Search

Conventional indirect dark matter (DM) searches look for an excess in the electromagnetic emission from the sky that cannot be attributed to known astrophysical sources. Here, we argue that the photon polarisation is an important feature to understand new physics interactions and can be exploited to improve our sensitivity to DM. In particular, circular polarisation can be generated from Beyond the Standard Model interactions if they violate parity and there is an asymmetry in the number of particles which participate in the interaction. In this work, we consider a simplified model for fermionic (Majorana) DM and study the circularly polarised gamma rays below 10 GeV from the scattering of cosmic ray electrons on DM. We calculate the differential flux of positive and negative polarised photons from the Galactic Center and show that the degree of circular polarization can reach up to 90%. Finally, once collider and DM constraints have been taken into account, we estimate the required sensitivity from future experiments to detect this signal finding that, although a distinctive peak will be present in the photon flux spectrum, a near future observation is unlikely. However, different sources or models not considered in this work could provide higher intensity fluxes, leading to a possible detection by e-ASTROGAM. In the event of a discovery, we argue that the polarisation fraction is a valuable characterisation feature of the new sector., 25 pages, 8 figures. Minor changes. Final version, published in Physics of the Dark Universe

Interferences are not positive-definite and therefore they can change sign over the phase space. If the contributions of the regions where the interference is positive and negative nearly cancel each other, interference effects are hard to measure. In this paper, we propose a method to quantify the ability of an observable to separate an interference positive and negative contributions and therefore to revive the interference effects in measurements. We apply this method to the anomalous gluon operator in the SMEFT for which the interference suppression is well-known. We show that we can get contraints on its coefficient, using the interference only, similar to those obtained by including the square of the new physics amplitude., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We present the automation of one-loop computations in the standard-model effective field theory at dimension 6. Our general implementation, dubbed smeft@nlo, covers all types of operators: bosonic and two- and four-fermion ones. Included ultraviolet and rational counterterms presently allow for fully differential predictions, possibly matched to the parton shower, up to the one-loop level in the strong coupling or in four-quark operator coefficients. Exact flavor symmetries are imposed among light quark generations, and an initial focus is set on top-quark interactions in the fermionic sector. We illustrate the potential of this implementation with novel loop-induced and next-to-leading-order computations relevant for top-quark, electroweak, and Higgs-boson phenomenology at the LHC and future colliders.

The automation of one-loop amplitudes plays a key role in addressing several computational challenges for hadron collider phenomenology: They are needed for simulations including next-to-leading-order corrections, which can be large at hadron colliders. They also allow the exact computation of loop-induced processes. A high degree of automation has now been achieved in public codes that do not require expert knowledge and can be widely used in the high-energy physics community. In this article, we review many of the methods and tools used for the different steps of automated one-loop amplitude calculations: renormalization of the Lagrangian, derivation and evaluation of the amplitude, its decomposition onto a basis of scalar integrals and their subsequent evaluation, as well as computation of the rational terms.

We investigate the production of circularly polarised X and gamma-ray signals in cosmic accelerators such as supernova remnants and AGN jets. Proton-proton and proton-photon collisions within these sites produce a charge asymmetry in the distribution of mesons and muons that eventually leads to a net circular polarisation signal as these particles decay radiatively. We find that the fraction of circular polarisation thus produced is at the level of $ 5 \times 10^{-4}$, regardless of the exact beam spectrum, as long as it is made predominantly of protons. While this fraction is very small, the detection of circular polarisation signals in conjunction with high-energy neutrinos would provide an unambiguous signature of the presence of high-energy protons in cosmic accelerators. In Supernovae shocks in particular, this would indicate the presence of relativistic protons hitting stationary protons and/or low-energy photons in the intergalactic or interstellar medium., 16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted version

Modern global analyses of the structure of the proton include collider measurements which probe energies well above the electroweak scale. While these provide powerful constraints on the parton distribution functions (PDFs), they are also sensitive to beyond the standard model (BSM) dynamics if these affect the fitted distributions. Here we present a first simultaneous determination of the PDFs and BSM effects from deep-inelastic structure function data by means of the NNPDF framework. We consider representative four-fermion operators from the SM effective field theory (SMEFT), quantify to which extent their effects modify the fitted PDFs, and assess how the resulting bounds on the SMEFT degrees of freedom are modified. Our results demonstrate how BSM effects that might otherwise be reabsorbed into the PDFs can be systematically disentangled.

