A very high energy hadron collider on the Moon

The long-term prospect of building a hadron collider around the circumference of a great circle of the Moon is sketched. A Circular Collider on the Moon (CCM) of ~11000 km in circumference could reach a proton-proton center-of-mass collision energy of 14 PeV --- a thousand times higher than the Large Hadron Collider at CERN --- optimistically assuming a dipole magnetic field of 20 T. Several aspects of such a project are presented, including siting, construction, availability of necessary materials on the Moon, and powering, as well as a discussion of future studies and further information needed to determine the more concrete feasibility of each. Machine parameters and vacuum requirements are explored, and an injection scheme is delineated. Other unknowns are set down. Due to the strong interest from multiple organizations in establishing a permanent Moon presence, a CCM could be the (next-to-) next-to-next-generation discovery machine and a natural successor to next-generation machines, such as the proposed Future Circular Collider at CERN or a Super Proton-Proton Collider in China, and other future machines, such as a Collider in the Sea, in the Gulf of Mexico. A CCM would serve as an important stepping stone towards a Planck-scale collider sited in our Solar System.

B-anomalies from flavorful U(1)$$'$$ extensions, safely

Abstract$$U(1)^\prime $$ U ( 1 ) ′ extensions of the standard model with generation-dependent couplings to quarks and leptons are investigated as an explanation of anomalies in rare B-decays, with an emphasis on stability and predictivity up to the Planck scale. To these ends, we introduce three generations of vector-like standard model singlet fermions, an enlarged, flavorful scalar sector, and, possibly, right-handed neutrinos, all suitably charged under the $$U(1)^\prime $$ U ( 1 ) ′ gauge interaction. We identify several gauge-anomaly free benchmarks consistent with $$B_s$$ B s -mixing constraints, with hints for electron-muon universality violation, and the global $$b \rightarrow s$$ b → s fit. We further investigate the complete two-loop running of gauge, Yukawa and quartic couplings up to the Planck scale to constrain low-energy parameters and enhance the predictive power. A characteristic of models is that the $$Z^\prime $$ Z ′ with TeV-ish mass predominantly decays to invisibles, i.e. new fermions or neutrinos. $$Z^\prime $$ Z ′ -production can be studied at a future muon collider. While benchmarks feature predominantly left-handed couplings $$C_9^{\mu }$$ C 9 μ and $$C_{10}^{\mu }$$ C 10 μ , right-handed ones can be accommodated as well.

Inflation and dark matter after spontaneous Planck scale generation by hidden chiral symmetry breaking

Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in a QCD-like hidden sector is used to generate the Planck mass and the electroweak scale including the heavy right-handed neutrino mass. A real scalar field transmits the energy scale of the hidden sector to the visible sectors, playing besides a role of inflaton in the early Universe while realizing a Higgs-inflation-like model. Our dark matter candidates are hidden pions that raise due to dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. They are produced from the decay of inflaton. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to directly detect them, because they are super heavy (109 ∼ 12 GeV), and moreover the interaction with the visible sector is extremely suppressed.

Standard Model in Weyl conformal geometry

We study the Standard Model (SM) in Weyl conformal geometry. This embedding is truly minimal with no new fields beyond the SM spectrum and Weyl geometry. The action inherits a gauged scale symmetry D(1) (known as Weyl gauge symmetry) from the underlying geometry. The associated Weyl quadratic gravity undergoes spontaneous breaking of D(1) by a geometric Stueckelberg mechanism in which the Weyl gauge field ($$\omega _\mu $$ ω μ ) acquires mass by “absorbing” the spin-zero mode of the $${\tilde{R}}^2$$ R ~ 2 term in the action. This mode also generates the Planck scale and the cosmological constant. The Einstein-Proca action emerges in the broken phase. In the presence of the SM, this mechanism receives corrections (from the Higgs) and it can induce electroweak (EW) symmetry breaking. The EW scale is proportional to the vev of the Stueckelberg field. The Higgs field ($$\sigma $$ σ ) has direct couplings to the Weyl gauge field ($$\sigma ^2\omega _\mu \omega ^\mu $$ σ 2 ω μ ω μ ). The SM fermions only acquire such couplings for non-vanishing kinetic mixing of the gauge fields of $$D(1)\times U(1)_Y$$ D ( 1 ) × U ( 1 ) Y . If this mixing is present, part of the mass of Z boson is not due to the usual Higgs mechanism, but to its mixing with massive $$\omega _\mu $$ ω μ . Precision measurements of Z mass then set lower bounds on the mass of $$\omega _\mu $$ ω μ which can be light (few TeV). In the early Universe the Higgs field can have a geometric origin, by Weyl vector fusion, and the Higgs potential can drive inflation. The dependence of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r on the spectral index $$n_s$$ n s is similar to that in Starobinsky inflation but mildly shifted to lower r by the Higgs non-minimal coupling to Weyl geometry.

