The NMSSM and string theory

We study the possibility of constructing the NMSSM from the heterotic string. String-derived NMSSMs are much more rare than MSSMs due to the extra requirement that there exist a light singlet which couples to the Higgs pairs. They share the common feature that the singlet self-interactions are typically suppressed, leading to either the “decoupling” or the Peccei–Quinn limit of the NMSSM. In the latter case, the spectrum contains a light pseudoscalar which may be relevant to the MSSM fine-tuning problem. We provide a Z₆${\mathbb{Z}}_6$ heterotic orbifold example of the NMSSM with approximate Peccei–Quinn symmetry, whose origin lies in the string selection rules combined with our choice of the vacuum configuration.     

On the radiative corrections to the neutral Higgs boson masses in the NMSSM

We provide a full one-loop calculation of the self energies and tadpoles of the neutral Higgs bosons of the NMSSM. In addition, we compute the two-loop corrections to the neutral Higgs boson masses in the effective potential approximation. With respect to earlier calculations, the newly-computed corrections can account for shifts of a few GeV in the light scalar and pseudoscalar masses, and they can also sizeably affect the mixing between singlet and MSSM-like Higgs scalars. Taking these corrections into account will be crucial for a meaningful comparison between the MSSM and NMSSM predictions for the Higgs sector.     

NMSSM with gravitino dark matter to be tested at LHC

We present a solution to the gravitino problem, which arises in the NMSSM, allowing for sparticle spectra from ordinary gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking with weak-scale gravitino dark matter. The coupling, which links the singlet to the MSSM sector, enhances the tree-level Higgs mass, providing an attractive explanation why the observed Higgs boson is so heavy. The same coupling induces very efficient pair-annihilation processes of the neutralino NLSP. Its relic abundance can be sufficiently suppressed to satisfy the strong constraints on late decaying relics from primordial nucleosynthesis – even for very long neutralino lifetimes. The striking prediction of this scenario is the detection of a pseudoscalar Higgs boson in the search for top–top resonances at LHC-14, rendering it completely testable.     

Production and decay of neutralinos in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

Within the framework of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) we study neutralino production (i,j=1, …, 5) at center-of-mass energies between 100 and 600 GeV and the decays of the heavier neutralinos into the LSP plus a fermion pair, a photon or a Higgs boson. For representative gaugino/higgsino mixing scenarios, where the light neutralinos have significant singlet components, we find some striking differences between the NMSSM and the minimal supersymmetric model. Since in the NMSSM neutralino and Higgs sector are strongly correlated, the decay of the second lightest neutralino into a Higgs boson and the LSP often is kinematically possible and even dominant in a large parameter region of typical NMSSM scenarios. Also, the decay rates into final states with a photon may be enhanced.     

NMSSM Higgs benchmarks near 125 GeV

The recent LHC indications of a SM-like Higgs boson near 125 GeV are consistent not only with the Standard Model (SM) but also with Supersymmetry (SUSY). However naturalness arguments disfavour the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We consider the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with a SM-like Higgs boson near 125 GeV involving relatively light stops and gluinos below 1 TeV in order to satisfy naturalness requirements. We are careful to ensure that the chosen values of couplings do not become non-perturbative below the grand unification (GUT) scale, although we also examine how these limits may be extended by the addition of extra matter to the NMSSM at the two-loop level. We then propose four sets of benchmark points corresponding to the SM-like Higgs boson being the lightest or the second lightest Higgs state in the NMSSM or the NMSSM-with-extra-matter. With the aid of these benchmark points we discuss how the NMSSM Higgs boson near 125 GeV may be distinguished from the SM Higgs boson in future LHC searches.     

Di-photon Higgs signals at the LHC in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model

The NMSSM contains a Higgs singlet in addition to the two Higgs doublets typical of the MSSM, thus resulting in a total of seven physical Higgs mass states. Therefore, the phenomenology of the NMSSM Higgs sector can differ considerably from that of the MSSM, and there are good prospects of finding in regions of the NMSSM parameter space Higgs signals that cannot be reproduced in the MSSM. We examined here the two-photon decay mode of a Higgs boson and found that up to three neutral Higgs states, heavy and/or light, could be simultaneously observable at the LHC, a possibility precluded to the MSSM. There are also some possibilities that only the lightest NMSSM Higgs boson be detectable via this mode, with a mass beyond the upper limit of the corresponding MSSM state, thus also allowing one to distinguish between the two scenarios. However, in most of the NMSSM parameter space the configurations of the non-minimal model are not very different from those arising in the minimal case.     

