Date Awarded
2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Physics
Advisor
Marc Sher
Committee Member
Christopher Carone
Committee Member
Joshua Erlich
Committee Member
Justin Stevens
Committee Member
José Goity
Abstract
The Standard Model is regarded as one of the most successful scientific theories, but there is compelling evidence that it is an incomplete theory of particle physics. There is currently no understanding of the observed baryon asymmetry, the nature of dark matter, and dark energy. Field theoretic considerations indicate parameters in the Standard Model are extremely fine-tuned. This suggests the existence of new physics, accessible at higher energies, to explain these seemingly unnatural tunings. to solve these puzzles, and others not addressed by the Standard Model, many extensions of the Standard Model have been proposed. It is of great importance that we fully understand the effects these models have on Standard Model physics and how these theories can be tested. in this dissertation we explore the phenomenology associated with beyond the Standard Model physics, specifically focusing on models with extended Higgs sectors. in chapter 2, we study two classes of lepton flavor violating two Higgs doublet models. Chapter 3 explores a model where the Higgs is a pseudo-Goldstone boson of a non-abelian orbifold projection and all other low energy states carry no Standard Model charges. Chapters 4 and 5 study Higgs phenomenology in the context of a warped five dimensional space-time. The former analyzes the effects of Higgs-radion mixing in two Higgs doublet models. The latter reviews a previous proposal where the Higgs doublet takes the role of a bulk stabilizer. The result is a model containing a single Higgs-radion state. in the final chapter, we present a higher derivative extension of the type-I and II two Higgs doublet models. The resulting theory gives rise to unusual partner states containing negative kinetic energy terms.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-fv3j-pk17
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Thrasher, Richard Keith, "Extensions of the Standard Model Higgs Sector" (2018). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1550153848.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-fv3j-pk17
