Theoretical particle physics and cosmology at CFTP involves research on topics like CP violation, fermion masses and mixings, supersymmetric theories with and without R-parity,  neutrino physics, and inflationary models and dark matter, and hadronic physics. There is also an experimental group collaborating in the heavy-ion experiment NA60 at CERN. The CFTP members have done extensive work in the fields bellow. Please, also check out our list of papers.

Research Team: G.C. Branco, R. González Felipe, L. Lavoura, P.A. Parada, M.N. Rebelo, J.P. Silva, J.I. Silva-Marcos

The origin of fermion masses and mixing and of CP violation are some of the major outstanding problems in particle physics. These members of CFTP have been working actively in CP violation, as well as in attempts at understanding the observed patterns of fermion masses and mixing, both in the quark and in the leptonic sector. We are especially interested in pursuing the following topics of research: Family symmetries and patterns of neutrino mass matrices; Baryogenesis through leptogenesis; CP violation at B factories; Physics at colliders. Click here for more information about the research activity of this sub-group.

Research Team: J.C. Romão, G.C. Branco, J.I. Silva-Marcos

Topics of research are: Supersymmetric unification with radiative breaking of R parity; Neutrino-mass generation mechanisms; CP violation in supersymmetry (SUSY) with broken R parity; Lepton-flavour violation (LFV).  Click here for more information about the research activity of this sub-group.

Research Team: J.I. Silva-Marcos, J.C. Romão, G.C. Branco, M. N. Rebelo

We expect to find New Physics with the start of the LHC at CERN. There is no known fundamental principle why the Universe should have only 4 dimensions. Extra dimension (ED) models are inspired by string theory, which itself is based on the existence of additional spatial dimensions. As known, string theory is a main candidate for an all-including quantum theory which allows for gravity, thus unifying all elementary particle interactions. ED models have some advantages over supersymmetric theories (which is another serious candidate for New Physics). Besides the fact that they lead to the unification of the gauge couplings, either at high 10^16 GeV scales for small warped extra dimension models, or at the lower TeV scales for large flat ED models, they also address the long standing puzzle of the gauge hierarchy problem, i.e. the huge discrepancy between the gravitational scale and the electroweak scale. Furthermore, there is a viable Kaluza-Klein WIMP candidate for the dark matter of the universe. In addition, ED models explain the large mass hierarchy of the different types and generations of the SM fermions through a geometrical mechanism. But what are the finer points of the fermion mass hierarchy, mixing and CP violation, within ED models?

Research Team: Ricardo González Felipe, C. R. Das, Sergio Palomares-Ruiz, Nuno M. C. Santos

This group investigates the issues of dark energy, dark matter, and inflation in the context of models of high-energy particle-physics. The group also explores new ways of explaining recent cosmological observations regarding the present accelerated expansion of the Universe. Click here for more information about the research activity of this sub-group

Research Team: João Pulido , C. R. Das in collaboration with Marco Picariello, University of Lecce, Italy

Click here for more information about the research activity of this sub-group.

Research Team: P. Bicudo and T. Peña, also in collaboration with Alfred Stadler University of Evora and with Jefferson Laboratory

Click here for more information about the research activity of this sub-group.

Research Team: J. Seixas  and Long Term Visitor: Helmut Satz.  

The research activity of this group in the forthcoming is concentrated in the setup, data acquisition, and analysis for the NA60 experiment at CERN. This implies an important effort of creating and setting up a new experimental group, together with the necessary infrastructure and organization. The group has in the long run a strong link - which has been set up and maintained since 4 years -- with the ALICE experiment at LHC, in order to continue its activity in the next 10 years. The CFTP/NA60 group also involves, at the moment, eight undergraduate students. Its responsibilities are very wide in the collaboration NA60, namely the contruction of the strip and pixel telescopes, detector control and data analysis. Starting October 2002 the group will be responsible for the open-charm sector of the data analysis, with a view, however, also to charm production and J/psi suppression.