Search

The leading order production of an SM singlet-like scalar has primarily been realized through the gluon fusion process by mixing with the $SU(2)_L$ scalar doublet of the model. The dominant part of the physical state, i.e., the singlet component, does not have any role in its direct production. Focusing on such a state with a mass smaller than the SM-like Higgs scalar, we calculate the dominant next-to-leading (NLO) order corrections to its production cross-section. With these improved cross-sections, the present and future LHC limits may become somewhat more stringent., 14 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, Version to appear in Physics Letters B

Extensive searches to probe the particle nature of dark matter (DM) have been going on for some decades now but, so far, no conclusive evidence has been found. Among various options, the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP) remains one of the prime possibilities as candidates for DM near the TeV scale. Taking a phenomenological view, such null results may be explained for a generic WIMP in a Higgs-portal scenario if we allow the light-quark Yukawa couplings to assume non-Standard Model (non-SM)-like values. This follows from a cancellation among different terms in the DM-nucleon scattering which can, in turn, lead to a vanishingly small direct-detection cross section. It might also lead to isospin violation in the DM-nucleon scattering. Such non-SM values of light-quark Yukawa couplings may be probed in the high luminosity run of the LHC., 16 pages, 4 figures, minor modification in text

We analyze the signal sensitivity of multilepton final states at colliders that can arise from doubly and singly charged Higgs decay in a type-II seesaw framework. We assume the triplet vacuum expectation value to be very small and degenerate masses for both the charged Higgs states. The leptonic branching ratios of doubly and singly charged Higgs states have a large dependency on the neutrino oscillation parameters and the lightest neutrino mass scale, as well as the neutrino mass hierarchy. We explore this, as well as the relation between the leptonic branching ratios of the singly and doubly charged Higgs states, in detail. We evaluate the effect of these uncertainties on the production cross section of the multilepton signal. Finally, we present a detailed analysis of multilepton final states for a future hadron collider, HE-LHC, that can operate with center-of-mass energy s=27 TeV.

We present a minimal model of fermionic dark matter (DM), where a singlet Dirac fermion can interact with the Standard Model (SM) particles via the torsion field of gravitational origin. In general, torsion can be realized as an antisymmetric part of the affine connection associated with the spacetime diffeomorphism symmetry and thus can be thought of as a massive axial vector field. Because of its gravitational origin, the torsion field couples to all the fermion fields including the DM with equal strength, which makes the model quite predictive. The DM is naturally stable without any imposition of ad-hoc symmetry {\it e.g.,} $\mathcal{Z}_2$. Apart from producing the correct thermal abundance, singlet fermion can easily evade the stringent bounds on the spin-independent DM-nucleon direct detection cross-section due to its axial nature. However, in the allowed parameter space, strong bounds can be placed on the torsion mass and its couplings to fermions from the recent LHC searches. Assuming a non universal torsion-DM and torsion-SM coupling, smaller values of torsion masses may become allowed. In both cases we also study the reach of spin-dependent direct detection searches of the DM., Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures; Version accepted in PRD

The Standard Model (SM), when extended with a leptoquark (LQ) and right-handed neutrinos, can have interesting new implications for Higgs physics. We show that sterile neutrinos can induce a boost to the down-type quark Yukawa interactions through a diagonal coupling associated with the quarks and a scalar LQ of electromagnetic charge $1/3$. The relative change is moderately larger in the case of the first two generations of quarks, as they have vanishingly small Yukawa couplings in the SM. The enhancement in the couplings would also lead to a non-negligible contribution from the quark fusion process to the production of the 125 GeV Higgs scalar in the SM, though the gluon fusion always dominates. However, this may not be true for a general scalar. As an example, we consider a scenario with a SM-gauge-singlet scalar $\phi$ where an $\mathcal O(1)$ coupling between $\phi$ and the LQ is allowed. The $\phi q \bar{q}$ Yukawa couplings can be generated radiatively only through a loop of LQ and sterile neutrinos. Here, the quark fusion process can have a significant cross section, especially for a light $\phi$. It can even supersede the normally dominant gluon fusion process for a moderate to large value of the LQ mass. This model can be tested/constrained at the high luminosity run of the LHC through a potentially large branching fraction of the scalar to two jets., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, 1 table (It matches with the journal version)

