Related papers: Fundamental Constants at High Energy
In order to extend the Standard Model to TeV scale energies one must address two basic questions: (1) What is the complete description of the effective theory of fundamental particles at and below the electroweak scale? and (2) What is the…
Last year I talked at this meeting about a possible time dependence of the QCD coupling constant $\alpha_s$. This year I shall look into the problem once more, without fully repeating the arguments given last year. Astrophysical indications…
The increased collecting area of the ELTs will bring fainter high-z targets within the reach of high-resolution ultra-stable spectrographs, thus enabling a new generation of precision consistency tests, including tests of the stability of…
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…
In contemporary particle physics, the masses of fundamental particles are incalculable constants, being supplied by experimental values. Inspired by observation of the empirical particle mass spectrum, and their corresponding physical…
Understanding the properties and physical phase of the dense strongly interacting matter present in the cores of neutron stars or created in their binary mergers remains one of the most prominent open problems in nuclear astrophysics. While…
If the recent observations suggesting a time variation of the fine structure constant are correct, they imply the existence of an ultra light scalar particle. This particle inevitably couples to nucleons through the \alpha-dependence of…
The problem of fundamental units is discussed in the context of achievements of both theoretical physics and modern metrology. On one hand, due to fascinating accuracy of atomic clocks, the traditional macroscopic standards of metrology…
An alternative approach to the Standard Model is outlined, being motivated by the increasing theoretical and experimental difficulties encountered by this model, which furthermore fails to be unitary. In particular, the conceptual…
The observational evidence for the recent acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of cosmology and particle physics are incomplete---if not incorrect---and that new physics is out there, waiting to be discovered. A…
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…
Astrophysical tests of the stability of fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, are becoming an increasingly powerful probe of new physics. Here we discuss how these measurements, combined with local atomic…
Our goal is to interpret the energy equation from Doubly Special Relativity (DSR) of Magueijo-Smolin with an invariant Planck energy scale in order to obtain the speed of light with an explicit dependence on the background temperature of…
Recent updated results of quasar spectra suggested a 3.9$\sigma$ significance of spatial variation of the fine-structure constant. Theoretically, it is important to examine whether the fine-structure constant, as a fundamental constant in…
The fine structure constant, $\alpha$, sets the strength of the electromagnetic force. The Standard Model of particle physics provides no explanation for its value, which could potentially vary. The wavelengths of stellar absorption lines…
We test the consistency of several independent astrophysical measurements of fundamental dimensionless constants. In particular, we compare direct measurements of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-to-electron mass ratio…
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…
Detecting any evolution of dimensionless in the ratios of physical quantities, such as the fine structure constant, would prove that the Weak Equivalence Principle is violated and lead to a paradigm shift in physics. High resolution…
This is the first part of a survey whose ultimate purpose is to clarify the significance of the famous coincidence between the Hubble age of the universe and a certain combination of microphysical parameters. In this part the way is…
Searching for variations of nature's fundamental constants is a crucial step in our quest to go beyond our current standard model of fundamental physics. If they exist, such variations will be very likely driven by the existence of a new…