Search

The Fermi Large Area Telescope observed an excess in gamma ray emission spectrum coming from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This data reveals that a light Dark Matter (DM) candidate of mass in the range 31-40 GeV, dominantly decaying into $b\bar b$ final state, can explain the presence of the observed bump in photon energy. We try to interpret this observed phenomena by sneutrino DM annihilation into pair of fermions in the Supersymmetric Inverse Seesaw Model (SISM). This model can also account for tiny non-zero neutrino masses satisfying existing neutrino oscillation data. We show that a Higgs portal DM in this model is in perfect agreement with this new interpretation besides satisfying all other existing collider, cosmological and low energy experimental constraints., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, version accepted for publication in JCAP

We perform a thorough analysis of the parameter space of the minimal left-right supersymmetric model in agreement with the LHC data. The model contains left- and right-handed fermionic doublets, two Higgs bidoublets, two Higgs triplet representations, and one singlet, insuring a charge-conserving vacuum. We impose the condition that the model complies with the experimental constraints on supersymmetric particles masses and on the doubly-charged Higgs bosons, and require that the parameter space of the model satisfy the LHC data on neutral Higgs signal strengths at $2\sigma$. We choose benchmark scenarios by fixing some basic parameters and scanning over the rest. The LSP in our scenarios is always the lightest neutralino. We find that the signals for $H\to \gamma \gamma$ and $H \to VV^\star$ are correlated, while $H \to b \bar b$ is anti-correlated with all the other decay modes, and also that the contribution from singly-charged scalars dominate that of the doubly-charged scalars in $H\to \gamma \gamma$ and $H \to Z\gamma$ loops, contrary to Type-II seesaw models. We also illustrate the range for mass spectrum of the LRSUSY model in light of planned measurements of the branching ratio of $H\to \gamma \gamma$ to 10% level., Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures, revised version

We study the phenomenology of a keV sterile neutrino in a supersymmetric model with $U(1)_R-$ lepton number in the light of a very recent observation of an X-ray line signal at around 3.5 keV, detected in the X-ray spectra of Andromeda galaxy and various galaxy clusters including the Perseus galaxy cluster. This model not only provides a small tree level mass to one of the active neutrinos but also renders a suitable warm dark matter candidate in the form of a sterile neutrino with negligible active-sterile mixing. Light neutrino masses and mixing can be explained once one-loop radiative corrections are taken into account. The scalar sector of this model can accommodate a Higgs boson with a mass of $\sim$ 125 GeV. In this model gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and we also study the cosmological implications of this light gravitino with mass $\sim \mathcal O$(GeV)., Comment: V2, minor modifications in the text, references added, published in JHEP

We discuss both MSSM and NMSSM scenarios in which the lightest Higgs boson with $m_h=98$~GeV is consistent with the small excess ($\sim 2.3 \sigma$) observed at the LEP in $e^+ e^-\rightarrow Zh$, with $h \rightarrow b {\bar b}$ process and the heavier Higgs boson of mass close to 125~GeV as the observed candidate of the SM Higgs like particle at the LHC. We show the allowed regions in the non-decoupling Higgs zone of MSSM parameter space which are consistent with several low energy constraints coming from heavy flavour physics, latest experimental data on Higgs signals and lower limit on superparticle masses from 7~TeV and 8~TeV LHC run. We also implement the constraints from the relic density of the cold dark matter as obtained from the recent PLANCK data. Additionally, we discuss the possibility of observing the light Higgs boson of mass 98~GeV at the 14~TeV LHC run via $pp \rightarrow V h$, with $h \rightarrow b \bar b$ using the technique of jet substructure. Our analysis shows that at 14~TeV LHC run with 300 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ luminosity the signal efficiency of such a light Higgs boson is at most 2.5$\sigma$. Finally, we make a comment on the prospect of proposed $e^+ e^-$ ILC to discover/exclude this light Higgs boson., Comment: 34 pages, 9 Figures, pdfLaTex

