Search

We identify the differential cross sections for $t\bar t$ production and the total cross section for Higgs production through gluon fusion as the processes in which the two effective operators describing the leading non-standard interactions of the top quark with the gluon can be disentangled and studied in an independent fashion. Current data on the Higgs production and the $ {\rm d}\sigma/{\rm d} {p^t_T}$ differential cross section provide limits comparable, but not more stringent, than those from the total $t\bar t$ cross sections measurements at the LHC and Tevatron, where however the two operators enter on the same footing and can only be constrained together. Given the present uncertainties, we find that the most stringent bounds are provided by a combination of data on the $t \bar t$ total cross sections together with those from the Higgs production. We conclude by stating the (modest) reduction in the uncertainties necessary to provide more stringent limits by means of the Higgs production and $t\bar t$ differential cross section observables at the LHC with the future luminosity of 300 and 3000 fb$^{-1}$., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Discussion with the relation of the considered operators with the ones of the Warsaw basis extended. Missing contribution to the gluon fusion amplitude added. Main results unchanged

If the top quark is a composite state made out of some constituents, its interaction with the gluon will be modified. We introduce the leading effective operators that contribute to the radius and anomalous magnetic moment of the top quark and study their effect on the cross section for top anti-top production at the Tevatron and the LHC. Current measurements of the cross sections set a stringent limit on the scale of compositeness. This limit is comparable to similar limits obtained for light quarks and those from electroweak precision measurements. It can be used to constrain the parameter space of some composite Higgs models., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Analysis extended to quadratic contributions of the effective couplings. Study of top spin polarizations added. New confidence intervals obtained. Figures of the bounds replaced. Bounds on C2 result weaker. Version accepted for publication in PRD

We study the exact (one-loop) effective potential of the littlest Higgs model and determine the dependence of physical quantities, such as the vacuum expectation value v_W and mass m_h of the Higgs boson, on the fundamental parameters of the Lagrangian--masses, couplings of new states, the fundamental scale f of the sigma model, and the coefficients of operators quadratically sensitive to the cutoff of the theory. On the one hand, we show that it is possible to have the electroweak ground state and a relatively large cutoff \Lambda = 4\pi f with f in the 2 TeV range without requiring unnaturally small coefficients for quadratically divergent quantities, and with only moderate cancellations between the contribution of different sectors to the effective potential of the Higgs. On the other hand, this cannot be achieved while at the same time keeping m_h close to its (bantamweight) current lower bound of 114.4 GeV. The natural expectation for m_h is O(f), mainly because of large logarithmically divergent contributions to the effective potential of the top-quark sector. Even a fine-tuning at the level of O(10^{-2}) in the coefficients of the quadratic divergences is not enough to produce small physical Higgs masses, and the natural expectation is in the 800 GeV range (cruiserweight) for f \sim 2 TeV. We conclude that the littlest Higgs model is a solution of the little hierarchy problem, in the sense that it stabilizes the electroweak symmetry breaking scale to be a factor of 100 less than the cutoff of the theory, but this requires a quite large physical mass for the Higgs, and hence precision electroweak studies should be redone accordingly. We also study finite temperature corrections., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, RevTex4. Final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

After updating the determination of the combination of Kobayashi-Maskawa elements $ \Im V_{td}V^*_{ts}$ according to our new estimate of the parameter $\hat B_K$, we study the CP-violating ratio $\epsilon'/\epsilon$ by means of hadronic matrix elements computed to $O(p^4)$ in the chiral expansion. It is the first time that this order in chiral perturbation theory is included. We also discuss the relevance of some $O(p^2)$ terms that are generally neglected in the calculation of the electroweak penguin matrix elements. The most important effect of this improved analysis is the substantial reduction (20%) of the leading electroweak penguin matrix element and accordingly a reduced cancelation between the electroweak and gluon penguin contributions. The ratio $\epsilon'/\epsilon$ is thus larger than previously estimated and its predicted value enjoys a smaller uncertainty. We find $\epsilon'/\epsilon = 1.7 ^{+1.4}_{-1.0} \times 10^{-3}$. Values positive and of the order of $10^{-3}$ are therefore preferred., Comment: Latex2e, JHEP.cls, 22 pages, 8 figures. Short-distance analysis updated. Introduction and conclusions expanded

