Searches for Beyond the Standard Model Physics with Hadronic Topologies

利用强子拓扑寻找超越标准模型物理的研究

• 批准号: ST/N003934/3
• 负责人: Gabriel Facini
• 金额: $ 8.26万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FN003934%2F3
• 关键词: Searches; Beyond; Standard; Model; Physics

Physicists want to determine the most fundamental building blocks of the Universe and how they interact. Currently, our best theory is called the Standard Model (SM). It explains how magnetic fields and electrical currents are related to radioactive nuclei decay and the force that holds a proton together. However, many open questions exist within and beyond the SM. Neither ~95% of the known universe nor gravity is described by the SM, for instance.The SM deals only with the visible Universe, while the majority of matter does not emit or absorb light: aptly named dark matter (DM). By looking at gravitational effects on stars in galaxies and clusters of galaxies, we suspect DM comprises ~84% of the Universe's mass. DM has not yet been observed on Earth because it may interact very weakly with visible matter. Some attempts to explain DM are simple and only include one new particle and mediator - the bridge between the dark and visible worlds. Others, such as Supersymmetry, a very popular SM extension, predict many new particles, one of which could be DM.Gravity is very weak. A kitchen magnet holds a paper clip against the gravitational pull of the entire Earth. One explanation is that the Universe contains more than four dimensions, and we only feel a fraction of the full gravitational potential in our four.As scientists, we develop possible answers to unexplained phenomena, such as those mentioned above, and devise experiments to test our ideas; sometimes we find the completely unexpected. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built for this purpose. The LHC smashes together protons at very high energies to create all the SM particles and hopefully a few never seen before! DM particles themselves or the DM mediator can be created in proton-proton collisions. The higher dimensional theories focusing on gravity predict the creation of black holes at LHC energies. These and a host of other theories tackling the big physics questions, if true, predict new particles will be produced by the LHC and decay into jets - highly energetic collimated sprays of SM particles. An excess in the number of such decays would signify that we have found new physics and revolutionize our understanding of the Universe!With every discovery, the new physics gives insight to the most fundamental workings of the Universe. It changes our understanding of the Universe and the way we live in it. The discovery of the electron allowed us to harness the power of electricity and magnets, understanding the rules of the atom yielded nuclear energy to power our cities, and Einstein's theory of relativity enabled Global Positioning Systems to find our way across this beautiful planet. Technologies developed by physicists have amazing potential for progress, and the World Wide Web for example was created at CERN. Physicists trained in the rigors of the scientific method on tremendous datasets are employed by governments, businesses, financial institutions, and even sports teams to analyze data and solve complicated problems. Nevertheless, for me, the reason to understand nature at a fundamental level is best encapsulated by the Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg when he wrote, "The effort to understand the Universe is one of the very few things which lifts human life a little above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."

物理学家希望确定宇宙中最基本的构建块及其相互作用。目前，我们的最佳理论称为标准模型（SM）。它解释了磁场和电流如何与放射性核衰减以及将质子固定在一起的力有关。但是，SM内外都存在许多开放问题。例如，SM仅描述了已知宇宙和重力的95％，SM仅处理可见宇宙，而大多数物质不会发出或吸收光：恰当地命名为Dark Matter（DM）。通过查看星系星系和星系簇中恒星的重力影响，我们怀疑DM占宇宙质量的约84％。 DM尚未在地球上观察到，因为它可能与可见的物质相互作用非常微弱。一些解释DM的尝试很简单，仅包括一个新的粒子和调解人 - 黑暗和可见世界之间的桥梁。其他的，例如超对称性，一种非常流行的SM扩展，可以预测许多新粒子，其中一个可能是D.Gravity非常弱。厨房磁铁将纸夹固定在整个地球的引力上。一种解释是，宇宙包含四个以上的维度，我们只会感觉到我们四个方面的全部重力潜力的一部分。作为科学家，我们为上述现象提供了可能的答案，例如上述现象，并设计了实验来测试我们的思想；有时我们会发现完全出乎意料的。为此目的建造了大型强子对撞机（LHC）。 LHC以很高的能量将质子粉碎在一起，以创建所有SM颗粒，并希望有一些从未见过的质子！ DM颗粒本身或DM介体可以在质子 - 蛋白碰撞中创建。较高的尺寸理论以重力为预测LHC能量处的黑洞的产生。这些和许多其他理论解决了大物理问题，如果是真的，则可以预测LHC并腐烂成喷射的新粒子 - SM颗粒的高能准确的SM颗粒喷雾剂。这种衰减数量过多将意味着我们发现了新的物理学并彻底改变了对宇宙的理解！随着每一个发现，新物理学都深入了解了宇宙的最基本工作。它改变了我们对宇宙的理解和我们的生活方式。电子的发现使我们能够利用电力和磁铁的力量，了解原子的规则使核能产生了为我们的城市供电的核能，爱因斯坦的相对论使全球定位系统能够在这个美丽的星球上找到我们的方式。物理学家开发的技术具有惊人的进步潜力，例如，在CERN创建了万维网。受过科学方法的严格培训的物理学家在巨大的数据集方面受到了严格的培训，该物理学家由政府，企业，金融机构甚至运动团队雇用，以分析数据并解决复杂的问题。然而，对我来说，最好在基本层面上理解自然的理由是诺贝尔奖获得者史蒂文·温伯格（Steven Weinberg）写道的：“理解宇宙的努力是极少数使人类生活远远超过闹剧水平并给它带来一些悲剧恩典的事情之一。”