Beyond the Standard Model

Six major frameworks have emerged attempting to describe particle physics beyond the Standard Model. Despite their different theoretical genera, these frameworks have a number of common phenomenological features and problems. While it will be possible (and desirable) to conduct model-independent searches for new physics at the LHC, it is equally important to develop robust methods to discriminate between BSM 'look-alikes'.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Lectures given at the 2009 European School of High-Energy Physics, Bautzen, Germany, 14-27 Jun 200

The Standard Model: Alchemy and Astrology

An brief unconventional review of Standard Model physics, containing no plots.Comment: 12 pages, 0 figures, review talk from "Physics at LHC", Krakow, 3-8 July 200

Moriond Electroweak 2006: Theory Summary

A concise look at the big picture of particle physics, including the status of the Standard Model, neutrinos, supersymmetry, extra dimensions and cosmology. Based upon the theoretical summary presented at the XLIst Rencontres de Moriond on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, La Thuile, 11-18 March 2006.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

New and Improved Superstring Phenomenology

Recent developments in string theory have important implications for cosmology. Topics discussed here are inflation, the cosmological constant, smoothing of cosmological singularities, and dark matter from parallel universes. Talk presented at the International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe (COSMO-98), 15-20 Nov, Asilomar, Monterey, CA.Comment: 9 page

Coupling spans of the Higgs-like boson

Using the LHC and Tevatron data, we set upper and lower limits on the total width of the Higgs-like boson. The upper limit is based on the well-motivated assumption that the Higgs coupling to a W or Z pair is not much larger than in the Standard Model. These width limits allow us to convert the rate measurements into ranges for the Higgs couplings to various particles. A corollary of the upper limit on the total width is an upper limit on the branching fraction of exotic Higgs decays. Currently, this limit is 47% at the 95% CL if the electroweak symmetry is broken only by doublets.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures; v2: Minor clarifications, references adde

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

Cosmology and Hierarchy in Stabilized Warped Brane Models

We examine the cosmology and hierarchy of scales in models with branes immersed in a five-dimensional curved spacetime subject to radion stabilization. When the radion field is time-independent and the inter-brane spacing is stabilized, the universe can naturally find itself in the radiation-dominated epoch. This feature is independent of the form of the stabilizing potential. We recover the standard Friedmann equations without assuming a specific form for the bulk energy-momentum tensor. In the models considered, if the observable brane has positive tension, a solution to the hierarchy problem requires the presence of a negative tension brane somewhere in the bulk. We find that the string scale can be as low as the electroweak scale. In the situation of self-tuning branes where the bulk cosmological constant is set to zero, the brane tensions have hierarchical values. In the case of a polynomial stabilizing potential no new hierarchy is created.Comment: Version to appear in PL