Theoretical particle physics articles from across Nature Portfolio

The standard model of particle physics describes the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. We review the status of experimental hints for new physics, which, if confirmed, would require the extension of the standard model with new particles and new interactions.

Neutron stars contain matter at extremely high densities, the properties of which are reflected in the corresponding equation of state (EoS). Here, the authors argue that the inferred properties of the neutron-star-matter EoS point to the likely presence of deconfined quark matter in the cores of the most massive stable neutron stars.

The authors propose electron-positron creation by scattering of gamma-rays and polaritons, enabling the synthesis of ultrafast, localized positron sources and introducing the possibility to exploit nanophotonics for particle physics.

Machine-learning-based sampling strategies have been recently developed for lattice quantum chromodynamics applications. These methods are in their early stages, but have the potential to enable currently intractable first-principles calculations in particle, nuclear and condensed matter physics and also to advance machine learning.

The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN used data from 13 TeV proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider to observe for the first time entanglement between a pair of top quarks.

The renormalization group is a key ingredient in methods of improving perturbative computations in particle physics. Here I briefly discuss its role in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and particularly the running of its coupling constant.

Supersymmetric quantum field theories have special properties that make them easier to study. This Comment discusses how the constraints that supersymmetry places on renormalization group flows have been used to study strongly coupled field theories.

The correct microscopic theory of quantum gravity may be an interacting, scale-invariant, ‘asymptotically safe’ model. This Comment discusses the renormalization group’s role in defining asymptotic safety and understanding its consequences.

The production of particle–antiparticle pairs in a vacuum — the Schwinger effect — requires extreme conditions that are out of reach of tabletop experiments. A mesoscopic simulation of this phenomenon has now been carried out in graphene devices.