Will the LHC Look into the Fate of the Universe?

TL;DR

The paper discusses how the LHC can investigate the stability of the universe's vacuum state by examining the properties of the Higgs boson and supersymmetric models, potentially predicting the universe's ultimate fate.

Contribution

It highlights the potential of the LHC to test vacuum stability and distinguish between supersymmetric models, providing insights into the universe's long-term stability.

Findings

LHC can probe the vacuum stability through Higgs boson measurements.

Different supersymmetric models predict varying vacuum decay scenarios.

Results could indicate whether our universe is in a metastable state or stable.

Abstract

The LHC will probe the nature of the vacuum that determines the properties of particles and the forces between them. Of particular importance is the fact that our current theories allow the Universe to be trapped in a metastable vacuum, which may decay in the distant future, changing the nature of matter. This could be the case in the Standard Model if the LHC finds the Higgs boson to be light. Supersymmetry is one favoured extension of the Standard Model which one might invoke to try to avoid such instability. However, many supersymmetric models are also condemned to vacuum decay for different reasons. The LHC will be able to distinguish between different supersymmetric models, thereby testing the stability of the vacuum, and foretelling the fate of the Universe.