Objectives
The main purpose of this course is to give an overview of the possible new physics scenarios that could lie beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. This new physics is necessary to overcome certain drawbacks of the SM
Skills
- Formulate and tackle problems, both open and more defined, identifying the most relevant principles and using approaches where necessary to reach a solution, which should be presented with an explanation of the suppositions and approaches.
- Understand the bases of advanced topics selected at the frontier of high energy physics, astrophysics and cosmology and apply them consistently.
Learning outcomes
- Critical analyse the different extensions to the standard model proposed.
- Distinguish between the different solutions to the problems of hierarchy in the standard model.
- Understand the problems of the standard model and the need to go beyond it.
Content
1.Before the SM:
- Criteria for building models for particle physics: Effective Field Theories (EFT) and first applications
- Accidental symmetries, consistency of the EFT, no-lose theorems for discovery & naturalness issues
2.Behind the SM:
- The SM as an EFT and theoretical reasons for improvement
- Unexplained experimental evidences
3.Beyond the SM:
- Towards the reduction of parameters: Grand Unified Theories (charge quantization & gauge-coupling
unification)
- Addressing the unnaturalness of the SM: Proposals for the strong CP problem (axions) and hierarchy problem (compositeness and supersymmetry)
Prerequisites
It is recommended to have followed the courses Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, Advanced Quantum Field Theory and Standard Model: Fundamentals and Phenomenology.