Search

We revisit the two real singlet extension of the Standard Model with a $Z_2\times Z_2^\prime$ symmetry. One of the singlet scalars $S_2$, by virtue of an unbroken $Z_2^\prime$ symmetry, plays the role of a stable dark matter candidate. The other scalar $S_1$, with spontaneously broken $Z_2$-symmetry, mixes with the SM Higgs boson and acts as the scalar mediator. We analyze the model by putting in the entire set of theoretical and recent experimental constraints. The latest bounds from direct detection Xenon1T experiment severely restricts the allowed region of parameter space of couplings. To ensure the dark matter satisfies the relic abundance criterion, we rely on the Breit-Wigner enhanced annihilation cross-section. Further, we study the viability of explaining the observed gamma-ray excess in the galactic center in this model with a dark matter of mass in the $\sim 36-51$ GeV window and present our conclusions., 14 pages, 9 figures

We study the discovery prospects of the charged Higgs boson in the context of multi-Higgs models in certain beyond the Standard Model scenarios. We classify models into three categories based on the charged Higgs coupling properties: gaugophobic, fermiophobic, and chromophobic. In each case, we identify viable modes of discovery and present LHC analysis for discovery. We find that extensions of the Standard Model in which the charged Higgs boson does not couple to colored particles offer the best possible avenues for discovery.

Models with extra gauge symmetry are well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model. In this paper, we study an extended gauge model with a heavy neutral gauge boson Z′ which is fermiophobic. Thus, the production of such particles can occur via vector boson fusion, with subsequent decays into WW or Zh. We investigate the collider phenomenology of such Z′ s in the context of both the 14 TeV LHC and the future Compact Linear Collider. We find that looking at ℓℓbb final states provides a rich opportunity to discover such new vector bosons where conventional search strategies in the dilepton channel would fail. In particular, we optimize our analysis by putting in kinematic cuts deriving model-independent values of σ×BR needed for a 5σ discovery at the LHC. We then translate this into the parameter space of a specific model for illustration purpose—our results show that fermiophobic Z′s are discoverable in the ℓℓbb channel for a wide range of parameter values.

We investigate the LHC discovery prospects for a heavy Higgs boson decaying into the Standard Model Higgs boson and additional weak bosons. We consider a generic model-independent new physics configuration where this decay proceeds via a cascade involving other intermediate scalar bosons and focus on an LHC final-state signature comprised either of four b-jets and two charged leptons or of four charged leptons and two b-jets. We design two analyses of the corresponding signals, and demonstrate that a 5{\sigma} discovery at the 14 TeV LHC is possible for various combinations of the parent and daughter Higgs-boson masses. We moreover find that the Standard Model backgrounds can be sufficiently rejected to guarantee the reconstrution of the parent Higgs boson mass. We apply our analyses to the Type-II Two-Higgs-Doublet Model and identify the regions of the parameter space to which the LHC is sensitive., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, version accepted by PRD

We investigate the sensitivity of top-Higgs coupling by considering the associated vertex as CP phase ($\zeta_t$) dependent through the process $p\, e^- \to \bar t \,h \,\nu_e$ in the future Large Hadron electron collider. In particular the decay modes are taken to be $h \to b\bar b$ and $\bar t \to$ leptonic mode. Several distinct $\zeta_t$ dependent features are demonstrated by considering observables like cross sections, top-quark polarisation, rapidity difference between $h$ and $\bar t$ and different angular asymmetries. Luminosity ($L$) dependent exclusion limits are obtained for $\zeta_t$ by considering significance based on fiducial cross sections at different $\sigma$-levels. For electron and proton beam-energies of 60 GeV and 7 TeV respectively, at $L = 100$~fb$^{-1}$, the regions above $\pi/5 < \zeta_t \leq \pi$ are excluded at 2$\sigma$ confidence level, which reflects better sensitivity expected at the Large Hadron Collider. With appropriate error fitting methodology we find that the accuracy of SM top-Higgs coupling could be measured to be $\kappa = 1.00 \pm 0.17 (0.08)$ at $\sqrt{s} = 1.3 (1.8)$ TeV for an ultimate $L = 1 \,\rm{ab}^{-1}$., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, text modified, accepted for publication in Physics Letters B

In this note, we present a novel method of extracting the couplings of a new heavy particle to the Standard Model states. Contrary to the usual discovery process which involves studying the on-shell production, we look at regions away from resonance to take advantage of the simple scaling of the cross-section with the couplings. We apply the procedure to the case of a heavy quark as an illustration., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Journal accepted version

We test the possibility that the newly-discovered 126 GeV boson is a pseudoscalar by examining the correlations among the loop-induced pseudoscalar decay branching fractions to $\gamma\gamma$, $ZZ^*$, $Z\gamma$, and $WW^*$ final states in a model-independent way. These four decays are controlled by only two effective operators, so that the rates in $Z\gamma$ and $WW^*$ are predicted now that the rates in $\gamma\gamma$ and $ZZ^*,Z\gamma^* \to 4 \ell$ have been measured. We find that the pseudoscalar possibility is disfavored but not conclusively excluded. Experimental exclusion of the $Z\gamma$ decay to well below $\sigma/\sigma_{\rm SM} \sim 170$ or conclusive observation of the $WW^*$ decay near the Standard Model rate would eliminate the pseudoscalar possibility. The $Z\gamma$ exclusion should be possible using existing data. The only loophole in our argument is the possibility that the $4\ell$ signal comes from pseudoscalar decays to a pair of new neutral gauge bosons with mass near the $Z$ pole., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, v2: references added, Fig. 1 improved,v3: minor error in numbers on last paragraph of pg5 fixed

We analyze the phenomenology of the top-pion and top-Higgs states in models with strong top dynamics, and translate the present LHC searches for the Standard Model Higgs into bounds on these scalar states. We explore the possibility that the new state at a mass of approximately 125 GeV observed at the LHC is consistent with a neutral pseudoscalar top-pion state. We demonstrate that a neutral pseudoscalar top-pion can generate the diphoton signal at the observed rate. However, the region of model parameter space where this is the case does not correspond to classic topcolor-assisted technicolor scenarios with degenerate charged and neutral top-pions and a top-Higgs mass of order twice the top mass; rather, additional isospin violation would need to be present and the top dynamics would be more akin to that in top seesaw models. Moreover, the interpretation of the new state as a top-pion can be sustained only if the ZZ (four-lepton) and WW (two-lepton plus missing energy) signatures initially observed at the 3? level decline in significance as additional data is accrued., Comment: 25 pages, pdf embedded figures. Submission extensively revised to reflect discovery of a 125 GeV boson

We discuss the deconstructed version of a topcolor-assisted technicolor model wherein the mechanism of top quark mass generation is separated from the rest of electroweak symmetry breaking. The minimal deconstructed version of this scenario is a "triangle moose" model, where the top quark gets its mass from coupling to a top-Higgs field, while the gauge boson masses are generated from a Higgsless sector. The spectrum of the model includes scalar (top-Higgs) and pseudoscalar (top-pion) states. In this paper, we study the properties of these particles, discuss their production mechanisms and decay modes, and suggest how best to search for them at the LHC., Comment: 29 pages, 17 figures

LHC searches for the standard model Higgs Boson in WW or ZZ decay modes place strong constraints on the top-Higgs state predicted in many models with new dynamics preferentially affecting top quarks. Such a state couples strongly to top-quarks, and is therefore produced through gluon fusion at a rate enhanced relative to the rate for the standard model Higgs boson. A top-Higgs state with mass less than 300 GeV is excluded at 95% CL if the associated top-pion has a mass of 150 GeV, and the constraint is even stronger if the mass of the top-pion state exceeds the top-quark mass or if the top-pion decay constant is a substantial fraction of the weak scale. These results have significant implications for theories with strong top dynamics, such as topcolor-assisted technicolor, top-seesaw models, and certain Higgsless models., Comment: 9 pages, 6 pdf figures included. Updated with 2011 Lepton-Photon conference Higgs limits. Order of figures reversed, and conclusion slightly expanded and clarified

The Standard Model Higgs searches using the first 1-2 fb-1 of LHC data can be used to put interesting constraints on new scalar particles other than the Higgs. We investigate one such scenario in which electroweak symmetry is broken via strongly coupled conformal dynamics. This scenario contains a neutral scalar dilaton---the Goldstone boson associated with spontaneously broken scale invariance---with a mass below the conformal symmetry breaking scale and couplings to Standard Model particles similar (but not identical) to those of the Standard Model Higgs boson. We translate the LEP and LHC Higgs limits to constrain the dilaton mass and conformal breaking scale. The conformal breaking scale f is constrained to be above 1 TeV for dilaton masses between 145 and 600 GeV, though it can be as low as 400 GeV for dilaton masses below 110 GeV. We also show that (i) a dilaton chi with mass below 110 GeV and consistent with the LEP constraints can appear in gg --> chi --> gamma gamma with a rate up to ~10 times the corresponding Standard Model Higgs rate, and (ii) a dilaton with mass of several hundred GeV is much narrower than the corresponding Standard Model Higgs, leading to improved search sensitivity in chi --> ZZ --> 4l., 15 pages, 12 figures, References added, Figure 10 modified, Figure 11 added

