Project Exploring the Terauniverse with the LHC, Astrophysics and Cosmology

1. ProjectExploring the Terauniverse with the LHC, Astrophysics and Cosmology Project acronymTERAUNIVERSE Researcher (PI)Jonathan Richard Ellis Host institution (HI)EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH, SCHWEIZ/SUISSE/SVIZZERA Call detailsERC-2010-AdG, PE2 Details Summary The visible matter in the Universe is well described by the Standard Model, but this leaves open major questions in both particle physics and cosmology that may be answered by new physics at the Tera-electron-Volt range: the Terascale. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will soon open a new stage in humanity?s direct exploration of the fundamental physical laws at Terascale energies, which governed the evolution of the Universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, and are essential for understanding high-energy astrophysics. In addition to unraveling the intimate structure of matter at the Terascale, e.g., by discovering the source of particle masses and exploring matter-antimatter asymmetry, the LHC will address key cosmological issues such as how dark and conventional matter originated, which may well have been at the Terascale, and the nature of the primordial plasma that filled the Universe. This proposal will lead the understanding whatever new physics the LHC may reveal, incorporating insights from cosmology, high-energy astrophysics and speculative ideas such as string theory. This interdisciplinary approach will also facilitate the application of knowledge acquired from the LHC to fundamental cosmological and astrophysical problems, as well as illuminate future collider priorities, e.g., for LHC upgrades and/or a linear collider. This proposal will bring together particle theorists, experimentalists, astroparticle physicists and experts on field and string theory in the framework of a new 'London Centre for Terauniverse Studies?. This will provide new opportunities for students and other young researchers to get directly involved in making LHC discoveries and exploring their implications for the Universe, and provide a mechanism for transferring to them interdisciplinary skills. Website (HI)N/A Max ERC funding1.93 million Euros Duration60 months

2. ProjectMass hierarchy and particle physics at the TeV scale Project acronymMASSTEV Researcher (PI)Ignatios Antoniadis Host institution (HI)ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE EUROPEAN ... Call detailsERC-2008-AdG, PE2 Details Summary The research goal of this proposal is the investigation of the most fundamental aspects of particle physics models and gravity at high energies, and establishing the connection between these findings and experiments. The main fundamental questions that will be addressed are: What is the origin of mass for the mediators of the weak interactions and its connection with the masses of quarks and leptons? Why this mass is hierarchically different from the Planck scale which makes gravity so weak compared to the other three known fundamental interactions described by the current Standard Model of particle physics? Why this enormous mass hierarchy is quantum mechanically stable? What is the theory that describes physical laws at TeV energies which will be explored in the near future by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN? These questions are at the very frontier of knowledge of theoretical particle physics and phenomenology and their intersection with gravity and string theory. All members of the proposed research team have made breakthrough contributions in putting forward and developing new ideas that dominated such a research during the past 10 years. Although there is a certain overlap in the interests, each member brings a different unique expertise to the research, which will strongly resonate with the other members activity. Obviously, this project is strongly correlated with LHC physics confronting theoretical predictions with observations and using experimental data for building new theories and correcting existing models. In such an intense dynamical process, participation of doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers will be absolutely crucial and their active involvement is an essential component of the project. The main funding required by the project from the EU is for hiring of 14 person-years of PhD students and 14 person-years of postdocs. Website (HI) http://www.cern.ch Max ERC funding 2 million Euros Duration 69 months

3. ProjectPhysics beyond the standard model at the LHC and with atom interferometers Project acronymBSMOXFORD Researcher (PI)SavasDimopoulos Host institution (HI)EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH, SCHWEIZ/SUISSE/SVIZZERA Call detailsERC-2008-AdG, PE2 Details Summary Elementary particle physics is entering a spectacular new era in which experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will soon start probing some of the deepest questions in physics, such as: Why is gravity so weak? Do elementary particles have substructure? What is the origin of mass? Are there new dimensions? Can we produce black holes in the lab? Could there be other universes with different physical laws? While the LHC pushes the energy frontier, the unprecedented precision of Atom Interferometry, has pointed me to a new tool for fundamental physics. These experiments based on the quantum interference of atoms can test General Relativity on the surface of the Earth, detect gravity waves, and test short-distance gravity, charge quantization, and quantum mechanics with unprecedented precision in the next decade. This ERC Advanced grant proposal is aimed at setting up a world-leading European center for development of a deeper theory of fundamental physics. The next 10 years is the optimal time for such studies to benefit from the wealth of new data that will emerge from the LHC, astrophysical observations and atom interferometry. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for making ground-breaking progress, and will open up many new research horizons. This application for an ERC Advanced Grant primarily asks for funds for postdoctoral positions and for an active visitors program to take advantage of the six new faculty and infrastructure resources being provided by Oxford University, and to leverage these new resources for the benefit of the entire European particle-theory research community. Website (HI) http://www.cern.ch Max ERC funding 2.2 million Euros Duration 60 months

4. ProjectQuantum Chromodynamics at Work Project acronymQWORK Researcher (PI)Petrus Johannes Gerardus Mulders Host institution (HI)STICHTING VU-VUMC, NEDERLAND Call detailsERC-2012-ADG, PE2 Details Summary Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is one of the cornerstones of the Standard Model of particle physics. It describes the world of quarks, anti-quarks and gluons (partons) making up the protons and neutrons and therewith the ordinary matter in our universe. Collisions of protons and heavy nuclei at unprecedented energies in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN enable experiments that will uncover mechanisms and symmetries underlying the Standard Model. In experiments at the LHC, as in many other high-energy physics experiments, QCD plays a crucial role as a toolbox. It employs the property that at very high energies, or equivalently very short distances, the transition of protons to partons is a long distance phenomenon that can be encoded through parton probabilities and decay functions, which incorporate the complex structure of the proton itself.Earlier I have revealed a new element in QCD: specific momentum-spin correlations can also be encoded in terms of (polarized) parton probabilities, collectively known as transverse momentum dependent (TMD) distribution and fragmentation functions. Experimental results have confirmed the applicability and the necessity of including the novel correlations in QCD in order to cope with current and upcoming experimental results. This proposal outlines my ambitions to develop the next generation of the QCD toolbox.I want to break with the restrictions of the collinear approximation for partons in high-energy processes and develop the full QCD dynamics underlying the novel correlations, study their universality and make them into workable tools that enable a full manipulation of spins and momenta of the partons for understanding experimental results at all frontiers, energy and precision. The results of this enterprise will affect the entire field of high-energy/nuclear physics and open up new windows to reveal the fundaments of the Standard Model through dedicated experiments at present-day and future facilities. Website (HI) http://www.vu.nl Max ERC funding 2.07 million Euros Duration 60 months

5. ProjectSearch and study of the Higgs bosons at the LHC Project acronymHIGGS@LHC Researcher (PI)AbdelhakDjouadi Host institution (HI)CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, FRANCE Call detailsERC-2012-ADG, PE2 Details Summary The major issue and the forefront research activity in particle physics today is the exploration of the mechanism that generates the elementary particle masses. In the Standard Model that describes three of the four basic forces in nature - the electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions - this fundamental mechanism leads to the existence of a new type of particle, the Higgs boson, which has escaped detection so far. The discovery of this particle, which will have a paramount importance and far-reaching implications, is the major goal of the CERN Large Hadron Collider which recently started operation after 20 years of preparation. The observation of the Higgs boson at the LHC and the determination of its fundamental properties will be the essential issue addressed by the present research project.A comprehensive investigation of the various Higgs boson detection channels at the LHC, production mechanisms and decay modes, as well as the major sources of backgrounds will be performed in a way that is as close as possible to the experimental conditions. Precise theoretical predictions, including higher order quantum effects, will be provided and the associated uncertainties will be assessed. The implications of observing the Higgs particle for the Standard Model and for new physics beyond it, such as supersymmetric theories and models with extra space-time dimensions, will be investigated in detail. Besides the Principal Investigator who will devote 80% of his time on the project, the research team will be formed by theoretical physicists from three laboratories in the Paris area, LPT Orsay, LPTHE Jussieu and IPhTSaclay, as well as a staff member of the CERN Theory Unit. This group will be completed by the six postdoctoral fellows and two PhD students that will be appointed. The duration of the project, five years, will crucially coincide with the period in which the LHC is expected to make major breakthroughs in the field under investigation. Website (HI) http://www.cnrs.fr Max ERC funding 1.16 million Euros Duration 60 months

6. ProjectSOX: Short distance neutrino Oscillations with BoreXino Project acronymSOX Researcher (PI)Marco Pallavicini Host institution (HI)ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE, ITALIA Call detailsERC-2012-ADG, PE2 Details Summary We propose to realize an experiment sensitive to a large fraction of the parameter space for short distance neutrino flavour oscillations into sterile components.The experiment aims at the clear and unambiguous discovery, or at the definitive disproof, of the so called neutrino anomalies, a set of circumstantial evidences of electron neutrino disappearance at short distance from the source observed by several experiments. The interpretation of the anomalies as oscillations into sterile neutrino components is also supported by cosmological data, which consistently indicate that the total number of neutrinos might be larger than three.If successful, we will demonstrate the existence of sterile neutrinos, opening a brand new era in fundamental particle physics and in cosmology. A solid signal would mean the discovery of the first particles beyond the Standard Electroweak Model and would have profound implications in our understanding of the Universe.In case of a negative result, we would close a long standing debate about the reality of the neutrino anomalies, probe the existence of new physics in low energy neutrino interactions, provide a measurement or a limit of neutrino magnetic moment, and give Borexino a superb energy calibration, very beneficial for high-precision solar neutrino measurements.The experiment will be done by placing a well designed artificial neutrino (or antineutrino) source close or inside the Borexino solar neutrino detector at the LaboratoriNazionali del Gran Sasso. The superb Borexino sensitivity, its large size, and its very low radioactive background will be the key elements of the experiment.The expected sensitivity, calculated with high precision Monte Carlo simulations which implements the deep knowledge of the detector response developed by the collaboration and by the P.I. in particular, is sufficient to guarantee either a clear discovery or the complete exclusion of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the neutrino anomalies. Website (HI) http://www.infn.it Max ERC funding 3.45 million Euros Duration 60 months

7. ProjectString Phenomenology in the LHC Era Project acronymSPLE Researcher (PI)Luis Enrique Ibañez Santiago Host institution (HI)UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID, ESPAÑA Call detailsERC-2012-ADG, PE2 Summary String Theory is the leading candidate for a theory of quantum gravity including Particle Physics. In the last ten years important progress has been made in the construction of string theory solutions resembling the Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics. String compactifications giving rise to the gauge group of the SM and three generations of quarks and leptons have been constructed. It has also recently been found that quantized fluxes of the anti-symmetric fields present in the theory provide for a solution for the long standing problem of moduli stabilization in String Theory. On the other hand a new era for Particle Physics has begun with the starting into operation of the LHC accelerator in 2010. The new data is expected to reveal the origin of the masses of all particles and what is the physics underlying it. New forces or symmetries like super-symmetry, extra dimensions etc. could be found. Whatever is found it will provide stringent tests of models for physics beyond the SM and also string theory compactifications. The purpose of this project is to make progress in the construction of string semi-realistic solutions and try to obtain information from the LHC data in order to constraint the underlying theory. In order to do that a general study of different classes of string compactifications will be made. If e.g. super-symmetry is found at LHC, we will be able to compare the structure of soft SUSY-breaking soft terms in large classes of string models with experimental data, giving important information about the underlying string theory. One of the objectives of the project is to answer the question: What is LHC telling us about string Theory? Website (HI) http://www.uam.es Max ERC funding 1.5 million Euros Duration 60 months

8. ProjectStrongly Coupled QCD Matter Project acronymQCDMAT Researcher (PI)Jean-Paul Blaizot Host institution (HI)CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, FRANCE Call detailsERC-2010-AdG, PE2 Summary This project addresses fundamental issues in the study of nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energy, such as the thermodynamics of matter at extremely high temperature, or the dynamics of the dense system of gluons that stitute most of the wave-function of a nucleus at asymptotically high energy. In either case, one is dealing with strongly interacting systems whose description requires the development of new theoretical tools.The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the USA has deeply changed our vision of hot and dense matter, revealing for instance that the quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy ion collisions behaves as a strongly coupled liquid with a relatively small viscosity. Soon, beams of lead nuclei will be accelerated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, with energies exceeding by more than one order of magnitude those of RHIC. New phenomena are likely to be observed, and one of the goals of the project is to develop the theoretical tools that will be needed to understand these phenomena: by developing new, non perturbative methods of quantum field theory in order to calculate the properties of the quark-gluon plasma and the initial nuclear wavefunctions; by providing the appropriate theoretical frameworks to interpret the data and possibly suggest new measurements.All members of the proposed research team have made breakthrough tributions to the field. They bring a unique expertise on the various aspects of the project, putting the team in a position to make a groundbreakingtribution. The project has also cross-disciplinary aspects that will be exploited whenever deemed appropriate. This will tribute to broaden the training of the young researchers hired within the project. Website (HI) http://www.cnrs.fr Max ERC funding 1.51 million Euros Duration 60 months

9. ProjectSUPERSYMMETRY: a window to non-perturbative physics Project acronymSUSY Researcher (PI)BernardusQuirinus Petrus Joseph De Wit Host institution (HI)STICHTING VOOR FUNDAMENTEEL ONDERZOEK DER MATERIE - FOM, NEDERLAND Call detailsERC-2009-AdG, PE2 Summary Supersymmetry provides an invaluable tool for quantitatively exploring a large variety of non-perturbative phenomena arising in gauge theories and gravitation. This proposal intends to exploit this fact to make significant progress on three important topics in theoretical physics, namely, black holes, strongly-coupled gauge fields, and instantons and supersymmetry breaking. Besides supersymmetry, there is a variety of cross-links between these topics, as well as joint applications. The specific objectives of the proposal are as follows. The first objective concerns the determination of supersymmetric black hole entropy for finite electric and magnetic charges, improving our understanding of critical aspects of the field-theoretic description of the entropy, in direct confrontation with the results based on the counting of microscopic states. The second objective is a construction of the exact spectrum of quantum strings moving in an anti-de Sitter space-time, which, according to the gauge-string correspondence, yields the spectrum of a corresponding dual supersymmetric gauge theory. Deforming the anti-de Sitter space will then lead to stringy descriptions of non-perturbative phenomena in a generic gauge theory with a confining phase. The third objective pertains to instantons and their implications for phenomenologically viable string compactifications on spaces with generalized geometries, which include background electric and magnetic fields. An instant on calculus will be developed to improve the understanding of non-perturbative string theory and its implication for moduli stabilization and super symmetry breaking. Website (HI) http://www.fom.nl Max ERC funding 1.91 million Euros Duration 60 months

10. ProjectSupersymmetry, quantum gravity and gauge fields Project acronymSUPERFIELDS Researcher (PI)Sergio Ferrara Host institution (HI)ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE EUROPEAN ... Call detailsERC-2008-AdG, PE2 Summary This project aims at investigating some crucial issues in globally supersymmetric and Supergravity theories. Firstly, it focuses on perturbative and non-perturbative sources of Supersymmetry Breaking in the low-energy effective Supergravity description of Superstrings and M-theory. These include Gaugings and Fluxes in compactifications from higher dimensions, Gaugino Condensation and other non-perturbative effects generated by (unoriented) D-braneinstantons. Secondly, it explores the physics of extremal Black Holes by means of the Attractor Mechanism, that relates their Entropy to the extrema of an Effective Potential. The tantalizing analogy with moduli stabilization in flux compactifications is considered in detail. Moreover, the deep connection between the Entropy-Formula and certain topological string partition functions is exploited to improve the connection between macroscopic and microscopic interpretations. The holographic (AdS/CFT) correspondence conjectured by Maldacena between (super)conformal Yang-Mills theories and certain (super)gravity theories in Anti De Sitter spaces is analyzed in view of the attractive nature of universal horizon geometries and in relation to Higher-Spin Symmetries, that may be associated with bulk duals of certain gauge-invariant composite operators on the boundary. The project also addresses the possible link between higher-spin theories and an unbroken phase of Superstring or M-theory. The project will be carried out through the abilities and the skills of the PI and of the team members, with their complementary expertise on different but interrelated topics in the holographic approach to modern theories of quantum gravity. Supersymmetry and gauge principles will serve as basic tools for their research. Website (HI) http://www.cern.ch Max ERC funding 1.7 million Euros Duration 67 months

11. ProjectTest of Lepton Flavour Universality with Kaon Decays Project acronymUNIVERSALEPTO Researcher (PI)John Bourke Dainton Host institution (HI)THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL, UNITED KINGDOM Call detailsERC-2010-AdG, PE2 Summary Physics at the high-mass scale can also be manifest in dynamical effects at lower, accessible energy. Thus, the existence of new high-mass-scale physics implies new mechanisms by which new interactions between constituents, quarks and gluons with leptons, must also exist. This proposal is for a precision measurement at the NA62 experiment at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) of the ratio R(K) of the branching ratios (BR) of two rare, leptonic, decays of the K+, namely K+ to e+ neutrino and K+ to mu+ neutrino, with a precision of 0.2%. When compared with the prediction of the Standard Model (uncertainty 4E-4), the measurement will be sensitive to physics at the Terascale (TeV energy). The experiment is based on a sample of about 10E13 in-flight K+ decays, for which selection and background rejection exploit precision kinematic reconstruction and particle identification. The team will contribute a Cerenkov detector which will time-stamp individual K +decays in the decay volume of the experiment at the 50 MHz K+ beam rate. When operating in the NA62 experiment, the sensitivity to K decay BRs will then be better than 10E-11. Such a measurement of R(K) will certainly constrain in a unique manner the nature of Terascale physics. The reality of measurements at this level of precision, which may point to lepton flavour violation, will make possible a number of definitive tests concerned with the violation of lepton flavour universality. The importance of the measurements is therefore compelling, and especially so when taken in the context of imminent measurements using long baseline neutrino beams. Website (HI) http://www.liverpool.ac.uk Max ERC funding 2.28 million Euros Duration 60 months

12. ProjectThe Quantum Microscope Project acronymQUAMI Researcher (PI)ItzhakYaron Silberberg Host institution (HI)WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, ISRAEL Call detailsERC-2010-AdG, PE2 Summary We propose to build an optical micro-scope that will use novel quantum optical concepts in order to break the Rayleigh-Abbe resolution limits of standard optical micro-scopy. Optical micro-scopy is still the workhorse of biological and medical research, allowing researchers direct visible view of the micro-scopic world, and any improvement in the field could have significant impact. Several innovative techniques have been demonstrated in recent years to achieve super resolution, most relate to fluorescence micro-scopy and requires highly nonlinear excitations and/or novel fluorescence probes, and therefore have more specific applications. Our goal is to demonstrate a general-purpose machine, that is, a micro-scope that should be able to inspect general transparent or fluorescent objects, in particular biological and medical specimens, and will include several observation modalities. The high-resolution capabilities of the micro-scope will come from the application of novel photon-number resolving detectors and non-classical light sources. Our strategy is to build this micro-scope around a standard laser scanning micro-scope concept, yet we will achieve sub-diffraction imaging by resolving features within the classical diffraction limited spot of the scanning beam. Fast photon-number resolving detectors will record spatial and temporal distributions of photons at the image plane, enabling quantum correlations for enhanced resolution. We will consider several forms of illuminations both classical and quantum light and several micro-scope modalities, including fluorescence, dark field and differential interference contrast microscopy. We shall also investigate methods to combine quantum microscopy with nonlinear microscopy for further enhancement of resolution. Beyond its immediate goals, this research program will help to determine whether the more novel ideas of quantum metrology are indeed relevant for practical microscopy. Website (HI) http://www.weizmann.ac.il Max ERC funding 2.11 million Euros Duration 60 months

13. ProjectTheoretical predictions and analyses of LHC physics: advancing the precision ... Project acronymLHCTHEORY Researcher (PI)Michelangelo Mangano Host institution (HI)EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH, SCHWEIZ/SUISSE/SVIZZERA Call detailsERC-2011-ADG, PE2 Summary The primary goal of this research proposal is to push to new levels of precision the predictive power of theoretical analyses of the phenomena observed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The start-up of the LHC has opened a new era in the exploration of the fundamental laws of Nature. This is expected to lead, among other results, to the clarification of the mechanism breaking the electroweak symmetry of fundamental interactions, to the discovery of new elementary particles, possibly accounting for the Dark Matter seen in the cosmos, and to the observation of new interactions, acting differently on matter and antimatter, to explain the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe.The crucial ingredient in the success of this ambitious programme is the ability to interpret the signals extracted by the experiments. To decode their properties and match them to the dynamics of possible new physics models relies on the numerical simulation of such dynamics, and on the ability to distinguish it from that of the known Standard Model (SM) processes. The past two decades have witnessed a continuous progress in this field, driven by the exploitation of the data from previous colliders, such as LEP, HERA and the Tevatron. The complexity of the LHC final states, the large rates of processes with many jets and their role in mimicking the production and decay of possible new particles, call for an aggressive effort to radically improve the current quality and accuracy of the theoretical modelling, to match the unprecedented discovery potential and measurement precision of the LHC experiments.Capitalizing on recent theoretical advances, driven in significant part by the work of the PI and the team members, this proposal outlines a challenging and ambitious programme to advance to new levels the precision, generality and scope of the analysis tools used by both experimentalists and theorists engaged in LHC physics. Website (HI) N/A Max ERC funding 2.05 million Euros Duration 60 months

14. ProjectTowards the NEXT generation of bb0nu experimets Project acronymNEXT Researcher (PI)Juan José Gomez Cadenas Host institution (HI)AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS, ... Call detailsERC-2013-ADG, PE2 Summary Neutrinoless double beta decay is a hypothetical, very slow radioactive process whose observation would establish unambiguously that massive neutrinos are Majorana particles --- that is to say, identical to their antiparticles ---, which implies that a new physics scale beyond the Standard Model must exist. Furthermore, it would prove that total lepton number is not a served quantity, suggesting that this new physics could also be the origin of the observed asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the Universe.In recent years, many innovative ideas have been put forward to improve the sensitivity of \bbonu\ experiments. In general, these propositions have sought to increase the number of experimental signatures available to reject backgrounds while attempting to use isotopes and detector techniques which can be more easily scaled to large masses.The objective of this project is to realize the NEXT experiment, an innovativedetector based on a high-pressure xenon gas (HPXe) TPC that will run at the LaboratorioSubterr\'aneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain.Our primary goal is to complete the struction and commissioning of a 150 kg HPXe TPC (NEXT-100) by 2014, and start a physics run in 2015 that can improve the present bound set by the EXO experiment and perhaps discover the Majorana nature of neutrinos. In addition, we will carry out an R\&D program focused in demonstrating the scalability of the technology to the ton scale. Website (HI) http://www.csic.es Max ERC funding 2.79 million Euros Duration 60 months