High Energy Physics

The  QCD axion is a curious Dark Matter candidate, having a mass like the neutrino, but behaving as Cold Dark Matter. I will review how this occurs, and discuss the interesting question  of whether WIMPs could be distinguished from axions with Large Scale Structure data.

Similarly to the probability distribution of energy in physics, the probability distribution of money among the agents in a closed economic system is also expected to follow the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs law, as a consequence of entropy maximization.  Analysis of empirical data shows that income distributions in the USA, European Union, and other countries exhibit a well-defined two-class structure.  The majority of the population (about 97%) belongs to the lower class characterized by the exponential ("thermal") distribution.  The upper class (about 3% of the population) is characterized by the Pareto power-law ("superthermal") distribution, and its share of the total income expands and contracts dramatically during booms and busts in financial markets.  Globally, data analysis of energy consumption per capita around the world shows decreasing inequality in the last 30 years and convergence toward the exponential probability distribution, in agreement with the maximal entropy principle. Similar results are found for the global probability distribution of CO2 emissions per capita.  All papers are available at http://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/econophysics/.  For recent coverage in Science magazine, see http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/828

I will propose a proof for a monotonicity theorem, or c-theorem, for a three-dimensional Conformal Field Theory (CFT) on a space with a boundary, and for a two-dimensional defect coupled to a higher-dimensional CFT. The proof is applicable only to renormalization group flows that are localized at the boundary or defect, such that the bulk theory remains conformal along the flow, and that preserve locality, reflection positivity, and Euclidean invariance along the defect. The method of proof is a generalization of Komargodski’s proof of Zamolodchikov’s c-theorem. The key ingredient is an external “dilaton” field introduced to match Weyl anomalies between the ultra-violet (UV) and infra-red (IR) fixed points. Reflection positivity in the dilaton’s effective action guarantees that a certain coefficient in the boundary/defect Weyl anomaly must take a value in the UV that is larger than (or equal to) the value in the IR. This boundary/defect c-theorem may have important implications for many theoretical and experimental systems, ranging from graphene to branes in string theory and M-theory.

Identifying the nature of dark  matter is one of the most challenging problems in physics. There is a general consensus that dark matter is a weakly interacting particle and predominantly cold, yet the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) hypothesis remains to be verified.  I will show that next cosmological surveys could play a leading role in understanding the dark matter microphysics.

In this talk I’ll discuss some of the recent developments in precision physics which will be useful for extracting the best physics results we can from LHC run II. I’ll mostly focus on a specific example regarding anomalous interactions of the Higgs boson.

Massive neutral fermions can be realized in Nature as Majorana particles. Are neutrinos Majorana particles? Our most accepted theoretical prejudice can be verified by searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. I will overview the current knowledge of the neutrino mass spectrum and discuss theoretical scenarios where cosmological data can contribute to resolve this challenging question. Some cosmological observables sensitive to neutrino masses are outlined.

Based on results in quantum gravity we conjecture a sharp bound on the rate of growth of chaos in thermal quantum systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. Chaos can be diagnosed using an out-of-time-order correlation function closely related to the commutator of operators separated in time. We conjecture that the influence of chaos on this correlator can develop no faster than exponentially, with Lyapunov exponent λL ≤ 2πkBT/\hbar. We give a precise mathematical argument, based on plausible physical assumptions, establishing this conjecture. 

There have been recent claims that the weak gravity conjecture (WGC) rules out multi-field natural inflation. I review these claims and then show how 2-field natural inflation can be consistent with even the most stringent form of WGC. I also discuss my recent attempt at numerically proving the WGC via the conformal bootstrap.

The concept of quantum entanglement entropy is playing a key role in understanding the mechanism underlying holography. In this talk we will discuss how entanglement can capture non-trivial geometric properties of the bulk spacetime. The goal is to exploit the interplay between anomalies and entanglement entropy, and for concreteness we will focus on AdS3/CFT2.  Anomalies play as well a key role in RG flows, and in this context we will see how entanglement, anomalies and geometry conspire to capture dynamically the correct physics.

 Super-massive black holes that grow at the center of dark matter halos distort the dark matter within their zone of influence into a steep density spike.  This spike can give rise to strong enhancements of standard indirect detection signals, and can lead to qualitatively new windows onto the physics of the early universe.   I will talk about potential dark matter signals from the Milky Way's central black hole, some astrophysical caveats, and the possible use of black holes as dark matter accelerators.

Recent landmark measurement of the muonic hydrogen Lamb shift generated more questions than answers, as it stands in a sharp disagreement with what was predicted based on known properties of muons and protons. It adds on top of the existing anomalies in the muon sector (discrepancy in g-2 and in radiative muon capture). I will critically review some suggestions for the new physics explanations of these anomalies, and describe their implications. One of the outstanding effects, not tested for muons, is the parity violation in the neutral current channel, which has proven to be an extremely difficult problem, and where the enhancement relative to the standard model prediction is still possible. Following my suggestion for a new way to approach this measurement, this summer the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland will conduct a preliminary muonic atom experiment, tentatively called mu-ARC.