The ATLAS and CMS collaborations have observed independently at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) a new Higgs-like particle with a mass $M_h \sim$ 125 GeV and properties similar to that predicted by the Standard Model (SM). Although the measurements indicate that this Higgs-like boson is compatible with the SM hypothesis, however due to large uncertainties in some of the Higgs detection channels, one still has the possibility of testing this object as being a candidate for some Beyond the SM (BSM) physics scenarios, for example, the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), in the CP-conserving version (CPC-MSSM). In this paper, we evaluate the modifications of these CPC-MSSM results when CP-violating (CPV) phases are turned on explicitly, leading to the CP-violating MSSM (CPV-MSSM). We investigate the role of the CPV phases in (some of) the soft Supersymmetry (SUSY) terms on both the mass of the lightest Higgs boson $h_1$, and the rates for the processes $gg \rightarrow h_1 \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$, $gg \rightarrow h_1 \rightarrow ZZ^*\rightarrow 4l$, $gg \rightarrow h_1 \rightarrow WW^*\rightarrow l \nu l \nu$, $pp \rightarrow V h_1 \rightarrow V b\bar b$ and $pp \rightarrow V h_1 \rightarrow V \tau^+\tau^-$, ($V \equiv W^\pm, Z$) at the LHC, considering the impact of the flavor constraints as well as the constraints coming from the Electric Dipole Moment (EDM) measurements. We find that the imaginary part of the top and bottom Yukawa couplings can take very small but non-zero values even after satisfying the recent updates from LHC. Our study shows that the CPV-MSSM provides an equally potential solution (like its CP-conserving (CPC) counterpart) to the recent LHC Higgs data. Improvement in different Higgs coupling measurements is necessary in order to test the possibility of probing the small dependence on these CPV phases in the Higgs sector of the MSSM., Comment: 34 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables; figures updated, new references added, accepted for the publication in PRD

The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC have collected about 20 $fb^{-1}$ of data each at the end of their 8 TeV run, and ruled out a huge swath of parameter space in the context of Minimally Supersymmetric Standard Model(MSSM). Limits on masses of the gluino ($\tilde{g}$) and the squarks of the first two generations($\tilde{q}$) have been pushed to the TeV range. Light third generation squarks namely stop and sbottom of sub-TeV masses, on the other hand, are still allowed by their direct search limits. Interestingly, the discovery of a Standard Model(SM) higgs boson like particle with a mass of $\sim$ 125 GeV favours a light third generation which is also motivated by naturalness arguments. Decays of stop and sbottom quarks can in general produce a number of distinct final states which necessitate different search strategies in the collider experiments. In this paper we, on the other hand, propose a general search strategy to look for third generation squarks in the final state which contains a top quark in the sample along with two additional hard leptons and substantial missing transverse momentum. We illustrate that a search strategy using the dileptonic $M_{T2}$, the effective mass $m_{eff}$ and jet substructure to reconstruct the hadronic top quark can be very effective to reduce the SM backgrounds. With the proposed search strategy, we estimate that the third generation squarks with masses up to about 800 GeV can be probed at the 14 TeV LHC with a 100 $fb^{-1}$ data set. We also interpret our results in two simplified scenarios where we consider the stop (sbottom) pair production followed by their subsequent decay to a top quark and the second lightest neutralino (lightest chargino). In this case also we find that stop (sbottom) mass up to 1 TeV (0.9 TeV) can be discovered at the 14 TeV LHC with 100 $fb^{-1}$ integrated luminosity., Comment: Estimate of detector effects and some more benchmark points have been included, more discussion and references added, accepted for publication in JHEP

We study a simple extension of the Standard Model supplemented by an electroweak triplet scalar field to accommodate small neutrino masses by the type-II seesaw mechanism, while an additional singlet scalar field can play the role of cold dark matter (DM) in our Universe. This DM candidate is leptophilic for a wide range of model parameter space, and the lepton flux due to its annihilation carries information about the neutrino mass hierarchy. Using the recently released high precision data on positron fraction and flux from the AMS-02 experiment, we examine the DM interpretation of the observed positron excess in our model for two kinematically distinct scenarios with the DM and triplet scalar masses (a) non-degenerate ($m_{\rm DM}\gg m_{\Delta}$), and (b) quasi-degenerate ($m_{\rm DM} \simeq m_\Delta$). We find that a good fit to the AMS-02 data can be obtained in both cases (a) and (b) with a normal hierarchy of neutrino masses, while the inverted hierarchy case is somewhat disfavored. Although we require a larger boost factor for the normal hierarchy case, this is still consistent with the current upper limits derived from Fermi-LAT and IceCube data for case (a). Moreover, the absence of an excess anti-proton flux as suggested by PAMELA data sets an indirect upper limit on the DM-nucleon spin-independent elastic scattering cross section which is stronger than the existing DM direct detection bound from LUX in the AMS-02 preferred DM mass range., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables; version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

