The Higgs Boson

Curiously, the Standard Model has been tremendously successful over the last 30 years, although we are certain that it can only be an approximation to a more fundamental theory of particle interactions. For instance, the Standard Model cannot explain the observed matter anti-matter asymmetry. It is also not clear why the characteristic energy scale of the weak interactions is a few hundred Giga Electron Volts, although this has important consequences for our daily lives, e.g., the relative stability of the proton and the slowness of beta decay.

Central to a potential solution of these riddles is the study of the Higgs boson, predicted by Peter Higgs in the 1960s. It was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 and earned Peter Higgs the Nobel Prize in 2013. The LHC continues to explore the properties of the Higgs boson to reveal potential deviations from the expectation of the Standard Model, which in turn could explain the remaining questions we have about the electroweak interactions.

 

Research at Glasgow

Higgs physics research in Glasgow employs model-independent approaches to contextualise the Higgs boson measurements at the LHC with the Beyond the Standard Model landscape. This includes clarifying the role of the Higgs boson as an additional source of CP violation, as new contributions to the electroweak phase transition in the very early Universe, and its relation to dark matter. As it turns out the Higgs boson is uniquely placed to act as a portal to generic dark sectors that could be responsible for the existence of dark matter which is supported by astrophysical findings. Furthermore, there are phenomenological similarities of such scenarios with certain models of dark energy which drives the expansion of the universe.

Glasgow PPT has played a fundamental role in developing these theories and their experimental signatures, often in tandem with our experimental colleagues in PPE and our work on Higgs physics has seen wide application in the Higgs programme at the Large Hadron Collider.

If you want to know more about related research opportunities, please get in touch with Prof. Englert, Dr. Miller, Dr. Renner, or Dr. Sutherland.