Colloquium

Title:  The Quest for Naturalness in Particle Physics

Speaker: Prof. Raman Sundrum, Maryland University

Location: Room 111, Physics Building

Time: 15:00-16:00, Wed, Sep. 24, 2014
 
Abstract:
The central features and puzzles of particle physics will be reviewed,  including the discovery of the Higgs boson at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The grand principle of Naturalness will be introduced as the dominant organizing principle behind many searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model. The challenging task of testing naturalness will be summarized, especially the interplay between deep theoretical ideas, such as Supersymmetry, Compositeness and Extra Dimensions, and experimental strategies at the LHC and even more powerful colliders now being contemplated.

Biography:
Raman Sundrum is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, working in Theoretical Particle Physics. He earned his PhD at Yale University in 1990. After postdoctoral research positions at Berkeley, Harvard, Boston University and Stanford, he began his
faculty career in 2000 at the Johns Hopkins University, then moving to University of Maryland in 2010. He is best known for co-developing the "Randall-Sundrum" scenario, which proposes that highly curved ("warped") extra dimensions of spacetime play a central role in generating the hierarchical structure of particle physics masses and couplings seen experimentally. Signals of this scenario are currently major targets of searches at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.