Chairs
Dr Daniel G. Figueroa, CERN, Switzerland
Dr Daniel G. Figueroa, CERN, Switzerland
Daniel G. Figueroa has been a fellow at the CERN Theory Division since January 2015. During September to December 2014 he was a visiting researcher at Columbia University in New York. Between October 2012 and December 2014 he held a postdoctoral assistant position at Geneva University in Professor Ruth Durrer’s group. Previous to that he held a postdoctoral assistant position at the University of Helsinki in Professor Kari Enqvist’s group from October 2010 to September 2012. Daniel obtained his PhD in July 2010 at the Instituto de Fisica Teorica (IFT) in Madrid, with a Thesis entitled ‘Aspects of Reheating’. Throughout his PhD Daniel was also a ‘MARIE CURIE EST’ fellow at CERN (May–July 2010), during which time he travelled widely, visiting CITA in Toronto from August to December 2007; Geneva University from August to December 2008; and CALTECH in Pasadena, California, from August to December 2009.
09:10-09:40
Cosmological implications of Higgs near-criticality
Professor José R Espinosa, ICREA/IFAE Barcelona Spain
Abstract
The Standard Model electroweak vacuum lies very close to the boundary between stability and metastability, with the last option being the most likely. Espinosa will discuss several cosmological implications of this so-called ‘near-criticality’. In the metastable vacuum case, Espinosa will describe the main challenges that the survival of the electroweak vacuum faces during the evolution of the Universe. In the stable vacuum case, Espinosa will critically examine the possibility of implementing Higgs inflation.
Show speakers
Professor José R Espinosa, ICREA/IFAE Barcelona Spain
Professor José R Espinosa, ICREA/IFAE Barcelona Spain
Jose R. Espinosa obtained his PhD (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, in 1994), working on Particle Physics beyond the Standard Model at IEM (CSIC, Madrid). After postdoctoral positions as a von Humboldt fellow at DESY (Hamburg, Germany), at University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA) and at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland), he joined IMAFF (CSIC, Madrid) in 1999 and then IFT-UAM/CSIC (Madrid) with a permanent position. In November 2008 Jose joined ICREA as Research Professor to work at IFAE in Barcelona, Spain.
09:55-10:25
LHC: the energy and precision frontiers
Dr Sinead Farrington, University of Warwick, UK
Abstract
This talk will review the latest results from the LHC. Results will cover two main areas. At the energy frontier, the LHC can search for increasingly high mass Beyond Standard Model particles, some of which are dark matter candidates. At the precision frontier, the LHC is gathering ever-larger samples of Standard Model particles. This enables sensitive searches for deviations from Standard Model predictions in order to search for clues to Beyond Standard Model physics.
Show speakers
Dr Sinead Farrington, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Sinead Farrington, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Sinead Farrington is a Particle Physicist at the LHC. She worked on the recent observation of the Higgs decaying to pairs of tau leptons and since then has made measurements of the properties of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. She is also searching for further Beyond Standard Model Higgs bosons. She is based at the University of Warwick, where she set up and leads the ATLAS group.
11:10-11:40
Towards fundamental physics from the cosmic microwave background
Professor Hiranya Peiris, University College London, UK
Abstract
Surveys of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) carry immense promise for measurements of new physics beyond the Standard Models of cosmology and particle physics. Here, Peiris will present an overview of current cosmological constraints from the CMB, and survey the capabilities of upcoming experiments, taking account of Galactic foregrounds and the effect of lensing by intervening large-scale structure. Peiris will present some recent results that highlight the science enabled by combining CMB data with large galaxy surveys. Peiris will comment on some of the experimental and methodological innovations that are needed to realise the promise of upcoming surveys.
Show speakers
Professor Hiranya Peiris, University College London, UK
Professor Hiranya Peiris, University College London, UK
Hiranya Peiris studied at Cambridge University and got her PhD from Princeton University in 2003. She was a Hubble Fellow at the University of Chicago from 2004 to 2007. She then moved back to Cambridge as a STFC Halliday Fellow, and began a faulty position at UCL in 2009, where she is now Professor of Astrophysics. She will be the Director of the Oskar Klein Centre in Stockholm from 2016. Her research aims to test fundamental physics using large cosmological datasets, including the cosmic microwave background and galaxy surveys, using an interdisciplinary approach combining observations, theoretical physics, and advanced statistical methods.
11:55-12:25
Fate of the spectator Higgs during and after inflation
Professor Kari Enqvist, University of Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
Enqvist discusses the fluctuations of the Higgs field during inflation, the displacement of the mean Higgs field away from the origin, and its subsequent decay. Enqvist will also discuss the Higgs field fluctuations during the preheating period, pointing out that resonant behaviour can induce large fluctuations which may destabilize the electroweak vacuum. Such considerations provide an upper bound on quartic and trilinear interactions between the Higgs and the inflation.
Show speakers
Professor Kari Enqvist, University of Helsinki, Finland
Professor Kari Enqvist, University of Helsinki, Finland
Professor Kari Enqvist received his PhD at the University of Helsinki in 1983. He then worked as a postdoc at CERN and University of Wisconsin, and as an assistant professor at Nordita, Copenhagen, before returning to the University of Helsinki. Enqvist’s background is in theoretical particle physics and he has worked on grand uninfied theories, supersymmetry and neutrino physics before moving to cosmology. Kari’s main interest is the nature and origin of the primordial perturbation.