Rare K decays: Challenges and Perspectives

At this stage of the LHC program, the prospect for a new physics signal in the very rare K ---> pi nu nu bar decays may be dented, but remains well alive thanks to their intrinsic qualities. First, these decays are among the cleanest observables in the quark flavor sector. When combined with their terrible suppression in the Standard Model, they thus offer uniquely sensitive probes. Second, the LHC capabilities are not ideal for all kinds of new physics, even below the TeV scale. For example, rather elusive scenarios like natural-SUSY-like hierarchical spectrum, baryon number violation, or new very light but very weakly interacting particles may well induce deviations in rare K decays. Even though experimentalists should brace themselves for tiny deviations, these modes thus have a clear role to play in the LHC era.