Equation 2 · Part 12 · From Origins to Frontier: A History of Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model

subscript

\mathcal{L}_{\text{SMEFT}} = \mathcal{L}_{\text{SM}} + \sum_i \frac{c_i}{\Lambda^{2}} \mathcal{O}_i^{(6)} + \mathcal{O}\!\left(\frac{1}{\Lambda^{4}}\right)

subscript

What this part means

The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.

Its job in the formula

A subscript distinguishes a version, component, step, or member of a quantity. It does not automatically mean multiplication.

Full expressionsubscriptArticle meaning

The passage around this formula

The extended silence from direct searches for new particles pushed much of the theoretical community toward a different strategy: rather than assuming a specific new particle and calculating its signature, treat any new physics as too heavy to produce directly, and parametrize its indirect effects on Standard Model processes using an effective field theory (EFT). The Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) adds higher-dimension operators, suppressed by inverse powers of some new physics scale $\Lambda$ , to the ordinary Standard Model Lagrangian: $\mathcal{L}_{\text{SMEFT}} = \mathcal{L}_{\text{SM}} + \sum_i \frac{c_i}{\Lambda^{2}} \mathcal{O}_i^{(6)} + \mathcal{O}\!\left(\frac{1}{\Lambda^{4}}\right)$ . Here each $\mathcal{O}_i^{(6)}$ is a dimension-six operator built from Standard Model fields respecting its gauge…

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Learn the underlying idea

A subscript is a label attached below a symbol. It often selects a time step, component, category, or member of a sequence.

Open the illustrated subscripts: which member of a family? guide →

The article lists its research sources here.