Constraints on Supersymmetry from Relic Density compared with future Higgs Searches at the LHC

Among the theories beyond the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics Supersymmetry (SUSY) provides an excellent dark matter (DM) candidate, the neutralino. One clear prediction of cosmology is the annihilation cross section of DM particles, assuming them to be a thermal relic from the early universe. In most of the parameter space of Supersymmetry the annihilation cross section is too small compared with the prediction of cosmology. However, for large values of the tan beta parameter the annihilation through s-channel pseudoscalar Higgs exchange yields the correct relic density in practically the whole range of possible SUSY masses up to the few TeV range. The required values of tan beta are typically around 50, i.e. of the order of top and bottom mass ratio, which happens to be also the range allowing for Yukawa unification in a Grand Unified Theory with gauge coupling unification. For such large values of tan beta the associated production of the heavier Higgses, which is enhanced by tan beta squared, becomes three orders of magnitude larger than the production of a simlar SM-like Higgs and could be observable as one of the first hints of new physics at the LHC.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, Published version in Phys. Lett. B with updated references and minor correction

Particle Physics and Cosmology

Today, both particle physics and cosmology are described by few parameter Standard Models, i.e. it is possible to deduce consequence of particle physics in cosmology and vice verse. The former is examined in this lecture, in light of the recent systematic exploration of the electroweak scale by the LHC experiments. The two main results of the first phase of the LHC, the discovery of a Higgs-like particle and the absence so far of new particles predicted by "natural" theories beyond the Standard Model (supersymmetry, extra-dimension and composite Higgs) are put in a historical context to enlighten their importance and then presented extensively. To be complete, a short review from the neutrino physics, which can not be probed at LHC, is also given. The ability of all these results to resolve the 3 fundamental questions of cosmology about the nature of dark energy and dark matter as well as the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry is discussed in each case.Comment: 32 pages, 47 figures, Proceeding from the 100th Les Houches Summer School on Post-Planck Cosmology, July 8th - Aug 2nd 2013. Update with recently published ATLAS/CMS 8 TeV result

What are the Building Blocks of Our Universe?

We are told that we are living in a Golden Age of Astronomy. Cosmological Parameters are found with un precedented accuracy. Yet, the known form of matter forms only a small fraction of the total energy density of the universe. Also, a mysterious dark energy dominates the universe and causes acceleration in the rate of expansion.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the Interantional Conference on COSMOLOGY;Facts and Problems (College de France, Paris, June 8-11, 2004

Some Aspects of String Cosmology and the LHC

I discuss some (unconventional) aspects of String Cosmology of relevance to supersymmetric dark matter searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. In particular, I analyse the role of time-dependent dilaton fields in relaxing some of the stringent constraints that characterise minimal supersymmetric models in standard cosmology. I also study briefly CPT-violating aspects of brane Universe models with space-time brane defects at early epochs and their potential relevance to the observed Baryon Asymmetry.Comment: 12 pages pdflatex, uses special macros.Plenary talk at the 1st International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics 2012, Kolymbari (Crete, Greece), June 10-16 2012, to appear in the Proc. EPJ WEB of Conferences, updated reference

Gravity and axions from a random UV QFT

It is postulated that the UV QFT is enormous and random. The coupling of the Standard Model to such QFT is analyzed. It is argued that massless 4d gravity and axions are general avatars of the postulate. The equivalence principle emerges naturally as well as a concrete set of sources for its breaking. The axion scale is related to the 4d Planck scale as $f=M_P/N$, where $N$ is the "number of colors" of the (almost) hidden UV CFT.Comment: Latex, 39 page

Noncommutative Spectral Geometry: A Short Review

We review the noncommutative spectral geometry, a gravitational model that combines noncommutative geometry with the spectral action principle, in an attempt to unify General Relativity and the Standard Model of electroweak and strong interactions. Despite the phenomenological successes of the model, the discrepancy between the predicted Higgs mass and the current experimental data indicate that one may have to go beyond the simple model considered at first. We review the current status of the phenomenological consequences and their implications. Since this model lives by construction at high energy scales, namely at the Grand Unified Theories scale, it provides a natural framework to investigate early universe cosmology. We briefly review some of its cosmological consequences.Comment: 11 pages. Invited talk in the Sixth International Workshop DICE2012, Castello Pasquini/Castiglioncello (Tuscany), September 17-21, 201