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FPMC: Forward Physics Monte Carlo. Exclusive Higgs production. The Higgs production is based on Khoze, Martin and Ryskin (KMR) model. More details in http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.0255v1. Herwig6 is used to hadronize events. Other details are in the logfiles.
The gamma-ray excess observed from the Galactic Center can be interpreted as dark matter particles annihilating into Standard Model fermions with a cross section near that expected for a thermal relic. Although many particle physics models have been shown to be able to account for this signal, the fact that this particle has not yet been observed in direct detection experiments somewhat restricts the nature of its interactions. One way to suppress the dark matter's elastic scattering cross section with nuclei is to consider models in which the dark matter is part of a hidden sector. In such models, the dark matter can annihilate into other hidden sector particles, which then decay into Standard Model fermions through a small degree of mixing with the photon, Z, or Higgs bosons. After discussing the gamma-ray signal from hidden sector dark matter in general terms, we consider two concrete realizations: a hidden photon model in which the dark matter annihilates into a pair of vector gauge bosons that decay through kinetic mixing with the photon, and a scenario within the generalized NMSSM in which the dark matter is a singlino-like neutralino that annihilates into a pair of singlet Higgs bosons, which decay through their mixing with the Higgs bosons of the MSSM.
The total and differential Higgs boson production cross-sections are measured through a combined statistical analysis of the H → ZZ* → 4ℓ and H → γγ decay channels. The results are based on a dataset of 139 fb –1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measured total Higgs boson production cross-section is $55.5$$^{+4.0}_{–3.8}$ pb, consistent with the Standard Model prediction of 55.6 ± 2.5 pb. All results from the two decay channels are compatible with each other, and their combination agrees with the Standard Model predictions. A combined statistical interpretation of the measured fiducial cross-sections as a function of the Higgs boson transverse momentum is performed in order to probe the Yukawa couplings to the bottom and charm quarks. A similar interpretation is performed by including also the constraints from the measurements of Higgs boson production in association with a W or Z boson in the H → bb¯ and cc¯ decay channels.
Profound puzzles, such as the nature of dark matter, the origins of the electroweak scale, the mechanism behind the small neutrino mass, and the strong CP problem, suggested new physics beyond the Standard Model and drove the particle physics program in search of the associated new particles. Despite extensive searches, conventional realizations of new physics have not yet provided conclusive evidence. This raised the serious possibility that new dynamics might be more elusive, perhaps due to a richer gauge and matter structure than previously considered. Notably, the existence of dark matter and advancements in understanding the naturalness problem urged exploration into sectors with complex gauge and matter structures. Through experiments like the LHC, DUNE, and small-scale experiments, the robust US HEP program played a critical role in pursuing these well-motivated but under-explored scenarios for new physics. I explored these physics opportunities in depth, focusing on novel searches and significant improvements in parameter space coverage. The elusive dynamics revealed rich information about the underlying theory and were essential in identifying observable opportunities. Understanding the observable consequences required a deep comprehension of the theory, which I also developed. The proposal included essential components aimed at coherently increasing our knowledge in well-motivated elusive dynamics models. Through research on high-quality axions, composite neutrinos, the Higgs boson as a portal to hidden strong dynamics, and new scalar potentials to generate alternative electroweak phase transitions, I focused on identifying new signatures and parameter regions in plausible elusive dynamics models. The exploration emphasized generic possibilities motivated by broad classes of elusive dynamics models. These signatures were not effectively probed previously due to various challenges such as triggering, background suppression, or experimental design. My research involved close interaction with experimental colleagues to overcome these difficulties, leveraging new theoretical and experimental possibilities. These efforts included identifying new observables such as timing information and substructure in calorimetries, new multiple-hit techniques, new scattering events, and new resonance searches in liquid argon detectors. This work created a positive feedback loop: theory and experimental work inspired each other, revealing new exciting opportunities that supported both programs.
Here, we study the implications of the Higgs discovery and of recent results from dark matter searches on real singlet scalar dark matter. The phenomenology of the model is defined by only two parameters, the singlet scalar mass m S and the quartic coupling a 2 between the SU(2) Higgs and the singlet scalar. We concentrate on the window 5 < m S /GeV < 300. The most dramatic impact on the viable parameter space of the model comes from direct dark matter searches with LUX, and, for very low masses in the few GeV range, from constraints from the invisible decay width of the Higgs. In the resonant region the best constraints come from gamma-ray line searches. We show that they leave only a small region of viable parameter space, for dark matter masses within a few percent of half the mass of the Higgs. We demonstrate that direct and indirect dark matter searches (especially the search for monochromatic gamma-ray lines) will play a key role in closing the residual parameter space in the near future.
Results are presented from a search for new physics in high-mass diphoton events from proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV. The data set was collected in 2016–2018 with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{−1}$. Events with a diphoton invariant mass greater than 500 GeV are considered. Two different techniques are used to predict the standard model backgrounds: parametric fits to the smoothly-falling background and a first-principles calculation of the standard model diphoton spectrum at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. The first technique is sensitive to resonant excesses while the second technique can identify broad differences in the invariant mass shape. The data are used to constrain the production of heavy Higgs bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, the large extra dimensions model of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali (ADD), and the continuum clockwork mechanism. No statistically significant excess is observed. The present results are the strongest limits to date on ADD extra dimensions and RS gravitons with a coupling parameter greater than 0.1.[graphic not available: see fulltext]
High-energy colliders offer a unique sensitivity to dark photons, the mediators of a broken dark U(1) gauge theory that kinetically mixes with the Standard Model (SM) hypercharge. Dark photons can be detected in the exotic decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson, h→ZZ D →4ℓ, and in Drell-Yan events, pp→Z D → ℓℓ. If the dark U(1) is broken by a hidden-sector Higgs mechanism, then mixing between the dark and SM Higgs bosons also allows the exotic decay h → Z D Z D → 4ℓ. We show that the 14 TeV LHC and a 100 TeV proton-proton collider provide powerful probes of both exotic Higgs decay channels. In the case of kinetic mixing alone, direct Drell-Yan production offers the best sensitivity to Z D , and can probe ϵ ≳ 9 × 10 –4 (4 × 10 –4 ) at the HL-LHC (100 TeV pp collider). The exotic Higgs decay h → ZZ D offers slightly weaker sensitivity, but both measurements are necessary to distinguish the kinetically mixed dark photon from other scenarios. If Higgs mixing is also present, then the decay h → Z D Z D can allow sensitivity to the Z D for ϵ ≳ 10 –9 – 10 –6 (10 –10 – 10 –7 ) for the mass range 2m μ Z D h /2 by searching for displaced dark photon decays. We also compare the Z D sensitivity at pp colliders to the indirect, but model-independent, sensitivity of global fits to electroweak precision observables. Here, we perform a global electroweak fit of the dark photon model, substantially updating previous work in the literature. Electroweak precision measurements at LEP, Tevatron, and the LHC exclude ϵ as low as 3 × 10 –2 . Sensitivity can be improved by up to a factor of ~ 2 with HL-LHC data, and an additional factor of ~ 4 with ILC/GigaZ data.
Constraints on Wilson coefficients (WCs) corresponding to dimension-6 operators of the standard model effective field theory (SMEFT) are determined from a simultaneous fit to seven sets of CMS measurements probing Higgs boson, electroweak vector boson, top quark, and multijet production. Measurements of electroweak precision observables are also included and provide complementary constraints to those from the CMS experiment. The CMS measurements, using LHC proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {Te}\text {V} $, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 36.3 or 138$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$, are chosen to provide sensitivity to a broad set of operators, for which consistent SMEFT predictions can be derived. These are primarily measurements of differential cross sections which are parameterized as functions of the WCs. In measurements targeting ${\text {t}} (\bar{\textrm{t}})\text {X} $ production, SMEFT effects are modelled at the detector level. Individual constraints on 64 WCs, and constraints on 43 linear combinations of WCs, are obtained.
A search for exotic Higgs boson decays H → 𝒜𝒜, with 𝒜 → γγ is presented, using events with a semi-merged topology. One of the hypothetical particles, 𝒜, is assumed to decay promptly into a semi-merged diphoton system reconstructed as a single photon-like object, while the other 𝒜 decays into two resolved photons. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 . The data agree with the standard model background expectation. Upper limits are set on the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and the branching fraction, σ(pp → H) ℬ(H → 𝒜𝒜 → 4γ), which range from 0.264 to 0.005 pb at 95% confidence level, for 𝒜 masses in the range 1 < m 𝒜 < 15 GeV. These limits are the most stringent to date in the 1–5 GeV m 𝒜 range.
Inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson are measured in the H → Z Z * → 4 ℓ ( ℓ = e , μ ) decay channel. The results are based on proton-proton collision data produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018, equivalent to an integrated luminosity of 139 $\hbox {fb}^{-1}$ fb - 1 . The inclusive fiducial cross section for the H → Z Z * → 4 ℓ process is measured to be σ fid = 3.28 ± 0.32 fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of σ fid , SM = 3.41 ± 0.18 fb. Differential fiducial cross sections are measured for a variety of observables which are sensitive to the production and decay of the Higgs boson. All measurements are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. The results are used to constrain anomalous Higgs boson interactions with Standard Model particles.
We study a supersymmetric scenario with a quasi exact R-symmetry in light of the discovery of a Higgs resonance with a mass of 125 GeV. In such a framework, the additional adjoint superfields, needed to give Dirac masses to the gauginos, contribute both to the Higgs mass and to electroweak precision observables. We analyze the interplay between the two aspects, finding regions in parameter space in which the contributions to the precision observables are under control and a 125 GeV Higgs boson can be accommodated. We estimate the fine-tuning of the model finding regions of the parameter space still unexplored by the LHC with a fine-tuning considerably improved with respect to the minimal supersymmetric scenario. In particular, sizable non-holomorphic (non-supersoft) adjoints masses are required to reduce the fine-tuning.
We have calculated quantities of interest to a theory of compositeness. The lattice model, approximating the candidate theory, is the SU(4) gauge theory coupled to fermions in two color representations. For the composite Higgs, a current correlator gives one of the ingredients of the effective Higgs potential. For the partially composite top quark, we have hyperbaryon matrix elements that govern mixing of the fundamental quark with its heavy composite partner. The matrix elements turn out to be so small that the theory is disfavored as a source of a realistic top mass.
A search for the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of charm quarks is presented. The analysis uses proton–proton collisions to target the production of a Higgs boson in association with a leptonically decaying W or Z boson. The dataset delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 . Flavour-tagging algorithms are used to identify jets originating from the hadronisation of charm quarks. The analysis method is validated with the simultaneous measurement of WW, WZ and ZZ production, with observed (expected) significances of 2.6 (2.2) standard deviations above the background-only prediction for the $(W/Z)Z( → c\bar{c})$ process and 3.8 (4.6) standard deviations for the $(W/Z)W(→cq)$ process. The $(W/Z)Z( → c\bar{c})$ search yields an observed (expected) upper limit of 26 (31) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section times branching fraction for a Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV, corresponding to an observed (expected) constraint on the charm Yukawa coupling modifier |$k_c$| < 8.5 (12.4), at the 95% confidence level. A combination with the ATLAS $(W/Z)H,H → b\bar{b}$ analysis is performed, allowing the ratio $k_c/k_b$ to be constrained to less than 4.5 at the 95% confidence level, smaller than the ratio of the b- and c-quark masses, and therefore determines the Higgs-charm coupling to be weaker than the Higgs-bottom coupling at the 95% confidence level.
The R-parity violating decays of both Wino chargino and Wino neutralino LSPs are analyzed within the context of the B − L MSSM “heterotic standard model”. These LSPs correspond to statistically determined initial soft supersymmetry breaking parameters which, when evolved using the renormalization group equations, lead to an effective theory satisfying all phenomenological requirements; including the observed electroweak vector boson and Higgs masses. The explicit decay channels of these LSPs into standard model particles, the analytic and numerical decay rates and the associated branching ratios are presented. The decay lengths of these RPV interactions are discussed. It is shown that the vast majority of these decays are “prompt”, although a small, but calculable, number correspond to “displaced vertices” of various lengths. It is demonstrated that for a Wino chargino LSP, the NLSP is the Wino neutralino with a mass only slightly higher than the LSP — and vice-versa. As a consequence, we show that both the Wino chargino and Wino neutralino LSP/NLSP R-parity violating decays should be simultaneously observable at the CERN LHC.
