Can a Higgs boson be produced at the LHC?

A simple model is designed to simulate, by using the mean free path method, the probability of Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The probability that the colliding particles could get close to a given distance with different colliding energies is discussed in this model. Calculated results imply that the probability of producing a Higgs boson is near zero according to the existing theoretical mechanism for Higgs boson production.     

Can laser light cool semiconductors?

Laser cooling in semiconductors is theoretically investigated including arbitrary external efficiency and photon recycling. Experimental conditions needed to attain net cooling in GaAs are derived.     

The Λb lifetime in the light front quark model

The enhancement of the Λ_b decay width relative to B decay due to the difference in Fermi motion effects in Λ_band B is calculated in the light front quark model with the simplifying assumption that Λ_bconsists of a heavy quark and a light scalar diquark. In order to explain the large deviation from unity in the experimental result for τ(Λ_b)/τ(B), it is necessary that the diquark be light and the ratio of the squares of the Λ_b and B wave functions at the origin be ?1.     

Can an invisible Higgs boson be seen via diffraction at the LHC?

We study the possibility of observing an invisible Higgs boson in central exclusive diffractive production at the LHC. We evaluate the cross section using, as a simple example, the standard model with a heavy fourth generation, where the invisible decay mode dominates, with the heavy neutrino mass GeV. We discuss the possible requirements on trigger conditions and the background processes.Received: 4 June 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004     

Can cosmic shear shed light on low cosmic microwave background multipoles?

The lowest multipole moments of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are smaller than expected for a scale-invariant power spectrum. One possible explanation is a cutoff in the primordial power spectrum below a comoving scale of k(c) approximately equal to 5.0 x 10(-4) Mpc(-1). Such a cutoff would increase significantly the cross correlation between the large-angle CMB and cosmic-shear patterns. The cross correlation may be detectable at >2sigma which, combined with the low CMB moments, may tilt the balance between a 2sigma result and a firm detection of a large-scale power-spectrum cutoff. The cutoff also increases the large-angle cross correlation between the CMB and the low-redshift tracers of the mass distribution.     

Can the minimal supersymmetric standard model with light bottom squark and light gluino survive Z-peak constraints?

In the framework of the minimal supersymmetric model we examine the Z-peak constraints on the scenario of one light bottom squark (sbottom) ( approximately 2-5.5 GeV) and light gluino (approximately 12-16 GeV), which has been successfully used to explain the excess of bottom quark production in hadron collisions. Such a scenario is found to be severely constrained by the CERN LEP Z-peak observables, especially by R(b), due to the large effect of gluino-sbottom loops. To account for the R(b) data in this scenario, the other mass eigenstate of sbottom, i.e., the heavier one, must be lighter than 125 (195) GeV at 2sigma(3sigma) level, which, however, is disfavored by CERN LEP II experiments.     

Does the HyperCP evidence for the decay Sigma+ -->pmu+mu- indicate a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson?

The HyperCP Collaboration has observed three events for the decay Sigma+ -->p mu+mu- which may be interpreted as a new particle of mass 214.3 MeV. However, existing data from kaon and B-meson decays provide stringent constraints on the construction of models that support this interpretation. In this Letter we show that the "HyperCP particle" can be identified with the light pseudoscalar Higgs boson in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, the A10. In this model there are regions of parameter space where the A10 can satisfy all the existing constraints from kaon and B-meson decays and mediate Sigma+ -->p mu+mu- at a level consistent with the HyperCP observation.     

Can a polynomial interpolation improve on the Kaplan-Yorke dimension?

The Kaplan-Yorke dimension can be derived using a linear interpolation between an h-dimensional Lyapunov exponent λ(h)>0 and an h+1-dimensional Lyapunov exponent λ(h+1)<0. In this Letter, we use a polynomial interpolation to obtain generalized Lyapunov dimensions and study the relationships among them for higher-dimensional systems.     

Can sub-GeV dark matter coherently scatter on the electrons in the atom?

A novel detection of sub-GeV dark matter is proposed in the paper.The electron cloud is boosted by the dark matter and emits an electron when it is dragged back by the heavy nucleus,namely the coherent scattering of the electron cloud of the atom.The survey in the x-ray diffraction shows that the atomic form factors are much more complex than the naive consideration.The results of the relativistic Hartree-Fock(RHF) method give non-trivial shapes of the atoms.The detailed calculation of the recoi...     

Can a linearly polarized light beam polarize atomic spin?

Lax et al. [Phys. Rev. 11 (1975) 1365] discovered that a light beam in vacuum is not a transverse wave but does have a longitudinal field component. We investigate atomic and molecular electric dipole transitions induced by such a light beam, in particular, linearly polarized in a transverse plane. We derive the selection rules and the transition rates for various quantization axes using the paraxial approximation up to the first order of 1/kw, where k is the wave number and w is the transverse size of the light beam. The light beam is able to yield atomic spin polarization in the direction perpendicular to both the optical axis and the transverse electric field, and its magnitude is approximately 1/kw times that generated by a circularly polarized light wave with the similar intensity.     

What can we learn from the total width of the Higgs boson?

As one of the key properties of the Higgs boson, the Higgs total width is sensitive to the global profile of the Higgs boson couplings, and thus new physics would modify the Higgs width. We investigate the total width in various new physics models, including various scalar extensions, composite Higgs models, and the fraternal twin Higgs model. Typically, the Higgs width is smaller than the standard model value due to mixture with other scalars if the Higgs is elementary, or curved Higgs field space for the composite Higgs. On the other hand, except for the possible invisible decay mode, the enhanced Yukawa coupling in the two Higgs doublet model or the exotic fermion embeddings in the composite Higgs could enhance the Higgs width greatly. The precision measurement of the Higgs total width at the high-luminosity LHC can be used to discriminate certain new physics models.     

MoEDAL – a new light on the high-energy frontier

In 2010, the MoEDAL (MOnopole and Exotics Detector at the LHC) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was unanimously approved by European Centre for Nuclear Research’s Research Board to start data taking in 2015. MoEDAL is a pioneering experiment designed to search for highly ionising manifestations of new physics such as magnetic monopoles or massive (pseudo-)stable charged particles. Its groundbreaking physics programme defines a number of scenarios that yield potentially revolutionary insights into such foundational questions as: are there extra dimensions or new symmetries; does magnetic charge exist; what is the nature of dark matter; and, how did the Big Bang develop. MoEDAL’s purpose is to meet such far-reaching challenges at the frontier of the field. The innovative MoEDAL detector employs unconventional methodologies tuned to the prospect of discovery physics. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Point 8 on the LHC ring, has a dual nature. First, it acts like a giant camera, comprised of nuclear track detectors – analysed offline by ultra fast scanning microscopes – sensitive only to new physics. Second, it is uniquely able to trap the particle messengers of physics beyond the Standard Model for further study. MoEDAL’s radiation environment is monitored by a state-of-the-art real-time TimePix pixel detector array. A new MoEDAL sub-detector designed to extend MoEDAL reach to mini-charged, minimally ionising particles is under study.