Elementary particles at colliders and in astrophysics

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This project involves the theory and phenomenology of experiments at the upcoming Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and of observations in astrophysics and cosmology that search for physics beyond the current Standard Model (SM) of elementary particles and forces. The project will involve the study of many aspects of the only ultra-heavy quark, the top. Because of its special features, such as the accessibility of its spin and charge information, its large mass and linkage to EW symmetry breaking, it is expected to be very useful in analyzing signals of SM extensions at the LHC. At the astroparticle physics and cosmology frontier, there are many additional issues, which will be studied, including dark matter searches and the LHC reach for direct observation of a dark matter candidate, neutrino physics in the context of late neutrino masses, weak scale leptogenesis and observation of relic supernova neutrinos. The proposed collider physics program is related to the detailed study of the top quark properties, and includes interesting and promising methods to extract information about new physics. Another aspect of the proposal is phenomenological studies of warped extra dimensional scenarios. The PI will study the phenomenological implications of Kaluza Klein (KK) (small compact extra dimensional) gluons, decaying mostly into top-quark pairs, and KK gravitons, decaying prominently into longitudinal gauge bosons. The emphasis will be on a proposed method to differentiate between SUSY and universal extra dimension scenarios. There is also a proposal to use the diffuse anti-neutrino flux from core-collapse supernovae to extract cosmological parameters. Another proposed investigation is a study of minimal flavor violating models, as well as of the properties of what the PI calls NMFV, by exploring the LHCb physics results could shed light on the origin of flavor and put strong constraints on a large class of models.