191 research outputs found
Model-Independent Bounds on a Light Higgs
We present up-to-date constraints on a generic Higgs parameter space. An
accurate assessment of these exclusions must take into account statistical, and
potentially signal, fluctuations in the data currently taken at the LHC. For
this, we have constructed a straightforward statistical method for making full
use of the data that is publicly available. We show that, using the expected
and observed exclusions which are quoted for each search channel, we can fully
reconstruct likelihood profiles under very reasonable and simple assumptions.
Even working with this somewhat limited information, we show that our method is
sufficiently accurate to warrant its study and advocate its use over more naive
prescriptions. Using this method, we can begin to narrow in on the remaining
viable parameter space for a Higgs-like scalar state, and to ascertain the
nature of any hints of new physics---Higgs or otherwise---appearing in the
data.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures; v3: correction made to basis of four-derivative
operators in the effective Lagrangian, references adde
Minimal Conformal Technicolor and Precision Electroweak Tests
We study the minimal model of conformal technicolor, an SU(2) gauge theory
near a strongly coupled conformal fixed point, with conformal symmetry softly
broken by technifermion mass terms. Conformal symmetry breaking triggers chiral
symmetry breaking in the pattern SU(4) -> Sp(4), which gives rise to a
pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson that can act as a composite Higgs boson. The top
quark is elementary, and the top and electroweak gauge loop contributions to
the Higgs mass are cut off entirely by Higgs compositeness. In particular, the
model requires no top partners and no "little Higgs" mechanism. A nontrivial
vacuum alignment results from the interplay of the top loop and technifermion
mass terms. The composite Higgs mass is completely determined by the top loop,
in the sense that m_h/m_t is independent of the vacuum alignment and is
computable by a strong-coupling calculation. There is an additional composite
pseudoscalar A with mass larger than m_h and suppressed direct production at
LHC. We discuss the electroweak fit in this model in detail. Corrections to Z
-> bb and the T parameter from the top sector are suppressed by the enhanced
Sp(4) custodial symmetry. Even assuming that the strong contribution to the S
parameter is positive and usuppressed, a good electroweak fit can be obtained
for v/f ~ 0.25, where v and f are the electroweak and chiral symmetry breaking
scales respectively. This requires fine tuning at the 10% level.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures; v2: updated precision electroweak fi
Electroweak Symmetry Breaking in the DSSM
We study the theoretical and phenomenological consequences of modifying the
Kahler potential of the MSSM two Higgs doublet sector. Such modifications
naturally arise when the Higgs sector mixes with a quasi-hidden conformal
sector, as in some F-theory GUT models. In the Delta-deformed Supersymmetric
Standard Model (DSSM), the Higgs fields are operators with non-trivial scaling
dimension 1 < Delta < 2. The Kahler metric is singular at the origin of field
space due to the presence of quasi-hidden sector states which get their mass
from the Higgs vevs. The presence of these extra states leads to the fact that
even as Delta approaches 1, the DSSM does not reduce to the MSSM. In
particular, the Higgs can naturally be heavier than the W- and Z-bosons.
