Phenomenology of Beyond the Standard Model Physics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Mathematical Sciences
Abstract
I will study the phenomenology of models of physics beyond the Standard Model. Despite explaining many observations and providing successful predictions of experiments at particle colliders, the Standard Model is necessarily incomplete, and requires additional new particles. For example, the Standard Model does not contain a dark matter candidate, and does not explain the observed asymmetry between the abundances of baryons and antibaryons or the smallness of the CP violating phase in the strong sector. I will explore possible solutions to these problems, for example through a QCD axion, and the observational constraints and signatures on these models.
Organisations
Publications
Gorghetto Marco
(2021)
Observing Invisible Axions with Gravitational Waves
in arXiv e-prints
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST/R504919/1 | 01/01/2018 | 31/12/2021 | |||
| 2113360 | Studentship | ST/R504919/1 | 01/10/2018 | 31/03/2022 | Horia Petru Nicolaescu |
| ST/S505535/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2022 | |||
| 2113360 | Studentship | ST/S505535/1 | 01/10/2018 | 31/03/2022 | Horia Petru Nicolaescu |
| Description | I have studied axion like particles, which are candidates for Dark Matter, a mysterious substance that makes up most of the matter in our Universe, but its origin is currently unknown due to the difficulty in detecting it directly (i.e. detecting a dark matter particle as opposed to observing consequences of dark matter). It was already known in the literature that there are two scenarios for axions with very different consequences, and a rough prediction for the separation has been made, which depends on the axion mass and properties of the very early Universe. Part of my work was to study the separation between these scenarios in further detail than the known result. We managed to more precisely figure out the boundary between these scenarios as well as the existence of another intermediate scenario. We have also studied the possibility that axion like particles can be detected by gravitational waves and found the conditions under which this could happen. |
| Exploitation Route | For the study of the separation between the two scenarios, it would be useful in the case of the direct discovery of an axion (which will measure its mass) or a measurement of parameters in the early Universe such as the scale of inflation, or the temperature of the early Universe. Since the scenarios primarily depend on these, a discovery of one could (severely) constrain the other, allowing to learn more about the early Universe or alternatively make axion detection easier (since there will be a smaller mass range to look for). Thus a more precise determination of the relevant scenario will be useful to draw the correct conclusions in this case. For the study of detection of axions through gravitational waves, this could help in the case of a discovery of a mysterious gravitational waves signal. Our research could be used to tell whether this comes from axions or a different source. |
| Sectors | Other |