This course provides an overview of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, motivations for extending the Standard Model (including naturalness, the hierarchy, the cosmological constant, and strong CP problems), discussions on Technicolor and Composite Models, Grand Unified Theories and SU(5), exploration of the Supersymmetric Standard Model (including gauge coupling unification and lessons from LEP and the LHC), re-evaluation of naturalness, the multiverse, and the landscape of string theory, as well as topics such as split supersymmetry, string theory, large extra dimensions, the strong CP problem, and the QCD axion.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This course provides an overview of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, motivations for extending the Standard Model (including naturalness, the hierarchy, the cosmological constant, and strong CP problems), discussions on Technicolor and Composite Models, Grand Unified Theories and SU(5), exploration of the Supersymmetric Standard Model (including gauge coupling unification and lessons from LEP and the LHC), re-evaluation of naturalness, the multiverse, and the landscape of string theory, as well as topics such as split supersymmetry, string theory, large extra dimensions, the strong CP problem, and the QCD axion.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.