Setford, Jack (2018) Strongly coupled physics beyond the standard model. Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with strongly coupled extensions to the Standard Model. The majority of the thesis is dedicated to the study of Composite Higgs models, which are a proposed solution to the hierarchy problem of the electroweak scale. In these models the Higgs is a composite pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson which forms a part of a new strongly interacting sector. There are many different variations on the basic Composite Higgs theme { the current status of some of these variations is assessed in light of results from the Large Hadron Collider. A new kind of Composite Higgs model is presented and studied, which features an alternative mechanism for the breaking of electroweak symmetry. A mechanism for deforming one model into another is also discussed, which might find application to the UV completion of Composite Higgs models.

The formalism used in the Composite Higgs literature is also applied to the study of inflation, where the inflaton is assumed to be a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson arising from strongly coupled dynamics. A study of the inflaton potential is performed and its cosmological implications discussed.

A different extension to the Standard Model with interesting phenomenological consequences is also studied. Quirks are strongly interacting particles whose masses are significantly higher than their confining scale. If produced in colliders, they leave unusual tracks which current searches are mostly blind to. A new search strategy for these hypothetical particles is proposed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QC Physics > QC0770 Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity > QC0793 Elementary particle physics
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	30 Jul 2018 09:35
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2018 09:35
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/77429

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