Search

There has been a steady interest in flavor anomalies and their global fits as ideal probes of new physics. If the anomalies are real, one promising explanation is a new $Z'$ gauge boson with flavor-changing coupling to bottom and strange quarks and a flavor-conserving coupling to muons and, possibly, electrons. We point out that direct production of such a $Z'$, emerging from the collision of $b$ and $s$ quarks, may offer a complementary window into these phenomena because collider searches already provide competitive constraints. On top of that, we analyse the same $Z'$ scenario in relation to another long-standing discrepancy between theory and experiment that concerns the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. By scanning the allowed $Z'$ coupling strengths in the low-mass region, we assess the compatibility of the signals from LHCb with the $Z'$ searches in the high energy LHC data and the measurements of the anomalous magnetic moment of the involved leptons. We also argue that observations of the latter can break the degeneracy pattern in the Wilson coefficients $C_9$ and $C_{10}$ presented by LHCb data. The $Z'$ model we consider is compatible with the new measurement of $R_{K^*}$, therefore it can potentially account for the long-standing deviations observed in $B$-physics., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Missing factors corrected in eqs. 2.7-2.9 with slight updates in fig. 2

We consider a model where the electroweak symmetry breaking is driven by strong dynamics, resulting in an electroweak doublet scalar condensate, and transmitted to the standard model matter fields via another electroweak doublet scalar. At low energies the effective theory therefore shares features with a type-I two Higgs doublet model. However, important differences arise due to the rich composite spectrum expected to contain new vector resonances accessible at the LHC. We carry out a systematic analysis of the vector resonance signals at LHC and find that the model remains viable, but will be tightly constrained by direct searches as the projected integrated luminosity, around 200 fb$^{-1}$, of the current run becomes available., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures: eqs.4,7,13-17 and fig.4 added, text revised and extended; version to appear on JHEP

The small background and the sensitivity to charged particles via a leading order loop coupling make the diphoton channel a privileged experimental test for new physics models. We propose a simple archetypal scenario to generate a sharp di-photon resonance as a result of threshold enhancements in the effective coupling between a heavy pseudoscalar particle and new vector-like leptons. We therefore study three different scenarios consistent with the current experimental limits and deviating from the Standard Model at the 2~$\sigma$ level. The model also introduces a natural dark matter candidate able to match the observed dark matter abundance and comfortably respect the current direct detection constraints., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures; model changed and analysis performed for three different values of the pseudoscalar mass, paper revised accordingly; to appear on NPB

We scrutinise the evidences recently reported by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations for compatible 750 GeV resonances which appear in the di-photon channels of the two experiments in both the 8 TeV and 13 TeV datasets. Similar resonances in di-boson, di-lepton, di-jet and $t\bar t$ final states are instead not detected. After discussing the properties and the compatibility of the reported signals, we study the implications on the physics beyond the Standard Model with particular emphasis on possible scalar extensions of the theory such as singlet extensions and the two Higgs doublet models. We also analyse the significance of the new experimental indications within the frameworks of the minimal supersymmetric standard model and of technicolour models. Our results show that a simple effective singlet extension of the SM achieves phenomenological viability with a minimal number of free parameters. The minimal supersymmetric model and the two Higgs doublet model, on the other hand, cannot explain the 750 GeV di-photon excess. Compatibility with the observed signal requires the extension of the particle content of these models, for instance by heavy vector quarks in the case of the two Higgs doublet model., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; 2HDM and MSSM sections revised; added new section and appendix on 2HDM extension; abstract and conclusions revised accordingly; citations added; version to appear on PRD

The relaxion scenario presents an intriguing extension of the standard model in which the particle introduced to solve to the strong CP problem, the axion, also achieves the dynamical relaxation of the Higgs boson mass term. In this work we complete this framework by proposing a scenario of inflationary cosmology that is consistent with all the observational constraints: the relaxion hybrid inflation with an asymmetric waterfall. In our scheme, the vacuum energy of the inflaton drives inflation in a natural way while the relaxion slow-rolls. The constraints on the present inflationary observables are then matched through a subsequent inflationary epoch driven by the inflaton. We quantify the amount of fine-tuning of the proposed inflation scenario, concluding that the inflaton sector severely decreases the naturalness of the theory., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, revised version published on PRD

