Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Sussex
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Mathematical & Physical Sciences
Abstract
The proposed research in the Theoretical Particle Physics group at the University of Sussex focuses on three themes: Fundamental forces in extreme conditions. One of the major problems in modern theoretical physics is the extrapolation of physical laws to new length or energy scales. We wish to push our understanding to ever more extreme situations such the collisions of heavy nuclei, the centres of neutron stars, or the very early universe. Our research will develop our theoretical tools and extrapolate the theories of the strong interactions (QCD) and gravity to regimes of high density, of high temperature, and high energy. Particle astrophysics and cosmology Perhaps the most active area 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 three of the three questions about the universe: why is there more matter than antimatter; is there any evidence out there for strings or string theory; and why is the expansion of the universe accelerating. The Terascale and Beyond The Terascale is the frontier of particle physics, where we collide elementary particles with velocities so close to that of light that their effective mass grows by a factor of a billion. At this frontier there are new discoveries to be made, new theories of physics to test. One of the recurring themes in particle physics is the proposition that the universe has more than three space dimensions: there may be more hidden from us either because they are curled up so small we don't notice them, or because we are trapped on a three-dimensional 'surface' in a higher dimensional space. We will work out how to test these these theories at the latest and biggest particle physics laboratory - the Large Hadron Collider, which will start running this year.
Publications
Archer P
(2011)
Flavour physics in the soft wall model
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Archer P
(2010)
Electroweak constraints on warped geometry in five dimensions and beyond
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Archer P
(2011)
Reducing constraints in a higher dimensional extension of the Randall and Sundrum model
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Atkins M
(2010)
Suppressing lepton flavor violation in a soft-wall extra dimension
in Physical Review D
Basbøll A
(2011)
Anomaly mediation and cosmology
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Bond A
(2017)
Theorems for asymptotic safety of gauge theories
in The European Physical Journal C
Bond AD
(2017)
Asymptotic Safety Guaranteed in Supersymmetry.
in Physical review letters
Borsanyi S
(2008)
Semiclassical decay of topological defects
in Physical Review D
Borsányi S
(2009)
Classical field theory with fermions
in Nuclear Physics A
Borsányi S
(2009)
Low-cost fermions in classical field simulations
in Physical Review D
Caprini C
(2016)
Science with the space-based interferometer eLISA. II: gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Daverio D
(2016)
Energy-momentum correlations for Abelian Higgs cosmic strings
in Physical Review D
Falls K
(2018)
On de Sitter solutions in asymptotically safe $\boldsymbol {f(R)}$ theories
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Falls K
(2018)
Asymptotic safety of quantum gravity beyond Ricci scalars
in Physical Review D
Gerwick E
(2011)
Asymptotic safety and Kaluza-Klein gravitons at the LHC
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2008)
Perturbations and moduli space dynamics of tachyon kinks
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2011)
Covariant closed string coherent states.
in Physical review letters
Hindmarsh M
(2014)
Improving cosmic string network simulations
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2016)
New Solutions for Non-Abelian Cosmic Strings.
in Physical review letters
Hindmarsh M
(2014)
Dark matter from decaying topological defects
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Hindmarsh M
(2012)
f ( R ) gravity from the renormalization group
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2008)
Oscillons and domain walls
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2016)
Breaking symmetry, breaking ground
in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Hindmarsh M
(2009)
Abelian Higgs cosmic strings: Small-scale structure and loops
in Physical Review D
Hindmarsh M
(2009)
Inhomogeneous tachyon condensation
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Hindmarsh M
(2011)
Asymptotically safe cosmology
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Huber S
(2012)
Bubble wall velocity in the minimal supersymmetric light stop scenario
in Physical Review D
Huber S
(2008)
Gravitational wave production by collisions: more bubbles
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Litim D
(2011)
Critical behavior of supersymmetric O ( N ) models in the large- N limit
in Physical Review D
Litim D
(2011)
Ising exponents from the functional renormalization group
in Physical Review D
Litim D
(2017)
Critical O ( N ) models in the complex field plane
in Physical Review D
Litim DF
(2008)
Signatures of gravitational fixed points at the Large Hadron Collider.
in Physical review letters
Litim DF
(2011)
Renormalization group and the Planck scale.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Litim, Daniel F.