We explore some aspects of models with two and three SU(2) scalar doublets that lead to mass degeneracies among some of the physical scalars. In Higgs sectors with two scalar doublets, the exact degeneracy of scalar masses, without an artificial fine-tuning of the scalar potential parameters, is possible only in the case of the inert doublet model (IDM), where the scalar potential respects a global U(1) symmetry that is not broken by the vacuum. In the case of three doublets, we introduce and analyze the replicated inert doublet model, which possesses two inert doublets of scalars. We then generalize this model to obtain a scalar potential, first proposed by Ivanov and Silva, with a CP4 symmetry that guarantees the existence of pairwise degenerate scalar states among two pairs of neutral scalars and two pairs of charged scalars. Here, CP4 is a generalized CP symmetry with the property that (CP4) n is the identity operator only for integer n values that are multiples of 4. The form of the CP4-symmetric scalar potential is simplest when expressed in the Higgs basis, where the neutral scalar field vacuum expectation value resides entirely in one of the scalar doublet fields. The symmetries of the model permit a term in the scalar potential with a complex coefficient that cannot be removed by any redefinition of the scalar fields within the class of Higgs bases (in which case, we say that no real Higgs basis exists). A striking feature of the CP4-symmetric model is that it preserves CP even in the absence of a real Higgs basis, as illustrated by the cancellation of the contributions to the CP violating form factors of the effective ZZZ and ZWW vertices.
Our search for neutral Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model (MSSM) decaying to tau-lepton pairs in pp collisions is performed, using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 24.6 fb -1 , with 4.9 fb -1 at 7 TeV and 19.7 fb -1 at 8 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity to neutral MSSM Higgs bosons, the search includes the case where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a b-quark jet. No excess is observed in the tau-lepton-pair invariant mass spectrum. Exclusion limits are presented in the MSSM parameter space for different benchmark scenarios, m h max , m h mod + , m h mod - , light-stop, light-stau, τ-phobic, and low- m H . Lastly, upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction for gluon fusion and b-quark associated Higgs boson production are also given.
A search for the production of three Higgs bosons (𝐻𝐻𝐻) in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state is presented. The search uses 126 fb −1 of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ =13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets both nonresonant and resonant production of 𝐻𝐻𝐻. The resonant interpretations primarily consider a cascade decay topology of 𝑋 →𝑆𝐻 → 𝐻𝐻𝐻 with masses of the new scalars 𝑋 and 𝑆 up to 1.5 and 1 TeV, respectively. In addition to scenarios where 𝑆 is off-shell, the nonresonant interpretation includes a search for Standard Model 𝐻𝐻𝐻 production, with limits on the trilinear and quartic Higgs self-coupling set. No evidence for 𝐻𝐻𝐻 production is observed. An upper limit of 59 fb is set, at the 95% confidence level, on the cross section for Standard Model 𝐻𝐻𝐻 production.
A search is reported for long-lived dark photons with masses between 0.1 GeV and 15 GeV, from exotic decays of Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson-fusion. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are probed. This search uses the full LHC Run 2 (2015–2018) data sample collected in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 . Dominant backgrounds from Standard Model processes and non-collision sources are estimated using data-driven techniques. The observed event yields in the signal regions are consistent with the expected background. Upper limits on the Higgs boson to dark photon branching fraction are reported as a function of the dark photon mean proper decay length or of the dark photon mass and the coupling between the Standard Model and the potential dark sector. This search is combined with previous ATLAS searches obtained in the gluon–gluon fusion and WH production modes. A branching fraction above 10% is excluded at 95% CL for a 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark photon mean proper decay lengths between 173 and 1296 mm and mass of 10 GeV.