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Theoretical physics is the search for simple and universal mathematical descriptions of the natural world. In contrast, much of modern biology is an exploration of the complexity and diversity of life. For many, this contrast is prima facie…
In what has become a standard eternal inflation picture of the string landscape there are many problematic consequences and a difficulty defining probabilities for the occurrence of each type of universe. One feature in particular that…
The situation in particle physics after the discovery of the Higgs boson is discussed. Is the Standard Model consistent quantum field theory? Does it describe all experimental data? Are there any indications of physics beyond the SM? Is…
The exceptionally accurate Standard Model (SM) theory of fundamental interactions is known to be incomplete. Many new theories extend the SM, trying to solve some of the most compelling puzzles of nature. Since the start of LHC experiments,…
I present a concise review of where we stand in particle physics today. First, I will discuss QCD, then the electroweak sector and finally the motivations and the avenues for new physics beyond the Standard Model.
We investigate the most general phase space of configurations, consisting of all possible ways of assigning elementary attributes, ``energies'', to elementary positions, ``cells''. We discuss how this space possesses structures that can be…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
In spite of the phenomenological successes of the inflationary universe scenario, the current realizations of inflation making use of scalar fields lead to serious conceptual problems which are reviewed in this lecture. String theory may…
Using a classical action associated to a point-particle in (1+1)-dimensions the classical string theory is derived. In connection with this result two aspects are clarified: First, the point particle in (1+1)-dimensions is not an ordinary…
This is a completely reformulated presentation of a previous paper with the same title; this time with a much stronger emphasis on conceptual aspects of string theory and a detailed review of its already more than four decades lasting…
In this paper we describe ideas about the string landscape, and how to relate it to the physics of the Standard Model of particle physics. First, we give a short status report about heterotic string compactifications. Then we focus on the…
The LHC data have confirmed the Standard Model as the correct theory at the electroweak scale. It successfully explains the experimental results with high precision and all its ingredients, including the Higgs boson, have been finally…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
I examine some non-anthropic approaches to the string landscape. These approaches are based on finding the initial conditions of the universe using the wavefunction of the multiverse to select the most probable vacuum out of this landscape.…
In this paper we consider inflation as a probe of new physics near the string or Planck scale. We discuss how new physics can be captured by the choice of vacuum, and how this leads to modifications of the primordial spectrum as well as the…
Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to…
Cosmoparticle physics offers the exciting challenge for the new Millenium to come to the true knowledge on the basic natural laws and on the way, they govern the creation and evolution of the Universe with all the forms of its present…
Our present understanding of elementary particle interactions is the synergic result of developments of theoretical ideas and of experimental advances that lead to the theory known as the Standard Model of particle physics. Despite the…
The Standard Model of Particle Physics has proven to be tremendously successful as the fundamental theory that describes the elementary particles that compose our Universe, as well as the interactions among them. Despite the countless…
The goal of identifying the Standard Model of particle physics and its extensions within string theory has been one of the principal driving forces in string phenomenology. Recently, the incorporation of artificial intelligence in string…