Phenomenology of a very light scalar (100 MeV <mh<<m_h< 10 GeV) mixing with the SM Higgs

In this paper we investigate the phenomenology of a very light scalar, $h$, with mass 100 MeV $<m_h<$ 10 GeV, mixing with the SM Higgs. As a benchmark model we take the real singlet scalar extension of the SM. We point out apparently unresolved uncertainties in the branching ratios and lifetime of $h$ in a crucial region of parameter space for LHC phenomenology. Bounds from LEP, meson decays and fixed target experiments are reviewed. We also examine prospects at the LHC. For $m_h \lesssim m_B$ the dominant production mechanism is via meson decay; our main result is the calculation of the differential $p_T$ spectrum of $h$ scalars originating from B mesons and the subsequent prediction of up to thousands of moderate (triggerable) $p_T$ displaced dimuons possibly hiding in the existing dataset at ATLAS/CMS or at LHCb. We also demonstrate that the subdominant $Vh$ production channel has the best sensitivity for $m_h \gtrsim m_B$ and that future bounds in this region could conceivably compete with those of LEP.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Quark-lepton symmetric model at the LHC

We investigate the quark-lepton symmetric model of Foot and Lew in the context of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In this `bottom-up' extension to the Standard Model, quark-lepton symmetry is achieved by introducing a gauged `leptonic colour' symmetry which is spontaneously broken above the electroweak scale. If this breaking occurs at the TeV scale, then we expect new physics to be discovered at the LHC. We examine three areas of interest: the Z$'$ heavy neutral gauge boson, charge $\pm1/2$ exotic leptons, and a colour triplet scalar diquark. We find that the LHC has already explored and/or will explore new parameter space for these particles over the course of its lifetime.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Baryon Number Violating Scalar Diquarks at the LHC

Baryon number violating (BNV) processes are heavily constrained by experiments searching for nucleon decay and neutron-antineutron oscillations. If the baryon number violation occurs via the third generation quarks, however, we may be able to avoid the nucleon stability constraints, thus making such BNV interactions accessible at the LHC. In this paper we study a specific class of BNV extensions of the standard model (SM) involving diquark and leptoquark scalars. After an introduction to these models we study one promising extension in detail, being interested in particles with mass of O(TeV). We calculate limits on the masses and couplings from neutron-antineutron oscillations and dineutron decay for couplings to first and third generation quarks. We explore the possible consequences of such a model on the matter-antimatter asymmetry. We shall see that for models which break the global baryon minus lepton number symmetry, (B-L), the most stringent constraints come from the need to preserve a matter-antimatter asymmetry. That is, the BNV interaction cannot be introduced if it would remove the matter-antimatter asymmetry independent of baryogenesis mechanism and temperature. Finally, we examine the phenomenology of such models at colliders such as the LHC.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. v2: references added, some typos corrected. v3: some small corrections to match published version, no change in conclusion