Models of Particle Physics from Type IIB String Theory and F-theory: A Review

We review particle physics model building in type IIB string theory and F-theory. This is a region in the landscape where in principle many of the key ingredients required for a realistic model of particle physics can be combined successfully. We begin by reviewing moduli stabilisation within this framework and its implications for supersymmetry breaking. We then review model building tools and developments in the weakly coupled type IIB limit, for both local D3-branes at singularities and global models of intersecting D7-branes. Much of recent model building work has been in the strongly coupled regime of F-theory due to the presence of exceptional symmetries which allow for the construction of phenomenologically appealing Grand Unified Theories. We review both local and global F-theory model building starting from the fundamental concepts and tools regarding how the gauge group, matter sector and operators arise, and ranging to detailed phenomenological properties explored in the literature.Comment: 79 pages, Invited review article for the International Journal of Modern Physics

TeV-Scale strings

This article discusses the status of string physics where the string tension is around the TeV scale. The article covers model building basics for perturbative strings, based on D-brane configurations. The effective low energy physics description of such string constructions is analyzed: how anomaly cancellation is implemented, how fast proton decay is avoided and how D-brane models lead to additional $Z'$ particles. This review also discusses direct search bounds for strings at the TeV scale, as well as theoretical issues with model building related to flavor physics and axions.Comment: Review paper submitted to the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. 30 page

Improving Building Energy Efficiency through Measurement of Building Physics Properties Using Dynamic Heating Tests

© 2019 the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Buildings contribute to nearly 30% of global carbon dioxide emissions, making a significant impact on climate change. Despite advanced design methods, such as those based on dynamic simulation tools, a significant discrepancy exists between designed and actual performance. This so-called performance gap occurs as a result of many factors, including the discrepancies between theoretical properties of building materials and properties of the same materials in buildings in use, reflected in the physics properties of the entire building. There are several different ways in which building physics properties and the underlying properties of materials can be established: a co-heating test, which measures the overall heat loss coefficient of the building; a dynamic heating test, which, in addition to the overall heat loss coefficient, also measures the effective thermal capacitance and the time constant of the building; and a simulation of the dynamic heating test with a calibrated simulation model, which establishes the same three properties in a non-disruptive way in comparison with the actual physical tests. This article introduces a method of measuring building physics properties through actual and simulated dynamic heating tests. It gives insights into the properties of building materials in use and it documents significant discrepancies between theoretical and measured properties. It introduces a quality assurance method for building construction and retrofit projects, and it explains the application of results on energy efficiency improvements in building design and control. It calls for re-examination of material properties data and for increased safety margins in order to make significant improvements in building energy efficiency.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Physics Needs for Future Accelerators

Contents: 1. Prologomena to any meta future physics 1.1 Physics needs for building future accelerators 1.2 Physics needs for funding future accelerators 2. Physics questions for future accelerators 2.1 Crimes and misapprehensions 2.1.1 Organized religion 2.1.2 Feudalism 2.1.3 Trotsky was right 2.2 The Standard Model as an effective field theory 2.3 What is the scale of new physics? 2.4 What could be out there? 2.5 Model-independent conclusions 3. Future accelerators 3.1 What is the physics driving the LHC? 3.2 What is the physics driving the LC? 3.2.1 Higgs physics is golden 3.2.2 LHC won't be sufficient to unravel the new physics as the TeV scale 3.2.3 LC precision measurements can pin down new physics scales 3.3 Why a Neutrino Factory? 3.4 Pushing the energy frontierComment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Talk presented at the XIX International Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions at High Energies (Lepton-Photon '99), Stanford University, August 9-14, 199

Recent results of the CMS experiment

The CMS experiment is a multi-purpose detector successfully operated at the LHC where predominantly pp collisions take place at various centre-of-mass energies up to sqrt(s)=8 TeV so far. Several weeks per year also heavy-ion collisions take place leading to interesting studies in Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions at sqrt(s_(NN))=2.76 TeV and sqrt(s_(NN))=5.02 TeV centre-of-mass energies per nucleon, respectively. The excellent performance of the accelerator and the experiment allows for dedicated physics measurements over a wide range of subjects, starting from particle identification, encompassing forward physics, Standard Model measurements in multijet, boson, heavy flavour and top quark physics, building the basis for new physics searches interpreted within the framework of various models and theories. These pursued pp physics subjects are complemented by a rich heavy ion physics programme.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, proceedings of 52. International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics, Bormio 201

Status of Neutrino Factory R&D within the Muon Collaboration

We describe the current status of the research within the Muon Collaboration towards realizing a Neutrino Factory. We describe briefly the physics motivation behind the neutrino factory approach to studying neutrino oscillations and the longer term goal of building the Muon Collider. The benefits of a step by step staged approach of building a proton driver, collecting and cooling muons followed by the acceleration and storage of cooled muons are emphasized. Several usages of cooled muons open up at each new stage in such an approach and new physics opportunites are realized at the completion of each stage.Comment: 19 pages, 20 figures. To Appear in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Neutrino Oscillations in Venice, NO-VE 200