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Despite its success, the Standard Model of particle physics coupled to gravity cannot be the final theory of Nature. The theory falls short in addressing well established observational facts: neutrino masses and oscillations, the absence of antimatter in the Universe and dark matter. From the theoretical point of view, among others, there is no explanation why the Higgs mass is so much smaller than the Planck mass—such hierarchies are considered to be a mystery unless some protection mechanism is operative. The fact that the LHC found no evidence for new particles and that cosmological observations so far see nothing beyond CDM suggests that traditional approaches based on supersymmetry, compositeness or extra dimensions may be heading in the wrong direction. We should be looking for new rinciples which are more economical. One such idea assumes that the hierarchy of scales is due to an underlying conformal symmetry of the Standard Model broken by gravity. The gravitational formulation turns out to be essential. Indeed, it is necessary to deviate from the metrical description of General Relativity. This can be achieved, for example, by working in the context of the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble gravity. This change of paradigm is not simple, as it introduces new interactions between the gravitational and matter fields. I will discuss how to carry out this program consistently, leading to important breakthroughs and deeper understanding on how to couple the SM to gravity. I will also point out the rich cosmological and particle physics phenomenology of conformal embeddings of the SM.
Videoconference via https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82545521233