Has a fermiophobic Higgs boson been detected at the LHC?

We show that, in the present inclusive searches for the Higgs boson at the LHC, a fermiophobic Higgs mimics the standard-model-like Higgs if its mass is around 125 GeV. For that mass the order-of-magnitude reduction of fermiophobic Higgs production cross sections is compensated by a corresponding increase in the Higgs branching fraction into γγ  , while the WW^?$W{W}^{?}$, ZZ^?$Z{Z}^{?}$, Zγ signal yields are predicted to be somewhat smaller. The excess seen in the ATLAS and CMS fermiophobic Higgs boson searches in the γγ channel, including the exclusive vector-boson-fusion analysis, could point to a fermiophobic rather than a standard-model Higgs boson. If the Higgs boson will turn out to be fermiophobic, many of our present ideas of new physics should be revised.     

125 GeV Higgs,type III seesaw and gauge–Higgs unification

Recently, both the ATLAS and CMS experiments have observed an excess of events that could be the first evidence for a 125 GeV Higgs boson. This is a few GeV below the (absolute) vacuum stability bound on the Higgs mass in the Standard Model (SM), assuming a Planck mass ultraviolet (UV) cutoff. In this Letter, we study some implications of a 125 GeV Higgs boson for new physics in terms of the vacuum stability bound. We first consider the seesaw extension of the SM and find that in type III seesaw, the vacuum stability bound on the Higgs mass can be as low as 125 GeV for the seesaw scale around a TeV. Next we discuss some alternative new physics models which provide an effective ultraviolet cutoff lower than the Planck mass. An effective cutoff Λ?10¹¹ GeV$\Lambda ?{10}^{11}\text{GeV}$ leads to a vacuum stability bound on the Higgs mass of 125 GeV. In a gauge–Higgs unification scenario with five-dimensional flat spacetime, the so-called gauge–Higgs condition can yield a Higgs mass of 125 GeV, with the compactification scale of the extra-dimension being identified as the cutoff scale Λ?10¹¹ GeV$\Lambda ?{10}^{11}\text{GeV}$. Identifying the compactification scale with the unification scale of the SM SU(2) gauge coupling and the top quark Yukawa coupling yields a Higgs mass of 121±2 GeV$121\pm 2\text{GeV}$.     

Higgs-boson couplings beyond the Standard Model

The implications for Higgs decays of potential new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) are considered in the context of effective field theory, assuming perturbative decoupling. Using existing data to restrict which dimension-six operators can arise, it is shown that, given the existing experimental constraints, only a small number of operators can affect the decays of the Higgs: those that may be potentially-tree-generated (PTG) and modify the Higgs–fermion couplings, or those that may be loop-generated (LG) that modify the Higgs couplings to γγ, Zγ and GG  . Implications for specific branching ratios are given in terms of the coefficients of various dimension-six operators. In such a scenario, the ratios Γ(H→WW^?)/Γ(H→ZZ^?)$\Gamma (H\to W{W}^{?})/\Gamma (H\to Z{Z}^{?})$ and Γ(H→W?ν)/Γ(H→Z??)$\Gamma (H\to W?\nu )/\Gamma (H\to Z??)$ equal to their Standard Model values to an accuracy of O(1%)$O(1\text{\%})$ or less.     

NNLO benchmarks for gauge and Higgs boson production at TeV hadron colliders

The inclusive production cross sections for W⁺,W⁻$W^{+},W^{-}$ and Z⁰$Z^0$-bosons form important benchmarks for the physics at hadron colliders. We perform a detailed comparison of the predictions for these standard candles based on recent next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) parton parameterizations and new analyses including the combined HERA data, compare to all available experimental results, and discuss the predictions for present and upcoming RHIC, SPS, Tevatron and LHC energies. The rates for gauge boson production at the LHC can be rather confidently predicted with an accuracy of better than about 10% at NNLO. We also present detailed NNLO predictions for the Higgs boson production cross sections for Tevatron and LHC energies (1.96, 7, 8, 14 TeV), and propose a possible method to monitor the gluon distribution experimentally in the kinematic region close to the mass range expected for the Higgs boson. The production cross sections of the Higgs boson at the LHC are presently predicted with an accuracy of about 10–17%. The inclusion of the NNLO contributions is mandatory for achieving such accuracies since the total uncertainties are substantially larger at NLO.     