We perform a global fit within the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone dark matter (DM) model emerging from an additional complex scalar singlet with a softly broken global U(1) symmetry. Leading to a momentum-suppressed DM-nucleon cross section at tree level, the model provides a natural explanation for the null results from direct detection experiments. Our global fit combines constraints from perturbative unitarity, DM relic abundance, Higgs invisible decay, electroweak precision observables and latest Higgs searches at colliders. The results are presented in both frequentist and Bayesian statistical frameworks. Furthermore, post-processing our samples, we include the likelihood from gamma-ray observations of $\mathit{Fermi}$-LAT dwarf spheroidal galaxies and compute the one-loop DM-nucleon cross section. We find two favoured regions characterised by their dominant annihilation channel: the Higgs funnel and annihilation into Higgs pairs. Both are compatible with current $\mathit{Fermi}$-LAT observations, and furthermore, can fit the slight excess observed in four dwarfs in a mass range between about 30-300 GeV. While the former region is hard to probe experimentally, the latter can partly be tested by current observations of cosmic-ray antiprotons as well as future gamma-ray observations., Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; v2: Matches version published in JHEP

We study the effects of new physics in double Higgs production at future $e^+ e^-$ colliders. In the Standard Model the chiral limit ($m_e=0$) plays an important role for this process, being responsible for the smallness of the tree-level diagrams with respect to the 1-loop contributions. In our work, we consider the possibility of an enhancement due to the contribution of Standard Model dimension-six effective operators. We show that there are only two relevant operators for this process that are not yet (strongly) constrained by other data. We perform a sensitivity study on the operator coefficients for several benchmark values of energy and integrated luminosity related to the proposed linear colliders such as CLIC, ILC and FCC-ee and we derive expected 95% CL limits for each benchmark scenario., 17 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. New references added

We compute the decay widths for the neutral and singly-charged Higgs bosons in the Georgi-Machacek model into the final states $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$, $Z\ensuremath{\gamma}$, and $W\ensuremath{\gamma}$. These decays are most phenomenologically interesting for the fermiophobic custodial fiveplet states ${H}_{5}^{0}$ and ${H}_{5}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ when their masses are below threshold for decays into $WW$, $ZZ$, or $WZ$. We study the allowed branching ratios into these final states using scans over the allowed parameter space, and show how the model can be constrained by LEP searches for a fermiophobic Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The calculation involves evaluating one-loop diagrams in which the loop contains particles with two different masses, some of which do not appear in the existing literature. We give results for these diagrams in a form convenient for numerical implementation using the looptools package.

International audience; We study the effect of dimension-six operators of the standard model effective field theory relevant for vector-boson fusion and associated Higgs boson production at the LHC. We present predictions at the next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD that include matching to parton showers and that rely on fully automated simulations. We show the importance of the subsequent reduction of the theoretical uncertainties in improving the possible discrimination between effective field theory and standard model results and investigate the impact of including the squared contributions of the new operators given current constraints from global fits to low energy and LHC data. The difference between including and not including these formally higher order contributions was found to be significant in the associated production case, suggesting that an effective field theory interpretation of current measurements lies on the edge of its validity range.

We discuss the effect of heavy new physics, parameterised in terms of four-fermion operators, in the polarisation of single top (anti-)quarks in the $t$-channel process at the LHC. It is found that for operators involving a right-handed top quark field the relative effect on the longitudinal polarisation is twice larger than the relative effect on the total cross section. This enhanced dependence on possible four-fermion contributions makes the polarisation measurements specially interesting, in particular at high momenta., LaTeX 10 pages. v2: comments and references added, journal version

We study the impact of dimension-six operators of the standard model effective field theory relevant for vector-boson fusion and associated Higgs boson production at the LHC. We present predictions at the next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD that include matching to parton showers and that rely on fully automated simulations. We show the importance of the subsequent reduction of the theoretical uncertainties in improving the possible discrimination between effective field theory and standard model results, and we demonstrate that the range of the Wilson coefficient values allowed by a global fit to LEP and LHC Run~I data can be further constrained by LHC Run~II future results., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures; version accepted by EPJC

The work of RF is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, in the framework of the Sofja Kovaleskaja Award Project “Event Simulation for the Large Hadron Collider at High Precision”; the work of VH is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) with grant PBELP2 146525; the work of MW is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) under contract 200020-141360; and the work of MZ is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodovska-Curie grant agreement No. 660171 and in part by the ILP LABEX (ANR-10-LABX-63), in turn supported by French state funds managed by the ANR within the “Investissements d'Avenir” programme under reference ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02. MU is supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship and partially supported by the STFC grant ST/L000385/1.

