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There are many unexplained phenomena in the universe.  The following is a list of observations about our universe that beg for solutions that involve new particles and forces.  Perfect for particle physicists 😀.  Discovery awaits !!

 

1. We do not know what particle dark matter is.  Dark matter is observed at the galactic scale and larger.  A wide array of measurements consistently demonstrate its gravitational effects.

   • There must be a new particle to discover !

2. We do not know how the universe became made of matter. Where did the anti-matter go ?  Why did all the matter not annihilate with the anti-matter and leave us with nothing but light ?

   • There must be new physics that violates the symmetry of matter and anti-matter !

3. We do not know why particles have heavy copies.  Each of the 4 main types of matter particles have 2 additional copies. For instance, the electron has 2 copies, the muon and the tau. The muon and tau are identical to electrons, but heavier and unstable. The muon is 200 times heavier than the electron, and the tau lepton is 3500 times heavier than the electron.

   • There must be new physics that explains this !

4. We do not know how neutrinos get mass.  We do know that other fermions get mass from the Higgs mechanism.   However, since neutrinos are only left-handed and do not have right-handed counterparts, they cannot get a mass via the Higgs mechanism, the way other particles, like electrons, do. 

   • There must be a new undiscovered right-handed neutrino, or neutrinos are there own anti-particles ! 

5. We do not know why the strong force does not violate the charge-parity symmetry. The formulas suggests that it should, unless there is new physics !

   • The proposed axion particle nicely explains this !  And it could be dark matter ! 

6. We do not know why there are so many arbitrary parameters in the standard model.  Our theory can't explain the 19 parameters that experimentalists have measured. 

   • There must be some new explanation or forces and particles that we haven't discovered yet ! 

7. We do not know why the Higgs boson is so light.  The Higgs boson has been observed, but its mass should actually be similar to the Planck mass (10¹⁶ times bigger) if there is no new physics. 

   • New interactions can fix the Higgs boson to be light !

8. We don't know how gravity is so weak compared to the other forces. The weak force is 10²⁴ stronger than gravity. The formulas suggests that there is no natural explanation for this.  

   • New interactions can fix the weak force to be stronger than the gravitational force !

9. The strength of all known forces does not unify at high energies. When we extrapolate the force strengths to high energies, we find that they do not unify to the same number, as one would expect with a grand unified theory.

   • Must be new physics !