Implications of a Higgs interpretation of the ζ(8.3)

We consider the implications if the new state seen by the Crystal Ball collaboration in radiative -decay, the ζ(8.3), is interpreted as a Higgs boson. We show that BR(ζ→gg)<0.06 or ζ(8.3) would already have been observed at FNAL. As a consequence, there would be very significant constraints on models which go beyond the standard model (supersymmetry, composite models, technicolor, …). In particular, the minimal two-higgs doublet low-energy supersymmetric models would be ruled out. We give a sum rule restricting the number of heavy colored states which couple to ζ(8.3); remarkably, only one further generation of heavy quarks could exist. It is crucial to detect the prompt semileptonic decays from charm to confirm a Higgs interpretation.     

Trying to catch the elusive A and more. Reactions initiated by b-quarks and the Higgs sector of the MSSM

We study the cross sections for the production of neneural, intermediate mass Higgs boson in the process pp→ tq′φ, pp→tW⁻φ and pp→bZ⁰φ in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (φ = H⁰, h⁰ and A⁰) at Supercollider energies. The additional heavy particles (t, W, Z) in the final state can be used for tagging purposes, increasing the signal to background ratio. These reactions are dominated by bg and bg fusion. Their relevance for Higgs particle searches is discussed taking into account the expected efficiencies and purities for b-tagging. We find that, for tan β = 30, the cross sections for pp → bZ⁰φ are larger than 14 pb, over the whole intemediate range of M_A⁰, for A⁰ and at least one of the other two Higgses. Therefore this reaction is an excellent candidate for the discovery of one or more MSSM Higgs particles.     

Same-sign dileptons as a signature for heavy Majorana neutrinos in hadron-hadron collisions

We discuss the possibility of same-sign dileptons as a signature for Majorana neutrinos. The production mechanism is given by a single heavy neutrino production and decay pp → l^±NX → l^±l^±X′. Cross section and distributions are presented for the LHC energies.     

CMS overview

We discuss the production of γπ⁰ and π⁰ π⁰ pairs with a large invariant mass at collider energies. We present a study based on a perturbative QCD calculation at full next-to-leading order accuracy, implemented in the computer programme DIPHOX. We give estimations for various observables, which concern the reducible background to the Higgs boson search in the channel H → γγ, in the mass range 80-140 GeV at the LHC. We critically discuss the reliability of these estimates due to our imperfect knowledge of fragmentation functions at high z and a subtle interplay between higher order corrections and realistic experimental cuts. Whereas the invariant mass spectrum of photon-pion pairs is theoretically better under control, in the dipion case large uncertainties remain. Finally we comment on the impact of our findings on Higgs boson searches at the LHC. We conclude that the qualitative statement that the pion backgrounds should not be dangerous for the H → γγ search channel remains true at the next-to-leading order level.     

Neutral Higgs Boson Pair Production in Standard Model with the Fourth Generation Quarks at LHC

We investigated the neutral Higgs boson pair production at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in the SM with four families. We found that the gluon-gluon fusion mode is the most dominant one in producing neutral Higgs boson pair at the LHC, and it can be used to probe the trilinear Higgs coupling. If the heavy quarks of the fourth generation really exist within the SM, they can manifest their effect on the cross section of the Higgs pair production process at the LHC. Our numerical results show that there will be 2×10⁴ neutral Higgs boson pair production events per year if the next generation heavy quarks really exist, while there will be only 2×10³ events produced per year if there are only three families in the SM.     

Higgs-pair production and decay in simplest little Higgs model

In the framework of the simplest little Higgs model (SLHM), we study the production of a pair of neutral CP-even Higgs bosons at the LHC. First, we examine the production rate and find that it can be significantly larger than the SM prediction. Then we investigate the decays of the Higgs-pair and find that for a low Higgs mass their dominant decay mode is hh→ηηηη (η is a CP-odd scalar) while and hh→ηηWW may also have sizable ratios. Finally, we comparatively study the rates of , , and pp→hh→WWWW in the SLHM and the littlest Higgs models (LHT). We find that for a light Higgs, compared with the SM predictions, all the three rates can be sizably enhanced in the LHT but severely suppressed in the SLHM; while for an intermediately heavy Higgs, both the LHT and SLHM can enhance sizably the SM predictions.     

Search strategies for non-standard Higgs bosons at future ee colliders

Already in the simplest two-Higgs-doublet model with CP violation in the Higgs sector, the 3×3 mixing matrix for the neutral Higgs bosons can substantially modify their couplings, thereby endangering the “classical” Higgs search strategies. However, there are sum rules relating Yukawa and Higgs–Z couplings which ensure that the ZZ, and couplings of a given neutral 2HDM Higgs boson cannot all be simultaneously suppressed. This result implies that any single Higgs boson will be detectable at an e⁺e⁻ collider if the Z+Higgs, Higgs and Higgs production channels are all kinematically accessible and if the integrated luminosity is sufficient. We explore, as a function of Higgs mass, the luminosity required to guarantee Higgs boson detection, and find that for moderate tanβ values the needed luminosity is unlikely to be available for all possible mixing scenarios. Implications of the sum rules for Higgs discovery at the Tevatron and LHC are briefly discussed.     

