Top quark theory and the new physics searches frontier

We review the special role that the top sector is playing in the context of electroweak (EW) symmetry breaking within and beyond the Standard Model. We briefly report on the current status of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 'battle of naturalness' related to top partner searches. The notion of 'mini' intensity and energy frontiers at the LHC is then explained with an example given for each of these fronts. The phase diagram of the Standard Model obtained by extrapolating the relevant basic parameters, in particular the top-Higgs Yukawa coupling to high scales is also mentioned. We finally address some interesting aspects of top physics that are not related to EW physics. In particular, the impressive progress made recently on the next-to-next-to leading order evaluation of the top pair production cross-section is described and the status of the forward–backward top asymmetry is also summarized.