We study an extension of the Standard Model featuring a hidden sector that consists of a new scalar charged under a new SU$(N)_D$ gauge group, singlet under all Standard Model gauge interactions, and coupled with the Standard Model only via a Higgs portal. We assume that the theory is classically conformal, with electroweak symmetry breaking dynamically induced via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism operating in the hidden sector. Due to the symmetry breaking pattern, the SU$(N)_D$ gauge group is completely Higgsed and the resulting massive vectors of the hidden sector constitute a stable dark matter candidate. We perform a thorough scan over the parameter space of the model at different values of $N=2$, $3$, and $4$, and investigate the phenomenological constraints. We find that $N=2,3$ provide the most appealing model setting in light of present data from colliders and dark matter direct search experiments. We expect a heavy Higgs to be discovered at LHC by the end of Run II or the $N=3$ model to be ruled out., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures (8 plots); typos corrected, previous results do not change; new section with new figure added before conclusions, few sentences added to abstract and conclusions; two citations added

We study the stability constraints on the parameter space of a triplet extension of MSSM. Existence of unbounded from below directions in the potential can spoil successful Electroweak (EW) symmetry breaking by making the corresponding minimum unstable, and hence the model should be free from those directions. Avoiding those directions restricts the parameter space of the model. We derive four stability constraints, of which only three independent from each other. After scanning the model's parameter space for phenomenologically viable data points, we impose the stability constraints and find that only about a quarter of the data points features a stable EW minimum. At those data points featuring stability, $\mu$ and the up Higgs soft mass turn out to be smaller than about a TeV in absolute value, which make the mass of the lightest chargino and neutralino smaller than about 700 GeV. Two relevant phenomenological consequences of lifting the unbounded from below directions are that the lightest Higgs boson decay rate to diphoton predicted by the triplet extension of MSSM generally features larger deviations from MSSM and fine tuning is actually higher, that what each of the two would be without imposing stability constraints., Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures

We consider a fully dynamical origin for the masses of weak gauge bosons and heavy quarks of the Standard Model. Electroweak symmetry breaking and the gauge boson masses arise from new strong dynamics, which leads to the appearance of a composite scalar in the spectrum of excitations. In order to generate mass for the Standard Model fermions, we consider extended gauge dynamics, effectively represented by four fermion interactions at presently accessible energies. By systematically treating these interactions, we show that they lead to a large reduction of the mass of the scalar resonance. Therefore, interpreting the scalar as the recently observed 125 GeV state, implies that the mass originating solely from new strong dynamics can be much heavier, {\em {\em i.e.}} of the order of 1 TeV. In addition to reducing the mass of the scalar resonance, we show that the four-fermion interactions allow for contributions to the oblique corrections in agreement with the experimental constraints. The couplings of the scalar resonance with the Standard Model gauge bosons and fermions are evaluated, and found to be compatible with the current LHC results. Additional new resonances are expected to be heavy, with masses of the order of a few TeVs, and hence accessible in future experiments., Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures

Current data point toward metastability of the electroweak vacuum within the Standard Model. We study the possibility of stabilizing the Higgs potential in U(1) extensions thereof. A generic Z$'$ boson improves stability of the scalar potential in two ways: it increases the Higgs self--coupling, due to a positive contribution to the beta--function of the latter, and it decreases the top quark Yukawa coupling, which again has a stabilizing effect. We determine the range of U(1) charges which leads to a stable electroweak vacuum. In certain classes of models, such stabilization is possible even if the Z$'$ does not couple to the Higgs and is due entirely to the reduction of the top Yukawa coupling. We also study the effect of the kinetic mixing between the extra U(1) and hypercharge gauge fields., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; a typo in Delta V fixed, references added

In this study we investigate the phenomenological viability of the $Y=0$ Triplet Extended Supersymmetric Standard Model (TESSM) by comparing its predictions with the current Higgs data from ATLAS, CMS, and Tevatron, as well as the measured value of the $B_s\to X_s \gamma$ branching ratio. We scan numerically the parameter space for data points generating the measured particle mass spectrum and also satisfying current direct search constraints on new particles. We require all the couplings to be perturbative up to the scale $\Lambda_{\rm UV}=10^4$ TeV, by running them with newly calculated two loop beta functions, and find that TESSM retains perturbativity as long as $\lambda$, the triplet coupling to the two Higgs doublets, is smaller than 1.34 in absolute value. For $|\lambda|\gtrsim 0.8$ we show that the fine-tuning associated to each viable data point can be greatly reduced as compared to values attainable in MSSM. Finally, we perform a fit by taking into account 58 Higgs physics observables along with $\mathcal{B}r(B_s\to X_s \gamma)$, for which we calculate the NLO prediction within TESSM. We find that, although naturality prefers a large $|\lambda|$, the experimental data disfavors it compared to the small $|\lambda|$ region, because of the low energy observable $\mathcal{B}r(B_s\to X_s \gamma)$., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, ICHEP2014 parallel talk proceeding

