Z_p scalar dark matter from multi-Higgs-doublet models

In many models, stability of dark matter particles is protected by a conserved Z_2 quantum number. However dark matter can be stabilized by other discrete symmetry groups, and examples of such models with custom-tailored field content have been proposed. Here we show that electroweak symmetry breaking models with N Higgs doublets can readily accommodate scalar dark matter candidates stabilized by groups Z_p with any $p \le 2^{N-1}$, leading to a variety of kinds of microscopic dynamics in the dark sector. We give examples in which semi-annihilation or multiple semi-annihilation processes are allowed or forbidden, which can be especially interesting in the case of asymmetric dark matter.Comment: 10 page

The beryllium atom and beryllium positive ion in strong magnetic fields

The ground and a few excited states of the beryllium atom in external uniform magnetic fields are calculated by means of our 2D mesh Hartree-Fock method for field strengths ranging from zero up to 2.35*10^9T. With changing field strength the ground state of the Be atom undergoes three transitions involving four different electronic configurations which belong to three groups with different spin projections S_z=0,-1,-2. For weak fields the ground state configuration arises from the 1s^2 2s^2, S_z=0 configuration. With increasing field strength the ground state evolves into the two S_z=-1 configurations 1s^22s 2p_{-1} and 1s^2 2p_{-1}3d_{-2}, followed by the fully spin polarised S_z=-2 configuration 1s2p_{-1}3d_{-2}4f_{-3}. The latter configuration forms the ground state of the beryllium atom in the high field regime \gamma>4.567. The analogous calculations for the Be^+ ion provide the sequence of the three following ground state configurations: 1s^22s and 1s^22p_{-1} (S_z=-1/2) and 1s2p_{-1}3d_{-2} (S_z=-3/2).Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Scattering of twisted particles: extension to wave packets and orbital helicity

High-energy photons and other particles carrying non-zero orbital angular momentum (OAM) emerge as a new tool in high-energy physics. Recently, it was suggested to generate high-energy photons with non-zero OAM (twisted photons) by the Compton backscattering of laser twisted photons on relativistic electron beams. Twisted electrons in the intermediate energy range have also been demostrated experimentally; twisted protons and other particles can in principle be created in a similar way. Collisions of energetic twisted states can offer a new look at particle properties and interactions. A theoretical description of twisted particle scattering developed previously treated them as pure Bessel states and ran into difficulty when describing the OAM of the final twisted particle at non-zero scattering angles. Here we develop further this formalism by incorporating two additional important features. First, we treat the initial OAM state as a wave packet of a finite transverse size rather than a pure Bessel state. This realistic assumption allows us to resolve the existing controversy between two theoretical analyses for non-forward scattering. Second, we describe the final twisted particle in terms of the orbital helicity --- the OAM projection on its average direction of propagation rather than on the fixed reaction axis. Using this formalism, we determine to what extent the twisted state is transferred from the initial to final OAM particle in a generic scattering kinematics. As a particular application, we prove that in the Compton backscattering the orbital helicity of the final photon stays close to the OAM projection of the initial photon.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures; v2: expanded introduction and section 4.2 on final orbital helicit