Measurements of the top-antitop production cross section at the Tevatron Run II CDF experiment using b-tagging

We present measurements of the top-antitop production cross section in b-tagged lepton + jets events from proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV using the CDF detector at Fermilab. B-jets are tagged with either a secondary vertex algorithm, or a soft lepton tagger that identifies muons from B hadron semileptonic decays. With Tevatron Run II data, we estimate the top-antitop signal fraction in two different ways: by estimating the various background contributions, and by fitting directly the leading jet transverse energy spectrum for the signal and background contributions. A subset of the sample with two secondary vertex tagged jets yields a production cross section consistent with the inclusive measurements. Results are consistent with a Standard Model top-antitop signal and current measurements of the top quark mass.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, DPF 2004 proceedin

Measurements of Masses in SUGRA Models at LHC

This paper presents new measurements in a case study of the minimal SUGRA model with m_0=100 GeV, mhalf=300 GeV, A_0=0, tan(beta)=2.1, and mu=+1 based on four-body distributions from three-step decays and on minimum masses in such decays. These measurements allow masses of supersymmetric particles to be determined without relying on a model. The feasibility of testing slepton universality at the ~0.1% level at high luminosity is discussed. In addition, the effect of enlarging the parameter space of the minimal SUGRA model is discussed. The direct production of left handed sleptons and the non-observation of additional structure in the dilepton invariant mass distributions is shown to provide additional constraints.Comment: 30 pages, 22 figure

Constrained invariant mass distributions in cascade decays. The shape of the "mqllm_{qll}-threshold" and similar distributions

Considering the cascade decay $D\to c C \to c b B \to c b a A$ in which $D,C,B,A$ are massive particles and $c,b,a$ are massless particles, we determine for the first time the shape of the distribution of the invariant mass of the three massless particles $m_{abc}$ for the sub-set of decays in which the invariant mass $m_{ab}$ of the last two particles in the chain is (optionally) constrained to lie inside an arbitrary interval, $m_{ab} \in [ m_{ab}^\text{cut min}, m_{ab}^\text{cut max}]$. An example of an experimentally important distribution of this kind is the ``$m_{qll}$ threshold'' -- which is the distribution of the combined invariant mass of the visible standard model particles radiated from the hypothesised decay of a squark to the lightest neutralino via successive two body decay,: \squark \to q \ntlinoTwo \to q l \slepton \to q l l \ntlinoOne , in which the experimenter requires additionally that $m_{ll}$ be greater than ${m_{ll}^{max}}/\sqrt{2}$. The location of the ``foot'' of this distribution is often used to constrain sparticle mass scales. The new results presented here permit the location of this foot to be better understood as the shape of the distribution is derived. The effects of varying the position of the $m_{ll}$ cut(s) may now be seen more easily.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Probing the SM with Dijets at the LHC

The LHC has started to explore the TeV energy regime, probing the SM beyond LEP and Tevatron. We show how the dijet measurements at the LHC are able to test certain sectors of the SM at an unprecedented level. We provide the best bounds on all possible four-quark interactions and translate them into limits on the compositeness scale of the quarks and gluons. We also provide constraints on extra gauge bosons, Z', W' and G', and on new interactions proposed to explain the present measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of the top.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures. v2: New bounds derived from the 2011 CMS dijet data se

Low mass neutralino dark matter in mSUGRA and more general models in the light of LHC data

The b\tau j \etslash signal at the ongoing LHC experiments is simulated with Pythia in the mSUGRA and other models of SUSY breaking. Special attention is given on the compatibility of this signature with the low mass neutralino dark matter (LMNDM) scenario consistent with WMAP data. In the mSUGRA model the above signal as well as the LMNDM scenario are strongly disfavoured due to the constraints from the on going SUSY searches at the LHC. This tension, however, originates from the model dependent correlations among the parameters in the strong and electroweak sectors of mSUGRA. That there is no serious conflict between the LMNDM scenario and the LHC data is demonstrated by constructing generic phenomenological models such that the strong sector is unconstrained or mildly constrained by the existing LHC data and parameters in the electroweak sector, unrelated to the strong sector,yield DM relic density consistent with the WMAP data. The proposed models, fairly insensitive to the conventional SUSY searches in the jets + \etslash and other channels, yield observable signal in the suggested channel for \lum \gsim 1 \ifb of data. They are also consistent with the LMNDM scenario and can be tested by the direct dark matter search experiments in the near future. Some of these models can be realized by non-universal scalar and gaugino masses at the GUT scale.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figures, analyses updated for 1 fb^{-1} of LHC data and presented in a new section, some new references have been added, published in Phys. Rev.

Measurement of the Superparticle Mass Spectrum in the Long-Lived Stau Scenario at the LHC

In supersymmetric scenarios with a long-lived stau, the LHC experiments provide us with a great environment for precise mass measurements of superparticles. We study a case in which the mass differences between the lightest stau and other sleptons are about 10 GeV or larger, so that the decay products of heavier sleptons are hard enough to be detected. We demonstrate that the masses of neutralinos, sleptons, and squarks can be measured with a good accuracy.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

SUSY Parameter Analysis at TeV and Planck Scales

Coherent analyses at future LHC and LC experiments can be used to explore the breaking mechanism of supersymmetry and to reconstruct the fundamental theory at high energies, in particular at the grand unification scale. This will be exemplified for minimal supergravity.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, uses espcrc2.sty (included), Proceedings, Loops and Legs 2004, Zinnowitz on Usedo

Searches for phenomena beyond the Standard Model at the LHC with the ATLAS and CMS detectors

The LHC has delivered several fb-1 of data in spring and summer 2011, opening new windows of opportunity for discovering phenomena beyond the Standard Model. A summary of the searches conducted by the ATLAS and CMS experiments based on about 1 fb-1 of data is presented.Comment: Presented at Lepton-Photon 2011, Mumbai, India; 10 pages, 11 figure