Abstract: To be announced

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: To be announced

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: In this talk I will explore the ``Beautiful Mirrors" model, which aims to explain the measured value of A^b_{FB}, discrepant at the 2.9\sigma level. This scenario introduces vector-like quarks which mix with the bottom, subtly affecting its coupling to the Z. The spectrum of the new particles consists of two bottom-like quarks and a charge -4/3 quark, all of which have electroweak interactions with the third generation. After reviewing the A^b_{FB} and ``Beautiful Mirrors" model, I will discuss the phenomenology and discovery reach for these new particles at the LHC.

Note: contact J. Serra

Abstract: In this talk I will present some recent applications and extensions of the concept of "minimal flavour violation" (MFV), which is frequently used to constrain the flavour sector of new physics models. I will shortly explain how to define MFV in the effective-theory context, making use of Yukawa spurion fields. Using the same language, the particular role of the top-quark in the SM can be embedded into the MFV approach, and also models beyond MFV can be systematically characterised. Finally, I speculate on the possibility to use the MFV ansatz to construct a dynamical theory for a spontaneously broken flavour symmetry.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: We present a model of dark matter in a warped extra dimension in which various dark sector mass scales are naturally generated without supersymmetry. The dark matter, whose mass is in the TeV range, is charged under a dark abelian gauge group. The corresponding dark photon obtains a mass in the GeV range via a dilaton coupling, allowing the dark matter to annihilate predominantly into leptons. This can explain the positron excess recently observed by PAMELA and FERMI. Moreover, the dark matter can naturally be split into pseudo-Dirac states with tiny mass splittings, implementing the inelastic dark matter scenario.

Note: contact A.Pomarol

Abstract: The isospin-breaking decay eta -> 3pi is an ideal tool to extract information on the light quark mass ratios from experiment. For a precise determination, however, a detailed description of the Dalitz plot distribution is necessary. In that respect, in particular the (small) slope parameter of the neutral decay channel causes some concern, since the one- loop prediction from chiral perturbation theory misses the experimental value substantially. I will describe a dedicated framework to analyse final-state interactions beyond one loop, including isospin-breaking corrections, and present our current understanding of the eta -> 3pi Dalitz plot parameters thus obtained.

Note: contact R.Escribano

Abstract: Recently headlines like "A New Clue to Explain Existence" went around the world to describe the result of the D0 collaboration at TeVatron presented on Friday 14th May. D0 measured semileptonic CP-Asymmetries in the two neutral B-meson systems and found a 3.2 sigma difference compared to the standard model (SM) expectation. We will review several different measurements that hint at deviations in the $B_s$ mixing system. In particular we will discuss the robustness of the corresponding SM predictions. Moreover we will also present some possible extensions of the SM that would give rise to large CP-violating effects in the $B_s$ system.

Note: Contact M.Jamin

Abstract: It has recently been shown that a popular type of primordial non-gaussianity affects drastically the clustering of extrema such as massive dark matter halos. This effect goes under the name of non-gaussian halo bias. Since galaxies, especially at high redshfits, are expected to trace such halos, large-scale structure surveys offer therefore a new window into primordial non-Gaussianity and the mechanism of generation of perturbations. In particular, even small primordial non-Gaussianity can change the very large-scale clustering to a detectable level. I will review the non-Gaussian halo bias effect, discuss current constraints and present forecasts for future surveys.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: There has been some attention to the possibility that there exist hidden sectors coupled to the standard model with couplings suppressed by an energy scale such that it has not been possible to access them yet but the LHC will have enough energy to open that windows. I will use very general unitarity arguments to bound the cross sections that those hidden sector could mediate, in particular I will provide a very stringent bound for pp-> 4 gamma for the case of unparticles.

Note: contact M.Quiros

Abstract: Seesaw models which approximately conserve lepton number are known to allow for large Yukawa couplings and a low seesaw scale in agreement with neutrino mass constraints, and hence to lead to large lepton flavour violating rates that can be probed experimentally (such as mu->e gamma). We perform a detailed analysis of thermal leptogenesis in this framework and show that it can be generically successful, contrary to what could be expected at first sight. We exemplify this discussion with a minimal seesaw model which has the particularity to be of the Minimal Flavour Violation type, that is to say where all flavour violating process rates can be predicted from the knowledge of the neutrino mass matrix (up to an overall constant).

