Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the OPAL detector at LEP

This paper summarises the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in e ⁺ e ^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV performed by the OPAL Collaboration at LEP. The consistency of the data with the background hypothesis and various Higgs boson mass hypotheses is examined. No indication of a signal is found in the data and a lower bound of 112.7 Gev/c² is obtained on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson at the 95% CL. Received: 13 March 2002 / Revised version: 9 October 2002 / Published online: 13 December 2002     

Charged Higgs boson in the economical 3-3-1 model

The SU(3) _C ⊗ SU(3) _L ⊗ U(1) _X gauge model with two Higgs triplets (the economical 3-3-1 model) is presented. The minimal Higgs potential is considered in detail, and new Higgs bosons with the mass proportional to the bilepton mass are predicted. In the effective approximation, the charged Higgs bosons H ₂ ^± are scalar bileptons, while the neutral scalar bosons H ⁰ and H ₁ ⁰ do not carry a lepton number. The couplings of the charged Higgs bosons to leptons and quarks are given. We show that Yukawa couplings of H ₂ ^± to ordinary leptons and quarks are lepton-number violating. The pair production of H ₂ ^± at high-energy e ⁺ e ⁻ colliders with the polarization of the e ⁺, e ⁻ beams is studied in detail. A numerical evaluation shows that, if the Higgs mass is not too heavy, then the reaction can give an observable cross section in future colliders at a high degree of polarization. The reaction e ⁺ e ⁻ → H ₂ ^± W ^∓ is also examined. We show that the production cross sections of H ₂ ^± W ^∓ are very small, much below the pair production of H ₂ ^± , and, therefore, the associated production of H ₂ ^± and W ^∓ is, in general, not expected to lead to easily observable signals in the e ⁺ e ⁻ annihilation. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Limits on 3 boson vertex parameters from LEP200

LEP will be operating at cm energies above W pair threshold from 1996. The process e⁺e⁻ → W⁺W⁻ will provide a unique opportunity to test some important aspects of the Standard Model. The methodology of studying this process has been reviewed in this report. The study of the process will probe at the triple vector boson coupling. The sensitivity to anomalous coupling of W boson has been discussed in detail.     

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).     

Chargino decays in the complex MSSM: a full one-loop analysis

We evaluate two-body decay modes of charginos in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with complex parameters (cMSSM). Assuming heavy scalar quarks we take into account all decay channels involving charginos, neutralinos, (scalar) leptons, Higgs bosons and Standard Model gauge bosons. The evaluation of the decay widths is based on a full one-loop calculation including hard and soft QED radiation. Special attention is paid to decays involving the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP), i.e. the lightest neutralino, or a neutral or charged Higgs boson. The higher-order corrections of the chargino decay widths involving the LSP can easily reach a level of about ±10%, while the corrections to the decays to Higgs bosons are slightly smaller, translating into corrections of similar size in the respective branching ratios. These corrections are important for the correct interpretation of LSP and Higgs production at the LHC and at a future linear e ⁺ e ⁻ collider. The results will be implemented into the Fortran code FeynHiggs.     

Probing anomalous Higgs couplings at an <Emphasis Type="Italic">eγ</Emphasis> collider using unpolarised beams

We examine the sensitivity of eγ colliders (based on e ⁺ e ⁻ linear colliders of c.m. energy 500 GeV) to the anomalous couplings of the Higgs to W-boson via the process e ⁻ γ → νWH. This has the advantage over e ⁺ e ⁻ collider in being able to dissociate WWH vertex from ZZH. We are able to construct several dynamical variables which may be used to constrain the various couplings in the WWH vertex.      

Radiative kaon decay in the chiral perturbation theory

We analyze the possibility of experimental investigation of new low-energy relations between the values of resonance masses in the meson form factors and the differential rate of radiative kaon decay K ⁺ → π⁺ e ⁺ e ⁻(μ⁺μ⁻) at the current level of the experimental precision. A set of arguments is listed in favor that these relations can be a consequence of weak static interactions in the Standard Model. The results were presented at the 5th NA48 Mini-Workshop on Kaon Physics, CERN, Dec. 12, 2006. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Higgs search: present and future

In this talk I review theoretical bounds on mass of the Higgs scalar in the Standard Model (SM) and then summarise current experimental limits from the LEP experiments. Following this I discuss the search strategies for the SM Higgs at LEP 200 and the TeV energye ⁺ e ^? colliders which are under discussion. This will be followed by a summary of the Higgs search potential of the pp supercolliders such as SSC/LHC. I then close with a brief discussion of a ‘Dark Higgs’ whose dominant decay modes are into invisible channels.     