(2008)
Fixed Points of Quantum Gravity and the Renormalisation Group
Litim, Daniel F. And Plehn, Tilman
(2007)
Virtual gravitons at the LHC
Lizarraga J
(2016)
New CMB constraints for Abelian Higgs cosmic strings
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Lizarraga J
(2014)
Can topological defects mimic the BICEP2 B-mode signal?
in Physical review letters
Lizarraga J
(2014)
Constraining topological defects with temperature and polarization anisotropies
in Physical Review D
Salmi P
(2012)
Radiation and relaxation of oscillons
in Physical Review D
Saltas I
(2011)
The dynamical equivalence of modified gravity revisited
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Skliros D
(2011)
String vertex operators and cosmic strings
in Physical Review D
Skliros D
(2008)
Large radius Hagedorn regime in string gas cosmology
in Physical Review D
Sopena M
(2010)
Hydrodynamics of the electroweak phase transition in an extension of the Standard Model with dimension-6 interactions
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
| Description | We made detailed predictions for the Planck satellite of the Cosmic Microwave Background signal produced by cosmic strings. These predictions were used by the Planck collaboration, who found stringent upper limits on the string mass per unit length. We performed the first systematic study of constraints on theories with extra curved space dimensions, showing how precision W and Z data imposes new limits on the size of the extra dimensions. We computed quantum gravity corrections to Yang-Mills theories, which describe the strong force, showing that asymptotic freedom (the tendency of the force to get weaker the closer the particles are together) is not substantially affected by gravity corrections. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings continue to generate academic through citations. The non-academic impacts are through talks to schools. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | Helsinki Visiting Professorship |
| Organisation | University of Helsinki |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration on theory papers, co-supervision of student research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on theory papers HPC resources 20% salary, travel expenses |
| Impact | @article{Hindmarsh:2013xza, author = "Hindmarsh, Mark and Huber, Stephan J. and Rummukainen, Kari and Weir, David J.", title = "{Gravitational waves from the sound of a first order phase transition}", journal = "Phys.Rev.Lett.", volume = "112", pages = "041301", doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.041301", year = "2014", eprint = "1304.2433", archivePrefix = "arXiv", primaryClass = "hep-ph", reportNumber = "HIP-2013-07-TH", SLACcitation = "%%CITATION = ARXIV:1304.2433;%%", } @article{Figueroa:2012kw, author = "Figueroa, Daniel G. and Hindmarsh, Mark and Urrestilla, Jon", title = "{Exact Scale-Invariant Background of Gravitational Waves from Cosmic Defects}", journal = "Phys.Rev.Lett.", number = "10", volume = "110", pages = "101302", doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.101302", year = "2013", eprint = "1212.5458", archivePrefix = "arXiv", primaryClass = "astro-ph.CO", SLACcitation = "%%CITATION = ARXIV:1212.5458;%%", } @article{Hindmarsh:2014rka, author = "Hindmarsh, Mark and Rummukainen, Kari and Tenkanen, Tuomas V. I. and Weir, David J.", title = "{Improving cosmic string network simulations}", journal = "Phys.Rev.", volume = "D90", pages = "043539", doi = "10.1103/PhysRevD.90.043539", year = "2014", eprint = "1406.1688", archivePrefix = "arXiv", primaryClass = "hep-lat", reportNumber = "HIP-2014-10-TH", SLACcitation = "%%CITATION = ARXIV:1406.1688;%%", } |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Particle Physics Masterclass (Sussex) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Acitivities sparked many questions and discussion. In a survey of year 1 UGs this year, one reported attending the PPMC and being favourably influenced by outreach towards physics and Sussex. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014 |
| Description | School visit (Tunbridge Wells) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion. School asked if current A Level pupils could visit University of Sussex physics department. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Talk (WP Sussex) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 15 pupils attended a talk on my research ("The Sound of the Big Bang") too early to say |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Talk (public, Sussex) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 300 people (public, colleagues, university students, and school students) attended my professorial inaugural lecture "Gone in a Yoctosecond: a Rough Guide to the Big Bang"). Stream available on Sussex web: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/newsandevents/sussexlectures/2013 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |