The Lancaster, Manchester, Sheffield Consortium for Fundamental Physics: Particle Physics from the LHC to the Universe
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Particle physics is all about understanding the elementary building blocks of nature and their interactions. Over the years, physicists have developed the Standard Model of particle physics, which is extremely successful in describing a very wide range of natural phenomena from things as basic as how light works and why atoms form through to the complicated workings inside stars and the synthesis of nuclei in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. However, we know that the Standard Model is not the whole story for it leaves many questions unanswered. Our proposal focuses on these unanswered questions and the way that scientists hope to address them in the coming years using experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) or observations like those that will be made using the Planck satellite.
The discovery at the LHC of a Higgs boson was a major milestone in our quest to understand the origin of mass. It is certainly not, however, the whole story. The LHC experiments are working hard to measure its properties. They are also searching for new particles such as those predicted by supersymmetry and other new physics theories. If supersymmetry is discovered then it offers the hope to explain the origin of the Dark Matter that makes up a large fraction of the material that is known to exist in the Universe. The scientists in our consortium explore the theory of supersymmetry and dark matter. We use data from experiments like the LHC to identify which of the many possible new theories are allowed by the data and to suggest new ways to explore them in experiments. Any "new physics" produced at the LHC will be produced as a result of smashing two protons into each other, a very complicated environment, usually in association with "jets" of other particles. Members of our consortium will explore how we can make use of these jets to learn more about the associated new physics: the better we understand the environment in which new physics occurs, the more we are able to learn about the new physics itself. This is a complicated business that often necessitates computer simulations of particle collisions. Our members are experts in these simulations and have plans on how to make them more accurate, which is necessary if we are to make the most of the exciting data from the LHC.
The Standard Model of particle physics is also insufficient when it comes to explaining the early history of the Universe, when it was hot and dense. The evidence is now very strong that the history began with an era of accelerating expansion, called inflation. We are experts on inflation and its consequences. Inflation makes the Universe featureless, except for tiny quantum fluctuations that cause the density of matter and energy in the Universe to vary with position. These initially small variations grow to become observable effects. One effect is the formation of the billions of galaxies that populate the night sky. Another is to leave a tiny imprint on the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), a faint hum of microwave radiation in which the Universe is bathed. The CMB has been studied in exquisite detail by the Planck satellite. We are at the forefront of interpreting the Planck data in the hope of pinning down which of the various theories of the early universe are ruled out and which remain viable. The deficiencies of the Standard Model extend still further for it does not explain the amount nor even the existence of ordinary matter. Our scientists will use this to constrain possible physics beyond the Standard Model and to do that they need to master the dynamics of the Universe during and after the end of inflation. Last but not least, we hope to understand better the mysterious "Dark Energy" that drives the current and future acceleration of the Universe: one possibility is that it is because Einstein's theory of gravity is not quite right and that is something we will explore.
The discovery at the LHC of a Higgs boson was a major milestone in our quest to understand the origin of mass. It is certainly not, however, the whole story. The LHC experiments are working hard to measure its properties. They are also searching for new particles such as those predicted by supersymmetry and other new physics theories. If supersymmetry is discovered then it offers the hope to explain the origin of the Dark Matter that makes up a large fraction of the material that is known to exist in the Universe. The scientists in our consortium explore the theory of supersymmetry and dark matter. We use data from experiments like the LHC to identify which of the many possible new theories are allowed by the data and to suggest new ways to explore them in experiments. Any "new physics" produced at the LHC will be produced as a result of smashing two protons into each other, a very complicated environment, usually in association with "jets" of other particles. Members of our consortium will explore how we can make use of these jets to learn more about the associated new physics: the better we understand the environment in which new physics occurs, the more we are able to learn about the new physics itself. This is a complicated business that often necessitates computer simulations of particle collisions. Our members are experts in these simulations and have plans on how to make them more accurate, which is necessary if we are to make the most of the exciting data from the LHC.
The Standard Model of particle physics is also insufficient when it comes to explaining the early history of the Universe, when it was hot and dense. The evidence is now very strong that the history began with an era of accelerating expansion, called inflation. We are experts on inflation and its consequences. Inflation makes the Universe featureless, except for tiny quantum fluctuations that cause the density of matter and energy in the Universe to vary with position. These initially small variations grow to become observable effects. One effect is the formation of the billions of galaxies that populate the night sky. Another is to leave a tiny imprint on the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), a faint hum of microwave radiation in which the Universe is bathed. The CMB has been studied in exquisite detail by the Planck satellite. We are at the forefront of interpreting the Planck data in the hope of pinning down which of the various theories of the early universe are ruled out and which remain viable. The deficiencies of the Standard Model extend still further for it does not explain the amount nor even the existence of ordinary matter. Our scientists will use this to constrain possible physics beyond the Standard Model and to do that they need to master the dynamics of the Universe during and after the end of inflation. Last but not least, we hope to understand better the mysterious "Dark Energy" that drives the current and future acceleration of the Universe: one possibility is that it is because Einstein's theory of gravity is not quite right and that is something we will explore.
Planned Impact
See the attached "Pathways to Impact" document for details.
This project has impact beyond the international scientific community mainly through the training of highly skilled graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and through extensive "outreach" activities of various kinds aimed at engaging directly with the general public, school children, teachers, policy makers and the media. Undergraduate teaching is also impacted beneficially by our research.
