PROMETEU/2021/071 : Open questions on the fundamental interactions of matter at the LHC and Intensity Frontiers
PI: Antonio PICH ZARDOYA
Team: Germán RODRIGO, Jorge PORTOLÉS, Ignasi ROSELL ESCRIBÀ, Luiz VALE SILVA, Clara MURGUI, German F.R. SBORLINI, Anirban KARAN, Antonio COUTINHO, Martín NOVOA BRUNET, Jorge J. MARTÍNEZ DE LEJARZA, David DÍAZ CALDERÓN
Funding Agency: Generalitat Valenciana (Programa de investigación de Excelencia Prometeo)
Dates: 01-Oct-2021 / 31-Dec-2024
Summary: The research programme of the group is focused on those areas of particle physics phenomenology where the experimental activity is going to be most relevant during the next few years: the physics of the CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and flavour factories. The discovery at the LHC of a new particle with the expected properties of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson has opened fascinating perspectives in our understanding of the fundamental interactions of matter. The new particle could well be a window into unexpected phenomena, bringing crucial hints to address the main open questions in our current theoretical framework: the generation of fermion masses and mixings (flavour dynamics), the matter-antimatter asymmetry and the nature of the misterious dark matter. In the next operation phases at higher luminosity, the LHC could reveal further degrees of freedom, probably uncovering additional sources of flavour and CP violation. In parallel, there is a strong interest in flavour physics at the intensity frontier with several experiments currently running, or planned, around the world to measure the transitions from one flavour to another with high precision. These low-energy processes can indirectly reveal new particles and fundamental interactions as well through tiny experimental deviations from precise SM theoretical predictions. In the framework of possible discoveries at the LHC, flavour physics provides invaluable insights into their couplings and mixing patterns.
This huge experimental effort requires a corresponding and challenging theoretical progress. The group expertise covers a broad range of phenomenological aspects, including pioneering works to model the strong interactions (both in the perturbative and non-perturbative regimes), unconventional theoretical methodologies for higher-order calculations and detailed investigations of the implications of the electroweak spontaneous symmetry breaking, both at high energies and in flavour physics.
