The normed division algebras and a unified description of particles

by Brage Gording (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich)

Thursday 24 Oct 2019, 13:15 → 14:15 Europe/Stockholm

A5: 1041 (Cops seminar room)

In the Standard Model particles are classified according to, amongst other properties, their gauge and space-time symmetries. However, why we have the specific gauge representations and charge assignments of the SM is still poorly understood. In this talk I present a brief pedagogical overview of the normed division algebras and their role in physics. I will then discuss recent development in identifying Standard Model structures within these algebras. The calculations involved use only linear algebra and basic representation theory. The results demonstrate that the full gauge sector, particle content, and charge assignments of the Standard Model can be incorporated by the largest of the four normed division algebras, with only two additional components. I will end the talk with some brief comments on these additional components and incorporating space-time structures such as chirality and spin.