Abstract

The foundational origins of diverse cosmic phenomena remain enduring enigmas. The LHC decisively tests longstanding cosmological origin hypotheses for dark matter such as supersymmetry, and mass genesis via the Higgs mechanism. Colliders are also crucial for unveiling the astrophysical origins of high-energy cosmic rays striking Earth’s atmosphere. Indeed cosmic-ray muons are the archetypal ‘who ordered that?’ surprise and fittingly, recent muon measurements could be challenging standard paradigms again. The ATLAS experiment confronts these puzzles while pioneering innovations including photon collisions, forward detectors, heavy-ion beams, and unconventional datasets. Beyond colliders, quantum sensing progress enables next-generation haloscopes to illuminate axion-like origins of dark matter above microwave frequencies. These advances in fundamental physics may find vibrant interdisciplinary applications as far as the origin of life in the cosmos.