Six major frameworks have emerged attempting to describe particle physics beyond the Standard Model. Despite their different theoretical genera, these frameworks have a number of common phenomenological features and problems. While it will be possible (and desirable) to conduct model-independent searches for new physics at the LHC, it is equally important to develop robust methods to discriminate between BSM look-alikes.
We cover some current topics in Beyond the Standard Model phenomenology, with an emphasis on collider (particularly Large Hadron Collider) phenomenology. We begin with a review of the Standard Model and some unresolved mysteries that it leaves. Then, we shall heuristically introduce supersymmetry, grand unified theories and extra dimensions as paradigms for expanding the Standard Model. The collider phenomenology of such models is too rich and complex to review, but we give some key examples of how the new states associated with the models might be inferred in Large Hadron Collider events. Before concluding, we finish with a brief description of a quantum field theory approximation that can be used in some cases to reduce model dependence: effective field theory. We show how this can be employed to explain recent measurements of decays of $B$ mesons, which disagree with Standard Model predictions.
We first discuss the basic features of electroweak 1-loop corrections in the Standard Model. We also give a short and elementary review on Higgs boson searches, grand unification, supersymmetry and extra dimensions.