LEP Higgs boson searches beyond the standard model and minimum supersymmetric standard model

Ever since the center-of-mass energy was increased in 1995 above the Zℴ resonance, the four LEP experiments (ALEPH, DELPHI, OPAL and L3) have renewed their effort to search for the Higgs boson. Data taking ended in the year 2000 with about 130 pb⁻¹ of data collected per experiment above 206 GeV ine ⁺ e ⁻¹ collisions but the data analysis is still very active. Most recently, the wealth of theoretical models and predictions has stimulated new analyses and model interpretations which go beyond the standard model and minimal supersymmetric standard model. These include the searches for charged Higgs bosons, models with two Higgs field doublets, searches for ‘fermiophobic’ Higgs decay, invisible Higgs boson decays, decay-mode independent searches, and limits on Yukawa and anomalous Higgs couplings. I review the searches done by the four LEP experiments and present the LEP combined results when they exist.     

Search for Stueckelberg <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>′ at LHC

We present the discovery potential for heavy Z′ gauge bosons in the Z′→e ⁺ e ⁻ decay channel at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis focuses on the direct search for the massive Z′ bosons predicted by the Stueckelberg extension of the Standard Model. Using signal and background simulated events, and taking into account the basic parameters of the Compact Muon Solenoid detector, the discovery reach for the Stueckelberg Z′ is found to be in the range between 800 and 900 GeV/c² for an integrated luminosity of 30 fb⁻¹.     

Associated production of Higgs bosons with Z bosons by charged leptons in strong external fields

The probabilities of the associated production of a Higgs boson with a Z boson by a charged lepton in the field of a plane electromagnetic wave of arbitrary intensity and in a constant crossed field are obtained. The behavior of the cross section of the process as a function of the particle energies and the external field intensity is investigated for various values of the Higgs boson mass. It is shown that there is a logarithmic increase in the photoproduction cross section at superhigh energies up to a value significantly exceeding the cross section of the reaction e ⁺+e ⁻→Z+H, which is presently regarded as the most probable channel for the production of Higgs bosons. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1979–1990 (June 1998)     

Revisiting the global electroweak fit of the Standard Model and beyond with Gfitter

The global fit of the Standard Model to electroweak precision data, routinely performed by the LEP electroweak working group and others, demonstrated impressively the predictive power of electroweak unification and quantum loop corrections. We have revisited this fit in view of (i) the development of the new generic fitting package, Gfitter, allowing for flexible and efficient model testing in high-energy physics, (ii) the insertion of constraints from direct Higgs searches at LEP and the Tevatron, and (iii) a more thorough statistical interpretation of the results. Gfitter is a modular fitting toolkit, which features predictive theoretical models as independent plug-ins, and a statistical analysis of the fit results using toy Monte Carlo techniques. The state-of-the-art electroweak Standard Model is fully implemented, as well as generic extensions to it. Theoretical uncertainties are explicitly included in the fit through scale parameters varying within given error ranges. This paper introduces the Gfitter project, and presents state-of-the-art results for the global electroweak fit in the Standard Model (SM), and for a model with an extended Higgs sector (2HDM). Numerical and graphical results for fits with and without including the constraints from the direct Higgs searches at LEP and Tevatron are given. Perspectives for future colliders are analysed and discussed. In the SM fit including the direct Higgs searches, we find M _H =116.4_−1.3^+18.3 GeV, and the 2σ and 3σ allowed regions [114,145] GeV and [[113,168] and [180,225]] GeV, respectively. For the strong coupling strength at fourth perturbative order we obtain α _S (M _Z ²)=0.1193_−0.0027^+0.0028(exp )±0.0001 (theo). Finally, for the mass of the top quark, excluding the direct measurements, we find m _t =178.2_−4.2^+9.8 GeV. In the 2HDM we exclude a charged-Higgs mass below 240 GeV at 95% confidence level. This limit increases towards larger tan β, e.g., is excluded for tan β=70.     

Search for neutral Higgs bosons in Z0 decays using the OPAL detector at LEP

A search for neutral Higgs bosons has been performed using the full sample of Z⁰ decays collected by the OPAL detector at LEP up to 1995. The data were taken at centre-of-mass energies between 88 GeV and 95 GeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 160 pb^?1. The present search addresses the processes Z⁰→H⁰Z* and h⁰Z*, where H⁰ is the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model and h⁰ the lightest neutral scalar Higgs boson predicted in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. For the virtual Z⁰ boson, Z*, the following decay channels are considered: Z*→vv?, e⁺e^? and μ⁺μ^?. Two candidate events have been found in the vv?H⁰ channel and one in the μ⁺μ^?H⁰ channel. Combined with earlier searches, the present search excludes the SM Higgs boson, at the 95% confidence level (CL), from the mass range below 59.6 GeV. In the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, allowing a wide range of variation for most relevant model parameters, a 95% CL lower limit of 44.3 GeV is obtained for the mass of the h⁰ boson. Combined with earlier direct searches for the Higgs boson pair production process Z⁰→h⁰A⁰ and with measurements of the Z⁰ line shape, a 95% CL lower limit of 23.5 GeV is obtained for the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson A⁰, assuming tan β≥ 1.     

Search for the standard model Higgs boson at the LEP2 collider near

During 1997 the ALEPH experiment at LEP gathered 57 pb⁻¹ of data at centre-of-mass energies near 183 GeV. These data are used to look for possible signals from the production of the Standard Model Higgs boson in the reaction e⁺e⁻→HZ. No evidence of a signal is found in the data; seven events are selected, in agreement with the expectation of 7.2 events from background processes. This observation results in an improved lower limit on the mass of the Higgs boson: m_H>87.9 GeV/c² at 95% confidence level.     

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to WW in e+e- collisions at LEP

A search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a fermion pair, and decaying to WW, is performed with the data collected by the ALEPH detector at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 191 to 209 GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 453.2 pb^-1. Thirteen exclusive selections are developed according to the different final state topologies. No statistically significant evidence for a Higgs boson decaying into a WW pair has been found. An upper limit is derived, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, on the product of the e⁺e^-→Hff̄ cross section and the H→WW branching ratio. The data on the search for H→WW are combined with previously published ALEPH results on the search for H→γγ, to significantly extend the limits on the mass of a fermiophobic Higgs boson.     

Physics at the linear collider

The physics at the plannede ⁺ e ^- colliders is discussed around three main topics corresponding to different manifestations of symmetry breaking:W physics in the no Higgs scenario, studies of the properties of the Higgs and precision tests of SUSY. A comparison with the LHC is made for all these cases. The γγ mode of the linear collider will also be reviewed.     

K +→π + vv andK L 0 →μ + μ − decays within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We present a detailed calculation of the contributions of charginos, scalar quarks, and charged Higgs boson to theK ⁺→π ⁺ vv andK _L ⁰ →μ ⁺ μ ⁻ decays. We include mixings: that of charginos and that of the scalar partners of the left and right handed top quark. We find that the box contribution to the amplitudes is much smaller than the penguin contribution, which can be ∼10% of the Standard Model contribution, even for relatively large SUSY masses. The charged Higgs contribution can be as large as 25% of the SM contribution in the first decay and as much as 40% of the SM contribution in the second decay.     

Higgs radiation off top quarks in high-energye + e − colliders

Higgs particles can be radiated off heavy top quarks which will be produced copiously in high energye ⁺ e ^? colliders. This process can be used to measure the Higgs-top quark coupling. We present the cross section for the production of Higgs bosons in the Standard Model. In addition we have studied the production of neutral and charged Higgs particles in association with heavy fermions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.     

Update of the e + e − → π+π− cross section measured by the spherical neutral detector in the energy region 400 < √s < 1000 MeV

The corrected cross section of the e ⁺ e ⁻ → π⁺π⁻ process measured in the spherical neutral detector experiment at the VEPP-2M e ⁺ e ⁻ collider is presented. The update is necessary due to a flaw in the e ⁺ e ⁻ → π⁺π⁻ and e ⁺ e ⁻ → μ⁺μ⁻ Monte Carlo event generators used previously in data analysis. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

CP violation at colliders

The prospects of experimental detection ofCP violation ate ⁺ e ⁻ and colliders are reviewed. After a general discussion on the quantities which can measureCP violation and on the implications of theCPT theorem, various possibilities of measuringCP violation arising outside the standard model are taken up.CP violation in leptonic processes, especially polarization effects ine ⁺ e ⁻→l ⁺ l ⁻ are discussed next.CP violation in andW ⁺ W ⁻ production and decay is also described.