Related papers: Non-Abelian Supercurrents and de Sitter Ground Sta…
We construct zero-temperature solutions of supergravity theories in five and four dimensions which interpolate between two copies of anti-de Sitter space, one of which preserves an abelian gauge symmetry while the other breaks it. These…
We consider supersymmetric scenarios in which the scale of SUSY breaking is low, sqrt{F}=O(TeV). Instead of studying specific models of this type, e.g. those with extra dimensions and low fundamental scale, we follow a model-independent…
We present a qualitatively new mechanism for dynamical spontaneous breakdown of supersymmetry. Specifically, we construct a modified formulation of standard minimal N=1 supergravity. The modification is based on an idea worked out in detail…
We find a new class of metastable de Sitter solutions in compactifications of six-dimensional supergravity motivated by type IIB or heterotic string vacua. Two Fayet-Iliopoulos terms of a local U(1) symmetry are generated by magnetic flux…
We present a novel class of theories where supersymmetry is only preserved in a partial (non-isolated) sector. The supersymmetric sector consists of CFT bound-states that can coexist with fundamental states which do not respect…
We show that contrary to the common lore it is possible to spontaneously break N=2 supersymmetry even in simple theories without constant Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. We consider the most general N=2 supersymmetric theory with one hypermultiplet…
To illuminate how electroweak symmetry breaking shapes the physical world, we investigate toy models in which no Higgs fields or other constructs are introduced to induce spontaneous symmetry breaking. Two models incorporate the standard…
Some formal aspects of supersymmetry breaking are reviewed. The classic "requirements" for supersymmetry breaking include chiral matter, a dynamical superpotential, and a classical superpotential which completely lifts the moduli space.…
We consider a classically scale-invariant extension of the standard model in which a dark, non-Abelian gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. Higgs portal couplings between the dark and standard model…
We present a supersymmetric Pati-Salam model with small representations as a potential candidate for physics beyond the Standard Model. The model features a Higgs sector with bifundamental fields $H_R+\bar H_R=(4,1,2)+(\bar 4,1,2)$,…
We study deconstructed gauge theories in which a warp factor emerges dynamically and naturally. We present nonsupersymmetric models in which the potential for the link fields has translational invariance, broken only by boundary effects…
For the description of observables and states of a quantum system, it may be convenient to use a canonical Weyl algebra of which only a subalgebra $\mathcal A$, with a non-trivial center $\mathcal Z$, describes observables, the other Weyl…
This work investigates a simple, representative extension of the Standard Model with a real scalar singlet and spontaneous $Z_2$ breaking, which allows for a strongly first-order phase transition, as required by electroweak baryogenesis. We…
We introduce a new version of non-linear electrodynamics which is produced by a spontaneous symmetry breaking of Lorentz invariance induced by the non-zero expectation value of the electromagnetic field strength. The symmetry breaking…
We study the competing charge-density-wave and superconducting order in the attractive Hubbard model under a voltage bias, using steady-state non-equilibrium dynamical mean-field theory. We show that the charge-density-wave is suppressed in…
The Standard Model is one of the main intellectual achievements for about the last 50 years, a result of many theoretical and experimental studies. In this lecture a brief introduction to the electroweak part of the Standard Model is given.…
We address the problem of the identification and characterization of charged states within local and covariant quantizations of abelian gauge theories, focusing on a semiclassical model of infrared Gupta-Bleuler Quantum Electrodynamics,…
In many extensions of the Standard Model electroweak phase transitions at high temperatures can be described in a minimal dimensionally reduced effective theory with SU(2) gauge field and fundamental Higgs scalar. In this effective theory,…
I discuss the impact of the discovery of a Higgs-like state on composite dynamics starting by critically examining the reasons in favour of either an elementary or composite nature of this state. Accepting the standard model interpretation…
The measured values of the Standard Model (SM) parameters favors a shallow metastable electroweak (EW) vacuum surrounded by a deep global AdS or a runaway Minkowski minimum. Furthermore, fine-tuning is the only explanation for the Higgs…