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: The search for supersymmetry is among the most exciting endeavors at the Tevatron and at the LHC. I will discuss precision calculations for the production of squarks and gluinos and how they can be used to set limits on the masses of supersymmetric particles. I will furthermore discuss the determination of supersymmetric parameters at the LHC from a global fit including cross sections and edges of kinematic distributions, in particular in the early phase of LHC data taking at 7 TeV cms energy and 1/fb integrated luminosity.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: We are certain that the electro-weak symmetry is a gauge symmetry and that the longitudinal components of the heavy vector bosons are the Goldstone Bosons (GBs) of a spontaneous breaking. What we do not know is the mechanism behind the breaking. If an elementary scalar field like the Higgs in the Standard Model (SM) is responsible we are left sensitive to heavy scales in nature like the unification scale or the Planck scale. Since we do not believe that the laws of nature require fine-tuned boundary conditions we expect a UV regulator not much above a TeV. In this talk I will review proposals that go beyond the paradigm of the Minimal Supersymmetric SM (MSSM). Recently, models in which the Higgs is a pseudo-GB have attracted a lot of attention due to their ability to solve the little hierarchy problem. In many of these models the Higgs can have non-standard decays due to additional light scalars present. I will introduce the general idea and show that this is naturally realized in non-minimal models with a composite Higgs or in supersymmetric, doubly protected models. I then present a simple supersymmetric model where the dominant decay mode of the lightest Higgs boson is h -> 2 eta where eta is ...

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: Jets, naively seen as collimated bunches of particles, are very useful tools at hadronic colliders. The major part of the talk will tackle a basic question: how can we define the jets from the particles in an event? In that perspective, I will review the definitions used over the last decades and show that fundamental theoretical issues led to the introduction of new algorithm. I will also discuss the practical implications of these new algorithms, especially at the LHC. In the second part of the talk, I will discuss how one can optimise the choice of the jet definition in the simple case of dijet kinematical reconstruction. I will first concentrate on the result obtained through Monte-Carlo simulations, then show that analytic predictions are possible.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: I will discuss the phenomenology, the prospects for direct and indirect detection, and the relevance for the LHC of what is perhaps the simplest candidate for dark matter, i.e. a stable light scalar particle interacting with ordinary matter through the Higgs.

Note: contact E.Masso

Abstract: I will present the unique 6 dimensional orbifold with chiral fermions where a stable dark matter candidate is present due to Lorentz invariance on the orbifold, with no additional discrete symmetries imposed by hand. We propose a model of Universal Extra Dimensions where a scalar photon of few hundred GeV is a good candidate for dark matter. The spectrum of the model is characteristic of the geometry, and it has clear distinctive features for the LHC phenomenology compared to previous models of Kaluza-Klein dark matter.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: The annihilation rate of dark matter particles plays a crucial role in dark matter studies, for it determines their relic density and their indirect detection signal. I will show that this annihilation (or decay) rate can receive large additional contributions from three-body final states consisting of a real and a virtual massive particle, such as WW* (W f \bar f') and t \bar t* (t W \bar b). As a result of these previously neglected contributions, the viable parameter space of dark matter models is modified and the predictions for the direct and the indirect detection of dark matter are significantly altered. I will illustrate the relevance of this effect in supersymmetric and non-supersymetric scenarios.

Note: contact M.Frigerio

Abstract: To be announced

Abstract: I discuss scalar mesons and scalar glueballs in the soft wall model of AdS/QCD at zero and at finite temperature. In particular, I investigate hadron properties at finite temperature using the Anti-de Sitter-Black Hole metric for all values of T, and in a description which includes a Hawking-Page transition. The comparison with results obtained by, e.g., lattice QCD simulations is useful to understand the successes, the difficulties and the possible improvements of this holographic approach.

Note: contact A.Pineda

Abstract: Higher derivative extensions of the Standard Model are renormalizable but without a quadratic divergent higgs mass. Electroweak precision data constraint the scale of the higher derivative to be at least a few TeV, and then these models have no flavor problem. We skim through these and other interesting results, among them unitarity and causality.

Note: contact A.Pomarol

Abstract: Flavor changing processes involving mesons have been used for over 15 years to constrain the soft SUSY breaking sector of the MSSM. The fact that the flavor structure of this sector is highly non-generic is called the SUSY flavor problem. Most of the phenomenological analyses on the general MSSM have therefore assumed that the spectrum is almost aligned or degenerate. I will review the calculation of the effective low energy theory for quark flavor changing processes in the MSSM, and the related phenomenology, going beyond the degenerate squark approximation.

Note: contact J. Matias

Abstract: The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, g-2, is one of the great success stories of Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model, albeit various twists and turns. We will review the Standard Model prediction of g-2 and confront it with the formidably accurate measurement from Brookhaven. The emerging discrepancy between experiment and theory has survived intense scrutiny and may well mark the breaking point of the Standard Model. If this is the case, supersymmetry could explain the discrepancy. For the future, further improvements of the theoretical prediction are in reach. With new experiments planned, g-2 will remain at the forefront of particle physics, testing the Standard Model and constraining the physics beyond.

Note: Note unusual day! Contact: M. Jamin

Abstract: The experimental signatures of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, such as the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), depend on the actual spectrum of superpartners, which in turn is determined by the mechanism responsible for the breaking of supersymmetry and for its mediation to the MSSM. An attractive possibility, known as gauge mediation, is that supersymmetry breaking be transmitted by gauge interactions through loops of messenger fields. In this talk, I will discuss the possibility that the messenger fields couple to the Higgs multiplets of an underlying Grand Unified Theory. This leads to rather unusual supersymmetric spectra, with distinctive collider signatures and implications for cosmology.

