Visualization of Higgs potentials and decays from sources beyond the standard model including dark matter and extra dimensions

摘要

Because the Higgs particle interacts with so many different particles, the potential associated with it takes contributions from many different sectors. This makes it very difficult to calculate, even when dealing with a restricted number of components. Another concern is creating useful visualizations of these potentials, as visual inspection is one of the main ways that physicists can gain new insights about them. Our main project involved plotting various Higgs potentials from new physics beyond the Standard Model, in ways that would illustrate their dependence on various parameters such as temperature, energy scale and coupling strength. We also exported these potentials as 3D models with the aim of displaying them in virtual reality. We will calculate and plot new potentials including contributions from sources like dark matter and its interactions which could be visible through astrophysics or LHC experiments. We plotted new types of potentials associated with extra dimensions, dynamical symmetry breaking, and hidden gauge sectors involving undiscovered fermions. Another part of the project concerned the setup and con-figuration of the Visualization Center in the Computational Science Initiative at BNL. The room is equipped with a graphics computer with dual GPUs powering 6 wall mounted televisions and two virtual reality headsets. The televisions are configured to work as a single large unit intended to display large animations and data visualizations. This setup should make it easier for scientists to interact with and draw meaning from data, such as the high energy physics models that we studied.