Higgs Lecture 2023: From Quarks to Nuclei: the Building Blocks of the Universe

Our understanding of the structure of matter is that protons, neutrons, and nuclei emerge dynamically from the interactions of more fundamental particles described in the Standard Model of particle physics. In this lecture, I will give a broad introduction to the field and an overview of the numerical approach to studying this structure from first principles, before focusing on some specific examples of recent progress and their connection to searches for new physics like dark matter. I will also explain how artificial intelligence algorithms are providing new possibilities in theoretical physics.