Discovery potential of the NMSSM CP-odd Higgs at the LHC

In this paper we examine the LHC discovery potential of the lightest CP-odd Higgs boson, a1, of the NMSSM produced in gluon fusion channel gg->a1. We evaluate the inclusive signal rates of the a1 for a variety of decay channels and discuss its possible discovery. It is observed that the overall production and decay rates at inclusive level are quite sizable and should help extracting the a1 signal over some regions of the NMSSM parameter space.Comment: 12 pages, 21 figure

LHC signals of the next-to-lightest scalar Higgs state of the NMSSM in the 4τ 4\tau decay channel

We study the $a_1a_1$ and $Za_1$ decay channels of the next-to-lightest CP-even Higgs boson $h_2$ of the NMSSM at the LHC, where the $h_2$ is produced in gluon fusion. It is found that while the $h_2$ discovery is impossible through the latter channel, the former one in the $4\tau$ final state is a promising channel to discover the $h_2$ with masses up to around 250 GeV at the LHC. Such a discovery of the $h_2$ is mostly accompanied with a light $a_1$, which is a clear evidence for distinguishing the NMSSM from the MSSM since such a light $a_1$ is impossible in the MSSM.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Prospects of Neutral Higgs boson decays in the NMSSM

In this paper, we present the branching ratios of the two lightest CP-even Higgses, $h_1$ and $h_2$, and of the lightest CP-odd Higgs, $a_1$, in the context of the Non-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). We find that for some regions of the parameter space, the branching fractions of $a_1$ into the lightest charginos ($a_1\to \chi^+_1\chi^-_1)$ and neutralinos ($a_1\to \chi^0_1\chi^0_1)$ are larger than $50\%$, and can reach a $100 \%$ level in the latter case. Furthermore, the branching ratio of the $h_2\to a_1a_1$ can be equal to unity for all masses of $h_2$ when it is a pure singlet. The above unusual channels are hallmarks of the existence of the NMSSM.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Students’ Survey Evaluation: A New Paradigm

The lynchpin of any educational setup is the duo of student and teacher; the third vital component which regulates the activities of the duo is educational management of the setup. The present study focuses on eliciting the opinions of students from three diplomas organized by Deanship of Community Services and Continuing Education, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah to study the effectiveness of diplomas. The instrument diploma evaluation questionnaire (DEQ) used to collect data was a modified version of the course evaluation questionnaire (CEQ) developed by the Saudi National commission of Assessment and Academic Accreditation (NCAAA). A sample of 240 diploma students both male and female participated in the study. Statistical evaluation was carried out using SPSS ver 21 and some relevant figures were drawn using AMOS software. Findings of this study coupled with other inputs can simultaneously be used by pedagogical staff and administrators to frame future policies for improving the quality of educational diplomas in an institution or program. Results of the study pinpointed some areas which need to be focused on in future diplomas: for instance, orientation about the diplomas needs more elaboration, provision of training material and linkage between the theory and practice be established. The relationship between the three subscales and Overall Evaluation (OE) is significant with ‘Diploma evaluation’ subscale as the most effective predictor for OE followed by ‘During the diploma’ subscale.  The study also demonstrated the robust evidence of objectivity and data authenticity. The easy-to-follow approach has been adopted so that pedagogical and administrative staff can effectively use the techniques proposed in the current study. The evidence thus extracted can be used to structure efficient prospective policies than can surely enhance student experiences during their educational discourses

Reinforcing the no-lose theorem for NMSSM Higgs discovery at the LHC

We show the potential of the LHC to detect a CP-even Higgs boson of the NMSSM, $h_1$ or $h_2$, decaying into two rather light CP-odd Higgs bosons, $a_1$, by exploiting the production mode based on Higgs-strahlung off $b$-quarks, i.e., the channel $pp\to b\bar b h_{1,2}$. We also consider the case of $h_2\to h_1 h_1$ decays. It is found that these decays have dominant BRs over large regions of the NMSSM parameter space where tan$\beta$ is large, a condition which also favours the $pp\to b\bar b h_{1,2}$ production rates. Further decays of the light Higgs boson pairs ($a_1$ and $h_1$) into photon, muon, tau and $b$ final states are also considered. The overall production and decay rates for these processes at inclusive level are sizable and should help extracting at least one Higgs boson signal over the NMSSM parameter space.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, added comments and corrected typo

Assessing Volatility Modelling using three Error Distributions

The current study focuses on estimating the volatility of stock returns in the presence of flat tails error distribution (i.e. asymmetry of the distribution) which a traditional generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity GARCH model usually fails to explain. The study, unlike the previous studies, compares three sets of error distributions for GARCH (1, 1) model of stock returns.  The three sets of error distributions used for comparing the predictive ability of GARCH (1, 1) model are –Gaussian (normal distribution), student’s t and generalized error distribution (GED). Eviews software was used for analyzing a time series data of Flying cement stock shares consisting of 245 days of in sample and 15 days of out-of-sample data. To compare the forecasting capability of three models root mean square (RMSE) and Theil’s Inequality Coefficient (TIC) were used. Akaike information criterion (AIC), the Schwarz information criterion (SIC), Hannan, and Quin (HQ) information criteria were examined for selection of a suitable model for capturing volatility of stock returns in the presence of symmetrical and asymmetrical distributions. Results of the study revealed that GARCH (1, 1) with GED is the best model for capturing the volatility of stock returns of Flying Cement Industry. Results of the present study will provide a stimulus to academia and practitioners for incorporating asymmetry aspect of the distribution in future prediction and capturing volatility of stock returns

Assessing Volatility Modelling using three Error Distributions

The current study focuses on estimating the volatility of stock returns in the presence of flat tails error distribution (i.e. asymmetry of the distribution) which a traditional generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroscedasticity GARCH model usually fails to explain. The study, unlike the previous studies, compares three sets of error distributions for GARCH (1, 1) model of stock returns.  The three sets of error distributions used for comparing the predictive ability of GARCH (1, 1) model are –Gaussian (normal distribution), student’s t and generalized error distribution (GED). Eviews software was used for analyzing a time series data of Flying cement stock shares consisting of 245 days of in sample and 15 days of out-of-sample data. To compare the forecasting capability of three models root mean square (RMSE) and Theil’s Inequality Coefficient (TIC) were used. Akaike information criterion (AIC), the Schwarz information criterion (SIC), Hannan, and Quin (HQ) information criteria were examined for selection of a suitable model for capturing volatility of stock returns in the presence of symmetrical and asymmetrical distributions. Results of the study revealed that GARCH (1, 1) with GED is the best model for capturing the volatility of stock returns of Flying Cement Industry. Results of the present study will provide a stimulus to academia and practitioners for incorporating asymmetry aspect of the distribution in future prediction and capturing volatility of stock returns

LHC Signals of a Heavy CP-even Higgs Boson in the NMSSM via Decays into a ZZ and a Light CP-odd Higgs State

We study the $Za_1$ decay mode of a heavy CP-even Higgs boson of the NMSSM, $h_2$, where $a_1$ is the lightest CP-odd Higgs state of this scenario, the former produced in association with a bottom-antibottom pair, and find that, despite small event rates, a significant (in fact essentially background free) signal should be extractable at the LHC with very high luminosity, so long that a $Z\to jj$ (where $j$ represents a jet) and $a_1\to \tau^+\tau^-$ final state is exploited, in presence of $b$-taggingComment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl