Physicist Eleftheria Malami has been studying the Standard Model of particle physics. Together with her colleagues he discovered discrepancies between the model’s predictions and experimental measurements. These deviations could be clues to physics beyond the Standard Model.
Malami works in the field of theoretical particle physics, where she studies the fundamental particles that make up our universe and their interactions. The theory that describes the subatomic world is known as the Standard Model. Although this model has been very successful, there are still phenomena and open questions that it cannot explain. Physicists strive to clarify these issues. To do this, they must look beyond the Standard Model and investigate whether these challenges can point to New Physics.
Discrepancies
Malami and her colleagues have discovered discrepancies between the Standard Model’s predictions and experimental measurements. These deviations could be clues to physics beyond the Standard Model. They propose methodologies that help to further explore this topic and that can be fully exploited in future research, with the aim of identifying New Physics. Their research was carried out at the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef).
New era in particle physics
If significant deviations between the predictions of the Standard Model and the experimental data are found, this could be a breakthrough, opening up a whole new era in particle physics. In the bigger picture, these studies could lead to explanations for questions such as why matter dominates over antimatter in our universe, giving us a better understanding of the universe. Theory and experiment are closely linked, with LHCb at CERN and Belle II in Japan acting as key players on the experimental side of these efforts.
Quantum field theory
As theoreticians, Malami and her fellow researchers use theoretical tools and formalisms to explore the puzzling phenomena. Malami: ‘A key framework in our studies is quantum field theory, which describes the behavior and interactions between subatomic particles and combines principles of quantum mechanics and relativity. Our analysis involves the following key steps: we perform theoretical analyses, make use of the experimental data, compare theory with experiment, leading to intricate puzzles in these processes, and aim to answer the question: are these puzzles really signals of new physics?’
More information on the thesis
