Flavor and LHC searches for new physics

Uncovering the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) is the raison-d’etre of the LHC. Flavor questions, it would seem, are of minor relevance for this quest, apart from their role in constraining the possible structure of EWSB physics. In this short review article, we outline, using flavor-dependent slepton physics as an example, how flavor can affect both searches for supersymmetry, and future measurements aimed at understanding the nature of any new discoveries. If the production cross-sections for supersymmetry are relatively low, as indicated by the fact that it has not revealed itself yet in standard searches, the usual assumptions about the superpartner spectra need rethinking. Furthermore, one must consider more intricate searches, such as lepton-based searches, which could be susceptible to flavor effects. We start by reviewing the flavor structure of existing frameworks for mediating supersymmetry breaking, emphasizing flavor-dependent models proposed recently. We use the kinematic endpoints of invariant mass distributions to demonstrate how flavor dependence can impact both searches for supersymmetry and the Inverse Problem. We also discuss methods for measuring small-mass splittings and mixings at the LHC, both in models with a neutralino LSP and in models with a charged slepton (N)LSP.     

Neutrinos, their partners, and unification

Efforts to unify group-theoretically the standard-model gauge interactions with the generation structure of fermions and their mirror partners should be accompanied by the unification of the corresponding gauge couplings. In this paper, the possibility of such a unification is studied, and conclusions on possible symmetry-breaking channels and scales as well as on the fermion content of the theory are drawn. The breaking of some of the symmetries allows various Majorana masses for neutrinos and their mirror partners, so these are studied next. Implications for neutrino mixings and mass hierarchies in connection with recent experimental results, as well as for electroweak precision tests, are then discussed. Received: 11 May 1999 / Published online: 28 September 1999     

Anomaly,gauge and gaugino mediation in brane worlds with messenger matter

Theories in which supersymmetry is broken on another brane, which is separated from the minimal supersymmetry standard model (MSSM) matter fields in an extra dimension, are attractive because they may solve the supersymmetric flavor problem. We consider the effects in such theories of new messenger fields with standard model gauge charges and with direct couplings to the supersymmetry breaking sector. The effect on the masses of the MSSM superpartners can be dramatic. In particular, the tachyonic slepton problem of anomaly mediation and the stable slepton problem of gaugino mediation can be cured.     

A Model of Fermion Masses and Flavor Mixings with Family SymmetrySU(3)\otimes U(1)

The family symmetrySU}(3)\otimes U(1) is proposed to solve flavor problems about fermion masses and flavor mixings. It is breaking is implemented by some flavon fields at the high-energy scale. In addition a discrete group Z₂ is introduced to generate tiny neutrino masses, which is broken by a real singlet
scalar field at the middle-energy scale. The low-energy effective theory is elegantly obtained after all of super-heavy fermions are integrated out and decoupling. All the fermion mass matrices are regularly characterized by four fundamental matrices and thirteen parameters. The model can perfectly fit and account for all the current experimental data about the fermion masses and flavor mixings, in particular, it finely predicts the first generation
quark masses and the values ofθ₁₃^l and J_CP^l in neutrino physics. All of the results are promising to be tested in the future experiments.     

Quasi-degenerate neutrinos and lepton flavor violationin supersymmetric models

In supersymmetric models the misalignment between fermion and sfermion families introduces unsuppressed flavor-changing processes. Even if the mass parameters are chosen to give no flavor violation, family dependent radiative corrections make this adjustment not stable. We analyze the rate of in SUSY-GUT models with three quasi-degenerate neutrinos and universal scalar masses at the Planck scale. We pay special attention to a recently proposed scenario where the low-energy neutrino mixings are generated from identical quark and lepton mixings at large scales. We show the following. (i) To take universal slepton masses at the GUT scale is a very poor approximation, even in no-scale models. (ii) For large neutrino Yukawa couplings the decay would be observed in the planned experiment at PSI. (iii) For large values of the tau coupling gives important corrections, pushing and to accessible rates. In particular, the non-observation of these processes in the near future would exclude the scenario with unification of quark and lepton mixing angles. (iv) The absence of lepton flavor violating decays in upcoming experiments would imply a low value of , small neutrino couplings, and large ( GeV) SUSY-breaking masses.     

Democratic approach to atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillations

Working with a flavor symmetry, we show how the hierarchical structure in the charged fermion sector and a democratic approach for neutrinos that yields large solar and atmospheric neutrino mixings can be simultaneously realized in the MSSM framework. However, in SU(5) due to the unified multiplets we encounter difficulties. Namely, democracy for the neutrinos leads to a wrong hierarchical pattern for charged fermion masses and mixings. We discuss how this is overcome in flipped SU(5).     

