New physics from custodial SU(2) symmetricW interactions at supercolliders

We discuss the observability at LHC or SSC of anomalous 3-boson and 4-boson couplings generated by the SU(2)c preserving operatorO _w . We compute the invariant mass distribution of vector boson pair production viaq \(\bar q\) annihilation and via boson-boson fusion, for all possible channels. both these mechanisms are found to give comparable contributions for SSC and LHC, irrespective of whetherO _w exists or not. We find that the channelsWZ andWγ are particularly suitable for studying whetherO _w really appears in nature, and conclude that an upper limit on the strength of such an interaction which is better than |λ _W |<0.01, should be achievable. This will make a considerable improvement as compared to the indirect limits presently available from LEP1 (|λ _W |<0(1)), and expected from LEP2 (|λ _W |<0(0.1)).     

Unitarity constraints for new physics induced by dim-6 operators

We compute the helicity amplitudes for bosonboson scattering at high energy due to the operatorsO _BΦ,O _WΦ andO _UB , and we derive the corresponding unitarity bounds. Thus, we provide relations between the couplings of these operators and the corresponding New Physics thresholds, where either unitarity is saturated or new degrees of freedom are excited. We compare the results with those previously obtained for the operatorsO _W andO _UW and we discuss their implications for direct and indirect tests at present and future colliders. The present treatment completes the study of the unitarity constraints for all blind bosonic operators.     

Updated status of the global electroweak fit and constraints on new physics

We present an update of the Standard Model fit to electroweak precision data. We include newest experimental results on the top-quark mass, the W mass and width, and the Higgs-boson mass bounds from LEP, Tevatron and the LHC. We also include a new determination of the electromagnetic coupling strength at the Z pole. We find for the Higgs-boson mass $91^{+30}_{-23}~\mbox{GeV}$ and $120^{+12}_{-5}~\mbox{GeV}$ when not including and including the direct Higgs searches, respectively. From the latter fit we indirectly determine the W mass to be $(80.360^{+0.014}_{-0.013})~\mbox{GeV}$ . We exploit the data to determine experimental constraints on the oblique vacuum polarisation parameters, and confront these with predictions from the Standard Model (SM) and selected SM extensions. By fitting the oblique parameters to the electroweak data we derive allowed regions in the BSM parameter spaces. We revisit and consistently update these constraints for a fourth fermion generation, two Higgs doublet, inert Higgs and littlest Higgs models, models with large, universal or warped extra dimensions and technicolour. In most of the models studied a heavy Higgs boson can be made compatible with the electroweak precision data.     

HiggsSignals: Confronting arbitrary Higgs sectors with measurements at the Tevatron and the LHC

HiggsSignals is a Fortran90 computer code that allows to test the compatibility of Higgs sector predictions against Higgs rates and masses measured at the LHC or the Tevatron. Arbitrary models with any number of Higgs bosons can be investigated using a model-independent input scheme based on HiggsBounds. The test is based on the calculation of a $\chi ^2$ measure from the predictions and the measured Higgs rates and masses, with the ability of fully taking into account systematics and correlations for the signal rate predictions, luminosity and Higgs mass predictions. It features two complementary methods for the test. First, the peak-centered method, in which each observable is defined by a Higgs signal rate measured at a specific hypothetical Higgs mass, corresponding to a tentative Higgs signal. Second, the mass-centered method, where the test is evaluated by comparing the signal rate measurement to the theory prediction at the Higgs mass predicted by the model. The program allows for the simultaneous use of both methods, which is useful in testing models with multiple Higgs bosons. The code automatically combines the signal rates of multiple Higgs bosons if their signals cannot be resolved by the experimental analysis. We compare results obtained with HiggsSignals to official ATLAS and CMS results for various examples of Higgs property determinations and find very good agreement. A few examples of HiggsSignals applications are provided, going beyond the scenarios investigated by the LHC collaborations. For models with more than one Higgs boson we recommend to use HiggsSignals and HiggsBounds in parallel to exploit the full constraining power of Higgs search exclusion limits and the measurements of the signal seen at $m_H\approx 125.5$  GeV.     

DKP oscillator in the presence of magnetic field in (1+2)-dimensions for spin-zero and spin-one particles in noncommutative phase space

In view of the discovery of a new boson by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations at the LHC, we present an update of the global Standard Model (SM) fit to electroweak precision data. Assuming the new particle to be the SM Higgs boson, all fundamental parameters of the SM are known allowing, for the first time, to overconstrain the SM at the electroweak scale and assert its validity. Including the effects of radiative corrections and the experimental and theoretical uncertainties, the global fit exhibits a p-value of 0.07. The mass measurements by ATLAS and CMS agree within 1.3σ with the indirect determination $M_{H}=94^{\,+25}_{\,-22}~\mathrm{GeV}$ . Within the SM the W boson mass and the effective weak mixing angle can be accurately predicted to be M _W =80.359±0.011 GeV and $\sin ^{2}\theta ^{\ell }_{{\rm eff}}= 0.23150\pm 0.00010$ from the global fit. These results are compatible with, and exceed in precision, the direct measurements. For the indirect determination of the top quark mass we find $m_{t}= 175.8^{\:+2.7}_{\:-2.4}~ \mathrm {GeV}$ , in agreement with the kinematic and cross-section-based measurements.     

HiggsBounds-4: improved tests of extended Higgs sectors against exclusion bounds from LEP,the Tevatron and the LHC

We describe the new developments in version 4 of the public computer code HiggsBounds. HiggsBounds is a tool to test models with arbitrary Higgs sectors, containing both neutral and charged Higgs bosons, against the published exclusion bounds from Higgs searches at the LEP, Tevatron and LHC experiments. From the model predictions for the Higgs masses, branching ratios, production cross sections and total decay widths—which are specified by the user in the input for the program—the code calculates the predicted signal rates for the search channels considered in the experimental data. The signal rates are compared to the expected and observed cross section limits from the Higgs searches to determine whether a point in the model parameter space is excluded at 95 % confidence level. In this paper we present a modification of the HiggsBounds main algorithm that extends the exclusion test in order to ensure that it provides useful results in the presence of one or more significant excesses in the data, corresponding to potential Higgs signals. We also describe a new method to test whether the limits from an experimental search performed under certain model assumptions can be applied to a different theoretical model. Further developments discussed here include a framework to take into account theoretical uncertainties on the Higgs mass predictions, and the possibility to obtain the $\chi ^2$ likelihood of Higgs exclusion limits from LEP. Extensions to the user subroutines from earlier versions of HiggsBounds are described. The new features are demonstrated by additional example programs.     

The CMSSM and NUHM1 after LHC Run 1

We analyze the impact of data from the full Run 1 of the LHC at 7 and 8 TeV on the CMSSM with \(\mu > 0\) and \(<0\) and the NUHM1 with \(\mu > 0\) , incorporating the constraints imposed by other experiments such as precision electroweak measurements, flavour measurements, the cosmological density of cold dark matter and the direct search for the scattering of dark matter particles in the LUX experiment. We use the following results from the LHC experiments: ATLAS searches for events with \({E\!\!/}_{T}\) accompanied by jets with the full 7 and 8 TeV data, the ATLAS and CMS measurements of the mass of the Higgs boson, the CMS searches for heavy neutral Higgs bosons and a combination of the LHCb and CMS measurements of \(\mathrm{BR}(B_s \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) and \(\mathrm{BR}(B_d \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) . Our results are based on samplings of the parameter spaces of the CMSSM for both \(\mu >0\) and \(\mu <0\) and of the NUHM1 for \(\mu > 0\) with 6.8 \(\times 10^6\) , 6.2 \(\times 10^6\) and 1.6 \(\times 10^7\) points, respectively, obtained using the MultiNest tool. The impact of the Higgs-mass constraint is assessed using FeynHiggs 2.10.0, which provides an improved prediction for the masses of the MSSM Higgs bosons in the region of heavy squark masses. It yields in general larger values of \(M_h\) than previous versions of FeynHiggs, reducing the pressure on the CMSSM and NUHM1. We find that the global \(\chi ^2\) functions for the supersymmetric models vary slowly over most of the parameter spaces allowed by the Higgs-mass and the \({E\!\!/}_{T}\) searches, with best-fit values that are comparable to the \(\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}\) for the best Standard Model fit. We provide 95 % CL lower limits on the masses of various sparticles and assess the prospects for observing them during Run 2 of the LHC.     

Two-loop electroweak parameters

A recent calculation of the electroweak parameter Δr, including the dominant two-loop contributions and resummation of large logarithms, is reformulated in terms of the dressed gauge-boson propagators and extended to the electroweak quantities measured at theZ peak such as the various partial widths and asymmetries. The formalism is simpler and physically more transparent. Large two-loop corrections specific to theZ→bb \(\bar b\) partial width are included consistently. A detailed statistical analysis is presented of the implications for the topquark and Higgs-boson masses from the latest precision measurements of theW-boson mass and theZ-boson partial widths.     

\hat sl(2) \oplus \hat sl(2)/\hat sl(2) coset theory is a Hamiltonian reduction of the \hat D(2|1;\alpha ) superalgebra

It is shown that $\hat sl(2)_{k_1 } \oplus \hat sl(2)_{k_2 } /\hat sl(2)_{k_1 + k_2 } $ coset theory is a quantum Hamiltonian reduction of the exceptional affine Lie superalgebra $\hat D(2|1;\alpha )$ . In addition, the W algebra of this theory is the commutant of the U _q D(2|1;a) quantum group.     

A Mermin–Wagner Theorem for Gibbs States on Lorentzian Triangulations

We establish a Mermin–Wagner type theorem for Gibbs states on infinite random Lorentzian triangulations (LT) arising in models of quantum gravity. Such a triangulation is naturally related to the distribution P of a critical Galton–Watson tree, conditional upon non-extinction. At the vertices of the triangles we place classical spins taking values in a torus M of dimension d, with a given group action of a torus G of dimension d′≤d. In the main body of the paper we assume that the spins interact via a two-body nearest-neighbor potential U(x,y) invariant under the action of G. We analyze quenched Gibbs measures generated by U and prove that, for P-almost all Lorentzian triangulations, every such Gibbs measure is G-invariant, which means the absence of spontaneous continuous symmetry-breaking.     

