Michael Kremer (RWTH Aachen University)
All-encompassing models like supersymmetry have for many years guided the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. However, lack of experimental evidence for supersymmetry at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has led to more model-independent approaches to new physics based on "simplified models". Simplified Models provide a framework for understanding the features of LHC signatures using a small number of parameters, without depending on specific characteristics of all-encompassing models. However, do simplified models provide an explanation of what happens in the real world, or are they merely an intermediate step towards an explanation?
