"Towards a Unified Description of Nature''

 

The standard model of particle physics yields an excellent description of measurements at collider experiments. Yet it contains a large number of continuous parameters that have to be adjusted to fit observations. On the other hand, the structure of the standard model hints at a simpler scheme. In particular, grand unified theories (GUTs) provide us with a more elegant framework by unifying the symmetries and the matter content of the standard model.

 

In the talk, I will discuss the virtues and problems of GUTs. I will argue that the problems can only be overcome with extra dimensions. I will then discuss how the corresponding higher-dimensional GUTs are realized in explicit string-derived models, which reproduce the (supersymmetric) standard model.  Finally I will comment on how one may conceivably probe such stringy models of particle physics in future experiments.

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