Dr. James Beacham
Particle physicist, science storyteller, filmmaker
Go to my Appearances page for public appearances, bookings, and engagements.
ATLAS Experiment
Duke University group
CERN
15-R-007
CH-1211 Geneva 23
Switzerland
List of main academic / research publications
Twitter: I haven’t used Twitter for a very long time. I previously used TikTok but I stopped. I might return.
j.beacham@cern.ch
or
james@jbbeacham.com
I'm a researcher working on the Large Hadron Collider, currently with the ATLAS group of Duke University, and I'm based full-time at CERN.
Previously I was a post-doctoral researcher with the ATLAS group at The Ohio State University,
I do experimental high energy particle physics. I work on an experiment at the LHC, ATLAS, and previously worked on an experiment at Jefferson Lab, APEX.
My research focuses on finding explanations for some of the key unsolved mysteries of the universe, like determining what dark matter is, whether the Higgs boson is standard or not-so-standard, why gravity is so weak compared to the other forces of nature, and whether there are hidden, dark sector forces that we've yet to uncover in collider experiments.
ATLAS
My current focus is the ATLAS Experiment, one of the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), at CERN, looking for new particles and phenomena, including dark force carriers, dark QCD, gravitons, exotic decays of the Higgs boson, rare Z boson decays, and other beyond-the-Standard Model scenarios. A large part of my research involves photons and the extremely efficient way in which they allow us to hone in on possible new particles, and the other large part focuses on long-lived particle searches and the unique and unconventional methods we need to use to ensure that the ATLAS detector is sensitive to these signatures.
A list of (most of) my public ATLAS talks and posters can be found on my CV.
APEX
I also previously worked on APEX, an experiment at Jefferson Lab that searches for a new vector boson (sometimes called an A' or dark photon) with weak coupling to electrons and with a mass < 1 GeV, and which could provide a gateway to understanding the nature and origin of dark matter. Some APEX talks I've given and posters I've presented are here.ALEPH
Prior to that, I worked on analyzing data collected by the ALEPH experiment, at LEP. More information about my ALEPH work is here.
Public Appearances
Every curious human is secretly a particle physicist. I speak around the world about science, technology, the future, pseudoscience, deep innovation, art, and how to think big and change the world. See my Appearances page for a complete list of stuff, and feel free to contact me for bookings.
Innovation and communication
Where does innovation come from? And how do we connect basic science innovations with the broader world? I regularly speak about deep innovation at conferences around the world, and I've collaborated with Chelonia Applied Science as a staff member and Communication Ambassador-at-Large to explore these ideas and facilitate innovations to improve society.
How I learned to be a physicist
I did my PhD at New York University, with Kyle Cranmer as my advisor, and before that I attended UC Santa Cruz, where I completed a double major in physics and math.
Film
I'm a filmmaker as well, and I maintain an artistic practice, collaborate frequently with other artists, and I regularly host artists at CERN. (I hold a completely separate prior bachelor's degree in Film Studies from the University of Utah.)
Other pertinent info: My middle name is Baker, and I don't use F@ceb00k, V1meo, etc.