We calculate the hadronic matrix elements to $O(p^4)$ in the chiral expansion for the ($\Delta S =1$) $K^0 \to 2 \pi$ decays and the ($\Delta S=2$) $\bar K^0$-$K^0$ oscillation. This is done within the framework of the chiral quark model. The chiral coefficients thus determined depend on the values of the quark and gluon condensates and the constituent quark mass. We show that it is possible to fit the $\Delta I =1/2$ rule of kaon decays with values of the condensates close to those obtained by QCD sum rules. The renormalization invariant amplitudes are obtained by matching the hadronic matrix elements and their chiral corrections to the short-distance NLO Wilson coefficients. For the same input values, we study the parameter $\hat B_K$ of kaon oscillation and find $\hat B_K = 1.1 \pm 0.2$. As an independent check, we determine $\hat B_K$ from the experimental value of the $K_L$-$K_S$ mass difference by using our calculation of the long-distance contributions. The destructive interplay between the short- and long-distance amplitudes yields $\hat B_K = 1.2 \pm 0.1$, in agreement with the direct calculation., Comment: Latex2e, JHEP.cls, 32 pages, 9 figures. Short-distance analysis updated. Parts of Sects. 3 and 6 revised

I review a recent attempt to reproduce the isospin $I= 0$ and 2 amplitudes for the decay of a kaon into two pions by estimating the relevant hadronic matrix elements in the chiral quark model. The results are parametrized in terms of the quark and gluon condensates and of the constituent quark mass $M$. The latter is a parameter characteristic of the model. For values of these parameters within the current determinations, the $\Delta I= 1/2$ selection rule is well reproduced by means of the cumulative effects of short-distance NLO Wilson coefficients, penguin diagrams, non-factorizable soft-gluon corrections and meson-loop renormalization., Comment: to appear in the proceedings of the Workshop on K Physics, Orsay, May 30-June 4, 1996

I review a recent attempt to reproduce the isospin $I= 0$ and 2 amplitudes for the decay of a kaon into two pions by estimating the relevant hadronic matrix elements in the chiral quark model. The results are parametrized in terms of the quark and gluon condensates and of the constituent quark mass $M$. The latter is a parameter characteristic of the model. For values of these parameters within the current determinations, the $��I= 1/2$ selection rule is well reproduced by means of the cumulative effects of short-distance NLO Wilson coefficients, penguin diagrams, non-factorizable soft-gluon corrections and meson-loop renormalization., to appear in the proceedings of the Workshop on K Physics, Orsay, May 30-June 4, 1996

We compute the isospin $I= 0$ and 2 amplitudes for the decay of a kaon into two pions by estimating the relevant hadronic matrix elements in the chiral quark model. The results are parametrized in terms of the quark and gluon condensates and of the constituent quark mass $M$. The latter is a parameter characteristic of the model, that we restrict by matching the results in the two $\gamma_5$-schemes (HV and NDR) of dimensional regularization. We find that, for values of these parameters within the current determinations, the $\Delta I= 1/2$ selection rule is well reproduced by means of the cumulative effects of short-distance NLO Wilson coefficients, penguin diagrams, non-factorizable soft-gluon corrections and meson-loop renormalization., Comment: Revised version to be published in Nuclear Physics B

We compute the isospin $I= 0$ and 2 amplitudes for the decay of a kaon into two pions by estimating the relevant hadronic matrix elements in the chiral quark model. The results are parametrized in terms of the quark and gluon condensates and of the constituent quark mass $M$. The latter is a parameter characteristic of the model, that we restrict by matching the results in the two $��_5$-schemes (HV and NDR) of dimensional regularization. We find that, for values of these parameters within the current determinations, the $��I= 1/2$ selection rule is well reproduced by means of the cumulative effects of short-distance NLO Wilson coefficients, penguin diagrams, non-factorizable soft-gluon corrections and meson-loop renormalization., Revised version to be published in Nuclear Physics B

We discuss direct $CP$ violation in the standard model by giving a new estimate of $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ in kaon decays. Our analysis is based on the evaluation of the hadronic matrix elements of the \mbox{$\Delta S =1$} effective quark lagrangian by means of the chiral quark model, with the inclusion of meson one-loop renormalization and NLO Wilson coefficients. Our estimate is fully consistent with the $\Delta I =1/2$ selection rule in $K\to \pi\pi$ decays which is well reproduced within the same framework. By varying all parameters in the allowed ranges and, in particular, taking the quark condensate---which is the major source of uncertainty---between $(-200\ {\rm MeV})^3$ and $(-280\ {\rm MeV})^3$ we find $$ -5.0 \times 10^{-3}\, Comment: 40 pages, uuencoded LATEX2e file including 13 eps figures, revised version to appear in Nucl. Phys. B

