Coast to Coast Seminar Series: "Reading the Tea Leaves: What Lies Beyond the Standard Model?"

Abstract

The turn-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will likely fundamentally change our picture of how nature works on the smallest of distances we can probe. This lecture reviews the case for why failure to discover something is believed not to be an option; and what the successes and failures of the Standard Model tell us about what is likely to be, and not to be, out there awaiting discovery. Most proposals fall into three main categories, whose broad properties are outlined. I close with my personal opinions about what will be found.