Search

Quantum tomography provides the full reconstruction of the density matrix of a state. We use it to study the Higgs boson decay into weak gauge bosons. Anomalous couplings beyond the Standard Model can be constrained by means of observables easily defined in terms of entries of the polarization density matrix. We describe a strategy based on two observables that together provide the most stringent limits. One of these observables is linked to entanglement between the polarizations of the two gauge bosons, the other to CP-odd combinations of one momentum and two polarizations. We find that this strategy could offer, already with the available LHC data, an improvement by a factor of 5 to one order of magnitude with respect to the best current bounds., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, connection to helicity amplitudes has been made clearer

The violation of the Bell inequality is one of the hallmarks of quantum mechanics and can be used to rule out local deterministic alternative descriptions. We utilize the data analysis published by the LHCb collaboration on the helicity amplitudes for the decay $B^0\to J/ψ\, K^{*}(892)^0$ to compute the entanglement among the polarizations of the final vector mesons and the violation of Bell inequality that it entails. We find that the violation has a significance of 36$σ$ -- thereby firmly establishing this distinguishing feature of quantum mechanics at high energies in a collider setting and in the presence of strong and weak interactions. The Bell inequality is also violated in other decays of the $B$ mesons into vector mesons, but with lesser significance., 8 pages

Quantum entanglement of weak interaction gauge bosons produced at colliders can be explored by computing the corresponding polarization density matrix. To this end, we consider the Higgs boson decays $H\to W W^*$ and $H\to Z Z^*$, in which $W^*$ and $Z^*$ are off-shell states, and the $WW$, $WZ$ and $ZZ$ di-boson production in proton collisions. The polarization density matrix of the di-boson state is determined by the amplitude of the production process and can be experimentally reconstructed from the angular distribution of the momenta of the charged leptons into which the gauge boson decays. We show that a suitable instance of the Bell inequality is violated in $H\to Z Z^*$ to a degree that can be tested at the LHC with future data. The same Bell inequality is violated in the production of $WW$ and $ZZ$ boson pairs for invariant masses above 900 GeV and scattering angles close to $\pi/2$ in the center of mass frame. LHC data in this case are not sufficient to establish the violation of the Bell inequality. We also analyze the prospects for detecting Bell inequality violations in di-boson final states at future $e^+e^-$ and muon colliders. A further observable that provides a lower bound on the amount of polarization entanglement in the di-boson system is computed for each of the examined processes. The analytic expressions for the polarization density matrices are presented in full in an Appendix. We also provide the unitary matrices required in the optimization procedure necessary in testing the Bell inequalities., Comment: 58 pages, 18 figures, uncertainty analysis improved, entropy observable added

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

We discuss how two birds---the little hierarchy problem of low-scale type-I seesaw models and the search for a viable dark matter candidate---are (proverbially) killed by one stone: a new inert scalar state, 5 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1212.5065

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 consider the standard model without the Higgs boson, where the Goldstone modes are described by a nonlinear sigma model. We study the renormalization group flow of the sigma model coupling f and of the electroweak parameters S and T. The condition that the couplings reach a fixed point at high energy leaves the low energy values of f and T arbitrary (to be determined experimentally) and fixes S to a value compatible with electroweak precision data., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We study the beta functions of the leading, two-derivative terms of the left-gauged SU(N) nonlinear sigma-model in d dimensions. In d>2, we find the usual Gaussian ultraviolet fixed point for the gauge coupling and an attractive non-Gaussian fixed point for the Goldstone boson coupling. The position of the latter fixed point controls the chiral expansion, unitarity and the strength of the tree-level Goldstone boson scattering amplitudes. Attention is paid to the gauge- and scheme-dependence of the results., REVTeX4, 11 pages, no figures, v2. Revised version accepted for publication in PRD where comments on large N have been removed

These proceedings collect the presentations given at the first three meetings of the INFN "Workshop on Monte Carlo's, Physics and Simulations at the LHC", held at the Frascati National Laboratories in 2006. The first part of these proceedings contains pedagogical introductions to several basic topics of both theoretical and experimental high pT LHC physics. The second part collects more specialised presentations., Comment: 157 pages, 136 figures; contribution by M. Grazzini has been added

These proceedings collect the presentations given at the first three meetings of the INFN "Workshop on Monte Carlo's, Physics and Simulations at the LHC", held at the Frascati National Laboratories in 2006. The first part of these proceedings contains pedagogical introductions to several basic topics of both theoretical and experimental high pT LHC physics. The second part collects more specialised presentations., Comment: 239 pages, 222 figures

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

We discuss the interplay between direct constraints on non-Newtonian gravity and particle-physics bounds in models with large extra dimensions. Existing and future bounds and the most effective ways of further testing these models in gravitational experiments are compared and discussed., 5 pages, 4 figures, revTeX 4

I discuss the estimate of the CP-violating parameter eps'/eps based on hadronic matrix elements computed in the chiral quark model. This estimate suggested, before the current experimental results, that the favored value of eps'/eps in the standard model is of the order of 10^{-3}. I briefly review the physical effects on which this result is based and summarize current estimates., Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, conference proceedings, ICHEP2000, Osaka (July 27 - August 2, 2000), and IVth Rencontres du Vietnam, Hanoi (July 19-25, 2000)

