Search

This paper presents a search for a new Z′ vector gauge boson with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using pp collision data collected at s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The new gauge boson Z′ is predicted by Lμ − Lτ models to address observed phenomena that can not be explained by the Standard Model. The search examines the four-muon (4μ) final state, using a deep learning neural network classifier to separate the Z′ signal from the Standard Model background events. The di-muon invariant masses in the 4μ events are used to extract the Z′ resonance signature. No significant excess of events is observed over the predicted background. Upper limits at a 95% confidence level on the Z′ production cross-section times the decay branching fraction of pp → Z′μμ → 4μ are set from 0.31 to 4.3 fb for the Z′ mass ranging from 5 to 81 GeV. The corresponding common coupling strengths, gZ′, of the Z′ boson to the second and third generation leptons above 0.003 – 0.2 have been excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), both the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have been searching for light charged Higgs bosons via top (anti)quark production and decays channels, like pp → t t ¯ with one top (anti)quark decaying into a charged Higgs boson and a b (anti)quark, when the decay is kinematically open (i.e., when m H ± ≲ mt). In this paper, we propose new searches at the LHC involving light charged Higgs bosons via their pair production channels like pp → H±h/A and pp → H+H− in the 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) Type-I and -X scenarios. By focusing on the case where the heavy H state plays the role of the Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs boson with a mass near 125 GeV, we study the aforementioned Higgs boson pair production channels and investigate their bosonic decays, such as H± → W±h and/or H± → W±A. We demonstrate that for a light charged Higgs boson state, with m H ± ≲ mt, at the LHC, such di-Higgs production and decay channels can give rise to signatures with event rates much larger than those emerging from pp → t t ¯ → t b ¯ H− + c.c. We specifically study h/A → b b ¯ and τ+τ− decays. We, therefore, claim that the discussed combination of new production and decay modes can result in an alternative discovery channel for charged Higgs bosons lighter than the top (anti)quark at the LHC within the above two 2HDM Types. Finally, in order to motivate experimentalists in ATLAS and CMS to search for such signatures, we propose 16 Benchmark Points (BPs) which are compatible with both theoretical and experimental constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new technique for reconstructing and identifying hadronically decaying τ+τ− pairs with a large Lorentz boost, referred to as the di-τ tagger, is developed and used for the first time in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. A benchmark di-τ tagging selection is employed in the search for resonant Higgs boson pair production, where one Higgs boson decays into a boosted b b ¯ pair and the other into a boosted τ+τ− pair, with two hadronically decaying τ-leptons in the final state. Using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, the efficiency of the di-τ tagger is determined and the background with quark- or gluon-initiated jets misidentified as di-τ objects is estimated. The search for a heavy, narrow, scalar resonance produced via gluon-gluon fusion and decaying into two Higgs bosons is carried out in the mass range 1–3 TeV using the same dataset. No deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed, and 95% confidence-level exclusion limits are set on this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for long-lived particles (LLP) is an exciting physics opportunity in the upcoming runs of the Large Hadron Collider. In this paper, we focus on a new search strategy of using the High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), part of the upgrade of the CMS detector, in such searches. In particular, we demonstrate that the high granularity of the calorimeter allows us to see "shower tracks" in the calorimeter, and can play a crucial role in identifying the signal and suppressing the background. We study the potential reach of the HGCAL using a signal model in which the Standard Model Higgs boson decays into a pair of LLPs, h → XX. After carefully estimating the Standard Model QCD and the misreconstructed fake-track backgrounds, we give the projected reach for both an existing vector boson fusion trigger and a novel displaced-track-based trigger. Our results show that the best reach for the Higgs decay branching ratio, BR(h → XX), in the vector boson fusion channel is about O (10−4) with lifetime cτX ∼ 0.1–1 meters, while for the gluon gluon fusion channel it is about O (10−5–10−6) for similar lifetimes. For longer lifetime cτX ∼ 103 meters, our search could probe BR(h → XX) down to a few ×10−4(10−2) in the gluon gluon fusion (vector boson fusion) channels, respectively. In comparison with these previous searches, our new search shows enhanced sensitivity in complementary regions of the LLP parameter space. We also comment on many improvements can be implemented to further improve our proposed search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of a possible contribution to a Higgs boson signal in the hh→γγγγ channel due to H→hh decays, in the framework of the CP-conserving 