Large Hadron collider tests of the little Higgs model

The little Higgs model provides an alternative to traditional candidates for new physics at the TeV scale. The new heavy gauge bosons predicted by this model should be observable at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We discuss how the LHC experiments could test the little Higgs model by studying the production and decay of these particles.     

Prospects for new physics observations in diffractive processes at the LHC and Tevatron

We study the double-diffractive production of various heavy systems (e.g. Higgs, dijet, and SUSY particles) at LHC and Tevatron collider energies. In each case we compute the probability that the rapidity gaps, which occur on either side of the produced system, survive the effects of soft rescattering and QCD bremsstrahlung effects. We calculate both the luminosity for different production mechanisms, and a wide variety of subprocess cross sections. The results allow numerical predictions to be readily made for the cross sections of all these processes at the LHC and the Tevatron collider. For example, we predict that the cross section for the exclusive double-diffractive production of a 120 GeV Higgs boson at the LHC is about 3 fb, and that the QCD background in the decay mode is about 4 times smaller than the Higgs signal if the experimental missing-mass resolution is 1 GeV. For completeness we also discuss production via or WW fusion. Received: 7 November 2001 / Revised version: 11 December 2001 / Published online: 25 January 2002     

SUSY QCD Residual Effects in pp→bbh Process

If all the supersymmetry particles (sparticles) except a light Higgs boson are too heavy to be directly produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a possible way to reveal evidence for supersymmetry is through their virtual effects in other processes. We examine such supersymmetric QCD effects in bottom pair production associated with a light Higgs boson at the LHC. We find that if the relevant sparticles (gluinos and squarks) are too heavy to be directly produced well above the TeV scale, they can still have sizable virtual effects in this process. For large tanβ, such residual effects can alter the production rate by over 40 percent,which should be observable in future measurements of this process at the LHC.     

The Higgs sector of the minimal <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>−<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis> model at future Linear Colliders

We investigate the phenomenology of the Higgs sector of the minimal B−L extension of the Standard Model at a future e ⁺ e ⁻ Linear Collider. We consider the discovery potential of both a sub-TeV and a multi-TeV machine. We show that, within such a theoretical scenario, several novel production and decay channels involving the two physical Higgs states, precluded at the LHC, could experimentally be accessed at such machines. Amongst these, several Higgs signatures have very distinctive features with respect to those of other models with enlarged Higgs sector, as they involve interactions of Higgs bosons between themselves, with Z′ bosons as well as with heavy neutrinos. In particular, we present the scope of the Z′ strahlung process for single and double Higgs production, the only suitable mechanism enabling one to access an almost decoupled heavy scalar state (therefore outside the LHC range).     

Higgs and Z<Superscript>′</Superscript> phenomenology in B–L extension of the standard model at LHC

The phenomenology of the low scale U(1)_B–L extension of the standard model and its implications at LHC energies is presented. In this model, an extra gauge boson corresponding to B–L gauge symmetry and an extra SM singlet scalar (heavy Higgs boson) are predicted. We show a detailed analysis of both heavy and light Higgs bosons decay and production in addition to the possible decay channels of the new gauge boson. We find that the cross sections of the SM-like Higgs production are reduced by ∼20–30%, while its decay branching ratios remain intact. The extra Higgs boson has relatively small cross sections and the branching ratios of Z^′→l⁺l^- are of order ∼20% to be compared to ∼3% of the SM results. Hence, the search for Z^′ is accessible via a clean dilepton signal at LHC.     

Patterns of lepton-flavour violation motivated by decoupling and sneutrino inflation

We present predictions for flavour-violating charged-lepton decays induced by the seesaw mechanism implemented within the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM) with universal input soft supersymmetry breaking terms. We assume that one heavy singlet neutrino almost decouples from the seesaw mechanism, as suggested by the pattern of light neutrino masses and mixing angles. This is suggested independently by sneutrino inflation with a low reheating temperature, T_RH10⁷ GeV, so as to avoid overproducing gravitinos. This requirement further fixes the mass of the weakly-coupled sneutrino, whose decays may lead to leptogenesis. We find that BR(μ→eγ)10⁻¹³ but BR(τ→μγ)10⁻⁹ in the bulk of the acceptable parameter space, apart from a few isolated points. The ratio BR(μ→eγ)/BR(τ→eγ) depends on only one complex parameter, and is particularly interesting to compare with experiment.     

Electron-muon permutation symmetry and multiplicatively conserved lepton number in gauge theories

The similarity between the weak interactions of electron and muon is extended to the principle that all e and μ interactions in gauge models are invariant under e ↔ μ exchange. This necessitates the existence of two Higgs doublets φ_e and φ_μ, and an extended e ↔ μ permutation invariance. After symmetry-breaking, a multiplicatively conserved “permutation parity” π = ± 1 for all particles naturally emerges, with π_μ = −π_e = 1. The model forbids μ → eγ but predicts e⁻e⁻ → μ⁻μ⁻ mediated by π = −1 Higgs bosons at 10⁻¹¹ times the rate of typical weak cross sections.     

MSSM Higgs boson searches at the Tevatron and the LHC: Impact of different benchmark scenarios

The Higgs boson search has shifted from LEP2 to the Tevatron and will subsequently move to the LHC. The current limits from the Tevatron and the prospective sensitivities at the LHC are often interpreted in specific MSSM scenarios. For heavy Higgs boson production and subsequent decay into or τ⁺τ^–, the present Tevatron data allow one to set limits in the M_A–tan β plane for small M_A and large tan β values. Similar channels have been explored for the LHC, where the discovery reach extends to higher values of M_A and smaller tan β. Searches for MSSM charged Higgs bosons, produced in top decays or in association with top quarks, have also been investigated at the Tevatron and the LHC. We analyze the current Tevatron limits and prospective LHC sensitivities. We discuss how robust they are with respect to variations of the other MSSM parameters and possible improvements of the theoretical predictions for Higgs boson production and decay. It is shown that the inclusion of supersymmetric radiative corrections to the production cross sections and decay widths leads to important modifications of the present limits on the MSSM parameter space. The impact on the region where only the lightest MSSM Higgs boson can be detected at the LHC is also analyzed. We propose to extend the existing benchmark scenarios by including additional values of the higgsino mass parameter μ. This affects only slightly the search channels for a SM-like Higgs boson, while having a major impact on the searches for non-standard MSSM Higgs bosons.     

Quantum gravity effect in torsion driven inflation and CP violation

Journal of High Energy Physics - In this paper we study the production of a heavy charged Higgs boson in association with heavy quarks at the LHC in the two-Higgs-doublet model. We present for the...     

The CMSSM parameter space at large tanβ

We extend previous combinations of LEP and cosmological relic density constraints on the parameter space of the constrained MSSM, with universal input supersymmetry-breaking parameters, to large tanβ. We take account of the possibility that the lightest Higgs boson might weigh about 115 GeV, but also retain the possibility that it might be heavier. We include the most recent implementation of the b→sγ constraint at large tanβ. We refine previous relic density calculations at large tanβ by combining a careful treatment of the direct-channel Higgs poles in annihilation of pairs of neutralinos χ with a complete treatment of χ– coannihilation, and discuss carefully uncertainties associated with the mass of the b quark. We find that coannihilation and pole annihilations allow the CMSSM to yield an acceptable relic density at large tanβ, but it is consistent with all the constraints only if m_χ>140 (180) GeV for μ>0 (μ<0) for our default choices  GeV, m_t=175 GeV, and A₀=0.     

Pair production of charged Higgs bosons in the left–right twin Higgs model at the ILC and LHC

The left–right twin Higgs (LRTH) model predicts the existence of a pair of charged Higgs bosons φ^±. In this paper, we study the production of the charged Higgs boson pair φ^± at the international linear collider (ILC) and the CERN large hadron collider (LHC). The numerical results show that the production rates are at the level of several tens fb at the ILC, and the process e⁺e^-→φ⁺φ^- can produce adequately distinct multi-jet final states. We also discuss the charged Higgs boson pair production via the process qq̄→φ⁺φ^- at the LHC and estimate in this case the production rates. We find that, as long as the charged Higgs bosons are not too heavy, they can be abundantly produced at the LHC. The possible signatures of these new particles might be detected at the ILC and LHC experiments. PACS 12.60.Fr; 14.80.Mz; 14.65.Ha; 12.15.Lk     

Heavy ion collisions at CMS and quark-gluon plasma

One of the most actual goals in high energy physics is reaching the state of deconfinement of hadronic matter and studying the properties of resultant quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Jet production, as well as other hard processes, is considered to be an efficient probe for formation of QGP in future experiments on heavy ion collisions at LHC.The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is the general purpose detector designed to run at the LHC and optimized mainly for the search of the Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions. However, a good muon system and electromagnetic and hadron calorimeters with fine granularity gives the possibility to cover several important aspects of the heavy ion physics. The production of heavy quarkonia Γ, Γ′, Γ″ through their muon decay channel and the energy loss of hard jets, are valuable processes for studying the phase transition from the hadronic matter to the plasma of deconfined quarks and gluons.     

Six-quark clusters and neutrinoless double β-decay

The neutrinoless double β-decay mediated by heavy Majorana neutrinos or Higgs particles is studied in the presence of six-quark clusters in nuclei. The probability of finding such clusters in nuclei is estimated. The structure of the six-quark clusters, which may also be important for other short-range processes, is studied using group theoretical techniques in the group chain SU(24) SU_c(3) × SU_x(2) × SU_IS(4). Explicit calculations are presented in the case of the experimentally interesting ⁴⁸Ca→⁴⁸Ti decay.