String Theory meets Experiment

The field of research of this project is String Theory and the associated phenomenological effects. String theory is a very rich framework and the only theory, until today, which consistently describes quantum gravity. Last years various semi-realistic models have been constructed which successfully embed the Standard Model in string theory. All these models typically predict new particles: new massive gauge bosons (like massive photons), one of the most attractive scenarios at LHC for physics beyond the Standard Model heavier copies of all Standard Model matter particles (electrons, quarks etc) and axions, which are particles that interact very weekly with the Standard Model thus they can play the role of Dark Matter. Our aim is to analyze phenomenological implications of these new fields in view of experimental data expected from LHC at CERN and resent astro-particle experiments. For example, a stringy massive copy of the Higgs field with mass at 750 GeV is a good candidate for the resent diphoton excess, which was recently announced by the experiments at LHC, and it additionally predicts another particle with mass at 1053 GeV. The field of research involved in this proposal is String Phenomenology, which is stronger in Europe compared to other areas worldwide. It will enhance Austrian and EU excellence on the one hand by extending this expertise, on the other by providing predictions for the discovery of new particles. Clearly, the discovery of such particles would be a major achievement for high-energy physics and it will provide a distinctive signal of the Fundamental Theory.

The field of research of this project is String Theory and the associated phenomenological effects. String theory is a very rich framework and the only theory, until today, which consistently describes quantum gravity. Last years various semi-realistic models have been constructed that successfully embed the Standard Model in string theory. All these models typically predict new particles: new massive gauge bosons (like massive photons), one of the most attractive scenarios at LHC for physics beyond the Standard Model heavier copies of all Standard Model matter particles (electrons, quarks etc) and axions, which are particles that interact very weekly with the Standard Model thus they can play the role of Dark Matter. We analyze phenomenological implications of these new fields in view of experimental data expected from LHC at CERN and resent astro-particle experiments. The field of research involved in this proposal is String Phenomenology, which is stronger in Europe compared to other areas worldwide. It will enhance Austrian and EU excellence on the one hand by extending this expertise, on the other by providing predictions for the discovery of new particles. Clearly, the discovery of such particles would be a major achievement for high-energy physics and it will provide a distinctive signal of the Fundamental Theory.