Serie di seminari del Prof. V.A. Rubakov (Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow)
Da Luned́ 20 Settembre a Venerdi 24 Settembre, ore 15:00-17:00
Physics of Extra Dimensions
In this series of lectures, aimed at non-experts in the field,
an overview will be given of theories with more than three spatial
dimensions. The emphasis will be on "brane-world" models, in which
the Standard Model matter, or part thereof, is confined to a
three-dimensional hypersurface (brane) in higher-dimensional
space. Motivation, basic concepts and field-theoretic realisations
of the brane-world scenario will be discussed, and string theory
mechanisms will be briefly outlined. In brane-world models, extra
dimensions may have large and even
infinite size. This gives rise to possible interesting phenomenology
in both matter and gravitational sectors. Some of these models offer
new twists of the gauge hierarchy problem and have promising collider
signatures. Others predict exotica like apparent non-conservation of
energy and electric charge, which may be detectable in low background
experiments. In the gravitational sector, signatures include the
violation of Newton's law at short, yet macroscopic distances, and
possibly even modification of gravity at an ultra-large length
scale. The latter may be relevant to the accelerated expansion of
the Universe.