The study of anomalous electromagnetic emission in the sky is the basis of indirect searches for dark matter. It is also a powerful tool to constrain the radiative decay of active neutrinos. Until now, quantitative analyses have focused on the flux and energy spectrum of such an emission; polarisation has never been considered. Here we show that we could be missing out on an essential piece of information. The radiative decay of neutrinos, as well as the interactions of dark matter and neutrinos with Standard Model particles can generate a circular polarisation signal in X-rays or \gamma-rays. If observed, this could reveal important information about their spatial distribution and particle-antiparticle ratio, and could even reveal the nature of the high-energy particle physics processes taking place in astrophysical sites. The question of the observability of these polarised signatures and their separation from background astrophysical sources is left for future work., Comment: 12 pages, published in JCAP

We carry out a detailed study of multi-Higgs production processes in the gluon fusion channel in the high-energy regime relevant to future circular hadron colliders and in the high-Higgs-multiplicity limit (≥20). Our results are based on the computation of the leading polygons—the triangles, boxes, pentagons and hexagons—to the scattering processes, further combined with the subsequent branchings to reach high final-state multiplicities. The factorial growth of the number of diagrams leads to an exponential enhancement of such large-multiplicity cross sections and, ultimately, to the breaking of perturbativity. We find that the characteristic energy and multiplicity scales where these perturbative rates become highly enhanced and grow with increasing energy are within the 100 TeV regime, on the order of 130 Higgses (or more) in the final state. We also show that already for a 50 TeV hadron collider, the perturbative cross sections for 140 bosons are at the picobarn level.

We obtain predictions accurate at the next-to-leading order in QCD for the production of a generic spin-two particle in the most relevant channels at the LHC: production in association with coloured particles (inclusive, one jet, two jets and $t\bar t$), with vector bosons ($Z,W^\pm,\gamma$) and with the Higgs boson. We present total and differential cross sections as well as branching ratios as a function of the mass and the collision energy also considering the case of non-universal couplings to standard model particles. We find that the next-to-leading order corrections give rise to sizeable $K$ factors for many channels, in some cases exposing the unitarity-violating behaviour of non-universal couplings scenarios, and in general greatly reduce the theoretical uncertainties. Our predictions are publicly available in the MadGraph5\_aMC@NLO framework and can, therefore, be directly used in experimental simulations of spin-two particle production for arbitrary values of the mass and couplings., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; v2: update references, rewrite the introduction, add mass scanning, remove all 750 GeV references, the model file can be found http://feynrules.irmp.ucl.ac.be/wiki/NLOModels

We present a new model format for automatized matrix-element generators, the so- called Universal FeynRules Output (UFO). The format is universal in the sense that it features compatibility with more than one single generator and is designed to be flexible, modular and agnostic of any assumption such as the number of particles or the color and Lorentz structures appearing in the interaction vertices. Unlike other model formats where text files need to be parsed, the information on the model is encoded into a Python module that can easily be linked to other computer codes. We then describe an interface for the Mathematica package FeynRules that allows for an automatic output of models in the UFO format., 30 pages, 2 figures, version accepted by CPC

In this paper we study the production of a heavy charged Higgs boson in association with heavy quarks at the LHC, in a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model. We present for the first time fully-differential results obtained in the four-flavour scheme at NLO accuracy, both at fixed order and including the matching with parton showers. Relevant differential distributions are studied for two values of the charged boson mass and a thorough comparison is performed between predictions obtained in the four- and five-flavour schemes. We show that the agreement between the two schemes is improved by NLO(+PS) corrections for observables inclusive in the degrees of freedom of bottom quarks. We argue that the four-flavour scheme leads to more reliable predictions, thanks to its accurate description of the bottom-quark kinematics and its small dependence on the Monte Carlos, which in turn is rather large in the five-flavour scheme. A detailed set of recommendations for the simulation of this process in experimental analyses at the LHC is provided.

