  The central idea of this review is to consider quantum field theory models
relevant for particle physics and replace the fermionic matter in these models
by a bosonic one. This is mostly motivated by the fact that bosons are more
``accessible'' and easier to manipulate for experimentalists, but this
``substitution'' also leads to new physics and novel phenomena. It allows us to
gain new information about among other things confinement and the dynamics of
the deconfinement transition. We will thus consider bosons in dynamical
lattices corresponding to the bosonic Schwinger or Z$_2$ Bose-Hubbard models.
Another central idea of this review concerns atomic simulators of paradigmatic
models of particle physics theory such as the Creutz-Hubbard ladder, or
Gross-Neveu-Wilson and Wilson-Hubbard models. Finally, we will briefly describe
our efforts to design experimentally friendly simulators of these and other
models relevant for particle physics.