The standard model contribution to $\epsilon'/\epsilon$ of the magnetic- and electric-dipole penguin operators $Q_{11} = \frac{g_s}{16\pi^2} \, m_s \: \bar{s}\, \sigma_{\mu\nu} t^a G^{\mu\nu}_a (1-\gamma_5 )\, d $ and $Q_{12} = \frac{eQ_d}{16\pi^2}\, m_s \: \bar{s}\, \sigma_{\mu\nu} F^{\mu\nu} (1-\gamma_5 )\, d $ is discussed. While the electromagnetic penguin $Q_{12}$ seems to have a vanishingly small matrix element, we find that the gluonic dipole operator $Q_{11}$ may give a contribution to $\epsilon'/\epsilon$ comparable to that of other operators so far considered, and should therefore be consistently included in the analysis., Comment: 14 pages, LATEX, CERN-TH.7097/93 and SISSA 174/93/EP, (alternative evaluation of the hadronic matrix element and new tables)

The minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model allows for some of the coupling strengths to be complex parameters. The presence of such imaginary phases can lead to violations of time reversal invariance, which can be tested if correlations in products of an odd number of polarizations and momenta are measured and found to be different from zero. As an example, we consider the triple product $\mbox{\bf J} \cdot \left(\mbox{\bf p}_1 \times \mbox{\bf p}_ {2} \right)$ in the $\beta$-decay of the neutron, of the $\Sigma^-$, and in the decay $K^{+}_{3\mu}$. For these low-energy decays, we find that the present experimental precision is not enough to provide useful bounds on combinations of such phases and the masses of the supersymmetric particles. At higher energies, the same time reversal violating correlation in the semileptonic decay of the $t$ quark is of the order of $\alpha_s/\pi$, made bigger by the large mass of the decaying quark., Comment: 12 pages (2 figures, not included), CERN-TH.6688/92

We study the decay of the $Z$ vector boson into a photon and a massless (invisible) dark photon in high-energy collisions. The photon can be used as trigger for the event, while the dark photon is detected indirectly as missing momentum in the event final state. We investigate the possibility of searching for such a dark photon at the LHC, HL-LHC and future lepton colliders, and compare the respective sensitivities. As expected, the best result is found for the lepton colliders running at the $Z$ mass, FCC-ee and CEPC, with a final sensitivity to branching ratios of order $O(10^{-11})$. We also discuss how to use the photon angular distribution of the events in lepton collisions to discriminate between the dark photon and a pseudo-scalar state like the axion., 12 pages, 8 figures, G. Panizzo corresponding author

We study the $Z\rightarrow \gamma \bar \gamma$ process in which the $Z$ boson decays into a photon $\gamma$ and a massless dark photon $\bar \gamma$, when the latter couples to standard-model fermions via dipole moments. This is a simple yet nontrivial example of how the Landau-Yang theorem---ruling out the decay of a massive spin-1 particle into two photons---is evaded if the final particles can be distinguished. The striking signature of this process is a resonant monochromatic single photon in the $Z$-boson center of mass together with missing momentum. LEP experimental bounds allow a branching ratio up to about 10$^{-6}$ for such a decay. In a simplified model of the dark sector, the dark-photon dipole moments arise from one-loop exchange of heavy dark fermions and scalar messengers. The corresponding prediction for the rare $Z\to \gamma \bar \gamma$ decay width can be explored with the large samples of $Z$ bosons foreseen at future colliders., Comment: Same as published PRL version, minor comments added, 5 pages, 3 figures

If dark photons are massless, they couple to standard-model particles only via higher dimensional operators, while the kinetic mixing with photons, which motivates most of the current experimental searches, is absent. We consider the effect of possible flavor-changing magnetic-dipole couplings of massless dark photons in kaon physics. In particular, we study the branching ratio for the process $K^+\rightarrow \pi^+\pi^0 \bar \gamma$ with a simplified-model approach, assuming the chiral quark model to evaluate the hadronic matrix element. Possible effects in the $K^0$-$\bar K^0$ mixing are taken into account. We find that branching ratios up to $O(10^{-7})$ are allowed---depending on the dark-sector masses and couplings. Such large branching ratios for $K^+\rightarrow \pi^+\pi^0 \bar \gamma$ could be of interest for experiments dedicated to rare $K^+$ decays like NA62 at CERN, where $\bar \gamma$ can be detected as a massless invisible system., Comment: same as the published PRL version, 5 pages, 3 figures, a few comments and new references added