Symmetries beyond the Standard Model

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds the research activities of Professor Michael Ratz at the University of California, Irvine. The proposed research aims at a better understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter. It also aims to unravel the nature of the mysterious dark matter that makes up 80% of the matter in the universe. The quest for the unification of all of the fundamental forces and particles has triggered some of the most important developments in physics. The aim of Professor Ratz's research is to make further progress on the quest for unification. The PI will approach these longstanding questions by using model-building techniques and by examining the experimental consequences of these innovative models at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and in underground experiments. As a result, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting the progress of fundamental science. The broader impacts of this research are to stimulate public interest in and appreciation for upcoming results in particle physics. These efforts are complemented by introducing undergraduate students to the frontiers of research in particle physics through, e.g., freshman seminars. Moreover, the PI will engage in public outreach in order to make this interesting field more accessible to the general public. Particular emphasis will be given to effective science education in undergraduate courses and promoting diversity in the graduate and undergraduate physics program. In addition, the PI will contribute to the COSMOS summer course for high-school students. More technically, the PI will study symmetries beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. These comprise, apart from extra continuous gauged symmetries, discrete symmetries, which may involve an outer automorphism of the Standard Model gauge group. The PI will analyze the anomalies of such symmetries and explore their potential to solve the flavor and CP puzzles of the Standard Model. The PI will also study the extent to which such symmetries arise in potentially realistic string compactifications.