The Standard Model (SM) is a very successful theory that describes Nature at the most fundamental level. However, there are several experimental results which indicate that the SM is incomplete. At CFTP we look for new exciting theories which include supersymmetry, extra dimensions, new particles and interactions, and many others, which are currently under scrutiny at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) [more info here].
Neutrinos were first proposed by Pauli in 1930 as a desperate solution to the continuous double beta decay problem. In the SM, neutrinos are strictly massless particles. However, the observation of neutrino oscillations implies the existence of neutrino masses and mixing. At CFTP we construct new physics models to explain the observed neutrino mass and mixing pattern, and explore further implications of that new physics. [more info here].
In 2012 the SM Higgs boson (the physical manifestation of the Higgs quantum field) has been discovered at the LHC. This was the missing ingredient to complete the experimental observation of all SM particles. Still, at the theory level, there is no fundamental reason to consider the existence of a single Higgs. At CFTP we conduct leading research in multi-Higgs models. [more info here]
The violation of the charge-conjugation/parity (CP) symmetry in kaon decays was first observed in 1964 by Cronin and Fitch. Still, after more than five decades after this discovery, we still don’t know what is the origin of CP violation or if it also occurs in the lepton sector. Many pioneering works which established groundbreaking results on CP violation have been published by CFTP researchers [more info here].
The reason why there exist three families of quarks and leptons with different flavours, and why their mass and mixing patterns look like they do, is still an open question in particle physics. A large number of worldwide experiments are currently dedicated to the physics of flavour. At CFTP we have been responsible for establishing many pioneering results regarding the physics of flavour in both the lepton and quark sectors. [more info here]
Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the fundamental theory of the strong interaction described in terms of quarks and gluons. Although QCD can be formulated in a compact and elegant form, it is very difficult to actually solve it in the low-energy regime, where the interaction is so strong that quarks and gluons are confined inside bound states – hadrons. At CFTP, we develop and apply nonperturbative techniques to describe hadrons and their interactions and predict the properties of new particles yet to be discovered [more info here]