Going Beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics
Abstract:
The Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics is extremely successful in describing nature up to scales currently tested in experiments, like at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. However, it cannot explain various basic observations, such as the dominance of matter over anti-matter in the Universe, the presence of 'Dark Matter', the fundamental dynamics behind the Higgs mechanism, and the apparent huge hierarchies in fundamental parameters of nature. Finally, there are some recent hints in earth-based experiments on effects not describable by the SM, such as a potential non-universality in leptonic interactions or anomalies in searches for Dark Matter.
This lecture series will provide an overview on these open questions in fundamental physics and discuss different ideas how to address them. This includes new symmetries (like Supersymmetry or shift symmetry), extra dimensions, new dynamics in the early universe, as well as short-distance substructure of particles like the Higgs Boson.