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type-I (2HDM-I), where the heavier of the two CP-even Higgs bosons defined herein, H, is the SM-like Higgs state observed with a mass of 125 GeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We perform a broad scan of the 2HDM-I parameter space, in presence of both up-to-date theoretical and experimental constraints, in order to extract the interesting regions yielding such a signal. Then, after validating our numerical framework against public experimental analyses carried out at the LHC, we proceed to assess its scope in constraining and/or extracting the gg→H→hh→γγγγ signal in presence of a sophisticated Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. We find that, over a substantial region of the 2HDM-I parameter space presently un-accessible, the LHC will be able to establish such a potential signature in the next 2--3 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination of searches for new heavy spin-1 resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons or quarks, is presented. The data sample used corresponds to 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV collected during 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting quark pairs (qq, bb, t t ¯ , and tb) or third-generation leptons (τν and ττ) are included in this kind of combination for the first time. A simplified model predicting a spin-1 heavy vector-boson triplet is used. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level and are compared with predictions for the benchmark model. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The complementarity of the various analyses increases the sensitivity to new physics, and the resulting constraints are stronger than those from any individual analysis considered. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.8 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario, below 4.4 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, and up to 1.5 TeV in the case of production via vector-boson fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavour, dilepton final states, using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13 TeV collected in 2015–2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with electrons, muons and hadronically decaying tau leptons are considered (eμ, eτ or μτ). No significant excess over the Standard Model predictions is observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section are set as a function of the mass of a Z′ boson, a supersymmetric τ-sneutrino, and a quantum black-hole. The observed 95% CL lower mass limits obtained on a typical benchmark model Z′ boson are 5.0 TeV (eμ), 4.0 TeV (eτ), and 3.9 TeV (μτ), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lepton Flavour Universality tests with semileptonic Λb → Λc* decays are important to corroborate the present anomalies in the similar ratios RD∗, and can provide complementary constraints on possible origins of these anomalies beyond the Standard Model. In this paper we provide — for the first time — all the necessary theoretical ingredients to perform and interpret measurements of RΛc* at the LHCb experiment. For this, we revisit the heavy-quark expansion of the relevant hadronic matrix elements, and provide their expressions to order αs and 1/m accuracy. Moreover, we study the sensitivity to the form factor parameters given the projected size and purity of upcoming and future LHCb datasets of Λb→Λc*μν¯ decays. We demonstrate explicitly the need to perform a simultaneous fit to both Λc* final states. Finally, we provide projections for the uncertainty of RΛc* based on the form factors analysis from semimuonic decays and theoretical relations based on the heavy-quark expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most searches for top partners, T, are concerned with top partner pair production. However, as these bounds become increasingly stringent, the LHC energy will saturate and single top partner production will become more important. In this paper we study the novel signature of the top partner produced in association with the SM top, pp→Tt¯+tT¯, in a model where the Standard Model (SM) is extended by a vector-like SU(2)L singlet fermion top partner and a real, SM gauge singlet scalar, S. In this model, pp→Tt¯+tT¯ production is possible through loops mediated by the scalar singlet. We find that, with reasonable coupling strengths, the production rate of this channel can dominate top partner pair production at top partner masses of mT ≳ 1.5 TeV. In addition, this model allows for the exotic decay modes T → tg, T → tγ, and T → tS. In much of the parameter space the loop induced decay T → tg dominates and the top partner is quite long lived. New search strategies are necessary to cover these decay modes. We project the the sensitivity of the high luminosity LHC to pp→Tt¯+tT¯ via a realistic collider study. We find with 3 ab−1, the LHC is sensitive to this process for masses mT ≲ 2 TeV. In addition, we provide appendices detailing the renormalization of this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compute the one-loop corrections to σ(e+e−→ Zh) arising from representative extended Standard Model scalar sector scenarios. According to the new scalar SU(2)L representations, we consider the inert doublet, real and complex triplet, quintuplet, and septuplet models. With the sub-percent level precision expected for prospective future e+e− collider measurements of σ(e+e−→ Zh), studies of the Higgsstrahlung process will probe extended scalar sector particle spectrum and interactions in a manner complementary to direct searches at the Large Hadron Collider and possible future pp colliders. We also compare with the sensitivity of future Higgs diphoton decay rate measurements. We find that the σ(e+e−→ Zh) and Γ(h → γγ) complementarity is particularly pronounced for the complex triplet model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Higgs invisible decay width may soon become a powerful tool to probe extensions of the Standard Model with dark matter candidates at the Large Hadron Collider. In this work, we calculate the next-to-leading order (NLO) electroweak corrections to the 125 GeV Higgs decay width into two dark matter particles. The model is the next-to-minimal 2-Higgs-doublet model (N2HDM) in the dark doublet phase, that is, only one doublet and the singlet acquire vacuum expectation values. We show that the present measurement of the Higgs invisible branching ratio, BR(H → invisible < 0.11), does not lead to constraints on the parameter space of the model at leading order. This is due to the very precise measurements of the Higgs couplings but could change in the near future. Furthermore, if NLO corrections are required not to be unphysically large, no limits on the parameter space can be extracted from the NLO results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGBs) are attractive dark matter (DM) candidates, since they couple to the Standard Model (SM) predominantly through derivative interactions. Thereby they naturally evade the strong existing limits inferred from DM direct detection experiments. Working in an effective field theory that includes both derivative and non-derivative DM-SM operators, we perform a detailed phenomenological study of the Large Hadron Collider reach for pNGB DM production in association with top quarks. Drawing on motivated benchmark scenarios as examples, we compare our results to other collider limits as well as the constraints imposed by DM (in) direct detection experiments and the relic abundance. We furthermore explore implications on the viable parameter space of pNGB DM. In particular, we demonstrate that DM direct detection experiments become sensitive to many pNGB DM realisations once loop-induced interactions are taken into account. The search strategies and pNGB DM benchmark models that we discuss can serve as a starting point for dedicated experimental analyses by the ATLAS and the CMS collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search for supersymmetry in events with four or more charged leptons (electrons, muons and τ-leptons) is presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at s = 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Four-lepton signal regions with up to two hadronically decaying τ-leptons are designed to target several supersymmetric models, while a general five-lepton signal region targets any new physics phenomena leading to a final state with five charged leptons. Data yields are consistent with Standard Model expectations and results are used to set upper limits on contributions from processes beyond the Standard Model. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% confidence level in simplified models of general gauge-mediated supersymmetry, excluding higgsino masses up to 540 GeV. In R-parity-violating simplified models with decays of the lightest supersymmetric particle to charged leptons, lower limits of 1.6 TeV, 1.2 TeV, and 2.5 TeV are placed on wino, slepton and gluino masses, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of four-lepton differential and integrated fiducial cross-sections in events with two same-flavour, opposite-charge electron or muon pairs are presented. The data correspond to 139 fb−1 of s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions, collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (2015–2018). The final state has contributions from a number of interesting Standard Model processes that dominate in different four-lepton invariant mass regions, including single Z boson production, Higgs boson production and on-shell ZZ production, with a complex mix of interference terms, and possible contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model. The differential cross-sections include the four-lepton invariant mass inclusively, in slices of other kinematic variables, and in different lepton flavour categories. Also measured are dilepton invariant masses, transverse momenta, and angular correlation variables, in four regions of four-lepton invariant mass, each dominated by different processes. The measurements are corrected for detector effects and are compared with state-of-the-art Standard Model calculations, which are found to be consistent with the data. The Z → 4ℓ branching fraction is extracted, giving a value of (4.41 ± 0.30) × 10−6. Constraints on effective field theory parameters and a model based on a spontaneously broken B − L gauge symmetry are also evaluated. Further reinterpretations can be performed with the provided information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search is presented for additional neutral Higgs bosons in the ττ final state in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The search is performed in the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model (MSSM), using the data collected with the CMS detector