The heavy neutral Higgs signature in the gamma gamma to Z Z process

If the Standard Model (SM) Higgs particle is sufficiently heavy, then its contribution to gamma gamma to Z Z should be largely imaginary, interfering with the also predominantly imaginary SM "background" generated by the W-loop. For standard model Higgs masses in the region 200 \lsim m_H \lsim 500 GeV, this interference is found to be constructive and increasing the Higgs signal. In the minimal SUSY case an interference effect should also appear for the contribution of the heavier CP-even neutral Higgs boson H^0, provided it is sufficiently heavy. The effect is somewhat reduced though, by the smallness of the H^0 width and the gamma gamma and ZZ branching ratios. The interference is again found to be constructive for part of the parameter space corresponding to sfermion masses at the TeV scale and maximal stop mixing. For both the SM and SUSY cases, regions of the parameter space exist though, where the interference may be destructive. It is therefore essential to take these effects into account when searching for possible scalar Higgs-like candidates. To this aim, we present the complete analytic expressions for both resonance and background amplitudes.Comment: version submitted to EPJC; 34 pages and 6 figures. e-mail: [email protected]

The gamma gamma to Z Z process and the search for virtual SUSY effects at a gamma gamma Collider

We study the helicity amplitudes of the process gamma gamma to ZZ in the Standard Model at high energy. These amplitudes receive contributions from the W and charged quark and lepton loops, analogous to those encountered in the gamma gamma to gamma gamma, gamma Z cases studied before. But gamma gamma to ZZ also receives contributions from the Higgs s-channel poles involving the effective Higgs-gamma gamma vertex. At energies of about 300 GeV, the amplitudes in all three processes are mainly helicity-conserving and almost purely imaginary; which renders them a very useful tool in searching for New Physics. As an example, a SUSY case is studied, and the signatures due to the virtual effects induced by a chargino-, charged slepton- or a lightest stop-loop in gamma gamma to ZZ, are explored. These signatures, combined with the analogous ones in gamma gamma to gamma gamma and gamma gamma to gamma Z, should help identifying the nature of possible New Physics particles.Comment: 28 pages and 6 figures; version to appear in E.P.J.C e-mail: [email protected]

The gamma gamma to gamma gamma process in the Standard and SUSY models at high energies

We study the helicity amplitudes of the process \gamma \gamma \to \gamma \gamma at high energy, which in the standard and SUSY models first arise at the one-loop order. In the standard model (SM), the diagrams involve W and charged quark and lepton loops, while in SUSY we also have contributions from chargino, charged sfermion and Higgs loop diagrams. The SUSY contributions are most important in the region above the threshold for producing the supersymmetric partners; since there, they interfere most effectively with the primarily imaginary SM amplitudes. Simple expressions for the relevant 1-loop functions are given, which provide a direct overview of the behaviour of the helicity amplitudes in the whole parameter space at high energies. The various characteristics of a large set of observables are studied in detail.Comment: 18 pages and 7 figure

The processes gamma gamma to Z H in SM and MSSM

The process gamma gamma to ZH first arises at the 1-loop level, and as such it provides remarkable tests of the structure of the electroweak Higgs sector. These tests are complementary to those in the gauge sector involving gamma gamma to gamma gamma, gamma Z, ZZ. We show that in the Standard Model (SM) where H=H_{SM}, as well as in the supersymmetric case where H=h^0, H^0 or A^0, observables exist (like e.g. the energy dependence, angular distribution, photon polarization dependence or final Z polarization) which present rather spectacular properties. Such properties involve strong threshold effects with steps, bumps or peaks, reflecting the type of Higgs and heavy quarks and chargino masses and couplings predicted by the SM and supersymmetric models.Comment: 27 pages and 6 figures. e-mail: [email protected]

Neutralino-neutralino annihilation to gammaZ in MSSM

The 1-loop computation of the processes \tchi_i \tchi_j \to \gamma Z has been performed at an arbitrary c.m. energy for any pair of MSSM neutralinos. As an application suitable for Dark Matter (DM) searches, the neutralino-neutralino annihilation is studied at the limiting case of vanishing relative velocity, describing the present DM distribution in the galactic halo; and at a relative velocity of about 0.5, determining the neutralino relic density contributions. The most useful situation is obviously for $i=j=1$, but the case of non-identical neutralinos may also be useful in some corners of the parameter space. Our results are contained in the FORTRAN code PLATONdmgZ, applying to any set of real MSSM parameters. Numerical results are also presented for a sample of 6 MSSM models, describing the various possible neutralino properties. A comparison with other existing works is also made.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, Version to appear in Physical Review

Null Branes in Curved Backgrounds

We consider null bosonic p-branes in curved space-times. Some exact solutions of the classical equations of motion and of the constraints for the null membrane in general stationary, axially symmetrical, four dimensional, gravity background are found.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, no figures. Extended version. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Single Neutralino production at CERN LHC

The common belief that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) might be a neutralino, providing also the main Dark Matter (DM) component, calls for maximal detail in the study of the neutralino properties. Motivated by this, we consider the direct production of a single neutralino \tchi^0_i at a high/energy hadron collider, focusing on the \tchi^0_1 and \tchi^0_2 cases. At Born level, the relevant subprocesses are q\bar q\to \tchi^0_i \tilde g, g q\to \tchi^0_i \tilde q_{L,R} and q\bar q'\to \tchi^0_i\tchi^\pm_j; while at 1-loop, apart from radiative corrections to these processes, we consider also gg\to \tchi^0_i\tilde{g}, for which a numerical code named PLATONgluino is released. The relative importance of these channels turns out to be extremely model dependent. Combining these results with an analogous study of the direct \tchi^0_i\tchi^0_j pair production, should help in testing the SUSY models and the Dark Matter assignment.Comment: 22 pages and 12 figures; version to appear in Phys.Rev.