Dark matter�s hideout just got smaller, thanks to supercomputers.

Lattice QCD. Artist�s impression.

Physicists know they are missing something. Evidence that something�s wrong has piled up for decades: Galaxies and galaxy clusters don�t behave like Einstein�s theory of general relativity predicts. The observed discrepancies can be explained either by modifying general relativity, or by the gravitational pull of some, so-far unknown type of �dark matter.�

Cosmic rays hint at new physics just beyond the reach of the LHC

Cosmic ray shower. Artist�s impression.
[Img Src]

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) � the world�s presently most powerful particle accelerator � reaches a maximum collision energy of 14 TeV. But cosmic rays that collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere have been measured with collision energies about ten times as high.

The two types of observations complement each other. At the LHC, energies

A new theory SMASHes problems

Most of my school nightmares are history exams. But I also have physics nightmares, mostly about not being able to recall Newton�s laws. Really, I didn�t like physics in school. The way we were taught the subject, it was mostly dead people�s ideas. On the rare occasion our teacher spoke about contemporary research, I took a mental note every time I heard �nobody knows.� Unsolved problems were

Dear Dr. B: How come we never hear of a force that the Higgs boson carries?

�Dear Dr. Hossenfelder,
First, I love your blog. You provide a great insight into the world of physics for us laymen. I have read in popular science books that the bosons are the �force carriers.� For example the photon carries the electromagnetic force, the gluon, the strong force, etc. How come we never hear of a force that the Higgs boson carries?Ramiro Rodriguez�
Dear Ramiro,

The short

The LHC �nightmare scenario� has come true.

The recently deceased diphoton
bump. Img Src: Matt Strassler.

I finished high school in 1995. It was the year the top quark was discovered, a prediction dating back to 1973. As I read the articles in the news, I was fascinated by the mathematics that allowed physicists to reconstruct the structure of elementary matter. It wouldn�t have been difficult to predict in 1995 that I�d go on to make a

Why the LHC is such a disappointment: A delusion by name �naturalness�

Naturalness, according to physicists.

Before the LHC turned on, theoretical physicists had high hopes the collisions would reveal new physics besides the Higgs. The chances of that happening get smaller by the day. The possibility still exists, but the absence of new physics so far has already taught us an important lesson: Nature isn�t natural. At least not according to theoretical physicists

Where can new physics hide?

Also an acronym for �Not Even Wrong.�

The year is 2016, and physicists are restless. Four years ago, the LHC confirmed the Higgs-boson, the last outstanding prediction of the standard model. The chances were good, so they thought, that the LHC would also discover other new particles � naturalness seem to demand it. But their hopes were disappointed.
The standard model and general relativity