This week LHCb physicists met with the theory community in the 7th yearly workshop “Implications of LHCb measurements and future prospects”. The purpose of the meeting is to consider the latest results from LHCb, discuss possible interpretations and identify important channels and observables to test leading theoretical frameworks in the near and long-term future of the experiment.
The LHCb detector is used to perform precision measurement across a range of areas of particle physics, notably including searches for new physics manifestations in flavour, studies of heavy-flavour spectroscopy and production of gauge bosons, searches for new exotic particles, and unique measurements with heavy ion and fixed-target collisions in the forward region. Precise calculations from theory are essential for the interpretation of LHCb results, as is evident from numerous news articles on this page. The comparison of LHCb results with precise Standard Model predictions provided by the theory community is the key to looking for discrepancies that would indicate the existence, and the nature, of physics beyond our present knowledge. This series of joint LHCb-theory workshops is aimed at facilitating informal discussions between LHCb experimentalists and theorists, leading to a mutual exchange of information that is valuable for achieving progress.
More than 300 physicists crowded the Main Auditorium through three days featuring various dedicated sessions (see the photo above). The left image shows the steadily increasing number of participants as a function of time since the first workshop was held, clearly demonstrating that this series of workshops is more and more becoming a reference event for both the LHCb physicists and the theorists. Furthermore, intriguing results published by LHCb in recent years have been triggering additional interest and discussions within the physics community.
Learn more in the workshop presentations. Click the images for higher resolution.