Members
Our THEP group is composed of one professor, two postdoc researchers, five graduate students and some research students. We are strongly tied to high energy physics groups such as SNU, SNU-tech, KIAS, IBS-CTPU, Yonsei Univ and Konkuk Univ. We are also in collaboration with CERN theory department in Switzerland, Univ of Sussex in UK, Univ of Paris-Saclay in France, Helsinki Univ in Finland, etc.
Group photo (2023.3.)
In Taiwan for Summer Institute (2023.8.)
Group photo at HEP Center Workshop (2023.12.)
Group photo at High1 Workshop (2024.1.)
Postdoc Fellows
Dr. Jongkuk Kim (NRF research professor) 김 종 국 연구 교수
E-mail : jongkuk.kim927@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Dark Matter Models, Neutrino Physics.
Experiences
2024.03 - NRF research professor in CAU.
2019.03 - 2024.02. Postdoc fellow in KIAS.
2019.02. Ph.D in Sungkyunkwan University, Korea.
Publications in CAU
Dr. Rojalin Padhan (NRF fellow) 로잘린 파드한 연구원
E-mail : rojalinpadhan2014@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
BSM and Collider Physics, Dark Matter Phenomenology.
Experiences
2024.02 - NRF fellow in CAU.
2023.10. PhD in IOP, Bhubaneswar, India.
Publications in CAU
Ph.D Students
Adriana Guerrero Menkara 아드리아나 게레로 멘카라
(PhD: Fall 2019~)
E-mail : adrianamenkara@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Inflation, Cosmology
Current work
Higgs inflation and extensions.
Inflation in supergravity.
Reheating and dark matter.
Presentations
Pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone inflation with twin waterfalls, IBS-PNU joint workshop on particle physics and cosmology, Busan Paradise hotel, Dec 2022.
Reheating and dark matter freeze-in in the Higgs-R^2 inflation model, Paris-Saclay Astroparticle symposium, France, Nov 2022.
The SU(2)D lepton portals for muon g-2, W boson mass and dark matter, IDM 2022, Vienna, Austria, July 2022.
Inflation in Higgs-sigma models, BK Four workshop, Chung-Ang University, May 2021.
Higgs inflation as non-linear sigma models and its UV completion, Poster/Talk at KPS meeting, April 2021 & Nov 2020.
Symmetries and anomalies in supersymmetric models, Poster at KPS fall meeting, Oct 2019.
Honors & Awards
CERN-CKC PhD fellowship, July - Dec 2023.
Prize of Best Woman PhD Student, Korea Physical Society, Fall 2023.
Prize of Best Research, Brain Korea 21, CAU, 2022 & 2023.
CAYSS Scholarship, Chung-Ang University, 2019-2021.
Seong-Sik Kim 김 성 식
(MS-PhD: Spring 2020~)
E-mail : ntk.frozenyogurt@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
What fascinated me is something small, atom to more fundamental things such as quark and leptons. paradoxically, the large thing: collider and universe is most useful playground for researching them because they are most important high energy source, which required for fundamental particle reaction. I’d like to study about QCD, the study about colored particle such as quarks, and collider physics.
Current work
Dark matter.
Sommerfeld effects.
Extended gauge/Higgs sectors.
Presentations
Positivity bounds on Higgs-portal dark matter, oral presentation at Summer Institute 2023, Taiwan, August 2023.
Positivity bounds on Higgs-portal dark matter, Korean Physical Society, Daejeon, April 2023.
Models for self-resonant dark matter, Physics of dark cosmos, Busan, Oct 2022.
The SU(2)D lepton portals for muon g-2, W boson mass and dark matter, Particle physics theory, Korean Physical Society, Bexco, Busan, Oct 2022.
Light mediators for dark matter beyond Z2 parity, Poster/Talk at KPS meeting, April 2021 & Nov 2020.
Sommerfeld effects and dark matter in models with discrete symmetry, Poster at KPS spring meeting, July 2020.
Honors & Awards
GRS (Graduate Research Scholar, MS-PhD) scholarship, Chung-Ang University, 2020-2023.
MS Students
Myeong-Joong Seong 성 명 중
(BS: 2021~2022, MS: 2023~)
E-mail : tjdaudwnd@naver.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Quantum field theory, Cosmology
Current work
Particle production from vacuum.
Dark matter abundance.
Inflation.
Axion physics.
Presentations
Axion production by kinetic misalignment mechanism, poster presentation at Summer Institute 2023, Taiwan, August 2023.
On axion production mechanisms, poster session at Korean Physical Society, Daejeon, April 2023.
Strong CP problem and axion, poster presentation in CAU physics day, Nov 2022.
Boltzmann equation and dark matter abundance, oral presentation in CAU physics day, Nov 2021.
Chapter review, Peskin's Concepts of Elementary Particle Physics, Group meeting, July 2021.
Vacuum decay in quantum field theory, Group meeting, June 2020.
Honors & Awards
GRS (Graduate Research Scholar, MS) scholarship, Chung-Ang University, 2023-2025.
Joon-Ho Song 송 준 호
(BS: 2021~2022, MS: 2023~)
E-mail: thdwnsgh1003@naver.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Cosmology, Mathematical structure of quantum field theory
Current work
Higgs physics.
Hierarchy problem.
Leptogenesis.
Presentations
Non thermal leptogenesis in the simplest α-attractor T model, poster presentation at Summer Institute 2023, Taiwan, August 2023.
Non-thermal leptogenesis in Starobinsky-like inflation, poster session at Korean Physical Society, Daejeon, April 2023.
Searching for right-handed Majorana neutrino mass in thermal leptogenesis, poster presentation in CAU physics day, Nov 2022.
Searching for Higgs boson, oral presentation in CAU physics day, Nov 2021.
Honors & Awards
Research Assistant scholarship (B), Chung-Ang University, 2024-2025.
Sung-Bo Sim 심 성 보
(BS: 2022, MS: 2023~)
E-mail: ss971023@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Dark matter, Unified field theory
Current work
Gauge coupling unification and proton decay.
Presentations
Gauge coupling unification and proton decay in high-scale SUSY, poster presentation at Summer Institute 2023, Taiwan, August 2023.
Gauge coupling unification and proton decay in high-scale supersymmetry, poster session at Korean Physical Society, Daejeon, April 2023.
Gauge coupling unification and proton decay, poster presentation in CAU physics day, Nov 2022.
Honors & Awards
Research Assistant scholarship (A), Chung-Ang University, 2023-2025.
Research Students
Junghak Han 한 정 학
(BS: 2022~)
E-mail: oreo1929@naver.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Cosmology, Quantum field theory.
Current work
Nonlinear quantum mechanics.
Generalized symmetries.
Presentations
Generalized symmetries, CAU High Energy Physics Center Workshop, December 2023.
Generalized symmetries in the Maxwell theory without charges, poster presentation in CAU physics day, November 2023.
Junho Kang 강 준 호
(BS: 2021, 2023~)
E-mail : junobonnie@naver.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
I'm interested in particle physics and computer science. So I'm studying the Standard Model, beyond Standard Model (GUT, MSSM, etc.) and computer simulations based on python.
Current work
Dark matter N-body simulation.
Presentations
Simulation of galaxy density profiles with velocity-dependent self-interaction, CAU High Energy Physics Center Workshop, December 2023.
Simulation of galaxy density profiles with velocity-dependent self-interaction, poster presentation in CAU Physics Day, November 2023.
Chapter review, Peskin's Concepts of Elementary Particle Physics, Group meeting, July 2021.
Songmin Lee 이 송 민
(BS: 2023-09~)
E-mail : minn402@cau.ac.kr Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Theories that can explain every phenomenon in the universe, Cosmology, Particle physics.
Current work
Quantum field theory in time-dependent backgrounds.
Presentations
Hyung-Jun Park 박 형 준
(BS: 2024-03~)
E-mail: hjpark.physics@gmail.com Office: 102/811-2
Research interests
Quantum gravity & String theory, Particle physics, Cosmology.
Current work
Welcome to join!
You are welcome to join!
Domestic graduate students: spring and fall entrances. fellowships: GRS, Department TA, RA.
Postdoc fellows: job opening(2016), job opening(2019), job opening(2020), job opening(2022), job opening(2024).
Foreign graduate students: CAYSS program in CAU. position opening(2019), position opening(2024).
Foreign postdoc fellows: Brain Pool Fellowship (BP) program, (Korean). supported by National Research Foundation in Korea (regular application every two months).
News on our group
Dr. Jongkuk Kim has joined our group as a research professor (March 2024). Welcome!
Songmin Lee has joined our group as a research student in Sept 2023. Welcome!
Prof. Hyun Min Lee has become a new director for CAU High Energy Physics Center as of March 2023.
Junghak Han has joined our group as a research student in Nov 2022. Welcome!
Sung-Bo Sim and Joonsik Yoo have joined our group as a research student in July/August 2022. Welcome!
Joon-Ho Song has joined our group as a research student in August 2021. Welcome!
Junho Kang has joined our group as a research student in July 2021. Welcome!
Myeong-Joong Seong joined us as a research student in spring 2021. Welcome to our group!
Dr. Kimiko Yamashita has been selected as a Brain Pool fellow to join our group on October 1st, 2021.
Dr. Shuntaro Aoki has joined our group as a postdoc fellow as of April 1st, 2021.
