UC Santa Cruz

The Standard Model (SM) of particles physics is an extremely successful theory of particles and their interactions. However, it has become clear that the SM is an incomplete description of our Universe and that new physics beyond the SM (BSM) is needed to answer many of its open questions. In this talk we will discuss two open questions.

In the first part, we will present a model that can address the SM flavor puzzle. The hierarchical pattern in quark masses and mixings can be explained by assuming that the SM Higgs only generates mass for the 3rd generation fermions, while an additional source of electroweak symmetry breaking generates mass for the 1st and 2nd generations. Such a scenario can be realized in a ``flavorful'' two Higgs doublet model (2HDM). The characteristic Higgs collider signatures of this setup differ significantly from well-studied 2HDMs with natural flavor conservation. The presence of large SM Higgs flavor violating couplings can lead to enhanced rare top quark decays. We will also discuss some possible UV completions of this scenario.

In the second part, we will discuss a vector leptoquark scenario that can address the lepton flavor universality anomalies observed by the LHCb collaboration in B meson decays. We will show that a vector leptoquark solution of the B-anomalies can also alleviate discrepancies between the SM predictions and the experimental values of the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments. In addition, leptoquark models generically yield new sources of CP violation that induce electric and magnetic dipole moments of elementary particles. We will show that present and future electron and neutron EDM experiments set interesting constraints on the CP violating phases of the leptoquark couplings.