Search for new neutral gauge bosons at LHC

New heavy gauge bosons belonging to an extended (in relation to the Standard Model) gauge sector are present in Grand Unified Theories, as well as in a number of models aimed at solving the hierarchy problem—in particular, in the technicolor model and in some versions of multidimensional field theories (for example, in the Little Higgs model). The LHC potential for seeking new neutral gauge bosons in decays to two muons is studied.     

Heavy neutral gauge bosons at the LHC in an extended MSSM

Searching for heavy neutral gauge bosons Z^′$Z^{\prime }$, predicted in extensions of the Standard Model based on a U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ gauge symmetry, is one of the challenging objectives of the experiments carried out at the Large Hadron Collider. In this paper, we study Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ phenomenology at hadron colliders according to several U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$-based models and in the Sequential Standard Model. In particular, possible Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays into supersymmetric particles are included, in addition to the Standard Model modes so far investigated. We point out the impact of the U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ group on the MSSM spectrum and, for a better understanding, we consider a few benchmarks points in the parameter space. We account for the D-term contribution, due to the breaking of U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$, to slepton and squark masses and investigate its effect on Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays into sfermions. Results on branching ratios and cross sections are presented, as a function of the MSSM and U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ parameters, which are varied within suitable ranges. We pay special attention to final states with leptons and missing energy and make predictions on the number of events with sparticle production in Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays, for a few values of integrated luminosity and centre-of-mass energy of the LHC.     

Searching for an extra neutral gauge boson from muon pair production at LHC

We search for signatures of the extra neutral gauge boson Z^′$Z^{\prime }$, predicted in some extensions of the Standard Model, from the analysis of some distributions for p+p→μ⁺+μ⁻+X$p+p\to {\mu }^{+}+{\mu }^{-}+X$, where the only exotic particle involved is Z^′$Z^{\prime }$. In addition to the invariant mass and charge asymmetry distributions, we propose in our search to use the transverse momentum distribution (pT$p_T$) as an observable. We do our calculation for two values of the LHC center of mass energy (7 and 14 TeV), corresponding to 1 and 100 fb⁻¹ of luminosity, in order to compare our findings from some models with the distributions following from the Standard Model. By applying convenient cuts in the invariant mass, we show that the final particles pT$p_T$ distributions can reveal the presence of an extra neutral gauge boson contribution. We also claim that it is possible to disentangle the models considered here and we emphasize that the minimal version of the model, based on SUC₍₃₎×SUL₍₃₎×UX₍₁₎$\mathit{SU}{(3)}_C\times \mathit{SU}{(3)}_L\times U{(1)}_X$ symmetry, presents the more clear signatures for Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ existence.     

Searching for family-number conserving neutral gauge bosons from extra dimensions

Previous studies have shown how the three generations of the Standard Model fermions can arise from a single generation in more than four dimensions and how off-diagonal neutral couplings arise for gauge-boson Kaluza-Klein recurrences. These couplings conserve family number in the leading approximation. While an existing example, built on a spherical geometry, suggests a high compactification scale, we conjecture that the overall structure is generic and work out possible signatures at colliders compatible with rare decays data.     

Higgs bosons at the LHC

The investigation of the dynamics responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking is one of the prime tasks of the experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In this article, the potential of the ATLAS and CMS experiments for the discovery of a standard model Higgs boson and for Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric extension is summarized. Emphasis is put on those studies which have been performed recently by the experimental collaborations using a realistic simulation of the detector performance. This includes a discussion of the search for Higgs bosons using the vector boson-fusion mode, a discussion on the measurement of Higgs boson parameters as well as a detailed review of the MSSM sector for different benchmark scenarios.     

Pseudoscalar Higgs bosons at the LHC: production and decays into electroweak gauge bosons revisited

We analyse and compute, within a number of standard model (SM) extensions, the cross sections σ _A→VV′ for the production of a heavy neutral pseudoscalar Higgs-boson/spin-zero resonance at the LHC and its subsequent decays into electroweak gauge bosons. For comparison we calculate also the corresponding cross sections for a heavy scalar. The SM extensions we consider include a type-II two-Higgs doublet model (2HDM), a 2HDM with four chiral fermion generations, the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM (MSSM), and top-colour assisted technicolour models. Presently available phenomenological constraints on the parameters of these models are taken into account. We find that, with the exception of the MSSM, these models permit the LHC cross sections σ _A→VV′ to be of observable size. That is, a pseudoscalar resonance may be observable, if it exists, at the LHC in its decays into electroweak gauge bosons, in particular in WW and γ γ final states.     

Anomalously interacting new extra vector bosons and their first LHC constraints

In this review phenomenological consequences of the Standard Model extension by means of new spin-1 chiral fields with the internal quantum numbers of the electroweak Higgs doublets are summarized. The prospects for resonance production and detection of the chiral vector Z* and W*^± bosons at the LHC energies are considered on the basis of quantitative simulations within the CompHEP/CalcHEP package. The Z* boson can be observed as a Breit-Wigner resonance peak in the invariant dilepton mass distributions in the same way as the well-known extra gauge Z?? bosons. However, the Z* bosons have unique signatures in transverse momentum, angular and pseudorapidity distributions of the final leptons, which allow one to distinguish them from other heavy neutral resonances. In 2010, with 40 pb^?1 of the LHC proton-proton data at the energy 7 TeV, the ATLAS detector was used to search for narrow resonances in the invariant mass spectrum of e ⁺ e ^? and ??⁺??^? final states and high-mass charged states decaying to a charged lepton and a neutrino. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation was observed. The exclusion mass limits of 1.15 and 1.35 TeV/c ² were obtained for the chiral neutral Z* and charged W* bosons, respectively. These are the first direct limits on the W* and Z* boson production. Based on the above, a novel strategy for the chiral boson search in the LHC dijet data is discussed. For almost all currently considered exotic models the relevant signal is expected in the central dijet rapidity region y _1,2 ? 0 and |y ₁ ? y ₂| ? 0. On the contrary, the chiral bosons do not contribute to this region but produce an excess of dijet events far away from it. In particular, for these bosons the appropriate kinematical restrictions lead to a dip in the centrality ratio distribution over the dijet invariant mass instead of a bump expected in the most exotic models.     

Bounds on the masses of neutral generation-changing gauge bosons

The existence of several generations of quarks and leptons suggests the possibility of a gauge symmetry connecting the different generations. The neutral gauge bosons of such a scheme would mediate rare processes such as K_L⁰→μ^±, K⁺→π⁺e^?π⁺, μN→eN and would contribute to ΔM(K_S⁰?K_L⁰). We study these and other processes within a simple theoretical framework and derive bounds involving the masses and coupling constants of the generation-changing gauge bosons and various generation-mixing angles. The lower bounds for the relevant masses lie in the 10–100 TeV region. Various remarks concerning the relevance of these bounds to currently popular theoretical ideas and to future experiments are presented.     

Further investigation of the model-independent probe of heavy neutral Higgs bosons at LHC Run 2

In one of our previous papers,we provided general,effective Higgs interactions for the lightest Higgs boson h(SM-like) and a heavier neutral Higgs boson H based on the effective Lagrangian formulation up to the dim-6 interactions,and then proposed two sensitive processes for probing H.We showed in several examples that the resonance peak of H and its dim-6 effective coupling constants(ECC) can be detected at LHC Run 2 with reasonable integrated luminosity.In this paper,we further perform a more thorough study of the most sensitive process,pp →VH*→VVV,providing information about the relations between the 1σ,3σ,5σ statistical significance and the corresponding ranges of the Higgs ECC for an integrated luminosity of 100 fb~(-1).These results have two useful applications in LHC Run 2:(A) realizing the experimental determination of the ECC in the dim-6 interactions if H is found and,(B) obtaining the theoretical exclusion bounds if H is not found.Some alternative processes sensitive for certain ranges of the ECC are also analyzed.     

Heavy Higgs bosons at the LHC upgrade

We evaluate the discovery potential for the heavy Higgs bosons at the LHC energy upgrade with \begin{document}$\sqrt{s}=27$\end{document} TeV. We assume the degenerate mass spectrum and an approximate alignment limit in the Type-II Two Higgs Doublet Model for illustration. We explore the observability of the heavy neutral Higgs bosons by examining the clean signals from \begin{document}$H^0\to W^+W^-, ZZ$\end{document} via gluon-gluon fusion production. The associated production of a top quark and a charged Higgs boson via \begin{document}$gb\to t H^\pm$\end{document} is adopted to predict the discovery potential of heavy charged Higgses. We also emphasize the potential importance of the electroweak production of Higgs boson pairs, i.e. \begin{document}$pp\to W^\ast \to H^\pm A^0$\end{document} and \begin{document}$pp\to Z^\ast/\gamma^\ast \to H^+ H^-$\end{document}. These are only governed by pure electroweak gauge couplings and can provide complementary information to the conventional signals in the determination of the nature of the Higgs sector.     

Prospects for the detection of Kaluza-Klein excitations of gauge bosons in the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The European Physical Journal C - Kaluza-Klein excitations of the gauge bosons are a notable feature of theories with “small” (~ 1 TeV) extra dimensions. The leptonic decays of...     

Single production of fourth-family quarks at the LHC

We study the single production of fourth-family quarks through the process pp→Q′jX at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We have calculated the decay widths and branching ratios of the fourth-family quarks (b′ and t′) in the mass range 300–800 GeV. The cross sections for the signal and background processes have been calculated in a Monte Carlo framework. It is shown that the LHC can discover single t′ and b′ quarks if the CKM matrix elements |V _t′q |,|V _qb′|≳0.01.     

Bose-Einstein correlations of neutral gauge bosons in pp collisions

The theory for Bose-Einstein correlations in case of neutral gauge bosons in pp collisions at high energies is presented. Based on quantum field theory at finite temperature, the two-particle Bose-Einstein correlations of neutral gauge bosons are carried out for the first time. As a result, the important parameters of the correlation functions can be obtained for the Z ⁰ Z ⁰ pairs. The article is published in the original.     

Vector bosons in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC

Vector bosons become accessible experimental probes in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The capabilities of the LHC experiments to perform their measurement are outlined. The focus is given to their utility to study the possible formation and properties of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) in the most central heavy-ion collisions. Their own sensitivity (if any) to the QGP is discussed. Their interest as references to observe multiple QGP sensitive probes is justified.     

Higgs bosons in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model at the LHC

We review possible properties of Higgs bosons in the NMSSM, which allow to discriminate this model from the MSSM: masses of mostly Standard-Model-like Higgs bosons at or above 140 GeV, or enhanced branching fractions into two photons, or Higgs-to-Higgs decays. In the case of a Standard-Model-like Higgs boson above 140 GeV, it is necessarily accompanied by a lighter state with a large gauge singlet component. Examples for such scenarios are presented. Available studies on Higgs-to-Higgs decays are discussed according to the various Higgs production modes, light Higgs masses and decay channels.     

Production of charged Higgs bosons at LHC in light-quark annihilation

The CMS potential (at LHC) for seeking the production of a charged Higgs boson is investigated for large values of tan β (between 20 and 50) and a relatively light charged Higgs boson M _H = 200–400 GeV). A simple parametrization is proposed for the

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distributions of signal and background events. The possibility of measuring the mass of the charged Higgs boson and tan β is investigated.