We study the vacuum stability and unitarity conditions for a 125 GeV Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs boson mass in the type-II seesaw model. We find that, as long as the seesaw scale is introduced below the SM vacuum instability bound, there exists a large parameter space predicting a 125 GeV Higgs mass, irrespective of the exact value of the seesaw scale, satisfying both stability and unitarity conditions up to the Planck scale. We also study the model predictions for the Higgs partial decay widths in the diphoton and Z+photon channels with respect to their SM expectations and find that the decay rates for these two processes are correlated. We further show that for any given enhancement in the Higgs-to-diphoton rate over its SM expectation, there exists an upper bound on the type-II seesaw scale, and hence, on the masses of the associated doubly- and singly-charged Higgs bosons in the allowed parameter space. For instance, if more than 10% enhancement persists in the Higgs-to-diphoton channel, the upper limit on the type-II seesaw scale is about 450 GeV which is completely within the reach of the 14 TeV LHC. We believe this to be an encouraging result for the experimental searches of the singly- and doubly-charged Higgs bosons which, in combination with improved sensitivity in the Higgs-to-diphoton and Higgs-to-Z+photon signal strengths, could probe the entire allowed parameter space of the minimal type-II seesaw model, and establish/eliminate it as a single viable extension of the SM., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; corrected Eq. (5.11) and related discussion, updated Table 2 and Figures 5-7

The Littest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT), apart from offering a viable solution to the naturalness problem of the Standard Model, also predicts a set of new fermions as well as a candidate for dark matter. We explore the possibility of discovering the heavy T-odd quark Q_H at the LHC in a final state comprising two hard jets with a large missing transverse momentum. Also discussed is the role of heavy flavor tagging., Comment: Changes in text. Some references added

The CP-violating version of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is an example of a model where experimental data do not preclude the presence of light Higgs bosons in the range around 10 -- 110 GeV. Such light Higgs bosons, decaying almost wholly to b-bbar pairs, may be copiously produced at the LHC, but would remain inaccessible to conventional Higgs searches because of intractable QCD backgrounds. We demonstrate that a significant number of these light Higgs bosons would be boosted strongly enough for the pair of daughter $b$-jet pairs to appear as a single `fat' jet with substructure. Tagging such jets could extend the discovery potential at the LHC into the hitherto-inaccessible region for light Higgs bosons., Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, 5 eps figures and 5 tables embedded. minor changes, to appear in Physical Review D

Some yet unknown dynamics is expected to be at work behind the flavor puzzles of the Standard Model. Speculations exist that this may manifest itself in significant strength at the terascale. One consequence may be lepton flavor violation with total lepton number conserved. Already observed in neutrino oscillation experiments, such a phenomenon may show up more prominently at TeV energies, thus signaling a completely new physics. Proposed flavor violating charged dilepton states have already been studied with reference to the LHC. Here we study the production and detection at the LHC of flavor violating charged quadrileptons which are shown to have certain advantages over dileptons in searching for lepton flavor violation. A classification of all six-fermionic operators, in the chiral basis and contributing to such processes, is made and the corresponding cross section for each in 14 TeV pp collisions is computed under the hypothesis of single operator dominance. We further present the sensitivity reach of the new physics scale $\Lambda$ in terms of the integrated luminosity., Comment: 16 pages (single column format), 5 eps figures, some typos corrected and references reordered

We investigate how far a new physics scenario affecting primarily the third generation fermions can ameliorate the tension between B-decay observables and Standard Model expectations. Adopting a model-independent approach, we find that among the three observables that show signs of such a tension, viz. the branching fractions for $B^+\to\tau\nu$, $B_d\to D(D^\ast)\tau\nu$, and the like-sign dimuon anomaly in neutral B decays, the first two can be explained adequately, while there is only a marginal improvement for the third. As a spin-off, it is shown that one can also accommodate a change in the branching fraction of the Higgs boson to a $\tau$ lepton pair from the SM expectation, if such a change is established in future data., Comment: Almost identical with version 2, version published in Phys. Rev. D