We present a fully automated framework based on the FeynRules and MadGraph5 aMC@NLO programs that allows for accurate simulations of supersymmetric QCD processes at the LHC. Starting directly from a model Lagrangian that features squark and gluino interactions, event generation is achieved at the next-to-leading order in QCD, matching short-distance events to parton showers and including the subsequent decay of the produced supersymmetric particles. As an application, we study the impact of higher-order corrections in gluino pair-production in a simplified benchmark scenario inspired by current gluino LHC searches., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Version accepted by PLB. UFO model to be downloaded from https://feynrules.irmp.ucl.ac.be/wiki/NLOModels

We present for the first time the full automation of collider predictions matched with parton showers at the next-to-leading accuracy in QCD within non-trivial extensions of the Standard Model. The sole inputs required from the user are the model Lagrangian and the process of interest. As an application of the above, we explore scenarios beyond the Standard Model where new colored scalar particles can be pair produced in hadron collisions. Using simplified models to describe the new field interactions with the Standard Model, we present precision predictions for the LHC within the MadGraph5 aMC@NLO framework., 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; version accepted by PRD; UFO model files can be obtained from https://feynrules.irmp.ucl.ac.be/wiki/NLOModels

The heaviest fermion is expected to couple strongly to new physics and appears therefore as a natural probe in many BSM scenarios. Moreover, top physics has now entered in a precision era thanks to the huge amount of top quarks produced at hadron colliders, advanced experimental methods and accurate theoretical predictions. In this talk, we will used effective field theory to search for heavy new physics in a model independent way. This method can also be used to quantify the room left for new physics if no deviation from the SM is found., Comment: To appear in the proceedings XXII. International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects (DIS 2014), 28 April - 2 May 2014, Warsaw, Poland

Four independent dimension-eight operators give rise to anomalous neutral triple gauge boson interactions, one CP-even and three CP-odd. Only the CP-even operator interferes with the Standard Model for the production of a pair of on-shell neutral bosons. However, the effects are found to be tiny due mainly to the mismatch of the Z boson polarization between the productions from the SM and the new operator., Comment: 13 pages, v2 : typo corrected in eqs., ref. added, published version

The Two Higgs Doublet Model at NLO is generated automatically by FeynRules and NLOCT and allows any computation to be performed at NLO in QCD inside MadGraph5_aMC@NLO. The model can handle both four and five massless flavours. Preliminary results of the shape comparison between the two schemes are shown., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Prospects for Charged Higgs Discovery at Colliders 2014 proceeding

Computations at next-to-leading order in the Standard Model offer new technical challenges in presence of higher dimensional operators. We introduce a framework that, starting from the top-quark effective field theory at dimension six, allows to make predictions for cross sections as well as distributions in a fully automatic way. As an application, we present the first complete results at NLO in QCD for flavor changing neutral interactions including parton shower effects, for $tZ$, $th$, $t\gamma$ associated production at the LHC., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

FeynRules is a Mathematica-based package which addresses the implementation of particle physics models, which are given in the form of a list of fields, parameters and a Lagrangian, into high-energy physics tools. It calculates the underlying Feynman rules and outputs them to a form appropriate for various programs such as CalcHEP, FeynArts, MadGraph, Sherpa and Whizard. Since the original version, many new features have been added: support for two-component fermions, spin-3/2 and spin-2 fields, superspace notation and calculations, automatic mass diagonalization, completely general FeynArts output, a new universal FeynRules output interface, a new Whizard interface, automatic 1 to 2 decay width calculation, improved speed and efficiency, new guidelines for validation and a new web-based validation package. With this feature set, FeynRules enables models to go from theory to simulation and comparison with experiment quickly, efficiently and accurately., 120 pages; 30 tables; version accepted by CPC

We investigate the impact of heavy new physics on W bosons productions at hadron colliders using an effective field theory. After listing all the relevant dimension-six operators, their effects are computed taking into account LEP constraints. Additionally, the effective approach is compared to anomalous couplings regarding several issues like unitarity., 5 pages, 4 figures, HCP2012 proceedings

After a short introduction to effective field theories, most of their features are illustrated using the top decay. The effects of heavy new physics on the top decay are computed and the constraints on the coefficients of the dimension-six operators are derived from the available measurements., 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings for Top2012

We advocate an effective field theory approach to anomalous couplings. The effective field theory approach is the natural way to extend the standard model such that the gauge symmetries are respected. It is general enough to capture any physics beyond the standard model, yet also provides guidance as to the most likely place to see the effects of new physics. The effective field theory approach also clarifies that one need not be concerned with the violation of unitarity in scattering processes at high energy. We apply these ideas to pair production of electroweak vector bosons., Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure

Effective interactions involving both the top quark and the Higgs field are among the least constrained of all possible (gauge invariant) dimension-six operators in the Standard Model. Such a handful of operators, in particular the top quark chromomagnetic dipole moment, might encapsulate signs of the new physics responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. In this work, we compute the contributions of these operators to inclusive Higgs and t tbar h production. We argue that: i) rather strong constraints on the overall size of these operators can already be obtained from the current limits/evidence on Higgs production at the LHC; ii) t tbar h production will provide further key information that is complementary to t tbar measurements, and the possibility of discriminating among different contributions by performing accurate measurements of total and differential rates., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. v2: Logarithmic contribution of the top quark chromomagnetic operator to Higgs production by gluon fusion corrected

We describe a framework to develop, implement and validate any perturbative Lagrangian-based particle physics model for further theoretical, phenomenological and experimental studies. The starting point is FeynRules, a Mathematica package that allows to generate Feynman rules for any Lagrangian and then, through dedicated interfaces, automatically pass the corresponding relevant information to any supported Monte Carlo event generator. We prove the power, robustness and flexibility of this approach by presenting a few examples of new physics models (the Hidden Abelian Higgs Model, the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model, the most general Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, the Minimal Higgsless Model, Universal and Large Extra Dimensions, and QCD-inspired effective Lagrangians) and their implementation/validation in FeynArts/FormCalc, CalcHep, MadGraph/MadEvent, and Sherpa., 100 pages, 3 figures, 25 tables

We study the phenomenology of same sign top pair production at the LHC in a model-independent way. The complete set of dimension six operators involving two top (or anti-top) quarks is introduced and the connection with all possible t- or s-channel particle exchanges is established. Only in the former case, same and opposite sign top pair production can be related. We find that while current Tevatron data disfavor t-channel models, other production mechanisms are viable and can be tested at the LHC., 13 pages

We use top quark pair production as a probe of top-philic non-resonant new physics. Following a low energy effective field theory approach, we calculate several key observables in top quark pair production at hadron colliders (e.g., total cross section, ttbar invariant mass distribution, forward-backward asymmetry, spin correlations) including the interference of the Standard Model with dimension-six operators. We determine the LHC reach in probing new physics after having taken into account the Tevatron constraints. In particular, we show that the gluon fusion process gg -> ttbar which remains largely unconstrained at the Tevatron is affected by only one top-philic dimension-six operator, the chromo-magnetic moment of the top quark. This operator can be further constrained by the LHC data as soon as a precision of about 20% is reached for the total ttbar cross-section. While our approach is general and model-independent, it is particularly relevant to models of Higgs and top compositeness, which we consider in detail, also in connection with ttbar ttbar and ttbar bbbar production., 34 pages, 15 figures. v2: clarifications and references added, published version (JHEP)

We study the phenomenology of the Georgi-Machacek model at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD matched to parton shower, using a fully-automated tool chain based on MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and FeynRules. We focus on the production of the fermiophobic custodial fiveplet scalars H_5^0, H_5^+/-, and H_5^++/-- through vector boson fusion (VBF), associated production with a vector boson (V H_5), and scalar pair production (H_5 H_5). For these production mechanisms we compute NLO corrections to production rates as well as to differential distributions. Our results demonstrate that the Standard Model (SM) overall K-factors for such processes cannot in general be directly applied to beyond-the-SM distributions, due both to differences in the scalar electroweak charges and to variation of the K-factors over the differential distributions., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures