Discovering technicolor
EU-funded scientists analysed an alternative solution that demands a composite Higgs particle via a new force, the Technicolor force. One of the ideas to address the hierarchy problem posed by the Higgs particle was explored. This idea involves a new strong interaction at high energy the Technicolor interaction modelled as an SU(N) gauge theory with techniquarks. In this theoretical framework, the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking can be explained dynamically without the introduction of a fundamental Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is instead a bound state of the techniquarks. The simplest model of technicolor is a scale-up of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Within the project HWTC (Holographic walking technicolor), the scientists made significant progress in understanding the strong coupling dynamics of QCD and technicolor theories. The relation between agravitational theory in more than four dimensions and four-dimensional gauge field theory allowed to explore generalisations of QCD. The HWTC scientists investigated a large number of five-dimensional gravitational theories to find those that reproduce physics similar to QCD and technicolor theories. Modelling the dynamics of both quarks and gluons, especially where the amount of quarks is large compared to gluons, formed the basis of this exploration. The main result of the HWTC project is the comprehensive description of the phase diagrams of non-supersymmetric gauge theories as a function of temperature and chemical potential. All results were presented in important European conferences and described in five papers published in international peer-reviewed journals. The Crete Center for Theoretical Physics' visibility was also enhanced through close collaboration with several European universities and research institutes that emerged during the implementation of the HWTC project.
Keywords
Standard Model, Higgs boson, electroweak symmetry breaking, Large Hadron Collider, quantum chromodynamics
