Cohl Furey facts for kids

Cohl Furey, also known as Nichol Furey, is a Canadian mathematical physicist. She studies how advanced math can help us understand the tiny particles that make up everything around us.

About Cohl Furey's Career

Cohl Furey has studied at several top universities. She earned her first degree in math and physics from Simon Fraser University in 2005. Then, she got a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge in 2006. Later, she completed her Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of Waterloo in 2015.

After her studies, she worked as a research fellow at Trinity Hall in Cambridge from 2016 to 2019. She also spent some time at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town. Since 2020, she has been a researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany.

What Cohl Furey Studies

Cohl Furey is very interested in special types of math called division algebras, Clifford algebras, and Jordan algebras. She explores how these math ideas connect to particle physics. Particle physics is the study of the smallest pieces of matter and the forces that make them interact.

Her main goal is to find a deep mathematical structure that explains the Standard Model of particle physics. The Standard Model is like a rulebook for all known fundamental particles and forces in the universe.

She is especially known for her work with octonions. Octonions are a type of number system that is more complex than regular numbers.

Octonions and the Standard Model

Cohl Furey has been trying to show that the Standard Model can be understood using octonions. In one of her important papers from 2018, she brought together different findings. She showed how the math could create the correct properties for a single group of particles. These particles include an electron, a neutrino, three up quarks, and three down quarks. It also included their anti-particles.

Her math also helped explain why electric charge always comes in specific, whole units. It's like saying charges are always 1, 2, or 3, but never 1.5. This happens because the math naturally leads to whole numbers.

In 2022, Cohl Furey worked with Mia Hughes. They found a link between how symmetry breaks down in physics and these special math systems, including octonions.

Media Recognition

In 2019, the website Wired.com featured Cohl Furey in an article. The article was called "10 Women in Science and Tech Who Should Be Household Names." This shows that her work is gaining attention in the science world.