Electroweak symmetry breaking beyond the Standard Model

In this paper, two key issues related to electroweak symmetry breaking are addressed. First, how fine-tuned different models are that trigger this phenomenon? Second, even if a light Higgs boson exists, does it have to be necessarily elementary? After a brief introduction, the fine-tuning aspects of the MSSM, NMSSM, generalized NMSSM and GMSB scenarios shall be reviewed, then the little Higgs, composite Higgs and the Higgsless models shall be compared. Finally, a broad overview will be given on where we stand at the end of 2011.     

Di-photon Higgs signal at the LHC: A comparative study in different supersymmetric models

As the most important discovery channel for a light Higgs boson at the LHC, the di-photon signal gg→h→γγ is sensitive to underlying physics. In this work we investigate such a signal in a comparative way by considering three different supersymmetric models, namely the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) and the nearly minimal supersymmetric standard model (nMSSM). Under the current collider and cosmological constraints we scan over the parameter space and obtain the following observation in the allowed parameter space: (i) In the nMSSM the signal rate is always suppressed; (ii) In the MSSM the signal rate is suppressed in most cases, but in a tiny corner of the parameter space it can be enhanced (maximally by a factor of 2); (iii) In the NMSSM the signal rate can be enhanced or suppressed depending on the parameter space, and the enhancement factor can be as large as 7.     

Confronting the MSSM and the NMSSM with the discovery of a signal in the two photon channel at the LHC

We confront the discovery of a boson decaying into two photons, as reported recently by ATLAS and CMS, with the corresponding predictions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). We perform a scan over the relevant regions of parameter space in both models and evaluate the MSSM and NMSSM predictions for the dominant Higgs production channel and the photon–photon decay channel. Taking into account the experimental constraints from previous direct searches, flavor physics, electroweak measurements as well as theoretical considerations, we find that a Higgs signal in the two photon channel with a rate equal to, or above, the SM prediction is viable over the full mass range 123?M _H ?127 GeV, both in the MSSM and the NMSSM. We find that besides the interpretation of a possible signal at about 125 GeV in terms of the lightest $\mathcal {CP}$ -even Higgs boson, both the MSSM and the NMSSM permit also a viable interpretation where an observed state at about 125 GeV would correspond to the second-lightest $\mathcal {CP}$ -even Higgs boson in the spectrum, which would be accompanied by another light Higgs with suppressed couplings to W and Z bosons. We find that a significant enhancement of the γγ rate, compatible with the signal strengths observed by ATLAS and CMS, is possible in both the MSSM and the NMSSM, and we analyse in detail different mechanisms in the two models that can give rise to such an enhancement. We briefly discuss also our predictions in the two models for the production and subsequent decay into two photons of a $\mathcal {CP}$ -odd Higgs boson.     

A la recherche d'un nouveau boson de spin un

The spin-1 partner of the goldstino (gravitino) under supersymmetry may be very light and very weakly coupled. We study how it could appear in e⁺e^? annihilations, K and ω decays and beam dump experiments. If its mass is very small it would be produced and interact like a pseudoscalar particle somewhat similar to an axion, but with different decay modes.     

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.     

R-Symmetric NMSSM

It is well known that the observed Higgs mass is more naturally explained in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) than in the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Without any violation of this success, there are variants of the NMSSM that can lead to new phenomenologies. In this study, we propose a new variant of the NMSSM by imposing an unbroken R symmetry. We first identify the minimal structure of such a scenario from the perspective of both simplicity and viability, then compare the model predictions to current experimental limits, and finally highlight the main features that differ from those of well-known scenarios.     

A class of field theories in two-dimensional space-time with aU 1×U 1 symmetry

The derivative coupling of massless pseudoscalar neutral particles with a charged spinor field in two-dimensional space-time is reduced to a self-interacting spinor field and a free pseudoscalar field.More generally, it is shown that any given local field theory with a conserved vector current and without massless particles can be extended to a local theory with an additional pseudoscalar field and with aU ₁×U ₁ symmetry.     