Perturbative gauge coupling unification, a large top quark Yukawa, and
consistency with precision electroweak can all be maintained for Delta close to
unity. Moreover, such values of Delta can naturally be obtained in
string-motivated constructions. The quasi-hidden sector generically contains
states charged under SU(5)_GUT as well as gauge singlets, leading to a rich,
albeit model-dependent, collider phenomenology.Comment: v3: 40 pages, 3 figures, references added, typos correcte
Simple and Realistic Composite Higgs Models in Flat Extra Dimensions
We construct new composite Higgs/gauge-Higgs unification (GHU) models in flat
space that overcome all the difficulties found in the past in attempting to
construct models of this sort. The key ingredient is the introduction of large
boundary kinetic terms for gauge (and fermion) fields. We focus our analysis on
the electroweak symmetry breaking pattern and the electroweak precision tests
and show how both are compatible with each other. Our models can be seen as
effective TeV descriptions of analogue warped models. We point out that, as far
as electroweak TeV scale physics is concerned, one can rely on simple and more
flexible flat space models rather than considering their unavoidably more
complicated warped space counterparts. The generic collider signatures of our
models are essentially undistinguishable from those expected from composite
Higgs/warped GHU models, namely a light Higgs, colored fermion resonances below
the TeV scale and sizable deviations to the Higgs and top coupling.Comment: 30 figures, 9 figures; v2: minor improvements, one reference added,
version to appear in JHE
Composite Leptoquarks at the LHC
If electroweak symmetry breaking arises via strongly-coupled physics, the
observed suppression of flavour-changing processes suggests that fermion masses
should arise via mixing of elementary fermions with composite fermions of the
strong sector. The strong sector then carries colour charge, and may contain
composite leptoquark states, arising either as TeV scale resonances, or even as
light, pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons. The latter, since they are coupled to
colour, get a mass of the order of several hundred GeV, beyond the reach of
current searches at the Tevatron. The same generic mechanism that suppresses
flavour-changing processes suppresses leptoquark-mediated rare processes,
making it conceivable that the many stringent constraints may be evaded. The
leptoquarks couple predominantly to third-generation quarks and leptons, and
the prospects for discovery at LHC appear to be good. As an illustration, a
model based on the Pati-Salam symmetry is described, and its embedding in
models with a larger symmetry incorporating unification of gauge couplings,
which provide additional motivation for leptoquark states at or below the TeV
scale, is discussed.Comment: 10 pp, version to appear in JHE
UV friendly T-parity in the SU(6)/Sp(6) little Higgs model
Electroweak precision tests put stringent constraints on the parameter space
of little Higgs models. Tree-level exchange of TeV scale particles in a generic
little Higgs model produce higher dimensional operators that make contributions
to electroweak observables that are typically too large. To avoid this problem
a discrete symmetry dubbed T-parity can be introduced to forbid the dangerous
couplings. However, it was realized that in simple group models such as the
littlest Higgs model, the implementation of T-parity in a UV completion could
present some challenges. The situation is analogous to the one in QCD where the
pion can easily be defined as being odd under a new symmetry in the
chiral Lagrangian, but this is not a symmetry of the quark Lagrangian. In
this paper we examine the possibility of implementing a T-parity in the low
energy model that might be easier to realize in the UV. In our
model, the T-parity acts on the low energy non-linear sigma model field in way
which is different to what was originally proposed for the Littlest Higgs, and
lead to a different low energy theory. In particular, the Higgs sector of this
model is a inert two Higgs doublets model with an approximate custodial
symmetry. We examine the contributions of the various sectors of the model to
electroweak precision data, and to the dark matter abundance.Comment: 21 pages,4 figures. Clarifications added, typos corrected and
references added. Published in JHE
Optimal C-type Filter for Harmonics Mitigation and Resonance Damping in Industrial Distribution Systems
Single-tuned passive filters offer reasonable mitigation for harmonic distortion at a specific harmonic frequency with a high filtering percentage, but resonance hazards exist. Traditional damped filters offer high-pass filtering for the high-frequency range, but suffer from extra ohmic losses. C-type filters may operate in a manner similar to the tuned filters with low damping losses and marginal resonance damping capabilities. Also, they can be designed as damped filters with increased resonance damping capability. In this paper, a methodology that facilitates sizing for the C-type damped filter parameters for harmonics mitigation and resonance damping in balanced distribution system networks, is presented and discussed using the impedance-frequency index. This index evaluates the resonance damping capability provided by the damped filters analytically rather than the conventional graphical method of impedance-frequency scanning. It shows how to size shunt passive filters, while making a full use of their damping capabilities. It can disclose the parallel resonance frequencies of the equivalent system-filter impedance. A comparative study of the new approach and a conventional filter design approach, which aims to minimize total harmonic current distortion, is presented. Numerous simulation results are provided to clarify the proposed methodology, advantages, and disadvantages
