Beyond Standard Model (Supersymmetry and Extra Dimensions):

Prof. Agashe's research is in the field of theoretical particle physics. Agashe works on ideas going beyond the standard model (SM) of particle physics, a theory developed over the past couple of decades which accounts for the interactions of the elementary particles. Such extensions of the SM are motivated to solve many of the problems of the SM such as existence of enormous mass hierarchies or the nature of dark matter of the universe. Agashe is interested in both building models along these lines and also their phenomenology, i.e., connecting these ideas to experiments. Specifically, his work has focused on two such extensions of the SM: supersymmetry (SUSY), which is a symmetry relating particles whose spins differ by 1/2 unit, and the existence of extra spacetime dimensions.

Agashe's recent work has been on the framework of a "warped" extra dimension. Agashe and his collaborators have shown that this idea solves many of the puzzles of nature: it provides an explanation for the mass hierarchies and a candidate for dark matter and also unifies the three forces of the SM. Hence, this framework is a worthy competitor to the more popular idea of SUSY which also enjoys some of the same successes. Currently, Agashe is working on making predictions for this framework which can be tested in ongoing and upcoming experiments, especially the large hadron collider (LHC) which will be operational at the CERN laboratory in Europe in a few years.