Searching for New Physics at Small and Large Scales

The following sections are included:

• Preface

• Contents

• Tasi 2012 Group Photo: Identification List

These lectures present an introduction to dark energy cosmology. We begin with a review of the Standard Cosmological Model, in which the accelerated cosmic expansion is due to a cosmological constant. We then turn to models of quintessence, a light cosmic scalar field, and explore the particle physics origins and cosmological behavior.

We present a self-contained summary of the theory of linear cosmological perturbations. We emphasize the effect of the six parameters of the minimal cosmological model, first, on the spectrum of Cosmic Microwave Background temperature anisotropies, and second, on the linear matter power spectrum. We briefly review at the end the possible impact of a few non-minimal dark matter and dark energy models.

These lectures were presented at the TASI 2012 summer school to a mixture of graduate students in particle theory and cosmology. They serve as an elementary introduction to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and discuss the implications of a 125 GeV Higgs boson for this theory. Some familiarity with the Standard Model is assumed.

What is the connection between how the dark matter was produced in the early universe and how we can detect it today? Where does the WIMP miracle come from, and is it really a “WIMP” miracle? What brackets the mass range for thermal relics? Where does 〈συ〉 come from, and what does it mean? What is the difference between chemical and kinetic decoupling? Why do some people think that dark matter cannot be lighter than 40 GeV? Why is such a popular annihilation final state? Why is antimatter a good way to look for dark matter? Why should the cosmic-ray positron fraction decline with energy? How do you calculate the flux of neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in a celestial body, and when is it independent of the dark matter pair-annihilation rate? How does dark matter produce photons? — Read these lecture notes, do the suggested 10 exercises, and you will find answers to all of these questions (and to many more on what You Always Wanted to Know About Dark Matter But Were Afraid to Ask).

These lectures provide a brief introduction into modified gravity theories, i.e. theories that deviate from General Relativity. We focus on theories that satisfy the Einstein Equivalence Principle, which are characterized by a single metric governing the motions of bodies and dynamics of fields. Further, we emphasize models that have received interest in the cosmological context, and which modify gravity on large scales.

Planning to explore the beginning of the Universe? A lightweight guide du routard for you.

Jet physics is a rich and rapidly evolving field, with many applications to physics in and beyond the Standard Model. These notes, based on lectures delivered at the June 2012 Theoretical Advanced Study Institute, provide an introduction to jets at the Large Hadron Collider. Topics covered include sequential jet algorithms, jet shapes, jet grooming, and boosted Higgs and top tagging.

These lectures were given at TASI 2012 and are directed at a level suitable for graduate students in High Energy Physics. They are intended to give an introduction to the theory and phenomenology of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), focusing on collider physics applications. The aim is to bring the reader to a level where informed decisions can be made concerning different approaches and their uncertainties. The material is divided into five main areas: (1) fundamentals, (2) fixed-order perturbative QCD, (3) Monte Carlo event generators and parton showers, (4) Matching at Leading and Next-to-Leading Order, and (5) Soft QCD physics.

These lectures from the TASI 2012 summer school outline the basics of supersymmetry (SUSY) in 3+1 dimensions. Starting from a ground-up development of superspace, we develop all of the tools necessary to construct SUSY lagrangians. While aimed at an introductory level, these lectures incorporate a number of “super-tricks” for SUSY aficionados, including SUSY-covariant derivatives, equations of motion in superspace, background field methods, and non-linear realizations of goldstinos.

Note from Publisher: This article contains the TASI 2012 Participants contact info and research interests only.