Matter under the influence of strong and weak interactions

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Axel Torsten Maas
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 183336987

The elementary particles which form nuclei, the quarks, are affected by different forces. The most successful descriptions of these forces so far are limited to either short or long distances, and have to be phenomenologically interfaced with each other. The goal of this project is the construction of a framework to access all distances in a unified way. With this framework, the quarks under the influence of two of the forces, the weak and the strong nuclear forces, and the Higgs effect will be investigated. In particular, effects like the generation of mass by weak and strong forces, the absence of free quarks, and the properties and interactions of the elementary particles will be studied.The framework will be constructed from a simpler existing framework, which successfully describes gluons, the force particles of the strong force. Based on this project, the framework can be extended in the future to cover the complete standard model and even physics beyond, addressing a multitude of processes with an unprecedented coverage of distance scales. This is achieved by combining methods to enforce their individual strengths and compensate their respective weaknesses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants