Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in High Energy Physics Volume 2013, Article ID 341738, 12 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/341738 Review Article Progressing Beyond the Standard Model B. A. Robson Department of Theoretical Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Correspondence should be addressed to B. A. Robson; [email protected] Received 19 April 2013; Revised 5 November 2013; Accepted 6 November 2013 Academic Editor: Philippe Schwemling Copyright © 2013 B. A. Robson. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Standard Model has enjoyed considerable success in describing a whole range of phenomena in particle physics. However, the model is considered incomplete because it provides little understanding of other empirical observations such as, the existence of three generations of leptons and quarks, which apart from mass have similar properties. This paper examines in some detail the basic assumptions upon which the Standard Model is built and compares these with the assumptions of an alternative model, the Generation Model. The Generation Model provides agreement with the Standard Model for those phenomena which the Standard Model is able to describe, but it is shown that the assumptions inherent in the Generation Model allow progress beyond the Standard Model. 1. Introduction An excellent analogy of the SM situation [2]isthe Ptolemaicmodeloftheuniverse,baseduponastationary TheStandardModel(SM)ofparticlephysics[1, 2]wasdevel- Earth at the center surrounded by a rotating system of crystal oped throughout the 20th century, although the current for- spheres refined by the addition of epicycles (small circular mulation was essentially finalized in the mid-1970s following orbits) to describe the peculiar movements of the planets the experimental confirmation of the existence of quarks. around the Earth. While the Ptolemaic model yielded an The SM has enjoyed considerable success in describing excellent description, it is a complicated diverse scheme for the interactions of leptons and the multitude of hadrons predicting the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and the (baryons and mesons) with each other as well as the decay stars around a stationary Earth and unfortunately provides no modes of the unstable leptons and hadrons. However, the understanding of these complicated movements. model is considered to be incomplete in the sense that it Progress in understanding the universe was only made provides little understanding of several empirical observa- when the Ptolemaic model was replaced by the Copernican- tions such as the existence of three families or generations of Keplerianmodel,inwhichtheEarthmovedliketheother planets around the Sun, and Newton discovered his universal leptons and quarks, which apart from mass have similar prop- law of gravitation to describe the approximately elliptical erties; the mass hierarchy of the elementary particles, which planetary orbits. Indeed, it was only by removing the incor- form the basis of the SM; the nature of the gravitational inter- rect assumption that celestial bodies moved in “divine circles” action, and the origin of CP violation in the neutral kaon that progress beyond the Ptolemaic model was achieved. system. During the last decade, an alternative model to the SM, The inability of the SM to provide an understanding of the Generation Model (GM), has been developed [2–5]. This such important empirical observations has become very frus- model provides agreement with the SM for all the transition trating to particle physicists, especially the experimentalists, probabilities arising from every interaction involving any of who find that all their other data are adequately described the six leptons or the six quarks, which form the elementary by the SM. In order to comprehend this dilemma and to particles of the SM. Moreover, the GM, which is based upon a progress beyond the SM, it is timely to reconsider the basic much simpler and unified classification scheme of the leptons assumptionsuponwhichtheSMisbuilt. and quarks than that of the SM, provides some understanding 2 Advances in High Energy Physics of several phenomena, which the SM is unable to address. Table 1: SM additive quantum numbers for leptons. ThisrepresentsprogressbeyondtheSM,andinSection 2 the different assumptions inherent in the GM and in the SM will Particle ] 010 0 be closely examined. Section 3 indicates some of the progress − beyond the SM achieved by the GM, and Section 4 states the −11 0 0 ] conclusions. 01 1 0 − −11 1 0 ] 010 1 2. Essential Differences between GM and SM − −11 0 1 There are three essential differences between the GM and the SM: (a) the classification of the leptons and quarks in terms of Table 2: SM additive quantum numbers for quarks. additive quantum numbers, (b) the roles played by the mass eigenstate quarks and the weak eigenstate quarks, and (c) the Particle nature of the weak interactions. Each of these essential differ- +2/3 1/3 0 0 0 0 ences will be examined in the following three subsections. −1/31/30000 +2/3 1/3 0 1 0 0 2.1. Classification of Leptons and Quarks. In the SM, the −1/3 1/3 −10 0 0 elementary particles that are the constituents of matter are +2/3 1/3 0 0 0 1 assumed [2]tobethesixleptons:electronneutrino(]),elec- −1/3 1/3 0 0 −10 − − tron ( ),muonneutrino(]),muon( ), tau neutrino (]), − tau ( ),andthesixquarks:up(),down(),charmed(), strange (),top(),bottom(), together with their antipar- The additive quantum numbers allotted to leptons ticles. These twelve particles are all spin-(1/2) particles and (Table 1) were chosen by assuming symmetry arguments and − fall naturally into three families or generations: (i) ], , , the concept of weak isospin [4]. The introduction of lepton − − ; (ii) ], , , ; (iii) ], , , . Each generation consists of numbers, which were strictly conserved in both electromag- two leptons with charges = 0 and = −1 and two quarks netic and weak interactions, provided a very useful descrip- with charges = +(2/3) and = −(1/3).Themassesofthe tion of the allowed decay modes and the possible reactions particles increase significantly with each generation with the involving leptons. possible exception of the neutrinos, whose very small masses Similarly, in general, the additive quantum numbers allot- have yet to be determined. ted to quarks (Table 2) were chosen by assuming symmetry In the SM, the leptons and quarks are allotted several arguments and the concept of strong isospin [4]. This concept additive quantum numbers. Table 1 shows the additive quan- of strong isospin, introduced by Heisenberg in 1932 [6], arose tum numbers allotted to the leptons: charge ,leptonnumber from the empirical fact that the neutron and proton appeared to be subject to the same nuclear force. The concept proved , muon lepton number ,andtauleptonnumber. to be very useful for understanding phenomenologically the Table 2 shows the additive quantum numbers allotted to the strongly interacting processes involving nucleons, pions and quarks: charge ,baryonnumber,strangeness,charm antinucleons. Strong isospin, like ordinary spin, was based ,bottomness, and topness . For each particle additive mathematically upon an SU(2) symmetry. quantum number ,thecorrespondingantiparticlehasthe − Later in 1953, the strangeness quantum number was additive quantum number . introduced to resolve the paradox of the copious associated Tables 1 and 2 demonstrate that, except for charge, leptons production of strange particles and their individual very slow and quarks are allotted different kinds of additive quantum decay modes. Although strangeness was assumed to be con- numbers so that this classification of the elementary particles served in strong interactions so that the strange particles were of the SM is nonunified. produced in pairs, strangeness was required to change by one The additive quantum numbers and are assumed to unit as the individual strange particles slowly decayed. The be conserved in strong, electromagnetic, and weak interac- nonconservation of strangeness by one unit in weak interac- tions. The lepton numbers , ,and are not involved in tion processes suggested that this additive quantum number strong interactions but are strictly conserved in both electro- arose from some approximate, rather than an exact symme- magnetic and weak interactions. The remaining ones, , , , try, in nature. and , are strictly conserved only in strong and electromag- As more particles were discovered, the remaining additive netic interactions but can undergo a change of one unit in quantum numbers, , ,and, were allotted to the additional weak interactions. quarks required to describe the new hadrons. These new The introduction of the above additive quantum numbers additive quantum numbers were similar to strangeness in to both leptons and quarks took place over a considerable that they were not conserved in weak interaction processes. period of the 20th century in order to account for the In hindsight, these “partially conserved” additive quantum observed interactions of the leptons and the multitude of numbersshouldhaveraisedsomedoubtsaboutthevalidityof hadrons (baryons and mesons) as well as the decay modes the SM, especially since the corresponding quantum numbers of the unstable leptons and hadrons.