Exclusive MSSM Higgs production at the LHC after Run I

We investigate the prospects for Central Exclusive Production (CEP) of MSSM Higgs bosons at the LHC using forward proton detectors proposed to be installed at 220 m and 420 m distance around ATLAS and / or CMS. We summarize the situation after the first and very successful data taking period of the LHC. The discovery of a Higgs boson and results from searches for additional MSSM Higgs bosons from both the ATLAS and CMS experiments, based on data samples each corresponding to about 25 fb-1, have recently led to a proposal of new low-energy MSSM benchmark scenarios. The CEP signal cross section for the process H/h -> bb and its backgrounds are estimated in these new scenarios. We also make some comments about the experimental procedure if the proposed forward proton detectors are to be used to measure the CEP signal.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Changes reflecting the review process in submission to EPJC: minor textual improvements, plots 1-6 with a more appropriate range on y-axis, added reference

Elliptic rook and file numbers

Utilizing elliptic weights, we construct an elliptic analogue of rook numbers for Ferrers boards. Our elliptic rook numbers generalize Garsia and Remmel's q-rook numbers by two additional independent parameters a and b, and a nome p. These are shown to satisfy an elliptic extension of a factorization theorem which in the classical case was established by Goldman, Joichi and White and later was extended to the q-case by Garsia and Remmel. We obtain similar results for our elliptic analogues of Garsia and Remmel's q-file numbers for skyline boards. We also provide an elliptic extension of the j-attacking model introduced by Remmel and Wachs. Various applications of our results include elliptic analogues of (generalized) Stirling numbers of the first and second kind, Lah numbers, Abel numbers, and r-restricted versions thereof.Comment: 45 pages; 3rd version shortened (elliptic rook theory for matchings has been taken out to keep the length of this paper reasonable