On the Standard Model prediction for \mathcal{B}(B_{s,d} \to \mu^{+} \mu^{-})

The decay B _s →μ ⁺ μ ^? is one of the milestones of the flavor program at the LHC. We reappraise its Standard Model prediction. First, by analyzing the theoretical rate in the light of its main parametric dependence, we highlight the importance of a complete evaluation of higher-order electroweak corrections, at present known only in the large-m _t limit, and leaving sizable dependence on the definition of electroweak parameters. Using insights from a complete calculation of such corrections for $K\to\pi\nu\bar{\nu}We present O(?? _s ) results on the decays of polarized W ^± and Z bosons into massive quark pairs. The NLO QCD corrections to the polarized decay functions are given up to the second order in the quark mass expansion. We find a surprisingly strong dependence of the NLO polarized decay functions on finite quark mass effects even at the relatively large mass scale of the W ^± and Z bosons. As a main application we consider the decay t??b+W ⁺ involving the helicity fractions ?? _mm of the W ⁺ boson followed by the polarized decay $W^{+}(\uparrow)\to q_{1}\bar{q}_{2}$ for which we determine the O(?? _s ) polar angle decay distribution. We also discuss NLO polarization effects in the production/decay process $e^{+}e^{-}\to Z(\uparrow)\to q\bar{q}$ .     

Hard bremsstrahlung photons in thet\bar t production anddecay: A background for the intermediate Higgs search

We discuss the radiation of hard photons in the $t\bar t$ production anddecay as a background for the intermediate Higgs search at LHC/SSC experiments. For the purpose of experimental simulation of this process we propose to use the approximate Monte Carlo algorithm together with any physics Monte Carlo not including QED corrections. We verify, by comparison with the exact matrix element Monte Carlo TOPKI, that this method can be used to generate single- and double-photon bremsstrahlung in the $t\bar t$ production process with a precision of 10% for experimental cuts. The predictions for the ψψl background from photons radiated in theproduction of $t\bar t$ pair and their cascadedecays, within simplified experimental cuts, are presented for the first time. We show that, even after additional cuts on the minimal lepton-photon mass, photons radiated in the productionand decay of a $t\bar t$ pair increase this background by a factor of 2 with respect to previous estimates from radiation in the $t\bar t$ production alone.     

Lineare Polarisation der Röntgen-Bremsstrahlung dünner Antikathoden

For electron energies of 50 keV and 180 keV we have investigated the linear polarization in the bremsstrahlung spectrum. In the case of lower energy measurements were taken for the angular dependence of the polarization with a low-Z-target (Z=6). At the higher energy results are given for two targets (Al₂O₃ and Au) at a fixed emission angle (angle of maximum polarization=48°). The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations and with the experimental results ofMotz andPlacious.     

Electroweak radiative corrections to single top production

Fortran subroutines to calculate helicity amplitudes with massive spin-3/2 particles, such as massive gravitinos, which couple to the standard model and supersymmetric particles via the supercurrent, are added to the HELAS (HELicity Amplitude Subroutines) library. They are coded in such a way that arbitrary amplitudes with external gravitinos can be generated automatically by MadGraph, after slight modifications. All the codes have been tested carefully by making use of the gauge invariance of the helicity amplitudes.     

Feynman's path integral

Feynman's integral is defined with respect to a pseudomeasure on the space of paths: for instance, letC be the space of pathsq:T?? → configuration space of the system, letC be the topological dual ofC; then Feynman's integral for a particle of massm in a potentialV can be written where $$S_{\operatorname{int} } (q) = \mathop \smallint \limits_T V(q(t)) dt$$ and wheredw is a pseudomeasure whose Fourier transform is defined by for μ∈C′. Pseudomeasures are discussed; several integrals with respect to pseudomeasures are computed.     

Luminosity functions forW ± andZ 0 initiated processes

We presentW/Z-parton luminosities 1/s d L/dτ in the TeV energy region for suche ⁺ e ^?,ep andpp collision processes where the intermediate vector bosonsW ^± orZ ⁰ are in the initial state.     

Soft-breaking correction to hard supersymmetric relations QCD correction to squark decay

Supersymmetric relations between dimensionless couplings receive finite correction at one-loop when supersymmetry is broken softly. We calculate theO (α _s) correction to the squark decay width to a quark and an electroweak gaugino, which is found to be nonvanishing. Logarithmic correction appears when the gluino is heavy.     

Dependence of electroweak parameters on the definition of the top-quark mass

The QCD corrections to electroweak parameters depend on the renormalization scheme and scales used to define the top-quark mass. We analyze these dependences for theW-boson mass predicted via Δr to ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha \alpha _s )$ and ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha \alpha _s^2 )$ in the on-shell and $\overline {MS} $ schemes. These variations provide us with a hint on the magnitude of the unknown higher-order QCD effects and contribute to the theoretical error of the prediction.