Quantum Diaries

I am a Ph.D. student at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) located in Saclay, near Paris, in the particle physics department of the Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU/SPP). I am involved in the DZero Experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), which is located in the suburbs of Chicago.

During my high school studies in the south of France, I was reading lot of books about the beginning of the universe because I was curious to know which kind of clues we actually have to make predictions. I remember asking my physics teacher more and more questions such as, ''What is light composed of?'' or ''What is the true nature of time ?'' At the time I didn't realized how difficult these questions are to answer. It was the really beginning of my strong interests in physics.

So I naturally moved to college to study fundamental physics, spending four years at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse. All of these years were a very precious time to find out what I wanted to do, although I always had known that I wanted to be part of fundamental physics research. In my second year in physics, I became a scientific animator at the Cite de l'Espace in Toulouse, where I spent two years making guided tours about spatial technologies and astrophysics. This first experience confirmed my teaching skills and my will to pass on physics information to the public.

I finally conclude my fifth year of study in Montpellier where I made the Cosmos, Champs et Particules (CPP) studies, which were closer to my interest fields as astrophysics, cosmology and, of course, particle physics. It was a very important time asking myself if I want to study at a huge or tiny scale. In a way, particle physics made the both possible.

After my first contact with particle physics during a summer internship at the LPC in Clermont-Ferrand, on ATLAS experiment from the CERN, studying D0 mesons, I applied for a Ph.D. thesis in Saclay on the research of the Higgs boson in the diboson WW channel with dimuon final state, i.e. for a high-mass higgs research.

To conclude, when I am not thinking about physics, I try to play sports, travel, meet new people and learn on all subjects possible. I truly believe that the curiosity is the first motivation of any people involved in science, which makes it one of the greatest achievement of the human mind.