Tentative Schedule
October 8, 2007
Speaker: Andreas Kronfeld, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Title: "Improved Actions for Heavy Quarks"
Abstract:
Recently we have made several (successful) predictions with lattice QCD of new measurements of D meson decay properties and the mass of the B_c meson. One of the larger uncertainties comes from discretization effects of the heavy b and c quarks. In this talk I discuss how to estimate these uncertainties, and how to reduce them with an improved action. I present an extension of the Fermilab method for heavy quarks to include all interactions of dimension six in the action. The resulting improved action requires six new interactions and removes (tree-level) discretization errors of order a^2\bm{p}^3/m_Q and a^3\bm{p}^3.
October 29, 2007
Speaker: Howard Georgi, Harvard University
Title: "Unparticle Physics"
Abstract:
Some thoughts about how the physics of a hidden scale invariant sector could show up in the standard model. After a review of the basics, I will discuss the issue of unparticle couplings to the Higgs.
November 12, 2007
Speaker: Patrick Meade, IAS
Title: "Quantum Gravity at the LHC"
Abstract:
In this talk I will discuss some of the possibilities for discovering black
holes at the LHC. In particular I will focus on how unlikely many of the
spectacular signatures that have been advocated in the literature are. I will
then discuss how low scale quantum gravity (if it exists) is most likely to
manifest itself in signatures that experimentalists are already looking for in a
different context.
November 19, 2007
Speaker: Adam Falkowski, CERN
Title: "Pseudo-Goldstone Higgs Boson"
Abstract:
It remains a viable possibility that the higgs mass is protected against large quantum corrections by a spontaneously broken approximate global symmetry. In this talk, I will review the recent developments in building models with a pseudo-goldstone higgs. The minimal ingredients needed to pass electroweak precision tests have been identified and several robust experimental signals have been pointed out (e.g. strong WW scattering or suppression of the higgs production rate). Moreover, with the help of the 5D holographic description, it is possible to study the dynamics of the strongly coupled sector from which the higgs boson emerges.
November 26, 2007
Speaker: Erich Poppitz, University of Toronto
Title: "Lattice chirality and the decoupling of mirror fermions"
Abstract:
I will first review the motivation for studying the strong dynamics of
chiral gauge theories. After surveying the currently available
theoretical tools, I will argue that in the non-supersymmetric case the
space-time lattice formulation is the most promising first-principles
approach. I will then briefly review the current status of the lattice
formulation of chiral gauge theories. I will argue that (as a matter of
principle) the lattice allows the construction of chiral gauge theories
from vectorlike ones via decoupling of the mirror fermions, without
breaking the gauge symmetry. I will describe our construction combining
ideas of strong-coupling phases with exact lattice chirality. I will
discuss recent and current studies of this construction, the
outstanding problems, and directions for the future. The talk is aimed
at a general high-energy theory audience and more specialized lattice
background is reviewed as needed.
December 3, 2007
Speaker: Pierre Ramond, University of Florida and IAS
Title: " Finite Flavor Group?"
December 10, 2007
Speaker: Kuver Sinha, Rutgers University
Title: "Meta-stable dynamical supersymmetry breaking near points of enhanced symmetry"
Abstract:
Broadly, this talk would be based on the realization of metastable
supersymmetry breaking from a field theory point of view, following the
pioneering work of Intriligator, Seiberg, and Shih.
We show that metastable supersymmetry breaking is a rather generic
feature near certain enhanced symmetry points of gauge theory moduli
spaces.
Specifically, we construct a model with long-lived metastable vacua in
which all the relevant parameters, including the supersymmetry breaking
scale, are generated dynamically by dimensional transmutation. Our
model consists of two sectors coupled by a singlet and combines
dynamical supersymmetry breaking with an O'Raifeartaigh mechanism in
terms of confined variables. The metastable vacua appear along a
pseudo-runaway direction near a point of enhanced symmetry as a result
of a balance between non-perturbative and perturbative quantum effects.