The real part of epsilon'/epsilon measures direct CP violation in the decays of the neutral kaons in two pions. It is a fundamental quantity which has justly attracted a great deal of theoretical as well as experimental work. Its determination may answer the question of whether CP violation is present only in the mass matrix of neutral kaons (the superweak scenario) or also at work directly in the decays. After a brief historical summary, we discuss the present and expected experimental sensitivities. In the light of these, we come to the problem of estimating epsilon'/epsilon in the standard model. We review the present (circa 1998) status of the theoretical predictions of epsilon'/epsilon. The short-distance part of the computation is now known to the next-to-leading order in QCD and QED and therefore well under control. On the other hand, the evaluation of the hadronic matrix element of the relevant operators is where most of the theoretical uncertainty still resides. We analyze the results of the currently most developed calculations. The values of the B_i parameters in the various approaches are discussed, together with the allowed range of the relevant combination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa entries Im V_{td}V^*_{ts}. We conclude by summarizing and comparing all up-to-date predictions of epsilon'/epsilon. Because of the intrinsic uncertainties of the long-distance computations, values ranging from 10^{-4} to a few times 10^{-3} can be accounted for in the standard model. Since this range covers most of the present experimental uncertainty, it is unlikely that new physics effects can be disentangled from the standard model prediction. For updates on the review and additional material see http://www.he.sissa.it/review/., 42 pages, 13 figures. To appear in Reviews of Modern Physics

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 $��I= 1/2$ 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 $\widehat B_K$ parameter and the mass difference $��M_{LS}$ of the $K^0-\bar K^0$ system by means of the chiral quark model. The chiral coefficients of the relevant $��S=2$ and $��S=1$ chiral lagrangians are computed via quark-loop integration. We include the relevant effects of one-loop corrections in chiral perturbation theory. The final result is very sensitive to non-factorizable corrections of $O(��_S N)$ coming from gluon condensation. The size of the gluon condensate is determined by fitting the experimental value of the amplitude $K^+ \to ��^+��^0$. By varying all the relevant parameters we obtain $\widehat{B}_K= 0.87 \pm 0.33\ .$ We evaluate within the model the long-distance contributions to $��M_{LS}$ induced by the double insertion of the $��S = 1$ chiral lagrangian and study the interplay between short- and long-distance amplitudes. By varying all parameters we obtain $��M_{LS}^{th}/��M_{LS}^{exp} = 0.76 ^{+0.64}_{-0.34} .$ Finally, we investigate the phenomenological constraints on the Kobayashi-Maskawa parameter Im $��_t$ entering the determination of $��'/��$., 31 pages, Latex file including 7 eps figures. Revised version to appear in Nucl. Phys. 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

We study the $CP$-violating, $|��S| =1$ parameter $\varepsilon '/\varepsilon$ by computing the hadronic matrix elements in the chiral quark model. We estimate the coefficients of the next-to-leading order terms in the chiral expansion that correspond to the operators $Q_6$ and $Q_{11}$. We consider the impact of these corrections on the value of $\varepsilon '/\varepsilon$. We also investigate the possibility that the chiral quark model might drastically reduce the dimensional regularization $��_5$-scheme dependence of current evaluations of $\varepsilon '/\varepsilon$., 38 pages, LATEX, including 4 eps figures

T-odd correlations of polarizations and momenta provide a promising testing ground for new physics beyond the standard model. We estimate the contribution of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model to two such observables: in the production of $t\bar{t}$, we look for a term proportional to \mbox{${\bf J}_t \cdot ({\bf p}_q \times {\bf p}_{t})$}-where {\bf J}$_t$ is the polarization of the $t$ quark and {\bf p} $_{q,t}$ are the momenta of the initial and final particles-and find that it is of the order of $10^{-1} \times (\alpha_s/\pi)$. In the production of $W^+W^-$, we look for a term proportional to \mbox{${\bf E}_W \cdot ({\bf p}_q \times {\bf p}_{W})({\bf p}_q \cdot {\bf E}_W)$}-where {\bf E}$_W$ is the transverse polarization of W- to find that it can be as large as $10^{-1} \times (\alpha_w/\pi)$., Comment: 16 pages (8 figures, not included)

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

The standard model contribution to $��'/��$ of the magnetic- and electric-dipole penguin operators $Q_{11} = \frac{g_s}{16��^2} \, m_s \: \bar{s}\, ��_{����} t^a G^{����}_a (1-��_5 )\, d $ and $Q_{12} = \frac{eQ_d}{16��^2}\, m_s \: \bar{s}\, ��_{����} F^{����} (1-��_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 $��'/��$ comparable to that of other operators so far considered, and should therefore be consistently included in the analysis., 14 pages, LATEX, CERN-TH.7097/93 and SISSA 174/93/EP, (alternative evaluation of the hadronic matrix element and new tables)

This note proposes common standards and prescriptions for the effective-field-theory interpretation of top-quark measurements at the LHC., Comment: LHC TOP WG note, 10 pages of main text, 5 appendices, 1 figure, 21 tables

The $\mu^+ \to e^+ X$ decay, where $X$ is a dark sector boson, provides one of the strongest available bounds on the scale of dark sector interactions. The $X$ boson can be an axion or a dark photon. We show that the concurrent determination of the anti-muon and positron polarizations makes possible to distinguish with a confidence level of 99% between the two dark sector portals with as few as 6 observed events in the case of the massless dark photon. Instead, the massive spin-1, dimension 4 dark portal cannot be distinguished from the axion-like case. We also discuss the possibility that the $X$ boson be a massive spin-2 particle., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Same as published version, new results included, a few typos corrected

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