Speaker: Prof . Brian Winer, 

Ohio State University

 The Top Quark: Pointing the way toward new discoveries

Abstract: 

The top quark, a fundamental particle within the Standard Model of particle physics, was discovered 22 years ago.  At the time, only a small handful of events were identified.  Over the next several decades large samples of top quarks have been collected, first at the Tevatron at Fermilab and then at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.  Initially these samples were used to understand the properties of this very unique particle.  In the past several years, the top quark has become an important probe to search for new particles and new discoveries that may point beyond the Standard Model.   This talk will present our current understanding of the properties of the top quark and discuss how it is being used to further our understanding of the Higgs boson and search for new particles at the LHC.  The presentation will also discuss future studies and the associated challenges.