University of Cambridge
Flavourful beyond the Standard Model physics at current and future colliders
Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe Standard Model of particle physics successfully explains nearly all non-gravitational phenomena observed in nature. Yet, both theoretical considerations and experimental data suggest that the model is incomplete and must be extended. This thesis investigates "flavourful" beyond the Standard Model physics, that is, extensions of the Standard Model which couple in highly non-trivial ways to the different generations of known fermions. We study the phenomenological consequences of a few such models and focus on their collider signatures. We start by discussing some of the open questions in beyond the Standard Model physics. After reviewing the status of the anomalous B meson decays, which motivate a significant part of the thesis, we introduce a key tool used in contemporary high-energy physics: effective field theory. In the second chapter, the focus is shifted to a concrete extension of the Standard Model, the U(1)_{B_3 - L_2} Z' model, which can ameliorate some of the anomalous measurements of B meson decays. We study the scalar sector of the model and show that, whilst the scalar field predicted by the model cannot be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider, future particle accelerators would have ample discovery opportunities. The focus is then shifted to the Future Circular Electron–Positron Collider (FCC-ee), a proposed high-precision particle accelerator designed to study the electroweak and Higgs sectors of the Standard Model. We implement the projected measurements of the FCC-ee in a computer program which can automatically place projected bounds on the parameter space of almost any heavy extension of the Standard Model. The final part of the thesis revolves around the Froggatt–Nielsen model, designed to explain the hierarchies in the fermion mass matrices of the Standard Model. By matching the model to the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, we work out some of the leading low-energy signatures of the Froggatt–Nielsen mechanism.
Degree
thesis:*- Name dc:type.qualificationname
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
- Doctoral
- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- University of Cambridge
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2025
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Loisa, Eetu
- Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
-
- Allanach, Benjamin
Subjects
dc:subject × 6Rights
dc:rightsIdentifiers
dc:identifier.*- Author Identifier
- 0000-0003-2983-2786
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/399141