Implications of QCD radiative corrections on high-pT Higgs searches

We discuss the effect of next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to the Higgsstrahlung process, where the Higgs boson decays to bottom quarks, using a partonic-level fully differential code. First we evaluate the impact of initial- and final-state gluon radiation on the reconstruction of a mass peak with the fat-jet analysis in the boosted regime at the LHC with sqrt(s) = 14 TeV as proposed in Butterworth et al. (2008) [1]. Finally we study the current CMS search strategy for this channel and compare it to the fat-jet procedure at the LHC with sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. Both show that final-state QCD radiation has a sizable effect and should be taken properly into account.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, version accepted for publicatio

Sustainable production of Ham

Sustainable Production of “HAM”​ is not actually about sustainable pork or ham production. Instead, it discusses the 10 practices for sustainable agriculture, whathappens when we aren’t sustainable, and the Brundtland Report’s definition ofsustainable agriculture, all to the tune of Hamilton’s ​The World Was Wide Enough.1_tdlrzuf

Does the `Higgs' have Spin Zero?

The Higgs boson is predicted to have spin zero. The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently reported of an excess of events with mass ~ 125 GeV that has some of the characteristics expected for a Higgs boson. We address the questions whether there is already any evidence that this excess has spin zero, and how this possibility could be confirmed in the near future. The excess observed in the gamma gamma final state could not have spin one, leaving zero and two as open possibilities. We calculate the angular distribution of gamma gamma pairs from the decays of a spin-two boson produced in gluon-gluon collisions, showing that is unique and distinct from the spin-zero case. We also calculate the distributions for lepton pairs that would be produced in the W W* decays of a spin-two boson, which are very different from those in Higgs decays, and note that the kinematics of the event selection used to produce the excess observed in the W W* final state have reduced efficiency for spin two.Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, Version accepted for publication in JHEP, includes additional plots of dilepton mass distribution

Background subtraction and jet quenching on jet reconstruction

In order to assess the ability of jet observables to constrain the characteristics of the medium produced in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC, we investigate the influence of background subtraction and jet quenching on jet reconstruction, with focus on the dijet asymmetry as currently studied by ATLAS and CMS. Using a toy model, we examine the influence of different background subtraction methods on dijet momentum imbalance and azimuthal distributions. We compare the usual jet-area based background subtraction technique and a variant of the noise-pedestal subtraction method used by CMS. The purpose of this work is to understand what are the differences between the two techniques, given the same event configuration. We analyze the influence of the quenching effect using the Q-PYTHIA Monte Carlo on the previous observables and to what extent Q-PYTHIA is able to reproduce the CMS data for the average missing transverse momentum that seems to indicate the presence of large angle emission of soft particles.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings for Hard Probes 201

Weakness or Strength in the Golden Years of RHIC and LHC?

Recent LHC data suggest that perturbative QCD provides a qualitatively consistent picture of jet quenching. Constrained to RHIC pi0 suppression, zero parameter WHDG energy loss predictions agree quantitatively with the charged hadron v2 and D meson RAA measured at LHC and qualitatively with the charged hadron RAA. On the other hand, RHIC-constrained LHC predictions from fully strongly-coupled AdS/CFT qualitatively oversuppress D mesons compared to data; light meson predictions are on less firm theoretical ground but also suggest oversuppression. More detailed data from heavy, especially B, mesons will continue to help clarify our picture of the physics of the quark-gluon plasma. Since the approach of pQCD predictions to LHC data occurs at momenta >~ 15 GeV/c, a robust consistency check between pQCD and both RHIC and LHC data requires RHIC jet measurements.Comment: 4 pages. 3 figures. Proceedings for Hard Probes 2012. Minor grammatical and reference changes from v