Cosmic Flows on 100 Mpc/h Scales: Standardized Minimum Variance Bulk Flow, Shear and Octupole Moments
The low order moments, such as the bulk flow and shear, of the large scale
peculiar velocity field are sensitive probes of the matter density fluctuations
on very large scales. In practice, however, peculiar velocity surveys are
usually sparse and noisy, which can lead to the aliasing of small scale power
into what is meant to be a probe of the largest scales. Previously, we
developed an optimal ``minimum variance'' (MV) weighting scheme, designed to
overcome this problem by minimizing the difference between the measured bulk
flow (BF) and that which would be measured by an ideal survey. Here we extend
this MV analysis to include the shear and octupole moments, which are designed
to have almost no correlations between them so that they are virtually
orthogonal. We apply this MV analysis to a compilation of all major peculiar
velocity surveys, consisting of 4536 measurements. Our estimate of the BF on
scales of ~ 100 Mpc/h has a magnitude of |v|= 416 +/- 78 km/s towards Galactic
l = 282 degree +/- 11 degree and b = 6 degree +/- 6 degree. This result is in
disagreement with LCDM with WMAP5 cosmological parameters at a high confidence
level, but is in good agreement with our previous MV result without an
orthogonality constraint, showing that the shear and octupole moments did not
contaminate the previous BF measurement. The shear and octupole moments are
consistent with WMAP5 power spectrum, although the measurement noise is larger
for these moments than for the BF. The relatively low shear moments suggest
that the sources responsible for the BF are at large distances.Comment: 13 Pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Some changes to reflect the published
versio
One-Loop Calculation of the Oblique S Parameter in Higgsless Electroweak Models
We present a one-loop calculation of the oblique S parameter within Higgsless
models of electroweak symmetry breaking and analyze the phenomenological
implications of the available electroweak precision data. We use the most
general effective Lagrangian with at most two derivatives, implementing the
chiral symmetry breaking SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R -> SU(2)_{L+R} with Goldstones,
gauge bosons and one multiplet of vector and axial-vector massive resonance
states. Using the dispersive representation of Peskin and Takeuchi and imposing
the short-distance constraints dictated by the operator product expansion, we
obtain S at the NLO in terms of a few resonance parameters. In
asymptotically-free gauge theories, the final result only depends on the
vector-resonance mass and requires M_V > 1.8 TeV (3.8 TeV) to satisfy the
experimental limits at the 3 \sigma (1\sigma) level; the axial state is always
heavier, we obtain M_A > 2.5 TeV (6.6 TeV) at 3\sigma (1\sigma). In
strongly-coupled models, such as walking or conformal technicolour, where the
second Weinberg sum rule does not apply, the vector and axial couplings are not
determined by the short-distance constraints; but one can still derive a lower
bound on S, provided the hierarchy M_V < M_A remains valid. Even in this less
constrained situation, we find that in order to satisfy the experimental limits
at 3\sigma one needs M_{V,A} > 1.8 TeV.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures. Version published in JHEP. Some references and
sentences have been added to facilitate the discussio
Composite Higgs Search at the LHC
The Higgs boson production cross-sections and decay rates depend, within the
Standard Model (SM), on a single unknown parameter, the Higgs mass. In
composite Higgs models where the Higgs boson emerges as a pseudo-Goldstone
boson from a strongly-interacting sector, additional parameters control the
Higgs properties which then deviate from the SM ones. These deviations modify
the LEP and Tevatron exclusion bounds and significantly affect the searches for
the Higgs boson at the LHC. In some cases, all the Higgs couplings are reduced,
which results in deterioration of the Higgs searches but the deviations of the
Higgs couplings can also allow for an enhancement of the gluon-fusion
production channel, leading to higher statistical significances. The search in
the H to gamma gamma channel can also be substantially improved due to an
enhancement of the branching fraction for the decay of the Higgs boson into a
pair of photons.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figure
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