Precision Measurement of the Weak Charge of the Proton

Understand

The fields of particle and nuclear physics have undertaken extensive programs to search for evidence of physics beyond that explained by current theories.

• The observation of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider completed the set of particles predicted by the Standard Model (SM), currently the best description of fundamental particles and forces.
• However, the theory's limitations include a failure to predict fundamental parameters and the inability to account for dark matter/energy, gravity, and the matter-antimater asymmetry in the universe, among other phenomena.
• Given the lack of additional particles found so far through direct searches in the post-Higgs era, indirect searches utilizing precise measurements of well predicted SM observables allow highly targeted alternative tests for physics beyond the SM.