Recent studies of top quark properties and decays at hadron colliders

The top quark is the heaviest known elementary particle. Observed for the first time in 1995 at the Tevatron by the CDF and D0 experiments, it has become object of several studies aimed at fully characterize its properties and decays. Precise determinations of top quark characteristics verify the internal consistency of the standard model and are sensitive to new physics phenomena. With the advent of the large top quark production rates generated at the LHC, top quark studies have reached unprecedented statistical precision. This review summarizes the recent measurements of top quark properties and studies of its decays performed at the LHC and Tevatron.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables, Presented at Flavor Physics and CP Violation (FPCP 2012), Hefei, China, May 21-25, 201

Hadron Correlations Measured with ALICE

Angular particle correlations are a powerful tool to study collective effects and in-medium jet modification as well as their interplay in the hot and dense medium produced in central heavy-ion collisions. We present measurements of two-particle angular correlations of inclusive charged and identified particles performed with the ALICE detector. The near-side peak in the short-range correlation region is quantitatively analyzed: while the rms of the peak in $\phi$-direction is independent of centrality within uncertainties, we find a significant broadening in $\eta$-direction from peripheral to central collisions. The particle content of the near-side peak is studied finding that the $p/\pi$ ratio of particles associated to a trigger particle is much smaller than the one in the bulk of the particles and consistent with fragmentation of a parton in vacuum.Comment: Proceedings of plenary talk at the 5th international conference on hard and electromagnetic probes of high-energy nuclear collisions (Hard Probes 2012), Cagliari, Ital

Where is SUSY?

The direct searches for Superymmetry at colliders can be complemented by direct searches for dark matter (DM) in underground experiments, if one assumes the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) provides the dark matter of the universe. It will be shown that within the Constrained minimal Supersymmetric Model (CMSSM) the direct searches for DM are complementary to direct LHC searches for SUSY and Higgs particles using analytical formulae. A combined excluded region from LHC, WMAP and XENON100 will be provided, showing that within the CMSSM gluinos below 1 TeV and LSP masses below 160 GeV are excluded (m_{1/2} > 400 GeV) independent of the squark masses.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

The Higgs boson, Supersymmetry and Dark Matter: Relations and Perspectives

The discovery of a light Higgs boson at the LHC opens a broad program of studies and measurements to understand the role of this particle in connection with New Physics and Cosmology. Supersymmetry is the best motivated and most thoroughly formulated and investigated model of New Physics which predicts a light Higgs boson and can explain dark matter. This paper discusses how the study of the Higgs boson connects with the search for supersymmetry and for dark matter at the LHC and at a future $e^+e^-$ collider and with dedicated underground dark matter experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Natural Predictions for the Higgs Boson Mass and Supersymmetric Contributions to Rare Processes

In the context of No-Scale F-SU(5), a model defined by the convergence of the F-lipped SU(5) Grand Unified Theory, two pairs of hypothetical TeV scale vector-like supersymmetric multiplets with origins in F-theory, and the dynamically established boundary conditions of No-Scale Supergravity, we predict that the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass lies within the range of 119.0 GeV to 123.5 GeV, exclusive of the vector-like particle contribution to the mass. With reports by the CMS, ATLAS, CDF, and D0 Collaborations detailing enticing statistical excesses in the vicinity of 120 GeV in searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson, all signs point to an imminent discovery. While basic supersymmetric constructions such as mSUGRA and the CMSSM have already suffered overwhelming reductions in viable parameterization during the LHC's initial year of operation, about 80% of the original No-Scale F-SU(5) model space remains viable after analysis of the first 1.1 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity. This model is moreover capable of handily explaining the small excesses recently reported in the CMS multijet supersymmetry search, and also features a highly favorable "golden" subspace which may simultaneously account for the key rare process limits on the muon anomalous magnetic moment (g - 2) and the branching ratio of the flavor-changing neutral current decay b to s\gamma. In addition, the isolated mass parameter responsible for the global particle mass normalization, the gaugino boundary mass M_{1/2}, is dynamically determined at a secondary local minimization of the minimum of the Higgs potential V_{min}, in a manner which is deeply consistent with all precision measurements at the physical electroweak scale.Comment: Physics Letters B Version, 10 pages, 2 figures, 2 table