Speaker: Maxwell Hansen (University of Edinburgh)
Abstract:
The
strong force is governed by the elegant mathematical framework of
quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The building blocks of QCD are quarks and
gluons, and the interactions of these constituents lead to a rich
variety of observed phenomena, from the basic properties of nuclei to
the production of heavy elements in stars. A particularly intriguing
aspect of QCD is the nature of resonances, short lived states that decay
via the strong force. Many exotic resonances have been discovered over
the last decade, with properties that are not easily described in
simplified models of QCD. In addition, such excitations can dramatically
affect the properties of electroweak decays so that a detailed
understanding is crucial for expanding searchers of new physics beyond
the Standard Model. In this talk I will discuss progress in
theoretically controlling such effects in a rigorous and quantitative
way by combining field theoretic ideas with large scale computer
simulations in the framework of lattice QCD.