Prof. Jonathan L. Rosner, University of Chicago

Date: Jan. 21, 2007

Title: Successes and Puzzles in Particle Physics 

Abstract:

Elementary particle physics has reached a stage in which certain
things, collectively known as the ``Standard Model,'' are studied with
remarkable precision, while others remain a complete mystery.
Examples of the latter are the way in which the symmetry unifying the
weak and electromagnetic interactions is broken; the pattern of masses
and couplings of the most fundamental units of matter (the quarks and
leptons); and the makeup of the ``dark matter,'' which accounts for
about six times as much matter in the Universe as the known particles.

This colloquium will outline some of the successes of the Standard
Model in describing the fundamental interactions, their symmetries,
and the violation of some of these symmetries such as time-reversal
violation. Possible next steps, some of which will depend on the Large
Hadron Collider nearing completion at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland,
will be described.