Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

Exploration of Physics at Different Scales

Jacky Kumar

LANL

In particle physics, we aim to probe nature at very small
distance scales (or very high energy scales). Currently, the Standard Model
(SM) of particle physics is the most successful model that can explain
numerous phenomena controlled by the electromagnetic, weak and the strong
forces of nature.
In the year 2012, the last missing piece of the SM spectrum, the Higgs
Boson, was discovered. But still, we know that the SM can not be a complete
theory of nature due to its various shortcomings, so the physics beyond it
must exist. However, contrary to our expectations, no other new particle
has been observed until today. Therefore, the scale (or equivalently the
masses of new particles) of new physics (NP) seems to be much above the
electroweak (EW) scale ~ 100 GeV. Interestingly, the scale hierarchies
allow us to construct Effective Field Theories (EFTs) which can be used to
describe physics below a certain energy scale without knowing about the
ultraviolet theory at a high scale. Historically, the Weak effective theory
(WET) was of great importance in the development and testing of the SM of
particle physics. I will argue that, in the same way, the scale gap
between the EW and the NP scale can allow us to construct the EFTs that can
serve as testing grounds for NP in the coming years, in a model independent
fashion.