Related papers: Why do we observe a weak force? The hierarchy prob…
Weak-scale supersymmetry is a well motivated, if speculative, theory beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. It solves the thorny issue of the Higgs mass, namely: how can it be stable to quantum corrections, when they are expected to…
In any theory it is unnatural if the observed parameters lie very close to special values that determine the existence of complex structures necessary for observers. A naturalness probability, P, is introduced to numerically evaluate the…
We propose a unification of some fine-tuning problems -- really in this article only the problem of why the weak scale is so small in energy compared to a presumed fundamental scale, being say the Planck scale -- by postulating the zero or…
The hierarchy problem in particle physics has recently been approached from a geometric point of view in different models. These approaches postulate the existence of extra dimensions with various geometric properties, to explain how the…
We suggest a braneless scenario that still hides large-volume extra dimensions. Ordinarily the strength of bulk gauge interactions would be diluted over the large internal volume, making all the four dimensional forces weak. We use the fact…
If the hierarchy of quark masses comes out of simultaneous dynamical chiral and flavor symmetry breakings, it is inevitably accompanied by the flavor mixing. Therefore, these phenomena, independent in the standard model and in many of its…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture holds that gravity must be the weakest force. This is true of the familiar forces in our own universe -- electromagnetism, for instance, is many orders of magnitude stronger than gravity. But the bold claim of…
The dynamics of the universe may be dominated by novel weakly interacting elementary particles, by baryons in an invisible form, by black holes, and globally by vacuum energy. The main arguments for and against such hypotheses are reviewed.
In this paper we work out a multiverse scenario whose physical characteristics enable us to advance the following the conjecture that whereas the physics of particles and fields is confined to live in the realm of the whole multiverse…
The quest for life in the Universe is often affected by the free use of extrapolations of our phenomenological geocentric knowledge. We point out that the existence of a living organism, and a population of organisms, requires the existence…
Strong dynamics constitutes one of the pillars of the standard model of particle interactions, and it accounts for the bulk of the visible matter in the universe. It is therefore a well posed question to ask if the rest of the universe can…
Universe structure emerges in the unreduced, complex-dynamic interaction process with the simplest initial configuration (two attracting homogeneous fields, quant-ph/9902015). The unreduced interaction analysis gives intrinsically creative…
I discuss some essential features of the electroweak hierarchy problem and the ensuing motivation for weak-scale supersymmetry. Taking the hierarchy problem seriously, null results in searches for SUSY at the LHC favor specific regions of…
Observations suggest that nearly seventy per cent of the energy density in the universe is unclustered and exerts negative pressure. Theoretical understanding of this component (`dark energy'), which is driving an accelerated expansion of…
We consider the possibility that the gauge hierarchy is a byproduct of the metastability of the electroweak vacuum, i.e., that whatever mechanism is responsible for the latter also sets the running Higgs mass to a value smaller than its…
The notion that there are many "universes" with different properties is one answer to the question of "why is the universe so hospitable to life?" This notion also naturally follows from current ideas in eternal inflation and string/M…
In a multiverse setting, we expect to be situated in a universe that is exceptionally good at producing life. Though the conditions for what life needs to arise and thrive are currently unknown, many will be tested in the coming decades.…
We emphasize that the electroweak interactions without a Higgs boson are very similar to quantum general relativity. The Higgs field could just be a dressing field and might not exist as a propagating particle. In that interpretation, the…
In a multiverse context, determining the probability of being in our particular universe depends on estimating its overall habitability compared to other universes with different values of the fundamental constants. One of the most…
One of the puzzles of the Standard Model is why the mass parameter which determines the scale of the Weak interactions is closer to the scale of QCD than to the Grand Unification or Planck scales. We discuss a novel approach to this problem…