The Top Priority: Precision Electroweak Physics from Low to High Energy

Abstract

Overall, the Standard Model describes electroweak precision data rather well. There are however a few areas of tension (charged current universality, NuTeV, (g-2)_\mu, b quark asymmetries), which I review emphasizing recent theoretical and experimental progress. I also discuss what precision data tell us about the Higgs boson and new physics scenarios. In this context, the role of a precise measurement of the top mass is crucial.

Comments: 12 pages; invited talk at 21st International Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions at High Energies (LP 03), Batavia, Illinois, 11-16 Aug 2003