Heavy neutral gauge bosons at the LHC in an extended MSSM

Searching for heavy neutral gauge bosons Z^′$Z^{\prime }$, predicted in extensions of the Standard Model based on a U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ gauge symmetry, is one of the challenging objectives of the experiments carried out at the Large Hadron Collider. In this paper, we study Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ phenomenology at hadron colliders according to several U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$-based models and in the Sequential Standard Model. In particular, possible Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays into supersymmetric particles are included, in addition to the Standard Model modes so far investigated. We point out the impact of the U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ group on the MSSM spectrum and, for a better understanding, we consider a few benchmarks points in the parameter space. We account for the D-term contribution, due to the breaking of U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$, to slepton and squark masses and investigate its effect on Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays into sfermions. Results on branching ratios and cross sections are presented, as a function of the MSSM and U(1)^′$\mathrm{U}{(1)}^{\prime }$ parameters, which are varied within suitable ranges. We pay special attention to final states with leptons and missing energy and make predictions on the number of events with sparticle production in Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ decays, for a few values of integrated luminosity and centre-of-mass energy of the LHC.     

Searching for an extra neutral gauge boson from muon pair production at LHC

We search for signatures of the extra neutral gauge boson Z^′$Z^{\prime }$, predicted in some extensions of the Standard Model, from the analysis of some distributions for p+p→μ⁺+μ⁻+X$p+p\to {\mu }^{+}+{\mu }^{-}+X$, where the only exotic particle involved is Z^′$Z^{\prime }$. In addition to the invariant mass and charge asymmetry distributions, we propose in our search to use the transverse momentum distribution (pT$p_T$) as an observable. We do our calculation for two values of the LHC center of mass energy (7 and 14 TeV), corresponding to 1 and 100 fb⁻¹ of luminosity, in order to compare our findings from some models with the distributions following from the Standard Model. By applying convenient cuts in the invariant mass, we show that the final particles pT$p_T$ distributions can reveal the presence of an extra neutral gauge boson contribution. We also claim that it is possible to disentangle the models considered here and we emphasize that the minimal version of the model, based on SUC₍₃₎×SUL₍₃₎×UX₍₁₎$\mathit{SU}{(3)}_C\times \mathit{SU}{(3)}_L\times U{(1)}_X$ symmetry, presents the more clear signatures for Z^′$Z^{\prime }$ existence.     

Pair production of the heavy leptons associated with a gauge boson γ or Z at the ILC

The T-odd leptons are the typical particles predicted by the littlest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT model) and the observation of these particles might be regarded as the direct evidence of the LHT model. In this paper, we investigate the production of a pair of T-odd leptons associated with a gauge boson V (γ or Z  ) at the international linear e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$ collider (ILC). The numerical results show that the possible signals of the T-odd leptons may be detected in the future ILC experiments.     

A light scalar in low-scale technicolor

In addition to the narrow spin-one resonances ρT${\rho }_T$, ωT${\omega }_T$ and aT$a_T$ occurring in low-scale technicolor, there will be relatively narrow scalars in the mass range 200 to 600–700 GeV. We study the lightest isoscalar state, σT${\sigma }_T$. In several important respects it is like a heavy Higgs boson with a small vev. It may be discoverable with high luminosity at the LHC where it is produced via weak boson fusion and likely has substantial W⁺W⁻$W^{+}{W}^{-}$ and Z⁰Z⁰$Z^0{Z}^0$ decay modes.     

Higgs boson searches via dileptonic bottomonium decays

We explore the pseudoscalar ηb${\eta }_b$ and the scalar χ_b0${\chi }_{b0}$ decays into ?⁺?⁻${?}^{+}{?}^{-}$ to probe whether it is possible to probe the Higgs sectors beyond that of the Standard Model. We, in particular, focus on the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, and determine the effects of its Higgs bosons on the aforementioned bottomonium decays into lepton pairs. We find that the dileptonic branchings of the bottomonia can be sizeable for a relatively light Higgs sector.     

