Exploring Fundamental Physics : From Particles to Early Universe Cosmology
Supervisor: Dipan Sengupta
The structure of nature and the observable universe is built on interactions of fundamental particles and their interactions with the four forces of nature, Gravity, Electromagnetism, the strong and the weak force. These are well described within the paradigm of two fundamental theories of nature, 1) the Standard model of Particle physics within Quantum Field Theory, which describes fundamental matter particles and its interactions with Electromagnetism, the strong and the weak force at a microscopic level; 2) Einstein's theory of general relativity which governs the large scale structure of the Universe we live in. For decades particle physicists have pondered what lies beyond the Standard Model (BSM) description of the fundamental forces and their interplay with the elementary building blocks of Nature. Driven by a desire for mathematical beauty, ideas like Grand Unified Theories, which merge the strong, electromagnetic, and weak forces into one, and Supersymmetry, which unites fermions and bosons under a spacetime symmetry, have dominated the BSM theoryscape since the 1970s. As empirical problems such as dark matter and the origin of neutrino masses gained traction in the 1980s and demanded explanations, the quest for BSM physics also acquired a phenomenological dimension. Indeed, many of the ``mathematically beautiful'' theories even contain workable solutions to these empirical problems, adding to their plausibility and popularity.
My research lies in the interface of theoretical particle physics and cosmology, including understanding and constructing theories of physics beyond standard model, the observable cosequences at High Energy colliders, as well as their imprints on cosmological observations in early Universe.