On basis of an algebraic analysis of symmetry breaking in general and the Higgs mechanism in the standard model of elementary particles we generalize the concept of symmetry breaking to systems with non-compact groups but not necessarily caused by a potential. Thereto we give some simple, but unfamiliar examples of symmetry breaking with and without potentials. The analysis of the concept of ma...

Abstract. The Higgs field is a central point of the Standard Model supplying masses to other fields through the symmetry breaking mechanism. However, it is associated with an elementary particle which is not yet discovered experimentally. In this short note I suggest a way for expressing the Higgs field through other fields of the Standard Model. If this is the case, being not an independent fi...

To embed the seesaw mechanism in the MSSM, two or three right-handed neutrino supermultiplets, Ni, have to be added to the model. In this framework, the supersymmetry breaking potential will include a new term called neutrino B-term: MBνÑÑ/2. In this talk, we present a toy model that generates a large neutrino B-term keeping other supersymmetry breaking parameters small. We then review the cons...

To embed the seesaw mechanism in the MSSM, two or three right-handed neutrino supermultiplets, Ni, have to be added to the model. In this framework, the supersymmetry breaking potential will include a new term called neutrino B-term: MBνÑÑ/2. In this talk, we present a toy model that generates a large neutrino B-term keeping other supersymmetry breaking parameters small. We then review the cons...

Some Cosmological models propose that elementary particles were created during the cooldown of the universe after the “Big Bang”, through a series of symmetry breaking phase transitions[1]. According to these models, these elementary particles are “topological defects” of the cold, ordered phase in which the universe is found today. The equations describing these phase transition of the univers...

In general, a physical system consists of a finite or infinite number of degrees of freedom which may or may not interact. The dynamics is prescribed by a set of evolution equations which follow from varying the action with respect to the different degrees of freedom. A symmetry then corresponds to a group of transformations on the space time coordinates and/or the degrees of freedom that leave...

The theory of symmetry breaking in presence of gauge fields is presented, following the historical track. Particular emphasis is placed upon the underlying concepts. Invited talks presented at the 2001 Corfu Summer Institute on Elementary Particle Physics 2 E-mail : [email protected]

One of the major goals of the Large Hadron Collider is to probe the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism and the generation of the masses of the elementary particles. We review the physics of the Higgs sector in the Standard Model and some of its extensions such as supersymmetric theories and models of extra dimensions. The prospects for discovering the Higgs particles at the LHC and the stu...

We discuss in detail the search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the 199Hg atom reported by Griffith et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 101601 (2009)]. The upper bound, d(199Hg) < 3.1 × 10−29 e cm (95% C.L.), is a factor of 7 improvement over the best previous EDM limit for 199Hg, provides the most sensitive probe to date for EDMs in diamagnetic atoms, and sets new limits on time-reve...

These lectures give a general introduction to supersymmetry, emphasizing its application to models of elementary particle physics at the 100 GeV energy scale. I discuss the following topics: the construction of supersymmetric Lagrangians with scalars, fermions, and gauge bosons, the structure and mass spectrum of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the measurement of the parameter...