Entropic Information Theory: Formulae and Quantum Gravity, Bits from bit

We show here that entropic information is capable of unifying all aspects of the universe at all scales in a coherent and global theoretical mathematical framework materialized by entropic information framework, theory and formulas, where dark matter, dark energy and gravity are truly informationals processes and where information is code and code is what creates the process, it is itself the process. Mass, energy and movement of information are respectively dark matter, dark energy, and gravity. Here, we reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics by introducing quantum gravity for the Planckian scale. The formulas of entropic information are expressed in natural units, physical units of measurement based only on universal constants, constants, which refer to the basic structure of the laws of physics: C and G are part of the structure of space-time in general relativity, and h captures the relationship between energy and frequency that is the basis of quantum mechanics. Here we show that entropic information formulas are able to present entropic information in various unifying aspects and introduce gravity at the Planck scale. We prove that Entropic information theory is thus building the bridge between general relativity and quantum mechanics

Entropic Information Theory: Formulae and Quantum Gravity, Bits from Bit

We show here that entropic information is capable of unifying all aspects of the universe at all scales in a coherent and global theoretical mathematical framework materialized by entropic information framework, theory and formulas, where dark matter, dark energy and gravity are truly informationals processes and where information is code and code is what creates the process, it is itself the process. Mass, energy and movement of information are respectively dark matter, dark energy, and gravity. Here, we reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics by introducing quantum gravity for the Planckian scale. The formulas of entropic information are expressed in natural units, physical units of measurement based only on universal constants, constants, which refer to the basic structure of the laws of physics: C and G are part of the structure of space-time in general relativity, and h captures the relationship between energy and frequency that is the basis of quantum mechanics. Here we show that entropic information formulas are able to present entropic information in various unifying aspects and introduce gravity at the Planck scale. We prove that Entropic information theory is thus building the bridge between general relativity and quantum mechanics

Emergent gauge symmetries: making symmetry as well as breaking it

Gauge symmetries play an essential role in determining the interactions of particle physics. Where do they come from? Might the gauge symmetries of the Standard Model unify in the ultraviolet or might they be emergent in the infrared, below some large scale close to the Planck scale? Emergent gauge symmetries are important in quantum many-body systems in quantum phases associated with long range entanglement and topological order, e.g. they arise in high temperature superconductors, with string-net condensation and in the A-phase of superfluid 3 He. String-nets and superfluid 3 He exhibit emergent properties similar to the building blocks of particle physics. Emergent gauge symmetries also play an important role in simulations of quantum field theories. This article discusses recent thinking on possible emergent gauge symmetries in particle physics, commenting also on Higgs phenomena and the vacuum energy or cosmological constant puzzle in emergent gauge systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Quantum technologies in particle physics’.

Spacetime Foam, Midisuperspace, and the Cosmological Constant

Perhaps the cosmological constant really is huge at the Planck scale, but is “hidden” by Planck scale quantum fluctuations of spacetime. I briefly review this proposal and provide some evidence, coming from a simplified midisuperspace model, that an appropriate “foamy” structure can do the job of hiding a large cosmological constant, and can persist under time evolution.

Recovery of Global Symmetries in a 't Hooftian Universe

All fundamental Planck scale symmetries are restored on a global level when a new charge is postulated in a finite, closed, Euclidean discrete space. Gravity emerges as a residual effect of the electromagnetic force in this scenario, resulting in a deterministic toy universe driven by a single input parameter. The model is developed using a constructive approach. Randomness is identified using a Chaintin argument. Aleph0 definite value is tied to the size of the universe. This is not an interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, but a deeper attempt to describe nature.