IFIE

The main focus of the research group is on the confrontation of the predictions of the Standard Model with experimental data, paying special attention to the results of the LHC and the latest analyses of the Tevatron and B meson factories, as well as to the neutrino experiments and those relevant to the dark matter and dark energy aspects of the Universe. The comparison of such experimental data with the Standard Model, as well as with its possible feasible extensions, is aimed at providing the necessary information to answer current questions in fundamental physics such as: Why do fermions appear replicated in three (and only three?) families with virtually identical properties? What is the origin of the hierarchy of masses and mixtures observed in the fermionic families, both in the quark and lepton sectors? Is there a fundamental reason for the observed left-right asymmetry in weak interactions? What dynamics are responsible for the CP symmetry violation? In this context, given the current precision and the amount of available experimental data provided by the above experiments, it is important from a theoretical point of view to develop the necessary techniques to properly analyse the experimental data. To this end, a precise and thorough study of the phenomenology of the proposed theoretical models, both of the Standard Model and its extensions, is essential. A fundamental aspect, towards which the project is oriented, is an adequate selection of those observables that allow a better identification of the effects sought. The final comparison between predictions and existing experimental data can corroborate or discard the proposed theoretical models. In this context, the topics under investigation by the group fall under the following headings: Flavour dynamics and CP violation: study of the fermion mixing matrix (CKM), proposal of time-reversal observables. Comparison of theoretical predictions with experimental results. Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics: study of the neutrino mass and mixing hierarchy. Implications for leptogenesis and dark matter. QCD and Hadronic Physics: non-perturbative study of QCD propagators at low energies, calculation of heavy meson form factors and light quark masses by means of sum rules in QCD. Gauge Field Theories, Higgs Boson and Form Factors: study of the magnetic dipole moment and the magnetic form factor of the tau lepton. Supersymmetry and beyond the Standard Model: study of the relationship between particle physics and cosmology by means of supersymmetric theoretical models involving the existence of new particles. Relationship of supersymmetric models and dark matter. The team is currently composed of 9 University Professors: G. Barenboim, J. Bernabéu, J. Bordes, F. Botella, J. Papavassiliou, J. Peñarrocha, M. A. Sanchis-Lozano, J. Vidal and O. Vives, research fellows, contract and postdocs attached to the Department of Theoretical Physics (UV) and IFIC (UV-CSIC).