Smuon in the NMSSM confronted with the muon g–2 anomaly and SUSY searches

Motivated by recent supersymmetry (SUSY) search results, which prefer most SUSY particles to be heavy, and the muon g–2 anomaly, which prefers colorless SUSY particles to be light, we explore the status of a light smuon (the SUSY partner of a left-handed muon lepton) in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM). Assuming colored SUSY particles to be heavy, and considering numerous experimental constraints, including muon g-2, SUSY searches, and dark matter, we scan the parameter space in the NMSSM with \begin{document}$ \mathbb{Z}_3 $\end{document}-symmetry and check the status of colorless SUSY particles and their possible mass order, paying special attention to the smuon. After calculations and discussions, we find that the surviving samples can be divided into several scenarios, where the mass region and decay information of the smuon are given. Overall, the smuon mass can be approximately 0.1~1.8 TeV. These results may be useful for smuon searches at the LHC and future colliders.     

Precise predictions for the Higgs-boson masses in the NMSSM

The particle discovered in the Higgs-boson searches at the LHC with a mass of about \(125 \, \mathrm{GeV}\) can be identified with one of the neutral Higgs bosons of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). We calculate predictions for the Higgs-boson masses in the NMSSM using the Feynman-diagrammatic approach. The predictions are based on the full NMSSM one-loop corrections supplemented with the dominant and sub-dominant two-loop corrections within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). These include contributions at \(\mathcal {O}{(\alpha _t \alpha _s, \alpha _b \alpha _s, \alpha _t^2,\alpha _t\alpha _b)}\), as well as a resummation of leading and subleading logarithms from the top/scalar top sector. Taking these corrections into account in the prediction for the mass of the Higgs boson in the NMSSM that is identified with the observed signal is crucial in order to reach a precision at a similar level as in the MSSM. The quality of the approximation made at the two-loop level is analysed on the basis of the full one-loop result, with a particular focus on the prediction for the Standard Model-like Higgs boson that is associated with the observed signal. The obtained results will be used as a basis for the extension of the code FeynHiggs to the NMSSM.     

Probing light pseudoscalar particles using synchrotron light

The need for purely laboratory-based light pseudoscalar particles searches has been emphasized many times in the literature, since astrophysical bounds on these particles rely on several assumptions to calculate the flux produced in stellar plasmas. In this Letter we study the use of light from synchrotron accelerators as a source for a photon regeneration experiment also know as “light shining through a wall”. Such an experiment can significantly improve present limits on the pseudoscalar particle mass and the pseudoscalar–photon coupling constant obtained from laser experiments. This is possible even using a small number of powerful magnets (B∼10 T$B\sim 10\text{T}$), due to the large incident photon flux. On the other hand, the use of a broadband incident photon-beam instead of infrared or optical lasers allows a significant improvement in the mass reach of the experiment (it is possible to test masses up to 0.01 eV without a drop in sensitivity). Large, but still feasible, configurations can explore in a quite model-independent way a large part of the parameter space examined by solar searches and HB stars in globular clusters. Additionally, the proposal may be useful for testing string motivated effective theories containing light and weakly interacting particles.     

A numerical formula for the total cross section of the lepton-pair production via the Bethe-Heitler process of a light pseudoscalar particle

We present in detail the calculations of the total cross section for coherent lepton-pair production of a light pseudoscalar particle off a nucleus via the Bethe-Heitler process.For future reference to experiments which are aimed to search for the pseudoscalar particle, we construct a numerical formula for the total cross section as a function of the incident energy of the pseudoscalar particle and the mass number of the target nucleus.     

Another step towards a no-lose theorem for NMSSM Higgs discovery at the LHC

We show how the LHC potential to detect a rather light CP-even Higgs boson of the NMSSM, H₁$H_1$ or H₂$H_2$, decaying into CP-odd Higgs states, A₁A₁$A_1{A}_1$, can be improved if Higgs-strahlung off W bosons and (more marginally) off top–antitop pairs are employed alongside vector boson fusion as production modes. Our results should help extracting at least one Higgs boson signal over the NMSSM parameter space.     

Effective two Higgs doublets in nonminimal supersymmetric models

The Higgs sectors of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model have two doublets in the minimal version (MSSM), and two doublets plus a singlet in two others: with (UMSSM) and without (NMSSM) an extra U(1)′. A very concise comparison of these three models is possible if we assume that the singlet has a somewhat larger breaking scale compared to the electroweak scale. In that case, the UMSSM and the NMSSM become effectively two-Higgs-doublet models (THDM), like the MSSM. In this approach the well-known upper mass bounds on the lightest CP-even neutral Higgs boson can be derived in a very simple and transparent way.