Grand unification in higher dimensions (Q1395788)

Particles (elementary) and fields (interacting) forming the building blocks of the structure of matter and radiation in nature have been with intense intellectual activitie particularly during the past century. The true inner secrets of the various facts and phenomena in and around us are still subjects of deep, concerted enquiry, and hard work. Mixing and unification protects have been always there. Much has been learnt so far in these directions both at the micro -- as well as macro-levels, the smallest and the biggest continuing to attract the earnest attention from the various quarters still. Many proposals and pictures have emerged including the one by the current authors of this review paper an the physics at the scale of gauge coupling unification, when the unified symmetry is realized in higher dimensions to be broken locally by a symmetry breaking scheme. In the first section an introduction certain main features of the 4D-grand unification, in the second section an new physics, in the third on minimal model and in the fourth on super-symmetry breaking, very interesting aspects of physics are discussed in detail. The concluding section provides further insights into the new proposal for an alternative approach for the unification of strong and electro weak interactions. The claim is that the grand unification, super-symmetry and extra dimensions are combined in a special way that permits calculations to a fresh level of precision concerning several important questions like proton decay, mixing angles and mass relations. The work gives a quick, good glimpse of the grand panorama of the exciting subject of fundamental particles and their interactions from a rather new angle asserting some advantages as well.