of Glasgow
Miss Kata Benedek
PhD student
The University of Edinburgh
Pau Petit Rosas
PhD student
University of Liverpool
Aidan Wright
PhD Student
University of Liverpool
Mr Mehul Gunvant Depala
PhD Student
University of Liverpool
Scott Dickinson
PhD Student
University of Liverpool
Marianne Bouchard
PhD student
Université de Montréal
George Parish
PhD Student
Kings College London/ STFC RAL
Aurelia Zuchanke
PhD Student
University of Liverpool
Alex Thorne
PhD student
University of Edinburgh
Riccardo Natale
PhD student
DESY
Dominik Suelmann
PhD student
TU Dortmund
Ms. Robyn Lindley
PhD Student
University of Manchester
Adrián Terrones
PhD student
IFIC, CSIC-UV
Mr. Jake Wilson
PhD Student
University of Liverpool
Mx Ery McPartland
PhD Student
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Mr Panagiotis Giannadakis
PhD student
King's College London
MSc. Guilherme de Araújo Nogueira
PhD student
Unicamp
Benjamin Muntz
PhD student
University of Nottingham
Mr Mohammed Shafi
PhD Student
University of Nottingham
Ronnie Nobbs, MPhys
PhD Student
University of Southampton
- From Southampton High Energy Physics
Olivia Simon
PhD student
University of Glasgow
Alexander Bennett
PhD student
IPPP, Durham University
Daniel Baig
PhD Student
University of Southampton
Sukriti Atrey
Postgraduate Student
Imperial College London
Mr Charles Earnshaw
PhD student
IPPP, Durham University
Clara Hernández García
PhD student
Universidad de Granada
Eleni Anna Kolonia
PhD student
Swansea University
Yilin Zhou
PhD student
Swansea university
First they came for LHCb, next perhaps biological engineering, next AI?
Nicolò Bragagnolo
PhD student
Swansea University
John Marley
PhD Student
Swansea University
Saúl Salas
PhD student
Indiana University
Mr Thomas Mitchell
PhD Student
Swansea University
Mr Dillon Leahy
PhD Student
Glasgow
Jonathan Whittle
PhD student
Swansea University
Madison Hammond
PhD Student
Swansea University
Mr Oscar Miller
PhD student
University of Edinburgh / National Quantum Computing Centre
Working with LHCb, and specifically the TORCH project from Upgrade 2, gave me the research experience I needed to pursue a PhD. By cutting off funding, the government not only cuts fundamentally important research but also a pipeline for talent that feeds the areas they're prioritising, such as my own quantum computing. There is no new "useful" physics without fundamental physics research, and the assumption that the two are opposed could cause generational harm to the UK scientific ecosystem.
Riordan de Vries
PhD Student
Swansea University
Christelle Bou Dagher
PhD student
University of Southampton
Giorgio Foti
PhD student
University of Messina
Ruairi Hawthorn
PhD Student
University of Glasgow
Jaime del Palacio Lirola
PhD Student
University of Siegen
Viktor Kuschke
PhD student
PSI, University of Zurich
Romain Guillermo Reinle
PhD student
Universidad de Granada
Daniel Vladimirov
PhD student
University of Siegen
Alisha Marriott-Best
PhD Student
Swansea University
Cutting funding for LHCb risks setting a dangerous precedent for UK science, particularly following previous cuts to blue-skies research. Fundamental research is essential for scientific progress, and decisions driven by short-term priorities risk undermining decades of expertise, international collaboration, and future discoveries. Once this capability is lost, it may be impossible to rebuild.
Samuel Bates
PhD Student
University of Oxford
Maximilian Danner
PhD student
University of Oxford
Heleen Mulder
PhD student
Nikhef
Martijn Pelelgrom
PhD Candidate
Nikhef
Matteo Tresoldi
PhD
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Javier Martín del Barrio
PhD
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Dr. Noah Steinberg
Ex-Postdoctoral Research Associate
Google
Ramon Merino
PhD
Universidad de Granada
Dhruv Pasari
PhD
IPPP, Durham University
Rida Boumris
Master's student
Montreal University
Miss Ruby Kuhr
Masters student
University of Manchester
Dominik Utsch
Bachelor Student/Writing Bachelor Thesis
Universität Siegen
Mr. Peter Foele-Casteels
Undergrad student
The Open University