Technicolor in the LHC Era

LHC searches for the standard model Higgs Boson in \gamma\gamma\ or \tau\tau\ decay modes place strong constraints on the light technipion state predicted in technicolor models that include colored technifermions. Compared with the standard Higgs Boson, the technipions have an enhanced production rate (largely because the technipion decay constant is smaller than the weak scale) and also enhanced branching ratios into di-photon and di-tau final states (largely due to the suppression of WW decays of the technipions). Recent ATLAS and CMS searches for Higgs bosons exclude the presence of technipions with masses from 110 GeV to nearly 2m_t in technicolor models that (a) include colored technifermions (b) feature topcolor dynamics and (c) have technicolor groups with three or more technicolors (N_{TC} > 3).Comment: 15 pages, pdf figures embedded. Contribution to KMI Inauguration Conference "Quest for the Origin of Particles and the Universe" (KMIIN), 24-26 Nov. 2011, KMI, Nagoya Universit

Color Discriminant Variable to Separate Dijet Resonances at the LHC

A narrow resonance decaying to dijets could be discovered at the 14 TeV run of the LHC. To quickly identify its color structure in a model-independent manner, we introduced a method based on a color discriminant variable, determined from the measurements of the resonance's production cross section, mass and width. This talk introduces a more transparent theoretical formulation of the color discriminant variable that highlights its relationship to the branching ratios of the resonance into incoming and outgoing partons and to the properties of those partons. The formulation makes it easier to predict the value of the variable for a given class of resonance. We show that this method applies well to color-triplet and color-sextet scalar diquarks, distinguishing them clearly from other candidate resonances.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Presentation at the DPF 2015 Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 4-8, 201

The Color Discriminant Variable and Scalar Diquarks at the LHC

The LHC is actively searching for narrow dijet resonances corresponding to physics beyond the Standard Model. Among the many resonances that have been postulated (e.g., colored vectors, scalars, and fermions) one that would have a particularly large production rate at the LHC would be a scalar diquark produced in the s-channel via fusion of two valence quarks. In previous work, we introduced a color discriminant variable that distinguishes among various dijet resonances, drawing on measurements of the dijet resonance mass, total decay width and production cross-section. Here, we show that this model-independent method applies well to color-triplet and color-sextet scalar diquarks, distinguishing them clearly from other candidate resonances. We also introduce a more transparent theoretical formulation of the color discriminant variable that highlights its relationship to the branching ratios of the resonance into incoming and outgoing partons and to the properties of those partons. While the original description of the color discriminant variable remains convenient for phenomenological use upon discovery of a new resonance, the new formulation makes it easier to predict the value of the variable for a given class of resonance.Comment: 22 pages, 11 pdf figures. One reference added, one updated. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1406.200

Distinguishing Color-Octet and Color-Singlet Resonances at the Large Hadron Collider

Di-jet resonance searches are simple, yet powerful and model-independent, probes for discovering new particles at hadron colliders. Once such a resonance has been discovered it is important to determine the mass, spin, couplings, chiral behavior and color properties to determine the underlying theoretical structure. We propose a new variable which, in the absence of decays of the resonance into new non-standard states, distinguishes between color-octet and color-singlet resonances. To keep our study widely applicable we study phenomenological models of color-octet and color-singlet resonances in flavor universal as well as flavor non-universal scenarios. We present our analysis for a wide range of mass (2.5 - 6 TeV), couplings and flavor scenarios for the LHC with center of mass energy of 14 TeV and varying integrated luminosities of 30, 100, 300 and 1000 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$. We find encouraging results to distinguish color-octet and color-singlet resonances for different flavor scenarios at the LHC.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Simplified Limits on New LHC Resonances

If an excess potentially heralding new physics is noticed in collider data, it would be useful to be able to compare the data with entire classes of models at once. This talk discusses a method that applies when the new physics corresponds to the production and decay of a single, relatively narrow, s-channel resonance. A simplifed model of the resonance allows us to convert an estimated signal cross section into model-independent bounds on the product of the branching ratios corresponding to production and decay. This quickly reveals whether a given class of models could possibly produce a signal of the observed size. We will describe how to apply our analysis framework to cases of current experimental interest, including resonances decaying to dibosons, diphotons, dileptons, or dijets.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; Proceedings of 12th Conference on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectru

Simplified Limits on Resonances at the LHC

In the earliest stages of evaluating new collider data, especially if a small excess may be present, it would be useful to have a method for comparing the data with entire classes of models, to get an immediate sense of which classes could conceivably be relevant. In this paper, we propose a method that applies when the new physics invoked to explain the excess corresponds to the production and decay of a single, relatively narrow, $s$-channel resonance. A simplifed model of the resonance allows us to convert an estimated signal cross section into model-independent bounds on the product of the branching ratios corresponding to production and decay. This quickly reveals whether a given class of models could possibly produce a signal of the required size at the LHC. Our work sets up a general framework, outlines how it operates for resonances with different numbers of production and decay modes, and analyzes cases of current experimental interest, including resonances decaying to dibosons, diphotons, dileptons, or dijets. If the LHC experiments were to report their searches for new resonances beyond the standard model in the simplified limits variable $\zeta$ defined in this paper, that would make it far easier to avoid blind alleys and home in on the most likely candidate models to explain any observed excesses.Comment: 31 pages, png and pdf figures embedded; title change and other minor changes in response to referee comment

Probing Color Octet Couplings at the Large Hadron Collider

Color-octet resonances arise in many well motivated theories beyond the standard model. As colored objects they are produced copiously at the LHC and can be discovered in early searches for new physics in dijet final states. Once they are discovered it will be important to measure the couplings of the new resonances to determine the underlying theoretical structure. We propose a new channel, associated production of $W,Z$ gauge bosons and color-octet resonances, to help determine the chiral structure of the couplings. We present our analysis for a range of color-octet masses (2.5 to 4.5 TeV), couplings and decay widths for the LHC with center of mass energy of 14 TeV and 10 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ or 100 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. We find that the LHC can probe a large region of the parameter space up to very small couplings.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 3 table