We study the features of the additional Higgs bosons in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model where the lightest beyond Standard Model Higgs boson does not dominantly couple to up-type quarks. The new state is dominantly singlet-like while it can also accommodate a small down-type Higgs component. The gluon-gluon fusion cannot be adequate enough for such a Higgs production. We show that the vector-boson fusion may become the leading production mechanism to probe this new scalar at the LHC. Using the existing 13 TeV LHC data for an integrated luminosity $36.1~fb^{-1}$, we show the LHC constraints on the parameter space. Finally, we also study the reach of the planned high luminosity LHC (${\mathcal L}=3~{\rm ab}^{-1}$ at $\sqrt s=$~14 TeV) and the proposed high energy upgrade of the LHC (${\mathcal L}=15~{\rm ab}^{-1}$ at $\sqrt s=$~27 TeV) to probe this singlet-like Higgs scalar., New figures added, text substantially modified

The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) can be extended to include non-holomorphic trilinear soft supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking interactions that may have distinct signatures. We consider non-vanishing off-diagonal entries of the coupling matrices associated with holomorphic (of MSSM) and non-holomorphic trilinear terms corresponding to sleptons with elements $A^l_{ij}$ and $A^{\prime l}_{ij}$. We first improve the MSSM charge breaking minima condition of the vacuum to include the off-diagonal entries $A^l_{ij}$ (with $i \neq j$). We further extend this analysis for non-holomorphic trilinear interactions. No other sources of lepton flavor violation like that from charged slepton matrices are considered. We constrain the interaction terms via the experimental limits of processes like charged leptons decaying with lepton flavor violation (LFV) and Higgs boson decaying to charged leptons with LFV. Apart from the leptonic decays we compute all the three neutral LFV Higgs boson decays of MSSM. We find that an analysis with non-vanishing $A^\prime_{e\mu}$ involving the first two generations of sleptons receives the dominant constraint from $\mu \to e \gamma$. On the other hand, $A^\prime_{e\tau}$ or $A^\prime_{\mu\tau}$ can be constrained from the CMS 13 TeV analysis giving limits to the respective Yukawa couplings via considering SM Higgs boson decaying into $e\tau$ or $\mu\tau$ final states. Contributions from $A^l_{ij}$ is too little to have any significance compared to the large effect from $A^{\prime l}_{ij}$., Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables, some clarifications in text and 3 new figures added, conclusion unchanged, version published in JHEP

We consider an extension of the Standard Model (SM) augmented by two neutral singlet fermions per generation and a leptoquark. In order to generate the light neutrino masses and mixing, we incorporate inverse seesaw mechanism. The right handed neutrino production in this model is significantly larger than the conventional inverse seesaw scenario. We analyze the different collider signatures of this model and find that the final states associated with three or more leptons, multi jet and at least one b-tagged and (or) $\tau$-tagged jet can probe larger RH neutrino mass scale. We have also proposed a same-sign dilepton signal region associated with multiple jets and missing energy that can be used to distinguish the the present scenario from the usual inverse seesaw extended SM., Comment: Text added, accepted in PRD

One of the attractive properties of the NMSSM is that it can accommodate a light pseudoscalar of order 10 GeV. However, such scenarios are constrained by several experimental results, especially those related to the fermionic decays of the pseudoscalar. In this work, extending the NMSSM field content by two gauge singlets, with lepton number + 1 and − 1, we generate neutrino masses via the inverse see-saw mechanism at one hand and on the other hand a very light pseudoscalar becomes experimentally viable by having dominant invisible decay channels which help it to evade the existing bounds.

Using the flux compactification scenario in a generic supergravity model we propose a set of conditions which will generate de-Sitter or anti-de-Sitter vacua for appropriate choices of the parameters in superpotential. It is shown that a mass spectrum consistent with softly broken TeV scale supersymmetry in a minimal supersymmetric standard model at the observable sector can be obtained along with a tiny cosmological constant when the Kahler and superpotential of the hidden sector satisfy a set of general constraints. Constructing a specific model which satisfy the above constraints, it is demonstrated that all the hidden sector fields have vacuum expectation values close to Planck scale and the resulting low energy potential does not have any flat direction.