In this study we investigate the phenomenological viability of the $Y=0$ Triplet Extended Supersymmetric Standard Model (TESSM) by comparing its predictions with the current Higgs data from ATLAS, CMS, and Tevatron, as well as the measured value of the $B_s\to X_s \gamma$ branching ratio. We scan numerically the parameter space for data points generating the measured particle mass spectrum and also satisfying current direct search constraints on new particles. We require all the couplings to be perturbative up to the scale $\Lambda_{\rm UV}=10^4$ TeV, by running them with newly calculated two loop beta functions, and find that TESSM retains perturbativity as long as $\lambda$, the triplet coupling to the two Higgs doublets, is smaller than 1.34 in absolute value. For $|\lambda|\gtrsim 0.8$ we show that the fine-tuning associated to each viable data point can be greatly reduced as compared to values attainable in MSSM. We also find that for perturbatively viable data points it is possible to obtain either enhancement or suppression in $h\rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ decay rate depending mostly on the relative sign between $M_2$ and $\mu_D$. Finally, we perform a fit by taking into account 58 Higgs physics observables along with $\mathcal{B}r(B_s\to X_s \gamma)$, for which we calculate the NLO prediction within TESSM. We find that, although naturality prefers a large $|\lambda|$, the experimental data disfavors it compared to the small $|\lambda|$ region, because of the low energy observable $\mathcal{B}r(B_s\to X_s \gamma)$. We notice, though, that this situation might change with the second run of LHC at 14 TeV, in case the ATLAS or CMS results confirm, with smaller uncertainty, a large enhancement in the Higgs decay channel to diphoton, given that this scenario strongly favours a large value of $|\lambda|$., Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures; typos corrected, fit results updated with CMS new (July 2014) Higgs decay to diphoton data, conclusions slightly changed

We consider the spin-zero spectrum of a strongly coupled gauge theory. In particular, we focus on the dynamical mass of the isosinglet scalar resonance in the presence of a four-fermion interaction external to the gauge dynamics. This is motivated by the extended technicolor framework for dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking. Applying the large-$N$ limit, we sum all the leading-order contributions, and find that the corrections to the mass of the isosinglet scalar resonance can be large, potentially reducing its value from ${\cal O}(1)$ TeV to the observed value of 125 GeV., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

We construct a Technicolor model which provides masses for the electroweak gauge bosons and for all the Standard Model matter fields. Starting from an ultraviolet complete supersymmetric technicolor, we propose a scenario where all elementary scalars, gauginos, and higgsinos are decoupled at an energy scale substantially higher than the electroweak scale, therefore avoiding the little hierarchy problem of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The resulting low energy theory has an SU(3) global symmetry whose breaking to SO(3) leads to electroweak symmetry breaking. We study in detail the phenomenology of this theory and demonstrate that it reproduces the present LHC data at the same level of precision as the Standard Model itself., Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures

We consider the implications of current LHC data on new physics with strongly interacting sector(s). We parametrize the relevant interaction Lagrangian and study the best fit values in light of current data. These are then considered within a simple framework of bosonic technicolor. We consider first the effective Lagrangian containing only spin-0 composites of the underlying theory, which corresponds to a two Higgs doublet model. With respect to this baseline, the effects of the vector bosons, a staple in strong interacting theories, are illustrated by considering two cases: first, the case where the effects of the vector bosons arise only through their mixing with the electroweak SU(2)_L gauge fields and, second, the case where also a direct interaction term with neutral scalars exists. We find that the case of a W' coupling to the Higgs boson only via the mixing of vector fields produces a negligible improvement in the fit of the present data, while even a small direct coupling of the composite vector fields to the Higgs allows the tested model to fit optimally the experimental results., Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures. Axial-vector added to the analysis in section IV, conclusions partially change; typos corrected

We provide a complete extension of Minimal Walking Technicolor able to account for the standard model fermion masses. The model is supersymmetric at energies greater or equal to the technicolor compositeness scale. We integrate out, at the supersymmetry breaking scale, the elementary Higgses. We use the resulting four-fermion operators to derive the low energy effective theory. We then determine the associated tree-level vacuum and low energy spectrum properties. Furthermore we investigate the phenomenological viability of the model by comparing its predictions with electroweak precision tests and experimental bounds on the mass spectrum. We then turn to the composite Higgs phenomenology at the LHC and show that current data are already constraining the parameter space of the model., Comment: 43 pages, 13 figures. Version published on NPB. Typos corrected, results unchanged

We introduce a toy model implementing the proposal of using a custodial symmetry to protect the Zbb coupling from large corrections. This "doublet-extended standard model" adds a weak doublet of fermions (including a heavy partner of the top quark) to the particle content of the standard model in order to implement an O(4) x U(1)_X = SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R x P_{LR} x U(1)_X symmetry that protects the Zbb coupling. This symmetry is softly broken to the gauged SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y electroweak symmetry by a Dirac mass M for the new doublet; adjusting the value of M allows us to explore the range of possibilities between the O(4)-symmetric (M to 0) and standard-model-like (M to infinity) limits., Comment: 4 pages, 2 included eps figures. Talk presented by RSC at 22nd Recontres de Blois, July 15-20, 2010

We investigate a perturbative N=4 sector coupled to the MSSM and show that it allows for a stable vacuum correctly breaking the electroweak symmetry. The particle spectrum of the MSSM is enrichened by several new particles stemming out from the new N=4 sector of the theory, and a new lepton doublet required to cancel global and gauge anomalies of the theory. Even if the conformal invariance of the N=4 sector is explicitly broken, a nontrivial UV behavior of the coupling constants is possible: by studying the renormalization group equations at two loops we find that the Yukawa couplings of the heavy fermionic states flow to a common fixed point at a scale of a few TeVs. The parameter space of the new theory is reduced imposing naturalness of the couplings and soft supersymmetry breaking masses, perturbativity of the model at the EW scale as well as phenomenological constraints. Our preliminary results on the spectrum of the theory suggest that the LHC can rule out a significant portion of the parameter space of this model., Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures

We extend the results of [arXiv:1006.0207 [hep-lat]] by computing the S-parameter at two loops in the perturbative region of the conformal window. Consistently using the expression for the location of the infra-red fixed point at the two-loop order we express the S-parameter in terms of the number of flavors, colors and matter representation. We show that S, normalized to the number of flavors, increases as we decrease the number of flavors. Our findings support the conjecture presented in [arXiv:1006.0207 [hep-lat]] according to which the normalized value of the S-parameter at the upper end of the conformal window constitutes the lower bound across the entire phase diagram for the given underlying asymptotically free gauge theory. We also show that the non-trivial dependence on the number of flavors merges naturally with the non-perturbative estimate of the S-parameter close to the lower end of the conformal window obtained using gauge duality [arXiv:1007.0254 [hep-ph]]. Our results are natural benchmarks for lattice computations of the S-parameter for vector-like gauge theories., Comment: Version to match the one published in Phys. Lett. B. The file is prepared in the 2-columns RevTeX format has 9 pages, 4 figures and one table

We introduce a toy model implementing the proposal of using a custodial symmetry to protect the Zbb coupling from large corrections. This "doublet-extended standard model" adds a weak doublet of fermions (including a heavy partner of the top quark) to the particle content of the standard model in order to implement an O(4) x U(1)_X = SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R x P_{LR} x U(1)_X symmetry that protects the Zbb coupling. This symmetry is softly broken to the gauged SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y electroweak symmetry by a Dirac mass M for the new doublet; adjusting the value of M allows us to explore the range of possibilities between the O(4)-symmetric (M to 0) and standard-model-like (M to infinity) limits. In this simple model, we find that the experimental limits on the Zbb coupling favor smaller M while the presence of a potentially sizable negative contribution to T strongly favors large M. A fit to all precision electroweak data shows that the heavy partner of the top quark must be heavier than about 3.4 TeV, making it difficult to search for at LHC. This result demonstrates that electroweak data strongly limits the amount by which the custodial symmetry of the top-quark mass generating sector can be enhanced relative to the standard model. Using an effective field theory calculation, we illustrate how the leading contributions to alpha T, alpha S and the Zbb coupling in this model arise from an effective operator coupling right-handed top-quarks to the Z-boson, and how the effects on these observables are correlated. We contrast this toy model with extra-dimensional models in which the extended custodial symmetry is invoked to control the size of additional contributions to alpha T and the Zbb coupling, while leaving the standard model contributions essentially unchanged., Comment: 19 pages, 11 eps figures. Typos corrected

We revisit an extension of the MSSM by adding a hypercharge-neutral, SU(2)-triplet chiral superfield. Similar to the NMSSM, the triplet gives an additional contribution to the quartic coupling in the Higgs potential, and the mass of the lightest CP-even Higgs boson can be greater than tne mass of the Z-bosn at tree-level. In addition to discussing the perturbativity, fine-tuning, and decoupling issues of this model, we compute the dominant 1-loop corrections to the mass of the lightest CP-even Higgs boson from the triplet sector. When the Higgs-Higgs-Triplet coupling in the superpotential is comparable to the top Yukawa coupling, we find that the Higgs mass can be as heavy as 140 GeV even without the traditional contributions from the top--s-top sector, and at the same time consistent with the precision electroweak constraints. At the expense of having Landau poles before the GUT scale, this opens up a previously forbidden region in the MSSM parameter space where both s-tops are light. In addition to having relatively small fine-tuning (about one part in 30), this leads to a gluo-philic Higgs boson whose production via gluon-gluon fusion at the LHC can be twice as large as the SM prediction., Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures. Errors on the RGEs corrected and consequential changes applied. Plots updated and discussion broadened. Version to appear in PRD

We propose and discuss the phenomenology of a Topcolor-assisted Technicolor (TC2) model with a flavor-universal hypercharge sector. After discussing the symmetry breaking pattern and low-energy effective Lagrangian, we examine various experimental and theoretical constraints, finding that precision electroweak measurements yield the strongest bounds on the model. We perform a combined fit to all available $Z$-pole and LEP2 data and find that the goodness of fit for hypercharge-universal topcolor is comparable to that of the Standard Model. In contrast, TC2 models with a flavor non-universal hypercharge sectors are markedly disfavored by the data., Comment: 21 pages, 11 eps figures, reference and clarifying remarks added

A large class of deconstructed Higgsless model is known to satisfy the tree-level experimental bounds on the electroweak precision parameters. In particular, an approximate custodial symmetry insures that the tree-level $\rho$ parameter is exactly one, for arbitrary values of the model parameters, and regardless of fermion delocalization. In this note we expand on previous work by considering the fermionic one-loop contributions to $\rho$, which are essentially due to loops with top and bottom modes. We analyze the dependence on the number $N$ of internal SU(2) sites in models with a ``flat background''. We find that the new-physics contribution rapidly increases with $N$, to quickly stabilize for large values of $N$. Experimental upper bounds on $\rho$ translate into lower bounds on the mass of the heavy fermions. These, however, are weakly correlated to $N$, and the three-site model (N=1) turns out to be already an excellent approximation for the continuum model ($N\to\infty$)., Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures

We analyze the spectrum and properties of a highly-deconstructed Higgsless model with only three sites. Such a model contains sufficient complexity to incorporate interesting physics issues related to fermion masses and electroweak observables, yet remains simple enough that it could be encoded in a Matrix Element Generator program for use with Monte Carlo simulations. The gauge sector of this model is equivalent to that of the BESS model; the new physics of interest here lies in the fermion sector. We analyze the form of the fermion Yukawa couplings required to produce the ideal fermion delocalization that causes tree-level precision electroweak corrections to vanish. We discuss the size of one-loop corrections to b \to s \gamma, the weak-isospin violating parameter \alpha T and the decay Z \to b \bar{b}. We find that the new fermiophobic vector states (the analogs of the gauge-boson KK modes in a continuum model) can be reasonably light, with a mass as low as 380 GeV, while the extra (approximately vectorial) quark and lepton states (the analogs of the fermion KK modes) must be heavier than 1.8 TeV., Comment: 30 pages, JHEP.cls, axodraw. References and acknowledgements added, minor textual clarifications added and typos fixed, relationship to BESS model emphasized. Typos corrected, version to appear in PRD

We compute the total cross section as well as angular and energy distributions for process $e^+e^-\to\gamma\gamma\gamma$ with both unpolarized and polarized beams in the framework of noncommutative quantum electrodynamics (NCQED). The calculation is performed in the center of mass of colliding electron and positron and is evaluated for energies and integrated luminosities appropriate to future linear colliders. We find that by using unpolarized beams it is possible to probe the Lorentz symmetry violating azimuthal dependence of the cross section. Furthermore, with polarized beams the left-right asymmetry of the CP violating NCQED amplitudes can be used to obtain bounds on the noncommutative scale $\Lambda_{NC}$ which exceed 1.0 TeV., Comment: version accepted by Physical Review

We compute the Noncommutative QCD (NCQCD) contributions to the three gluon decay modes of heavy quarkonia. For triplet quarkonia (ortho-quarkonia), the NCQCD correction to the QCD three gluon decay mode, like the standard model contribution, is infrared finite. In the case of singlet quarkonia (para-quarkonia), whose QCD three gluon decay mode has infrared singularities which are removed using one-loop corrections to the two gluon mode, we find that NCQCD contribution is also infrared finite. The calculations are performed in the weak binding limit and do not require the introduction of additional effective couplings., Comment: Version accepted for publication