This book covers some recent advances in string theory and extra dimensions. Intended mainly for advanced graduate students in theoretical physics, it presents a rare combination of formal and phenomenological topics, based on the annual lectures given at the School of the Theoretical Advanced Study Institute (2001) — a traditional event that brings together graduate students in high energy physics for an intensive course of advanced learning. The lecturers in the School are leaders in their fields.The first lecture, by E D'Hoker and D Freedman, is a systematic introduction to the gauge-gravity correspondence, focusing in particular on correlation functions in the conformal case. The second, by L Dolan, provides an introduction to perturbative string theory, including recent advances on backgrounds involving Ramond-Ramond fluxes. The third, by S Gubser, explains some of the basic facts about special holonomy and its uses in string theory and M-theory. The fourth, by J Hewett, surveys the TeV phenomenology of theories with large extra dimensions. The fifth, by G Kane, presents the case for supersymmetry at the weak scale and some of its likely experimental consequences. The sixth, by A Liddle, surveys recent developments in cosmology, particularly with regard to recent measurements of the CMB and constraints on inflation. The seventh, by B Ovrut, presents the basic features of heterotic M-theory, including constructions that contain the Standard Model. The eighth, by K Rajagopal, explains the recent advances in understanding QCD at low temperatures and high densities in terms of color superconductivity. The ninth, by M Sher, summarizes grand unified theories and baryogenesis, including discussions of supersymmetry breaking and the Standard Model Higgs mechanism. The tenth, by M Spiropulu, describes collider physics, from a survey of current and future machines to examples of data analyses relevant to theories beyond the Standard Model. The eleventh, by M Strassler, is an introduction to supersymmetric gauge theory, focusing on Wilsonian renormalization and analogies between three- and four-dimensional theories. The twelfth, by W Taylor and B Zwiebach, introduces string field theory and discusses recent advances in understanding open string tachyon condensation. The thirteenth, by D Waldram, discusses explicit model building in heterotic M-theory, emphasizing the role of the E8 gauge fields.The written presentation of these lectures is detailed yet straightforward, and they will be of use to both students and experienced researchers in high-energy theoretical physics for years to come.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)• CC Proceedings — Engineering & Physical Sciences

The book begins with a brief review of supersymmetry, and the construction of the minimal supersymmetric standard model and approaches to supersymmetry breaking. General non-perturbative methods are also reviewed leading to the development of holomorphy and the Affleck-Dine-Seiberg superpotential as powerful tools for analysing supersymmetric theories. Seiberg duality is discussed in detail, with many example applications provided, with special attention paid to its use in understanding dynamical supersysmmetry breaking. The Seiberg-Witten theory of monopoles is introduced through the analysis of simpler N=1 analogues. Superconformal field theories are described along with the most recent development known as "amaximization". Supergravity theories are examined in 4, 10, and 11 dimensions, allowing for a discussion of anomaly and gaugino mediation, and setting the stage for the anti- de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence. This book is unique in containing an overview of the important developments in supersymmetry since the publication of "Suppersymmetry and Supergravity" by Wess and Bagger. It also strives to cover topics that are of interest to both formal and phenomenological theorists.

This work was nominated as an outstanding PhD thesis by the LPSC, Université Grenoble Alpes, France. The LHC Run 1 was a milestone in particle physics, leading to the discovery of the Higgs boson, the last missing piece of the so-called "Standard Model" (SM), and to important constraints on new physics, which challenge popular theories like weak-scale supersymmetry. This thesis provides a detailed account of the legacy of the LHC Run 1 ≤¥regarding these aspects. First, the SM and the need for its extension are presented in a concise yet revealing way. Subsequently, the impact of the LHC Higgs results on scenarios of new physics is assessed in detail, including a careful discussion of the relevant uncertainties. Two approaches are considered: generic modifications of the Higgs couplings, possibly arising from extended Higgs sectors or higher-dimensional operators; and tests of specific new physics models. Lastly, the implications of the null results of the searches for new physics are discussed with a particular focus on supersymmetric dark matter candidates. Here as well, two approaches are presented: the "simplified models" approach, and recasting by event simulation. This thesis stands out for its educational approach, its clear language and the depth of the physics discussion. The methods and tools presented offer readers essential practical tools for future research.

Supersymmetry is at an exciting stage of development. It extends the Standard Model of particle physics into a more powerful theory that both explains more and allows more questions to be addressed. Most important, it opens a window for studying and testing fundamental theories at the Planck scale. Experimentally we are finally entering the intensity and energy regions where superpartners are likely to be detected, and then studied. There has been progress in understanding the remarkable physics implications of supersymmetry, including the derivation of the Higgs mechanism, the unification of the Standard Model forces, cosmological connections such as a candidate for the cold dark matter of the universe and the scalar fields that drive inflation and their potential, the relationship to Planck scale theories, and more.While there are a number of reviews and books where the mathematical structure and uses of supersymmetry can be learned, there are few where the particle physics is the main focus. This book fills that gap. It begins with an excellent pedagogical introduction to the physics and methods and formalism of supersymmetry, by S Martin, which is accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of the Standard Model of particle physics. Next is an overview of open questions by K Dienes and C Kolda, followed by chapters on topics ranging from how to detect superpartners to connections with Planck scale theories, by leading experts.This invaluable book will allow any interested physicist to understand the coming experimental and theoretical progress in supersymmetry, and will also help students and workers to quickly learn new aspects of supersymmetry they want to pursue.

Since the 1980s the cross-disciplinary, multidimensional field of links between cosmology and particle physics has been widely recognised by theorists, studying cosmology, particle and nuclear physics, gravity, as well as by astrophysicists, astronomers, space physicists, experimental particle and nuclear physicists, mathematicians and engineers.The relationship between cosmology and particle physics is now one of the important topics of discussion at any scientific meeting both on astrophysics and high energy physics.Cosmoparticle physics is the result of the mutual relationship between cosmology and particle physics in their search for physical mechanisms of inflation, baryosynthesis, nonbaryonic dark matter, and for fundamental unity of the natural forces underlying them. The set of nontrivial links between cosmological consequences of particle models and the astrophysical data on matter and radiation in the modern universe maintains cosmoarcheology, testing self-consistently particular predictions of particle models on the base of cosmological scenarios, following from them. Complex analysis of all the indirect cosmological, astrophysical and microphysical phenomena makes cosmoparticle physics the science of the world and renders quantitatively definite the correspondence between its micro- and macroscopic structure.This book outlines the principal ideas of the modern particle theory and cosmology, their mutual relationship and the nontrivial correspondence of their physical and astrophysical effects.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Erice, Italy, May 4-14, 1988