Phenomenological consequences of right-handed down squark mixings

The mixings of d(R) quarks, hidden from view in the standard model (SM), are naturally the largest if one has an Abelian flavor symmetry. With supersymmetry (SUSY) their effects can surface via d(R) squark loops. Squark and gluino masses are at TeV scale, but they can still induce effects comparable to SM in B(d) (or B(s)) mixings, while D0 mixing could be close to recent hints from data. In general, CP phases would be different from SM, as may be indicated by recent B factory data. Presence of nonstandard soft SUSY breakings with large tanbeta could enhance b-->dgamma (or sgamma) transitions.     

Signal for an extra-dimensional model of flavor at the Large Hadron Collider

In Randall-Sundrum models with gauge bosons and fermions in the extra-dimensional bulk, it is possible to build models of flavor by localizing the fermions in the extra dimension. Since the Higgs boson must be localized at or close to the TeV scale fixed point, heavier fermions must be localized close to this brane. The first Kaluza-Klein excitations of the gauge bosons are also TeV-localized, so they have stronger couplings to heavier fermions leading to tree-level flavor-violating couplings. We investigate the potential of the Large Hadron Collider to observe flavor violation in single top production at very high invariant masses, in addition to the observation of the corresponding t-t[over] resonance. We conclude that the Large Hadron Collider will be able to observe tree-level flavor violation in single top production, probing Kaluza-Klein masses at least as large as 2 TeV, as well as a very interesting region of the parameters.     

Flavor anarchy in a Randall-Sundrum model with 5D minimal flavor violation and a low Kaluza-Klein scale

A variant of a warped extra dimension model is presented. It is based on 5D minimal flavor violation, in which the only sources of flavor breaking are two 5D anarchic Yukawa matrices. These matrices also control the bulk masses, which are responsible for the resulting flavor hierarchy. The theory flows to a next to minimal flavor violation model where flavor violation is dominantly coming from the 3rd generation. Flavor violation is also suppressed by a parameter that dials the violation in the up or down sector. There is therefore a sharp limit in which there is no flavor violation in the down-type quark sector which, remarkably, is consistent with the observed flavor parameters. This is used to eliminate the current Randall-Sundrum flavor and CP problem. Our construction suggests that strong dynamic-based, flavor models may be built based on the same concepts.     

Bs-Bs mixing in grand unified models

We study Bs-Bs mixing in supersymmetry grand unified SO(10), SU(5) models where the mixings among the second and third generation squarks arise due to the existence of flavor violating sources in the Dirac and Majorana couplings which are responsible for neutrino mixings. We find that when the branching ratio of tau-->mugamma decay is enhanced to be around the current experimental bound, Bs-Bs mixing may also contain large contribution from supersymmetry in the SO(10) boundary condition. Consequently, the phase of Bs-Bs mixing is large (especially for small tanbeta and large scalar mass m0) and can be tested by measuring CP asymmetries of Bs decay modes.     

Low-scale neutrino seesaw mechanism and scalar dark matter

Recently the AMS-02 experiment has released the data of positron fraction with a very small statistical error. Because of the small error, it is no longer easy to fit the data with single dark matter for a fixed diffusion model and dark matter profile. In this paper, we propose a new interpretation of the data: that it originates from decay of two-component dark matter. This interpretation gives a rough threshold of the lighter DM component. When DM decays into leptons, the positron fraction in the cosmic rays depends on the flavor of the final states, and this is fixed by imposing a non-Abelian discrete symmetry on our model. By assuming two gauge-singlet fermionic decaying DM particles, we show that a model with non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetry, e.g. $T_{13}$ , can give a much better fitting to the AMS-02 data compared with a single-component dark matter scenario. Few dimension-six operators of the universal leptonic decay of DM particles are allowed in our model, since its decay operators are constrained by the $T_{13}$ symmetry. We also show that the lepton masses and mixings are consistent with current experimental data, due to the flavor symmetry.     

Neutrino mass and mixing in the 3-3-1 model and S 3 flavor symmetry with minimal Higgs content

A new S ₃ flavor model based on the SU(3) _C ? SU(3) _L ? U(1) _X gauge symmetry responsible for fermion masses and mixings different from our previous work [14, 17] is constructed. The new feature is a two-dimensional representation of a Higgs anti-sextet under S ₃, which is responsible for neutrino masses and mixings. The neutrinos acquire small masses from only an anti-sextet of SU(3), which is in a doublet under S ₃. If the difference of components of the anti-sextet is regarded as a small perturbation, S ₃ is equivalently broken into identity, the corresponding neutrino mass mixing matrix acquires the most general form, and the model can fit the latest data on neutrino oscillations. This way of symmetry breaking helps us reduce a content in the Higgs sector, to only one anti-sextet instead of two as in our previous work [14]. Our results show that the neutrino masses are naturally small and a small deviation from the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing form can be realized. The Higgs potential of the model as well as the minimization conditions and gauge boson masses and mixings are also considered.     