Note: contact person: M.Frigerio

Abstract: I will briefly review the properties of the existing and proposed ultrahigh power lasers, mentioning their main applications, and focusing into Particle Physics. In particular, I will discuss how to search for photon-photon scattering in vacuum at present or future facilities such as HERCULES or ELI, and test Quantum Electrodynamics and non-standard models like Born-Infeld theory or scenarios involving minicharged particles or axion-like bosons. These ideas could hopefully pave the way for a new class of precision tests of the Standard Model and beyond.

Note: contact EM

Abstract: To be announced

Note: contact person: J. Matias

Abstract: After a review of the flavor problem in the MSSM, we introduce the framework of hierarchical soft terms, in which the first two generations of squarks and sleptons are heavier than the rest of the supersymmetric spectrum. This scheme gives distinctive predictions for the pattern of flavor violations, which we compare to the case of nearly degenerate squarks. Particularly interesting are the b->s transitions, where hierarchical soft terms can predict a phase of Bs mixing much larger than in the Standard Model.

Note: contact person: J. Matias

Abstract: The gauge-string duality states that, given a 5-dimensional AdS space, its on-shell fields are the sources of a gauge theory living on a 4-dimensional slice of it. The action on the AdS space comes from d=10 supergravity through compactification and it contains, in particular, 2-form fields. In this talk I will show how to use the holographic prescription to study the impact of 2-form fields on the gauge theory (QCD) side, covering both formal and phenomenological aspects.

Note: Contact person: Santi Peris

Abstract: To be announced

Note: contact person: J.R

Abstract: Leptogenic Supersymmetry is a scenario characterized by copious lepton production in cascade decays at the LHC.Due to the high lepton multiplicity and the lack of significant missing energy, leptogenic supersymmetry provides very clean channels which can be probed already with the very first LHC data. Furthermore, the Higgs may be discovered in the h->b bbar mode because the leptons accompanying Higgs production efficiently suppress the background. I will present the phenomenological analysis of a sample spectrum and detection prospects at the LHC. I will also discuss a concrete realization of this scenario in a simple class of gaugino mediation models.

Note: contact person: J. Matias

Abstract: Although supersymmetry is thirty five years old, it is still one of the most attractive theories for physics beyond the standard model. Assuming that it will be discovered at the LHC, the question is: What supersymmetric model do we expect to be the right one: MSSM, NMSSM, BRpV,...? In this talk I will introduce a new one recently proposed: the $\mu\nu$SSM. This model solves the $\mu$ problem of the MSSM and explains neutrino data by simply using right-handed neutrino superfields. I will discuss the parameter space, spectrum, and LHC phenomenology of the model. I will also analyze the possibility that the dark matter is made of gravitinos and its possible detection.

Note: (EM)

Abstract: After a brief review of the main motivations of Randall-Sundrum (RS) models and of Susy flavor models, we analyse and compare the flavor structure of a RS model with custodial protection and of particular Susy flavor models based on abelian (U(1)) and non-abelian (SU(3)) flavor symmetries. We point out the differences with the minimal flavor violating framework. We discuss the different predictions of the two new physics scenarios for the main flavor physics golden channels, giving a concrete tool to distinguish the two models once that new results from LHCb will become available. Particular attention is given to the analysis of the CP violation in b-s transitions, since the recent data of CDF and D0 seem to hint towards large contribution of new physics in that sector.

Note: Contact: M. Jamin. Note unusual day!

Abstract: Recently, a class of solutions to the Type IIB system of Nc D5-branes wrapped on S2 were found that exhibit walking behaviour, i.e. a suitably defined gauge coupling stays approximately constant over a large intermediate energy regime. These models provide interesting laboratories in which dynamical questions about the strongly coupled properties of walking theories can be addressed. One such question is whether the spontaneous breaking of scale invariance leads to the existence of a light scalar in the spectrum, the dilaton. In this talk, I will review results from an analytical and numerical study, which indicates the presence of such a light state, the mass of which is suppressed by the length of the walking region.

Note: contact person: J. Matias

Abstract: Contrary to statistical mechanics of systems in equilibrium, a general formulation for a statistical description of strongly interacting many-body systems out of equilibrium remains a difficult task. Here we present applications of a recently developed numerical technique (time dependent Density Matrix Renormalization Group -- t-DMRG) to the time evolution of strongly interacting bosons and fermions in one-dimension, where we address questions like loss of memory of initial conditions, thermalization, and the propagation of information across a systems starting from a general state (quantum quench). We further discuss the free expansion of bosons and fermions with a bounded spectrum that leads to the emergence of a condensate with finite momentum for bosons, and the distillation of a Fock state for fermions.

Note: Contact Person: Anna Sanpera/ John Calsamiglia

Abstract: Neutrino non-standard interactions (NSI) can arise in models of new physics, like for example in seesaw models. In this seminar I will review the existing bounds on NSI (which are actually not very strong) and I will discuss the possibility of saturating them. I will show that naturalness arguments suggest that it is very difficult to obtain large NSI.

Note: contact person: J. Matias