We present the details of a deconstructed model that incorporates both Higgsless and top-color mechanisms. The model alleviates the tension between obtaining the correct top quark mass and keeping Delta rho small that exists in many Higgsless models. It does so by singling out the top quark mass generation as arising from a Yukawa coupling to an effective top-Higgs which develops a small vacuum expectation value, while electroweak symmetry breaking results largely from a Higgsless mechanism. As a result, the heavy partners of the standard model fermions can be light enough to be seen at the LHC. After presenting the model, we detail the phenomenology, showing that for a broad range of masses, these heavy fermions are discoverable at the LHC., Comment: 20 pages, 18 included eps figures, 5 tables. Minor corrections made at the suggestion of the journal referee

The scale of fermion mass generation can, as shown by Appelquist and Chanowitz, be bounded from above by relating it to the scale of unitarity violation in the helicity nonconserving amplitude for fermion-anti-fermion pairs to scatter into pairs of longitudinally polarized electroweak gauge bosons. In this paper, we examine the process t tbar -> W_L W_L in a family of phenomenologically-viable deconstructed Higgsless models and we show that scale of unitarity violation depends on the mass of the additional vector-like fermion states that occur in these theories (the states that are the deconstructed analogs of Kaluza-Klein partners of the ordinary fermions in a five-dimensional theory). For sufficiently light vector fermions, and for a deconstructed theory with sufficiently many lattice sites (that is, sufficiently close to the continuum limit), the Appelquist-Chanowitz bound can be substantially weakened. More precisely, we find that, as one varies the mass of the vector-like fermion for fixed top-quark and gauge-boson masses, the bound on the scale of top-quark mass generation interpolates smoothly between the Appelquist-Chanowitz bound and one that can, potentially, be much higher. In these theories, therefore, the bound on the scale of fermion mass generation is independent of the bound on the scale of gauge-boson mass generation. While our analysis focuses on deconstructed Higgsless models, any theory in which top-quark mass generation proceeds via the mixing of chiral and vector fermions will give similar results., 12 pages, 11 eps figures included, revtex. Refrences added; wording modified slightly to emphasize focus on top-quark

A large class of deconstructed Higgsless model is known to satisfy the tree-level experimental bounds on the electroweak precision parameters. In particular, an approximate custodial symmetry insures that the tree-level $\rho$ parameter is exactly one, for arbitrary values of the model parameters, and regardless of fermion delocalization. In this note we expand on previous work by considering the fermionic one-loop contributions to $\rho$, which are essentially due to loops with top and bottom modes. We analyze the dependence on the number $N$ of internal SU(2) sites in models with a ``flat background''. We find that the new-physics contribution rapidly increases with $N$, to quickly stabilize for large values of $N$. Experimental upper bounds on $\rho$ translate into lower bounds on the mass of the heavy fermions. These, however, are weakly correlated to $N$, and the three-site model (N=1) turns out to be already an excellent approximation for the continuum model ($N\to\infty$)., Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures

We analyze the spectrum and properties of a highly-deconstructed Higgsless model with only three sites. Such a model contains sufficient complexity to incorporate interesting physics issues related to fermion masses and electroweak observables, yet remains simple enough that it could be encoded in a Matrix Element Generator program for use with Monte Carlo simulations. The gauge sector of this model is equivalent to that of the BESS model; the new physics of interest here lies in the fermion sector. We analyze the form of the fermion Yukawa couplings required to produce the ideal fermion delocalization that causes tree-level precision electroweak corrections to vanish. We discuss the size of one-loop corrections to b \to s \gamma, the weak-isospin violating parameter \alpha T and the decay Z \to b \bar{b}. We find that the new fermiophobic vector states (the analogs of the gauge-boson KK modes in a continuum model) can be reasonably light, with a mass as low as 380 GeV, while the extra (approximately vectorial) quark and lepton states (the analogs of the fermion KK modes) must be heavier than 1.8 TeV., Comment: 30 pages, JHEP.cls, axodraw. References and acknowledgements added, minor textual clarifications added and typos fixed, relationship to BESS model emphasized. Typos corrected, version to appear in PRD