in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1. To enhance the sensitivity to neutral MSSM Higgs bosons, the search includes production of the Higgs boson in association with b quarks. No significant deviation above the expected background is observed. Model-independent limits at 95% confidence level (CL) are set on the product of the branching fraction for the decay into τ leptons and the cross section for the production via gluon fusion or in association with b quarks. These limits range from 18 pb at 90 GeV to 3.5 fb at 3.2 TeV for gluon fusion and from 15 pb (at 90 GeV) to 2.5 fb (at 3.2 TeV) for production in association with b quarks, assuming a narrow width resonance. In the mhhod+ scenario these limits translate into a 95% CL exclusion of tan β > 6 for neutral Higgs boson masses below 250 GeV, where tan β is the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the neutral components of the two Higgs doublets. The 95% CL exclusion contour reaches 1.6 TeV for tan β = 60. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-lived light particles (LLLPs) appear in many extensions of the standard model. LLLPs are usually motivated by the observed small neutrino masses, by dark matter or both. Typical examples for fermionic LLLPs (a.k.a. heavy neutral fermions, HNFs) are sterile neutrinos or the lightest neutralino in R-parity violating supersymmetry. The high luminosity LHC is expected to deliver up to 3/ab of data. Searches for LLLPs in dedicated experiments at the LHC could then probe the parameter space of LLLP models with unprecedented sensitivity. Here, we compare the prospects of several recent experimental proposals, FASER, CODEX-b and MATHUSLA, to search for HNFs and discuss their relative merits.s [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a systematic programme to search for long-lived neutral particle signatures through a minimal set of displaced searches (dMETs). Our approach is to extend the well-established dark matter simplified models to include displaced vertices. The dark matter simplified models are used to describe the primary production vertex. A displaced secondary vertex, characterised by the mass of the long-lived particle and its lifetime, is added for the displaced signature. We show how these models can be motivated by, and mapped onto, complete models such as gauge-mediated SUSY breaking and models of neutral naturalness. We also outline how this approach may be used to extend other simplified models to incorporate displaced signatures and to characterise searches for long-lived charged particles. Displaced vertices are a striking signature which is often virtually background free, and thus provide an excellent target for the high-luminosity run of the Large Hadron Collider. The proposed models and searches provide a first step towards a systematic broadening of the displaced dark matter search programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimal Composite Higgs Models (MCHM) have long provided a solution to the hierarchy problem of the Standard Model, yet suffer from various sources of fine tuning that are becoming increasingly problematic with the lack of new physics observations at the LHC. We develop a new fine tuning measure that accurately counts each contribution to fine tuning (single, double, triple, etc) that can occur in a theory with n parameters, that must reproduce n observables. We then use a novel scanning procedure to perform a comprehensive study of three different two-site, 4D, SO(5) → SO(4) MCHMs with all third generation fermions included, distinguished by the choice of the lepton embeddings. These are the MCHM, MCHM and MCHM, where MCHM has the lepton doublet partner in representation l, tau partner in representation τ, and so on. We find that embedding at least one massive lepton in the symmetric 14 of SO(5) moderately reduces the tuning for the case of low top partner masses (in line with previous results), but that this is balanced against the increased complexity of the model when one properly accounts for all sources of fine tuning. We study both the current relative fine-tuning of each scenario, and the future prospects. Noting that the different scenarios behave differently with respect to future improvements in collider measurements, we find that the MCHM enjoys a relatively low increase in fine tuning even for a future lower bound on the top partner masses of 3.4 TeV (or equivalently a maximum Higgs-fermion or Higgs-gluon coupling deviation of 2%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LHCb measurement of the μ/e ratio R ∗ indicates a deficit with respect to the Standard Model prediction, supporting earlier hints of lepton universality violation observed in the R ratio. We show that the R and R ∗ ratios alone constrain the chiralities of the states contributing to these anomalies, and we find deviations from the Standard Model at the 4 σ level. This conclusion is further corroborated by hints from the theoretically challenging b → sμ μ distributions. Theoretical interpretations in terms of Z′, lepto-quarks, loop mediators, and composite dynamics are discussed. We highlight their distinctive features in terms of the chirality and flavour structures relevant to the observed anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A real singlet scalar, connected to the Standard Model sector through a portal with the Higgs boson, is one of the simplest and most popular models for dark matter (DM). However, the experimental advances in direct and indirect DM searches, together with the latest results from the LHC, have ruled out vast areas of the parameter space of this scenario; and are expected to probe it completely within the next years, ruling it out if no signal is found. Motivated by the simplicity of this model, in this article we address a minimal, renormalizable extension that could evade detection, consisting of the addition of an extra real singlet scalar field in the dark sector. We analyze the physical constraints on the model and show that the new annihilation and/or coannihilation channels involving the extra singlet allow to reproduce the correct DM relic abundance while avoiding the bounds from direct and indirect searches for any DM mass above 50 GeV. We also show that, in some interesting regions of the parameter space, the extra particle can be integrated-out, leaving a 'clever' effective theory (just involving the DM particle and the Higgs), that essentially reproduces the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the bounds on tau-mu lepton flavor violation (LFV). Our main focus is on the collider constrains on tau-mu LFV. We use the Type-III Two-Higgs-Doublet-Model (2HDM) as a set up for our study. While the LFV branching fraction of the 125 GeV is well constrained by current LHC searches, the heavier neutral states could have a large branching fraction to tau and muon. We estimate the LHC reach for the 13 TeV center of mass energy with 300 fb luminosity for a neutral boson decaying into a tau and a muon. We identify parts of the LFV parameter space where the searches for heavy scalar and pseudoscalar decaying into a tau and a muon are more sensitive than the similar search for the 125 GeV boson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the phenomenology of right-handed charged currents in the frame-work of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, in which they arise due to a single gauge-invariant dimension-six operator. We study the manifestations of the nine complex couplings of the W to right-handed quarks in collider physics, flavor physics, and low-energy precision measurements. We first obtain constraints on the couplings under the assumption that the right-handed operator is the dominant correction to the Standard Model at observable energies. We subsequently study the impact of degeneracies with other Beyond-the-Standard-Model effective interactions and identify observables, both at colliders and low-energy experiments, that would uniquely point to right-handed charged currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leptonic rare decays of B mesons offer a powerful tool to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The B → μ μ decay has been observed at the Large Hadron Collider and the first measurement of the effective lifetime of this channel was presented, in accordance with the Standard Model. On the other hand, B → τ τ and B → e e have received considerably less attention: while LHCb has recently reported a first upper limit of 6 .8 × 10 (95% C.L.) for the B → τ τ branching ratio, the upper bound 2 .8 × 10 (90% C.L.) for the branching ratio of B → e e was reported by CDF back in 2009. We discuss the current status of the interpretation of the measurement of B → μ μ , and explore the space for New-Physics effects in the other B → ℓ ℓ decays in a scenario assuming flavour-universal Wilson coefficients of the relevant four-fermion operators. While the New-Physics effects are then strongly suppressed by the ratio m /m of the lepton masses in B → τ τ , they are hugely enhanced by m /m in B → e e and may result in a B → e e branching ratio as large as about 5 times the one of B → μ μ , which is about a factor of 20 below the CDF bound; a similar feature arises in B → e e . Consequently, it would be most interesting to search for the B → e e channels at the LHC and Belle II, which may result in an unambiguous signal for physics beyond the Standard Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of direct evidence for New Physics at present LHC energies, the focus is set on the anomalies and discrepancies recently observed in rare b → sℓℓ transitions which can be interpreted as indirect hints. Global fits have shown that an economical New Physics solution can simultaneously alleviate the tensions in the various channels and can lead to a significant improvement in the description of the data. Alternative explanations within the Standard Model for part of the observed anomalies have been proposed in terms of (unexpectedly large) hadronic effects at low dilepton invariant mass and attributing tensions in protected observables to statistical fluctuations or experimental errors. We review the treatment of hadronic uncertainties in this kinematic regime for one of the most important channels, B → K μ μ , in a pedagogical way. We provide detailed arguments showing that factorisable power corrections cannot account for the observed anomalies and that an explanation through long-distance charm contributions is disfavoured. Some optimized observables at very low dilepton invariant mass are shown to be protected against contributions from the semileptonic coefficient C (including any associated long-distance charm effects), enhancing their sensitivity to New Physics contributions to other Wilson coefficients. Finally, we discuss how the recent measurement of Q by Belle (and in the future by LHCb and Belle-II) may provide a robust cross-check