This project has impact beyond the international scientific community mainly through the training of highly skilled graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and through extensive "outreach" activities of various kinds aimed at engaging directly with the general public, school children, teachers, policy makers and the media. Undergraduate teaching is also impacted beneficially by our research.
Organisations
Publications
Dimopoulos K
(2018)
Dark energy as a remnant of inflation and electroweak symmetry breaking
Dimopoulos K
(2019)
Dark energy as a remnant of inflation and electroweak symmetry breaking
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Van De Bruck C
(2019)
Dark Energy, the Swampland and the Equivalence Principle
Van De Bruck C
(2019)
Dark energy, the swampland, and the equivalence principle
in Physical Review D
Trojanowski S
(2020)
Dark matter relic density from conformally or disformally coupled light scalars
in Physical Review D
Trojanowski S
(2020)
Dark matter relic density from conformally or disformally coupled light scalars
Hollowood T
(2017)
Decoherence, discord, and the quantum master equation for cosmological perturbations
in Physical Review D
FASER Collaboration
(2019)
Detecting and Studying High-Energy Collider Neutrinos with FASER at the LHC
Abreu H
(2020)
Detecting and studying high-energy collider neutrinos with FASER at the LHC FASER Collaboration
in The European Physical Journal C
Batell B
(2021)
Detecting dark matter with far-forward emulsion and liquid argon detectors at the LHC
in Physical Review D
Adams M
(2020)
Direct comparison of sterile neutrino constraints from cosmological data, $$\nu _{e}$$ disappearance data and $$\nu _{\mu } \rightarrow \nu _{e} $$ appearance data in a $$3+1$$ model
in The European Physical Journal C
Dasgupta M
(2021)
Dissecting the collinear structure of quark splitting at NNLL
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Akcay S
(2020)
Dissipation in extreme mass-ratio binaries with a spinning secondary
in Physical Review D
Battye R
(2020)
Domain wall constraints on two-Higgs-doublet models with Z 2 symmetry
in Physical Review D
Ponglertsakul S
(2017)
Effect of scalar field mass on gravitating charged scalar solitons and black holes in a cavity
in Physics Letters B
Van De Bruck C
(2018)
Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with extra dimensions
Van De Bruck C
(2019)
Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity with Extra Dimensions
in Galaxies
Finn K
(2018)
Eisenhart lift for field theories
in Physical Review D
Dolan S
(2019)
Electromagnetic fields on Kerr spacetime, Hertz potentials, and Lorenz gauge
in Physical Review D
Torres T
(2022)
Electromagnetic self-force on a charged particle on Kerr spacetime: Equatorial circular orbits
in Physical Review D
Djouadi A
(2017)
Enhanced rates for diphoton resonances in the MSSM
in Physics Letters B
Pla S
(2023)
Equivalence of the adiabatic expansion and Hadamard renormalization for a charged scalar field
in Physical Review D
Maggio E
(2019)
Ergoregion instability of exotic compact objects: Electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations and the role of absorption
in Physical Review D
Finn K
(2019)
Erratum: Finite measure for the initial conditions of inflation [Phys. Rev. D 99 , 063515 (2019)]
in Physical Review D
Torres T
(2020)
Estimate of the superradiance spectrum in dispersive media.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Pilaftsis A
(2017)
Exact RG invariance and symmetry improved 2PI effective potential
in Nuclear Physics B
Ambrus V
(2019)
Exact solutions in quantum field theory under rotation
Dimopoulos K
(2023)
Explaining the Hubble tension and dark energy from $\alpha$-attractors
Brissenden L
(2023)
Explaining the Hubble tension and dark energy from alpha-attractors
Brax P
(2023)
Extended analysis of neutrino-dark matter interactions with small-scale CMB experiments
in Physics of the Dark Universe
Jodlowski K
(2020)
Extending the reach of FASER, MATHUSLA, and SHiP towards smaller lifetimes using secondary particle production
in Physical Review D
FASER Collaboration
(2018)
FASER's Physics Reach for Long-Lived Particles
Ariga A
(2019)
FASER's physics reach for long-lived particles
in Physical Review D
Finn K
(2019)
Finite measure for the initial conditions of inflation
in Physical Review D
Arnaud Q
(2018)
First results from the NEWS-G direct dark matter search experiment at the LSM
in Astroparticle Physics
Darmé L
(2018)
Flavor anomalies and dark matter in SUSY with an extra U(1)
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Dickinson R
(2017)
Fock-space projection operators for semi-inclusive final states
in Physics Letters B
Teixeira E
(2023)
Forecasts on interacting dark energy with standard sirens
Teixeira E
(2023)
Forecasts on interacting dark energy with standard sirens
in Physical Review D
Anderle D
(2017)
Fragmentation functions beyond fixed order accuracy
in Physical Review D
Finn K
(2019)
Frame Covariance in Quantum Gravity
Finn K
(2020)
Frame covariance in quantum gravity
in Physical Review D
Description | Progress on many fronts towards a better understanding of the universe, by developing theoretical models constrained by data from the LHC and cosmology experiments. |
Exploitation Route | By continued research. |
Sectors | Education |
Description | Researchers supported by this award have been very active in outreach activities for the general public, schools and scientists from other fields. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |