Related papers: The fine-tuning problems of particle physics and a…
Extension of particle symmetry implies new conserved charges and the lightest particles, possessing such charges, should be stable. Created in early Universe, stable charged heavy leptons and quarks can exist and, hidden in elusive atoms…
Quantum physics has intrigued scientists and philosophers alike, because it challenges our notions of reality and locality--concepts that we have grown to rely on in our macroscopic world. It is an intriguing open question whether the…
In this essay, we discuss the fine-tuning problems of the Higgs mass and the cosmological constant. We argue that these are indeed legitimate problems, as opposed to some other "problems" that are sometimes described using similar…
In these lectures we review the constraints on particle physics models arising from cosmic defects. This includes constraints on theories where stable cosmic string loops, or vortons result. These can arise in supersymmetric theories. We…
The discovery of accelerating expansion of the universe has led us to take the dramatic view that our universe may be one of the many universes in which low energy physical laws take different forms: the multiverse. I explain why/how this…
I consider selected (most important according to my own choice) unsolved problems in particle theory, both those related to extensions of the Standard Model (neutrino oscillations, which probably do not fit the usual three-generation…
The idea of a multiverse -- an ensemble of universes -- has received increasing attention in cosmology, both as the outcome of the originating process that generated our own universe, and as an explanation for why our universe appears to be…
Modern fundamental physics poses new questions for philosophy, which, as it seems to us, have not yet received appropriate attention from philosophers of science. This paper formulates a number of such questions in order to present them to…
We study the consistency of having Lorentz invariance as a low energy approximation within the quantum field theory framework. A model with a scalar and a fermion field is used to show how a Lorentz invariance violating high momentum scale,…
Current problems in particle physics are reviewed from the viewpoint of theories possessing extra spatial dimensions.
The classical model of spinning particle is analyzed in details in two versions - with single spinor and two spinors put on the trajectory. Equations of motion of the first version are easily solvable. The system with two spinors becomes…
With the discovery of a particle that seems rather consistent with the minimal Standard Model Higgs boson, attention turns to questions of naturalness, fine-tuning, and what they imply for physics beyond the Standard Model and its discovery…
An approach is suggested for modeling quark and lepton masses and mixing in the context of grand unified theories that explains the curious fact that m_u ~ m_d even though m_t >> m_b. The structure of the quark mass matrices is such as to…
The accelerating expansion of the universe presents an exciting, fundamental challenge to the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. I highlight some of the outstanding challenges in both developing theoretical models and…
Three aspects of supersymmetric theories are discussed: electroweak symmetry breaking, the issues of flavor, and gauge unification. The heavy top quark plays an important, sometimes dominant, role in each case. Additional symmetries lead to…
The discovery of neutrino oscillations provides a solid evidence for nonzero neutrino masses and leptonic mixing. The fact that neutrino masses are so tiny constitutes a puzzling problem in particle physics. From the theoretical viewpoint,…
The hard problem in consciousness is the problem of understanding how physical processes in the brain could give rise to subjective conscious experience. In this paper, I suggest that in order to understand the relationship between…
Theoretical aspects of neutrino physics are reviewed, with emphasis on possible explanations of the smallness of neutrino masses and of the peculiar mixing pattern observed in the lepton sector. Some theoretically motivated frameworks, such…
The anthropic principle is an inevitable constraint on the space of possible theories. As such it is central to determining the limits of physics. In particular, we contend that what is ultimately possible in physics is determined by…
Unless the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking is stabilized dynamically, most of the universes in a multiverse theory will lack an observable weak nuclear interaction. Such "weakless universes" could support intelligent life based on…