Congratulations on the extension of Basic Research Lab "Lab for Dark Universe" from March 2021 for the next three years.
Congratulations on the selection of Brain Korea Four Program "Educational Program for Quasi-particles and Fundamental Particles in Physics " from September 2020 for the next eight years.
Prof. Hyun Min Lee has been appointed as the CAU Distinguished Scholar (Honor Class) for 2019-2021, with trophy and research funds.
Prof. Hyun Min Lee has, Basic Science Research Program, "Connecting new particles to the origin of the Universe", selected for 2019-2022.
Prof. Hyun Min Lee spent a sabbatical leave as a Scientific Associate in CERN for the period of Sep 2019 - June 2020.
Congratulations on the BRL program selected for 2018-2020 (cohosted with Yonsei and Chungnam National University).
Previous members
Previous postdocs
Dr. Carlo Branchina (postdoc): Renormalization group equations and effective potential (December 2022 - March 2024), now postdoc fellow (April 2024 - ) at University of Calabria, Italy.
Dr. Shuntaro Aoki (postdoc): Higgs inflation and reheating (April 2021 - Aug 2023), now postdoc fellow (Sept 2023 - ) at IBS CTPU, Korea.
Prof. Kimiko Yamashita (postdoc): Inflation and models for flavor and muon g-2 (Oct 2021 - Feb 2023), affiliated to CAU as a visiting scientist until March 2023, now assistant professor (April 2023 - ) at department of physics, Ibaraki University, Japan.
Prof. Bin Zhu (postdoc): Dark matter and new physics (Aug 2019 - Dec 2021), now associate professor (Jan 2022 - ) at school of physics, Yantai University, China.
Dr. Yang-Hwan Ahn (postdoc): Neutrino, axion and flavor physics (June 2019 - May 2021), now postdoc in Seoultech.
Prof. Min-Seok Seo (postdoc): BSM and cosmology (Jan 2018 - Feb 2019), now assistant professor (March 2019 - ) at department of physics education in Korea National University of Education.
Prof. Ligong Bian (postdoc): Electroweak phase transition and dark matter (July 2017 - June 2019), now associate professor (July 2019 - ) at department of physics in Chongqing University, China.
Former graduate students
Ji-Seon Song (MS): Dark matter and Higgs hierarchy problem (March 2020 - Feb 2022, MS thesis title: Cosmological relaxation of Higgs mass and dark matter production), to prepare for patent attorney.
Yoo-Jin Kang (MS/PhD): Massive graviton, Dark matter direct detection (March 2016 - Feb 2018, MS thesis title: Thermal Production and Detection of Dark Matter from Simplified Models; March 2018 - August 2021, PhD thesis title: Dark Matter and Massive Graviton in Warped Gravity and Clockwork Theory), to study data science.
Soon Bin Kim (MS): Clockwork models and extra dimensions (March 2019 - Feb 2021, MS thesis title: Hierarchy problems in the Standard Model and Clockwork solutions), in military service.
Soo-Min Choi (PhD): SIMP dark matter, inflation models, new physics models for experiments (March 2015 - Aug 2020, PhD thesis title: Dark Matter, Inflation and New Physics in the Era of Precision Cosmology), Postdoc with two-year contract in TUM, Germany (Oct 2020 - March 2021).
Tae Gyu Ro (MS): Leptoquarks and B-meson anomalies (Sep 2017 - Aug 2019, MS thesis title: Phenomenological constraints on the flavor structure of leptoquark and dark matter physics), work in SK Hynix.
Former undergraduate students
Joon-Sik Yoo (research student): Higgs inflation (Aug 2022 - Feb 2024, done one poster), on leave from school.
Jiyoon Sun (research student): Basics on QFT and dark matter (September 2020 - July 2021, done one poster), student intern in MPI Munich, Germany.
Jong-Pil Yoon (research student): Inflation (Sep 2019 - Dec 2019, done one poster).
Seung-Hyun Jeong (research student): Higgs boson at LHC (Sep 2018 - May 2019, done one poster), graduate student in SNU.
Bu-Kyung Shin (research student): Self-interacting dark matter (Sep - November 2018, done one poster).
Jin-Kyung Cho (research student): The Standard Model (Nov 2017 - Feb 2018).
Sang Won Ahn (research student): Higgs physics (Sep 2015-June 2016, done one poster), Japanese translator.
Kang Cheol Kim (research student): Inflation (Oct 2014-Dec 2015, done two posters, designed this webpage), graduate student in computational science, Yonsei University.
Ji Eun Lee (research student): Higgs physics (Oct 2014-June 2015, done one poster), PhD and postdoc fellow in department of physics, Yonsei University.
Young Min Kim (MS student): Higgs physics and dark matter (Oct 2013-June 2014, done one poster).