of our arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the observability of heavy neutrino ( ν ) signatures of a U(1)′ enlarged Standard Model (SM) encompassing three heavy Majorana neutrinos alongside the known light neutrino states at the the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We show that heavy neutrinos can be rather long-lived particles producing distinctive displaced vertices that can be accessed in the CERN LHC detectors. We concentrate here on the gluon fusion production mechanism gg → H → ν ν , where H is the discovered SM-like Higgs and H is a heavier state, yielding displaced leptons following ν decays into weak gauge bosons. Using data collected by the end of the LHC Run 2, these signatures would prove to be accessible with negligibly small background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine various scenarios in which the Standard Model is extended by a light leptoquark state to solve for one or both B-physics anomalies, viz. RD*exp>RD*SM or/and RK*exp>RK*SM. To do so we combine the constraints arising both from the low-energy observables and from direct searches at the LHC. We find that none of the scalar leptoquarks of mass mLQ ≃ 1 TeV can alone accommodate the above mentioned anomalies. The only single leptoquark scenario which can provide a viable solution for mLQ ≃ 1÷2 TeV is a vector leptoquark, known as U1, which we re-examine in its minimal form (letting only left-handed couplings to have non-zero values). We find that the limits deduced from direct searches are complementary to the low-energy physics constraints. In particular, we find a rather stable lower bound on the lepton flavor violating b → sℓ1±ℓ2∓ modes, such as ℬ(B → Kμτ). Improving the experimental upper bound on ℬ(B → Kμτ) by two orders of magnitude could compromise the viability of the minimal U1 model as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a set of clockwork models of flavor that can naturally explain the large hierarchies of the Standard Model quark masses and mixing angles. Since the clockwork only contains chains of new vector-like fermions without any other dynamical fields, the flavor constraints allow for relatively light new physics scale. For two benchmarks with gear masses just above 1 TeV, allowed by flavor constraints, we discuss the collider searches and the possible ways of reconstructing gear spectra at the LHC. We also examine the similarities and differences with the other common solutions to the SM flavor puzzle, i.e., with the Froggatt-Nielsen models, where we identify a new clockworked version, and with the Randall-Sundrum models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LHCb Collaboration has recently reported evidence for the rare hyperon decay Σ+ → pμ+μ− that is consistent with the standard model expectation. Motivated by this new result we revisit the calculation of this mode including both long and short distance contributions. In the standard model this mode is completely dominated by long distance physics and thus subject to large uncertainties. We present a range of predictions for the rate, the dimuon invariant mass spectrum, and a muon polarization asymmetry that covers these uncertainties as well as known constraints. We study the interplay between short and long distance contributions which could result in additional asymmetries, but we find that they are negligible within the standard model. We propose a parameterization of these asymmetries in terms of a couple of constants that can arise from new physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current searches for dark matter at the LHC focus on mono-X signatures: the production of dark matter in association with a Standard Model (SM) particle. The simplest benchmark introduces a massive spin-1 mediator, the Z′ boson, between the dark matter χ and the SM. Limits derived from mono-X channels are most effective when the mediator can decay into two on-shell dark matter particles: MZ′ ≳ 2Mχ. We broaden the experimental reach into the complementary region, where the Z′ mediator is much lighter than the dark matter. In this scenario the Z′ mediates an effective long-range force between the dark matter, thereby facilitating the formation of darkonium bound states, as is common in many dark sector models. The darkonium becomes active when Mχ> MZ′/αeff, where αeff is the effective fine-structure constant in the dark sector. Moreover, the darkonium could decay back into SM quarks, without producing missing transverse momentum in the detector. Considering multijet final states, we reinterpret existing searches to constrain the simple Z′ benchmark beyond the region probed by mono-X searches. Assuming a baryonic Z′ mediator and a Dirac dark matter, direct detection bounds can be loosened by giving a small Majorana mass to the dark matter. We also consider the interplay between mono-X and darkonium channels at future high energy colliders, which is at the frontier of probing the model parameter space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study freeze-in dark matter production in models that rely on the Clock-work mechanism to suppress the dark matter couplings to the visible sector. We construct viable scalar and fermionic dark matter models within this “Clockwork FIMP” scenario, with several subtleties that need to be taken into account revealed in the model-building process. We also provide analytic, semi-analytic and numerical results for the diagonalization of Clockwork-type mass matrices and briefly discuss the LHC phenomenology of the corresponding scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Higgs discovery, the LHC has been looking for new resonances, decaying into pairs of Standard Model (SM) particles. Recently, the CMS experimen observed an excess in the di-photon channel, with a di-photon invariant mass of about 96 GeV. This mass range is similar to the one of an excess observed in the search for the associated production of Higgs bosons with the Z neutral gauge boson at LEP, with the Higgs bosons decaying to bottom quark pairs. On the other hand, the LHCb experiment observed a discrepancy with respect to the SM expectations of the ratio of the decay of B-mesons to K-mesons and a pair of leptons, RK∗=BRB→K∗μ+μ−/BRB→K∗e+e−. This observation provides a hint of the violation of lepton-flavor universality in the charged lepton sector and may be explained by the existence of a vector boson originating form a U1Lμ−Lτ symmetry and heavy quarks that mix with the left-handed down quarks. Since the coupling to heavy quarks could lead to sizable Higgs di-photon rates in the gluon fusion channel, in this article we propose a common origin of these anomalies identifying a Higgs associated with the breakdown of the U1Lμ−Lτ symmetry and at the same time responsible to the quark mixing, with the one observed at the LHC. We also discuss the constraints on the identification of the same Higgs with the one associated with the bottom quark pair excess observed at LEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search for new high-mass resonances in proton-proton collisions having final states with an electron or muon and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data collected in 2016 with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The transverse mass distribution of the charged lepton-neutrino system is used as the discriminating variable. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is found. The best limit, from the combination of electron and muon channels, is 5.2 TeV at 95% confidence level for the mass of a W′ boson with the same couplings as those of the standard model W boson. Exclusion limits of 2.9 TeV are set on the inverse radius of the extra dimension in the framework of split universal extra dimensions. In addition, model-independent limits are set on the production cross section and coupling strength of W′ bosons decaying into this final state. An interpretation is also made in the context of an R parity violating supersymmetric model with a slepton as a mediator and flavor violating decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searching for new Higgs particle beyond the observed light Higgs boson h0(125 GeV) will unambiguously point to new physics beyond the standard model. We study the resonant production of a CP-even heavy Higgs state H0 in the di-Higgs channel, gg → H0 → h0h0 → WW*WW*, at the LHC Run-2 and the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). We analyze two types of the 4W decay modes, one with the same-sign di-leptons (4W → ℓ±νℓ±ν4q) and the other with tri-leptons (4W → ℓ±νℓ∓νℓ±ν2q). We perform a full simulation for the signals and backgrounds, and estimate the discovery potential of the heavy Higgs state at the LHC Run-2 and the HL-LHC, in the context of generic two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDM). We determine the viable parameter space of the 2HDM as allowed by the theoretical constraints and the current experimental limits. We systematically analyze the allowed parameter space of the 2HDM which can be effectively probed by the heavy Higgs searches of the LHC, and further compare this with the viable parameter region under the current theoretical and experimental bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many extensions of the standard model (SM) involve new massive particles charged under the electroweak gauge symmetry. The electroweakly interacting new particles affect various SM processes through radiative corrections. We discuss the possibility of detecting such new particles based on the precise measurement of the SM processes at high energy hadron colliders. It then turns out that Drell-Yan processes receive radiative corrections from the electroweakly interacting particles at the level of O0.1−10%. It is hence possible to indirectly search for the Higgsino up to the mass of 400 GeV and the quintet (5-plet) Majorana fermion up to the mass of 1200 GeV at the high-luminosity running of the Large Hadron Collider, if the systematic uncertainty associated with the estimation of the SM background becomes lower than the statistical one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the DM-neutrino interaction in the framework of simplified model. The phenomenology of such an interaction are derived. We also investigate the bound on DM-neutrino interaction from the LHC and neutrino telescopes. We find that for the case of a scalar dark matter, the LHC gives a stronger bound on dark matter annihilation cross-section than the neutrino telescopes. However, for the fermionic dark matter case the neutrino telescopes bounds are more stringent for dark matter mass, ≳ 200 MeV. In the case of lower DM mass, the neutrino telescopes provide better bounds for a light mediator, while the collider bounds are better for a heavy mediator. Possible UV completions of the simplified model are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]