Solving the SUSY flavour and CP problems with non-Abelian family symmetry and supergravity

Can a theory of flavour capable of describing the spectrum of fermion (including neutrino) masses and mixings also contain within it the seeds for a solution of the SUSY flavour and CP problems? We argue that supergravity together with a non-Abelian family symmetry can completely resolve the SUSY flavour and CP problems in a broad class of theories in which family symmetry and CP is spontaneously broken in the flavon sector. We show that a simple superpotential structure can suppress the F-terms of the flavons and GUT scale Higgs fields and that, if this mechanism is implemented, the resulting flavour and CP violation is suppressed and comfortably within the experimental limits. For illustration, we study a specific model based on SU(3) family symmetry, but similar models based on non-Abelian (continuous or discrete) family symmetry will lead to similar results.     

\mu\rightarrow e\gamma decay in the left-right supersymmetric model

We calculate the dipole amplitude for the decay and related processes in the left-right supersymmetric model when parity breaking occurs at a considerably large scale. The low-energy flavor violation in the model originates either from the nonvanishing remnants of the left-right symmetry in the slepton mass matrix or from the direct flavor changing lepton-slepton-neutralino interaction. The result is found to be large and already accessible with current experimental accuracy for supersymmetric masses not far above the electroweak scale. It also provides nontrivial constraints on the lepton mixing in the model. Received: 8 June 1998 / Published online: 15 October 1998     

RG-invariant sum rule in a generalization of anomaly-mediated SUSY-breaking models

We study a generalization of anomaly-mediated supersymmetry-breaking (AMSB) scenarios, under the assumption that the effects of the high-scale theory do not completely decouple and that D-term type contributions can therefore be present. We investigate the effect of such possible D-term additional contributions to soft scalar masses by requiring that, for non-vanishing, renormalizable Yukawa couplings Y^ijk, the sum of squared soft supersymmetry breaking mass parameters, M²_ijk≡m_i²+m_j²+m_k², is RG-invariant, in the sense that it becomes independent of the specific ultraviolet boundary conditions as it occurs in the AMSB models. This type of models can avoid the problem of tachyonic solutions for the slepton mass spectrum present in AMSB scenarios. We implement the electroweak symmetry breaking condition and explore the sparticle spectrum associated with this framework. To show the possible diversity of the sparticle spectrum, we consider two examples, one in which the D-terms induce a common soft supersymmetry breaking mass term for all sfermion masses, and another one in which a light stop can be present in the spectrum.     

Gauge and Yukawa mediated supersymmetry breaking in the triplet seesaw scenario

We propose a novel supersymmetric unified scenario of the triplet seesaw mechanism where the exchange of the heavy triplets generates both neutrino masses and soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Our framework is very predictive since it relates neutrino mass parameters, lepton-flavor-violation in the slepton sector, sparticle and Higgs spectra, and electroweak symmetry breakdown. The phenomenological viability and experimental signatures in lepton flavor-violating processes are discussed.     

Neutrino sector impacts SUSY dark matter

Motivated by the fact that neutrinos are massive, we study the effect of neutrino Yukawa couplings on neutralino dark matter observables within the framework of a supersymmetric seesaw. We find that neutrino couplings significantly affect the neutralino relic density in regions of parameter space where soft SUSY-breaking slepton masses and/or trilinear couplings are large. Depending on the size of the couplings, the neutralino relic density spans over an order of magnitude in the A-funnel, focus point and stop-coannihilation regions of mSUGRA. We also show that dark matter detection rates can be modified by up to several orders of magnitude.     

Neutrino mass and magnetic moment in supersymmetry without R-parity in the light of recent data

We consider the generation of neutrino Majorana mass and transition magnetic moment by the lepton-number violating λ and/or λ′ couplings in R-parity-violating supersymmetric models. We update (and improve) the existing upper limits on the relevant couplings using the most recent data on neutrino masses and mixings, indicating also the possible improvement by the GENIUS project. We study the implication of this update on the induced neutrino magnetic moment.     

The decay constant of the holographic techni-dilaton and the 125 GeV boson

We critically discuss the possibility that the 125 GeV boson recently discovered at the LHC is the holographic techni-dilaton, a composite state emerging from a strongly-coupled model of electroweak symmetry breaking. This composite state differs from the SM for three main reasons. Its decay constant is in general larger than the electroweak scale, hence suppressing all the couplings to standard-model particles with respect to an elementary Higgs boson, with the exception of the coupling to photons and gluons, which is expected to be larger than the standard-model equivalent.