Search

We propose a search for $B$ meson decays to a baryon plus missing energy at the Belle II experiment to probe supersymmetry with a GeV-scale lightest neutralino ${\tilde{\chi}_1^0}$ and $R$-parity violation (RPV). We perform analytic computations of the signal branching fractions in the framework of effective field theory, with a single nonzero RPV operator $\lambda''_{ij3}\bar{U}_{i}^c\bar{D}_{j}^c\bar{D}_3^c$, where $i,j=1,2$. The hadronic form factors are calculated using an SU(3) phenomenological Lagrangian approach for the proton, as well as several hyperons and charmed baryons. Since the decay of the neutralino is kinematically and CKM suppressed in this theoretical scenario, it decays outside the detector and appears experimentally only as missing energy. We detail the analysis techniques at the experimental level and estimate the background in the ${B^+ \to p {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$ search using published results for $B^+\to K^+ \nu\bar\nu$. Our final sensitivity plots are shown for both $\lambda''_{113}$ versus the squark mass $m_{\tilde{q}}$ and $\lambda''_{113}/m^2_{\tilde{q}}$ versus the neutralino mass $m_{{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$. We find that the search at Belle II could probe $\lambda''_{113}/m^2_{\tilde{q}}$ down to the order of $10^{-8}$ GeV$^{-2}$ in the kinematically allowed $m_{{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$ range. We also obtain current limits on $\lambda''_{123}$ by recasting an existing search interpreted as ${B^0 \to \Lambda^0 {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$, and comment about searches for ${B^+ \to \Sigma^+ {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$, ${B^0 \to \Sigma^0 {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$, ${B^+ \to \Lambda_c^+ {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$, and ${B^+ \to \Xi_c^+ {\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$. In closing, we briefly discuss potential searches at the LHCb and BESIII experiments., Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures. Matches published version

The phenomenon of neutrino flavor oscillations motivates searches for sterile neutrinos in a broad range of masses and mixing-parameter values. A sterile neutrino $N$ that mixes predominantly with the $\tau$ neutrino is particularly challenging experimentally. To address this challenge, we propose a new method to search for a $\nu_\tau$-mixing with $N$ lighter than the $\tau$ lepton. The method uses the large $e^+e^-\to\tau^+\tau^-$ samples collected at $B$-factory experiments to produce the $N$ in $\tau$-lepton decays. We exploit the long lifetime of a sterile neutrino in this mass range to suppress background and apply kinematic and vertexing constraints that enable measuring the sterile neutrino mass. Estimates for the sensitivities of the BaBar, Belle, and Belle~II experiments are calculated and presented.

In contrast to the original type I seesaw mechanism that requires right-handed Majorana neutrinos at energies much higher than the electroweak scale, the so-called low scale seesaw models allow lighter masses for the additional neutrinos. Here we propose an alternative low scale type I seesaw model, where neither linear nor inverse seesaw mechanisms take place, but the spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry at an energy scale much lower than the model cutoff is responsible for the smallness of the light active neutrino masses. In this scenario, the model is defined with minimal particle content, where the right-handed Majorana neutrinos can have masses at the $\sim 50\mbox{ GeV}$ scale. The model is predictive in the neutrino sector having only four effective parameters that allow to successfully reproduce the experimental values of the six low energy neutrino observables., 17 pages, 2 figures; v2 matches PRD version

Majorana neutrino mass models with a scale of lepton number violation of order tera-electron-volts potentially lead to signals at the LHC. Here, we consider an extension of the standard model with a colored octet fermion and a scalar leptoquark. This model generates neutrino masses at two-loop order. We make a detailed Monte Carlo study of the lepton number violating signal at the LHC in this model, including a simulation of standard model backgrounds. Our forecast predicts that the LHC with 300/fb should be able to probe this model up to color-octet fermion masses in the range of (2.6-2.7) TeV, depending on the lepton flavor of the final state.

We study the possibility to observe sterile neutrinos with masses in the range between 5 GeV and 20 GeV at the LHC, using the exclusive semileptonic modes involving pions, namely W to lepton + N to n pions + lepton+lepton (n = 1, 2, 3). The two pion and three pion modes require extrapolations of form factors to large time-like $q^2$, which we do using vector dominance models as well as light front holographic QCD, with remarkable agreement. This mass region is difficult to explore with inclusive dilepton+dijet modes or trilepton modes and impossible to explore in rare meson decays. While particle identification is a real challenge in these modes, vertex displacement due to the long living neutrino in the above mass range can greatly help reduce backgrounds. Assuming a sample of $10^9$ W bosons at the end of the LHC Run 2, these modes could discover a sterile neutrino in the above mass range or improve the current bounds on the heavy-to-light lepton mixings by an order of magnitude, $U_{l N}^2 \sim 2 \times 10^{-6}$. Moreover, by studying the equal sign and opposite sign dileptons, the Majorana or Dirac character of the sterile neutrino may be revealed., 18 pages, 4 double figures

In supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, the superpartners of the top quark (stops) play the crucial role in addressing the naturalness problem. For direct pair-production of stops with each stop decaying into a top quark plus the lightest neutralino, the standard stop searches have difficulty finding the stop for a compressed spectrum where the mass difference between the stop and the lightest neutralino is close to the top quark mass, because the events look too similar to the large $t\bar{t}$ background. With an additional hard ISR jet, the two neutralinos from the stop decays are boosted in the opposite direction and they can give rise to some missing transverse energy. This may be used to distinguish the stop decays from the backgrounds. In this paper we study the semileptonic decay of such signal events for the compressed mass spectrum. Although the neutrino from the $W$ decay also produces some missing transverse energy, its momentum can be reconstructed from the kinematic assumptions and mass-shell conditions. It can then be subtracted from the total missing transverse momentum to obtain the neutralino contribution. Because it suffers from less backgrounds, we show that the semileptonic decay channel has a better discovery reach than the fully hadronic decay channel along the compressed line $m_{\tilde{t}} - m_{\tilde{\chi}}\approx m_t$. With 300 $\text{fb}^{-1}$, the 13 TeV LHC can discover the stop up to 500 GeV, covering the most natural parameter space region., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures

The discovery of a 125 GeV Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider strongly motivates direct searches for additional Higgs bosons. In a type I two Higgs doublet model there is a large region of parameter space at $\tan\beta > 5$ that is currently unconstrained experimentally. We show that the process $gg \to H \to A Z \to ZZh$ can probe this region, and can be the discovery mode for an extended Higgs sector at the LHC. We analyze 9 promising decay modes for the $ZZh$ state, and we find that the most sensitive final states are $\ell\ell\ell\ell bb$, $\ell\ell jjbb$, $\ell\ell\nu\nu\gamma\gamma$ and $\ell\ell\ell\ell +{}$missing energy., Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures

We propose a simple and predictive model of fermion masses and mixing in a warped extra dimension, with the smallest discrete non-Abelian group $S_{3}$ and the discrete symmetries $Z_{2}\otimes Z_{4}$. Standard Model fields propagate in the bulk and the mass hierarchies and mixing angles are accounted for the fermion zero modes localization profiles, similarly to the the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model. To the best of our knowledge, this model is the first implementation of an $S_{3}$ flavor symmetry in this type of warped extra dimension framework. Our model successfully describes the fermion masses and mixing pattern and is consistent with the current low energy fermion flavor data. The discrete flavor symmetry in our model leads to predictive mixing inspired textures, where the Cabbibo mixing arises from the down type quark sector whereas up type quark sector contributes to the remaining mixing angles., 13 pages. Final version published in Physical Review D

We consider a mechanism for neutrino mass generation, based on a local B-L extension of the standard model, which becomes a linear seesaw regime for light neutrinos after spontaneous symmetry breaking. The spectrum of extra particles includes heavy neutrinos with masses near the TeV scale and a heavy Z' boson, as well as three extra neutral scalars and a charged scalar pair. We study the production and decays of these heavy particles at the LHC. Z' will decay mainly into heavy neutrino pairs or charged lepton pairs, similar to other low scale seesaw scenarios with local B-L, while the phenomenology of the extra scalars is what distinguishes the linear seesaw from the previous models. One of the neutral scalars is produced by Z' Z' fusion and decays mainly into vector boson pairs, the other two neutral scalars are less visible as they decay only into heavy or light neutrino pairs, and finally the charged scalars will decay mainly into charged leptons and missing energy., Comment: 15 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures

In this paper we consider a simple scenario where the Higgs boson and two vector resonances are supposed to arise from a new strong interacting sector. We use the ATLAS measurements of the dijet spectrum to set limits on the masses of the resonances. Additionally we compute the Higgs boson decay to two photons and found, when compare to the Standard Model prediction, a small excess which is compatible with ATLAS measurements. Finally we make prediction for Higgs-strahlung processes for the LHC running at 14 TeV.

Recently a new state of the b - anti b system has been observed by the ATLAS Collaboration, with a mass of 10530 +/- 5 +/- 9 MeV. This state has been identified with the n=3 P-wave radial excitations of the b - anti b system with parallel quark spins, called chi_b(3P). The measured value of the mass corresponds to the average of the J=0, 1 and 2 states, while the splittings of these states are not yet resolved. In this work we present predictions from different potentials models for the values of these splittings.