Theoretical Particle Physics Consortium Sussex - Royal Holloway

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The proposed research unites the particle theory groups at Sussex and Royal Holloway in the hunt for new physics under three broad headings:Collider and low-energy phenomenologyThe Large Hadron Collider boosts elementary particles to velocities so close to that of light that their effective mass grows by a factor of a billion. By smashing these particles together there are new discoveries to be made, and new theories of physics to test. We will work on the complex task of relating the debris of these collisions to the new models put forward by theorists to explain some of the most puzzling questions of the universe - what is the origin of mass? and is there a quantum theory of gravity?Particle astrophysics and cosmologyOne of the most active areas of research in the past decade has been at the interface between particle physics and cosmology. In order to understand the history of the universe we must understand physical laws in the first moments of the Big Bang, when temperatures and particle energies were huge. Conversely, by detailed observations of the universe today we can trace back the conditions and make deductions about physical laws at high energies.Our research will tackle big questions about the universe: why is there more matter than antimatter? what is dark matter? is there any evidence out there for strings and black holes? and can we understand the history of the universe from the epoch of inflation until the present day in one overarching theory?New pathways to metric quantum gravityOne of the key challenges in theoretical physics relates to the quantum nature of gravity, and how gravity fits in with the successful Standard Model of particle physics. Our research deals primarily with the quantum fluctuations of space-time itself, where we want to understand how this affects particle physics at highest energies, the cosmological evolution at very early and very late times, or the properties of smallest black holes. We also put systematic searches forward to decide whether a quantum theory of the space-time metric exists as a fundamental theory.