Mini Workshop — Beyond the Standard Model: historical-critical perspectives

Ever since the Standard Model was established, there have been speculations about physics “beyond the Standard Model” (BSM), giving rise to a steady flow of models of “new physics” and letting the borders between high energy physics, astrophysics, and cosmology become increasingly permeable. So far, though, experiments failed to provide evidence for new physics, generating increasing talk of a “crisis” of these research programs, calling into question their premises, such as the principle of naturalness, or even questioning their scientific methodology. The workshop aims at approaching the present situation from a historical-critical perspective, contextualizing and questioning the developments of earlier decades, both to understand better their past and present scope, and to provide new material for reflections on contemporary physical research.

Topics: 1. Supersymmetry and supergravity: motivations and developments, 2. Formal analogies in/between particle physics, condensed matter physics, and cosmology, 3. Computer simulation in theoretical high energy physics and in cosmology, 4. The interplay of experimental results and BSM model-building