The inclusion of right-chiral sneutrino superfields is a rather straight forward addition to a supersymmetric scenario. A neutral scalar with a substantial right sneutrino component is often a favoured dark matter candidate in such cases. In this context, we focus on the tentative signal in the form of a monochromatic photon, which may arise from dark matter annihilation and has drawn some attention in recent times. We study the prospect of such a right sneutrino dark matter candidate in the contexts of both MSSM and NMSSM extended with right sneutrino superfields, with special reference to the Fermi-LAT data.

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.

Constraints from searches for squarks and gluinos at the LHC at sqrt{s}=8 TeV are applied to the parameter space of the NMSSM with universal squark/slepton and gaugino masses at the GUT scale, but allowing for non-universal soft Higgs mass parameters (the sNMSSM). We confine ourselves to regions of the parameter space compatible with a 125 GeV Higgs boson with diphoton signal rates at least as large as the Standard Model ones, and a dark matter candidate compatible with WMAP and XENON100 constraints. Following the simulation of numerous points in the m_0-M_{1/2} plane, we compare the constraints on the sNMSSM from 3-5 jets + missing E_T channels as well as from multijet + missing E_T channels with the corresponding cMSSM constraints. Due to the longer squark decay cascades, lower bounds on M_{1/2} are alleviated by up to 50 GeV. For heavy squarks at large m_0, the dominant constraints originate from multijet + missing E_T channels due to gluino decays via stop pairs., 18 pages, 2 Tables, 3 Figures

We consider a tree-level enhancement to the violation of lepton flavour universality in light meson decays arising from modified $W \ell \nu$ couplings in the standard model minimally extended by sterile neutrinos. Due to the presence of additional mixings between the active (left-handed) neutrinos and the new sterile states, the deviation from unitarity of the leptonic mixing matrix intervening in charged currents might lead to a tree-level enhancement of $R_{P} = \Gamma (P \to e \nu) / \Gamma (P \to \mu \nu)$, with $P=K, \pi$. We illustrate these enhancements in the case of the inverse seesaw model, showing that one can saturate the current experimental bounds on $\Delta r_{K}$ (and $\Delta r_{\pi}$), while in agreement with the different experimental and observational constraints., Comment: 9 pages, 2 eps figures

In minimal supersymmetric models the $Z$-penguin usually provides sub-dominant contributions to charged lepton flavour violating observables. In this study, we consider the supersymmetric inverse seesaw in which the non-minimal particle content allows for dominant contributions of the $Z$-penguin to several lepton flavour violating observables. In particular, and due to the low-scale (TeV) seesaw, the penguin contribution to, for instance, $\Br(\mu \to 3e)$ and $\mu-e$ conversion in nuclei, allows to render some of these observables within future sensitivity reach. Moreover, we show that in this framework, the $Z$-penguin exhibits the same non-decoupling behaviour which had previously been identified in flavour violating Higgs decays in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model., Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables; v2: minor corrections, version to appear in JHEP

In the framework of the NMSSM with a singlino-like LSP, we study quantitatively the impact of the additional bino -> singlino cascade on the efficiencies in several search channels for supersymmetry of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. Compared to the MSSM, the additional cascade reduces the missing transverse energy, but leads to additional jets or leptons. For the NMSSM benchmark lines which generalize cMSSM benchmark points, the efficiencies in the most relevant 2/3 jet + missing energy search channels can drop by factors ~1/3 to ~1/7, and can reduce the present lower bounds on M_{1/2} by as much as ~0.9 - 0.75 in the NMSSM for large bino-singlino mass differences. The larger efficiencies in multijet or multilepton search channels are not strong enough to affect this conclusion. In the fully constrained cNMSSM, sparticle decay cascades via the lightest stau can lead to signal cross sections in multilepton and 2tau search channels which are potentially visible at the LHC with 7 TeV center of mass energy., 24 pages, 9 Figures, misprint in Table 1 correcred

One of the interesting properties of the NMSSM is that it can accommodate a light pseudoscalar of order 10 GeV. However, such scenarios are challenged by several experimental constraints, especially those related to the fermionic decays of the pseudoscalar. In this Letter, we extend the NMSSM field content by two gauge singlets, with lepton numbers +1 and -1. This serves the twin purpose of generating neutrino masses via the inverse see-saw mechanism and keeping the option of a very light pseudoscalar experimentally viable by opening dominant invisible decay channels of the pseudoscalar which help it evade the existing bounds., 8 pages; v2: version to appear in PLB

Neutrino mass patterns and mixing have been studied in the context of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) with three gauge singlet neutrino superfields. We consider the case with the assumption of R-parity conservation. The vacuum expectation value of the singlet scalar field S of NMSSM induces the Majorana masses for the right-handed neutrinos as well as the usual {mu} term. The contributions to the light neutrino mass matrix at the tree level as well as one-loop level are considered, consistent with the tribimaximal pattern of neutrino mixing. Light neutrino masses arise at the tree level through a TeV-scale seesaw mechanism involving the right-handed neutrinos. Although all the three light neutrinos acquire nonzero masses at the tree level, we show that the one-loop contributions can be comparable in size under certain conditions. Possible signatures to probe this model at the LHC and its distinguishing features compared to other models of neutrino mass generation are briefly discussed.

In the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, a bino-like LSP can be as light as a few GeV and satisfy WMAP constraints on the dark matter relic density in the presence of a light CP-odd Higgs scalar. We study upper bounds on the direct detection cross sections for such a light LSP in the mass range 2-20 GeV in the NMSSM, respecting all constraints from B-physics and LEP. The OPAL constraints on e^+ e^- -> ��^0_1 ��^0_i (i > 1) play an important role and are discussed in some detail. The resulting upper bounds on the spin-independent and spin-dependent nucleon cross sections are ~ 10^{-42} cm^{-2} and ~ 4\times 10^{-40} cm^{-2}, respectively. Hence the upper bound on the spin-independent cross section is below the DAMA and CoGeNT regions, but could be compatible with the two events observed by CDMS-II., 17 pages, 3 figures

We consider the prospect of lightest neutralino (${\tilde \chi}_1^0$) as a dark matter candidate in the light of recent interesting observations from the XENON100 and CDMS-II experiments in minimal supergravity framework with large $\tan\beta$ and non-vanishing $A_0$. Within the WMAP satisfied zone, there is a large direct detection reach of lighter ${\tilde \chi}_1^0$ in the lighter Higgs boson mediated resonance annihilation domain of the above scenario. It is seen that the heavier Higgs boson plays a dominating role in the ${\tilde \chi}_1^0-p$ cross-section in the associated zone of parameter space in spite of having a larger mass. Possible LHC signatures are discussed., Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, 4 Tables; few comments are added

We examine the dark matter phenomenology in supersymmetric light higgs boson scenarios, adapting nonuniversal Higgs masses at the gauge coupling unification scale. The correct relic density is obtained mostly through the annihilation into a pseudoscalar $A$, which gives high values for the self-annihilation cross-section at present times. Our analysis shows that most part of the $A$ pole region can produce detectable gamma-rays and antiproton signals, and still be compatible with with recent direct detection data from XENON100 and CDMS-II., 31 pages, 5 figures. Indirect detection statistical method changed, direct detection analysis enriched, references added, main conclusions unchanged but extended. Version to appear on JCAP

A nonuniversal scalar mass supergravity type of model is explored where the first two generations of scalars and the third generation of sleptons may be very massive. The lighter or vanishing third generation of squarks as well as Higgs scalars at the unification scale cause the radiative electroweak symmetry breaking constraint to be less prohibitive. Thus, both flavor-changing neutral-current/$CP$-violation problems as well as the naturalness problem are within control. We identify a large slepton mass effect in the renormalization group equations of ${m}_{{H}_{D}}^{2}$ (for the down type of Higgs) that may turn the latter negative at the electroweak scale even for a small $\mathrm{tan} \ensuremath{\beta}$. A hyperbolic branch/focus pointlike effect is found for ${m}_{A}^{2}$ that may result in very light Higgs spectra. The lightest stable particle is dominantly a $b$-ino that pair annihilates via Higgs exchange, giving rise to a Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satisfied relic density region for all $\mathrm{tan} \ensuremath{\beta}$. Detection prospects of such lightest stable particles in the upcoming dark matter experiments both of direct and indirect types (photon flux) are interesting. The Higgs bosons and the third generation of squarks are light in this scenario and these may be easily probed besides charginos and neutralinos in the early runs of the Large Hadron Collider.

We have considered nonuniversal gaugino mass models of supergravity, arising from a mixture of two superfield contributions to the gauge kinetic term, belonging to a singlet and a nonsinglet representation of the GUT group. In particular we analyse two models, where the contributing superfields belong to the singlet and the 75-dimensional, and the singlet and the 200-dimensional representations of SU(5). The resulting lightest superparticle is a mixed bino-higgsino state in the first case and a mixed bino-wino-higgsino state in the second. In both cases one obtains cosmologically compatible dark matter relic density over broad regions of the parameter space. We predict promising signals in direct dark matter detection experiments as well as in indirect detection experiments via high energy neutrinos coming from their pair-annihilation in the Sun. Besides, we find interesting $\gamma$-ray signal rates that will be probed in the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We also expect promising collider signals at LHC in both cases., Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Minor changes in the text (section 2). Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

We perform a multilepton channel analysis in the context of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) compatible points in a model with non-universal scalar masses, which admits a Higgs funnel region of supersymmetry dark matter even for a small $\tan\beta$. In addition to two and three-lepton final states, four-lepton events, too, are shown to be useful for this purpose. We also compare the collider signatures in similar channels for WMAP compatible points in the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) framework with similar gluino masses. Some definite features of such non-universal scenario emerge from the analysis., Comment: 34 pages and 4 Postscript figures. Clarifications, tables as well as a few references added and typos removed. Version consistent with the published paper in Phys. Rev. D.

Phenomenologically viable and interesting regions of parameter space in the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model with small ${m}_{0}$ and small ${m}_{1/2}$ consistent with the WMAP data on dark matter relic density and the bound on the mass of the lightest Higgs scalar ${m}_{h}g114\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ from the Linear Electron Positron Collider open up if the rather ad hoc assumption ${A}_{0}=0$, where ${A}_{0}$ is the common trilinear soft breaking parameter, employed in most of the existing analyses is relaxed. Since this region corresponds to relatively light squarks and gluinos which are likely to be probed extensively in the very early stages of the LHC experiments, the consequences of moderate or large negative values of ${A}_{0}$ are examined in detail. We find that in this region several processes including lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) pair annihilation, LSP\char22{}lighter tau slepton (${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{1}$) coannihilation and LSP\char22{}lighter top squark (${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{t}}_{1}$) coannihilation contribute to the observed dark matter relic density. The possibility that a ${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{t}}_{1}$ that can participate in coannihilation with the lightest neutralino to satisfy the WMAP bound on relic density and at the same time be observed at the current experiments at the Tevatron is wide open. At the LHC a large number of squark-gluino events lead to a very distinctive semi-inclusive signature ${\ensuremath{\tau}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}+{X}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}$ (anything without a tau lepton) with a characteristic size much larger than ${e}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}+{X}_{e}$ or ${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}+{X}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ events.

The phases in a generic low-energy supersymmetric model are severely constrained by the experimental upper bounds on the electric dipole moments of the electron and the neutron. Coupled with the requirement of radiative electroweak symmetry breaking, this results in a large degree of fine tuning of the phase parameters at the unification scale. In supergravity type models, this corresponds to very highly tuned values for the phases of the bilinear Higgs coupling parameter $B$ and the universal trilinear coupling $A_0$. We identify a cancellation/enhancement mechanism associated with the renormalization group evolution of $B$, which, in turn, reduces such fine-tuning quite appreciably without taking recourse to very large masses for the supersymmetric partners. We find a significant amount of reduction of this fine-tuning in nonuniversal gaugino mass models that do not introduce any new phases., Comment: Version to appear in Phys.Rev.D. Insignificant changes like a few typos corrected. 26 pages, 7 figures, LaTex

We study the impact of the inverse seesaw mechanism on several low-energy flavour violating observables such as tau decaying to three muons in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. As a consequence of the inverse seesaw, the contributions of the right-handed sneutrinos significantly enhance the Higgs-mediated penguin diagrams. We find that different flavour violating branching ratios can be enhanced by as much as two orders of magnitude. We also comment on the impact of the Higgs-mediated processes on the leptonic B-meson decays and on the Higgs flavour violating decays., 16 pages, 6 figures, version to appear in JHEP