Ruth Britto

Professor in Theoretical Physics

Fellow of Trinity College Dublin

 

School of Mathematics

Trinity College

Dublin 2

Ireland 

+353 1 896 3945

ruth.britto@tcd.ie

Current Teaching

MAU44406 The Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics, Hilary 2026

Research

Scattering amplitudes play a key role in high-energy physics. Not only do they describe the actual scattering taking place in collider experiments--of current importance in the era of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)--but they also illuminate the formal aspects of quantum field theories, such as divergent behavior or integrability. Amplitudes are thus useful both practically and formally, but their availability is limited by the difficulty of computing them.

As the number of particles in the scattering process increases, or the perturbative expansion is carried out to higher order, the traditional technique of Feynman rules fails to be feasibly implementable. This difficulty has prompted the innovation of new techniques. Notable among these are on-shell techniques, in which the basic building blocks are complete amplitudes, rather than fundamental interactions. The on-shell framework has surpassed traditional Feynman diagram expansions, both in delivering new results and in expressing them in formulas that are not only compact, but also deeply illuminating. My research develops the on-shell framework to incorporate all theories and configurations of physical interest, building upon recent developments in pure mathematics.

ERC Synergy Grant Project: Mathematics of Scattering Amplitudes [MaScAmp]

The European Research Council has awarded funding to advance the frontiers of number theory, algebraic geometry and string theory, with applications to Feynman integrals and the aim of developing a new framework for fundamental interactions in physics.

Openings for postdocs and PhD students will be posted on inspirehep.net/jobs when available.

The Dublin and Uppsala nodes of MaScAmp both invite applications for a postdoctoral position starting in the fall of 2026. Candidates must demonstrate relevant experience and commitment to the scientific objectives of this project and are expected to participate in regular exchanges among the nodes in Dublin, Oxford, Potsdam and Uppsala.

·       The successful candidate of the Dublin position will be affiliated with the theoretical physics group of Trinity College Dublin and supervised by Ruth Britto. Applications including a brief cover letter, CV, a list of publications, and a description of past research and future research interests, should be submitted electronically at AcademicJobsOnline. Three letters of recommendation are required as well.

• The successful candidate of the Uppsala position will be affiliated with the theoretical physics division of Uppsala University and supervised by Oliver Schlotterer. Applications including a cover letter mentioning their research area, a CV, a brief research statement, and a publication list, should be submitted electronically at AcademicJobsOnline. Two or more letters of recommendation are required as well. The candidate must also submit an application to the Uppsala University websitecontaining the same material but without the letters of recommendation.

In both cases, all materials should arrive by December 15, 2025 in order to receive full consideration.

Publications

Full list of publications on INSPIRE

Lecture notes: Constructing scattering amplitudes

Lecture videos: The Coaction, given online for  Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics Summer School 2021 "The Amplitude Games." Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Review articles:

·       Cutting-edge tools for cutting edges, with C. Duhr, H. S. Hannesdottir and S. Mizera.

·       Mathematical structures in Feynman integrals, with S. Abreu and C. Duhr. (Chapter 3 of The SAGEX Review on Scattering Amplitudes)

·       Loop amplitudes in gauge theories: modern analytic approaches