Constraints on sub-GeV hidden sector gauge bosons from a search for heavy neutrino decays

Several models of dark matter motivate the concept of hidden sectors consisting of SU_(3)C×SU_(2)L×U_(1)Y$\mathit{SU}{(3)}_C\times \mathit{SU}{(2)}_L\times U{(1)}_Y$ singlet fields. The interaction between our and hidden matter could be transmitted by new abelian U^′(1)$U^{\prime }(1)$ gauge bosons A^′$A^{\prime }$ mixing with ordinary photons. If such A^′$A^{\prime }$?s with the mass in the sub-GeV range exist, they would be produced through mixing with photons emitted in decays of η   and η^′${\eta }^{\prime }$ neutral mesons generated by the high energy proton beam in a neutrino target. The A^′$A^{\prime }$?s would then penetrate the downstream shielding and be observed in a neutrino detector via their A^′→e⁺e⁻$A^{\prime }\to e^{+}{e}^{-}$ decays. Using bounds from the CHARM neutrino experiment at CERN that searched for an excess of e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$ pairs from heavy neutrino decays, the area excluding the γ−A^′$\gamma -A^{\prime }$ mixing range 10⁻⁷???10⁻⁴${10}^{-7}???{10}^{-4}$ for the A^′$A^{\prime }$ mass region 1?_MA′?500 MeV$1?M_{A^{\prime }}?500\text{MeV}$ is derived. The obtained results are also used to constrain models, where a new gauge boson X   interacts with quarks and leptons. New upper limits on the branching ratio as small as Br(η→γX)?10⁻¹⁴$\mathrm{Br}(\eta \to \gamma X)?{10}^{-14}$ and Br(η^′→γX)?10⁻¹²$\mathrm{Br}({\eta }^{\prime }\to \gamma X)?{10}^{-12}$ are obtained, which are several orders of magnitude more restrictive than the previous bounds from the Crystal Barrel experiment.     

The apparent excess in the Higgs to di-photon rate at the LHC: New Physics or QCD uncertainties?

The Higgs boson with a mass _MH≈126 GeV$M_H\approx 126\text{GeV}$ has been observed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC and a total significance of about five standard deviations has been reported by both collaborations when the channels H→γγ$H\to \gamma \gamma$ and H→ZZ→4?$H\to ZZ\to 4?$ are combined. Nevertheless, while the rates in the later search channel appear to be in accord with those predicted in the Standard Model, there seems to be an excess of data in the case of the H→γγ$H\to \gamma \gamma$ discovery channel. Before invoking new physics contributions to explain this excess in the di-photon Higgs rate, one should verify that standard QCD effects cannot account for it. We describe how the theoretical uncertainties in the Higgs boson cross section for the main production process at the LHC, gg→H$gg\to H$, which are known to be large, should be incorporated in practice. We further show that the discrepancy between the theoretical prediction and the measured value of the gg→H→γγ$gg\to H\to \gamma \gamma$ rate, reduces to about one standard deviation when the QCD uncertainties are taken into account.     

Measuring modular weights in mirage unification models at the LHC and ILC

String compactification with fluxes yields MSSM soft SUSY breaking terms that receive comparable contributions from modulus and anomaly mediation whose relative strength is governed by a phenomenological parameter α  . Gaugino and first/second generation (and sometimes also Higgs and third generation) scalar mass parameters unify at a mirage unification scale Q≠MGUT$Q\ne M_{\mathrm{GUT}}$, determined by the value of α  . The ratio of scalar to gaugino masses at this mirage unification scale depends directly on the scalar field modular weights, which are fixed in turn by the brane or brane intersections on which the MSSM fields are localized. We outline a program of measurements which can in principle be made at the CERN LHC and the International Linear e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Collider (ILC) which can lead to a determination of the modular weights.     

Leading logarithms in the anomalous sector of two-flavour QCD

We add the Wess–Zumino–Witten term to the N=3$N=3$ massive nonlinear sigma model and study the leading logarithms in the anomalous sector. We obtain the leading logarithms to six loops for π⁰→γ^?γ^?${\pi }^0\to {\gamma }^{?}{\gamma }^{?}$ and to five loops for γ^?πππ${\gamma }^{?}\pi \pi \pi$. In addition we extend the earlier work on the mass and decay constant to six loops and the vector form factor to five loops. We present numerical results for the anomalous processes and the vector form factor. In all cases the series are found to converge rapidly.     

The extended Higgs system in R-symmetric supersymmetry theories

The Higgs sector is extended in R  -symmetric supersymmetry theories by two iso-doublets R_d,u$R_{d,u}$ which complement the standard iso-doublets H_d,u$H_{d,u}$. We have analyzed masses and interactions of these novel states and describe their [non-standard] decay modes and their production channels at the LHC and e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$ colliders.