Towards precise predictions for Higgs-boson production in the MSSM

We study the production of scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons via gluon fusion and bottom-quark annihilation in the MSSM. Relying on the NNLO-QCD calculation implemented in the public code SusHi, we provide precise predictions for the Higgs-production cross section in six benchmark scenarios compatible with the LHC searches. We also provide a detailed discussion of the sources of theoretical uncertainty in our calculation. We examine the dependence of the cross section on the renormalization and factorization scales, on the precise definition of the Higgs-bottom coupling and on the choice of PDFs, as well as the uncertainties associated to our incomplete knowledge of the SUSY contributions through NNLO. In particular, a potentially large uncertainty originates from uncomputed higher-order QCD corrections to the bottom-quark contributions to gluon fusion.Comment: 62 pages, 24 pdf figures; v2: minor clarifications, improved plot quality, matches published versio

QCD Corrections in two-Higgs-doublet extensions of the Standard Model with Minimal Flavor Violation

We present the QCD corrections to R_b and to the Delta B=1 effective Hamiltonian in models with a second Higgs field that couples to the quarks respecting the criterion of Minimal Flavor Violation, thus belonging either to the (1,2)_1/2 or to the (8,2)_1/2 representation of SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1). After the inclusion of the QCD corrections, the prediction for R_b becomes practically insensitive to the choice of renormalization scheme for the top mass, which for the type-I and type-II models translates in a more robust lower bound on tan(beta). The QCD-corrected determinations of Rb and BR(B->Xs gamma) are used to discuss the constraints on the couplings of a (colored) charged Higgs boson to top and bottom quarks.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. v2: version published in Phys. Rev. D, with additional reference and not

Politics of meaning in categorizing innovation : how chefs advanced molecular gastronomy by resisting the label

This study examines innovators’ efforts to conceptualize and communicate their novel work through categorization. Specifically, we view category formation as a controversial process of meaning making, which we theorize through the concept of ‘politics of meaning’ and operationalize through a social semiotics approach. By analyzing the labelling controversies underlying a new culinary style publicized as ‘molecular gastronomy’, we find that innovators’ efforts at categorization unfold along four consecutive stages: experiment ng with a new style, communicating the new style, contesting the dominant label, and legitimating the category meaning. Our study suggests that a new category’s dominant label can substantially deviate from the innovators’ intended denotations, yet nonetheless bring that category forward by triggering public negotiations around its meaning , which lead to categorical deepening and legitimation. By putting forward a ‘politics of meaning’ view on categorizing innovation, this work advances our understanding of the connection between labeling and category formation in the context of innovation

Effect of NPK Fertilizer and Biochar Residue on Paddy Growth and Yield of Second Planting

The objective of experiment was to study effects of NPK fertilizer and Biochar residue on paddy growth and yield of second planting. The research was conducted at Empetrieng village, Aceh Besar district, Aceh Province. The experimental arranged in a randomized complate block design with two factors and four replications. Biochar consisted of two levels, i.e. without biochar residue and with biochar residue 10 ton ha-1. NPK fertilizer consisted of three levels, i.e. without NPK, NPK 60 kg ha-1, and NPK 120 kg ha-1. The result showed that application of NPK significantly affected, plant height 35, 45 and 90 day after planting (DAP), number of tiller 35 and 45 DAP, number of panicle per clump, number of total grain per panicle, percentage of unfilled grain, percentage of filled grain per panicle, 1.000 grain weight, and potential yield per ha. Biochar Residue significantly affected potential yield per ha

Direct probes of R-parity-violating supersymmetric couplings via single-top-squark production

We study the s-channel production of a single top squark in hadron collisions through an R-parity-violating mechanism, examining in detail the case in which the squark decays through an R-parity-conserving process into a bottom quark, a lepton, and missing energy. We show that the top squark can be discovered if its mass is less than 400 GeV, or that the current bound on the size of the R-parity-violating couplings can be reduced by up to one order of magnitude with existing data and by two orders of magnitude at the forthcoming run II of the Fermilab Tevatron.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D; 32 pgs., 17 ps figs., uses RevTeX; 1 new fig., slight textual clarification

Baryogenesis with Superheavy Squarks

We consider a setup where R-parity is violated in the framework of split supersymmetry. The out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy squarks successfully lead to the generation of a baryon asymmetry. We restrict the R-parity violating couplings to the baryon number violating subset to keep the neutralino sufficiently stable to provide the dark matter. The observed baryon asymmetry can be generated for squark masses larger than 10^11 GeV, while neutralino dark matter induces a stronger bound of 10^13 GeV. Some mass splitting between left- and right-handed squarks may be needed to satisfy also constraints from gluino cosmology.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 4 figure

On the two-loop Yukawa corrections to the MSSM Higgs boson masses at large tan(beta)

We complete the effective potential calculation of the two-loop, top/bottom Yukawa corrections to the Higgs boson masses in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, by computing the O(at^2 + at*ab + ab^2) contributions for arbitrary values of the bottom Yukawa coupling. We also compute the corrections to the minimization conditions of the effective potential at the same perturbative order. Our results extend the existing O(at^2) calculation, and are relevant in regions of the parameter space corresponding to tan(beta) >> 1. We extend to the Yukawa corrections a convenient renormalization scheme, previously proposed for the O(ab*as) corrections, that avoids unphysically large threshold effects associated with the bottom mass and absorbs the bulk of the corrections into the one-loop expression. For large values of tan(beta), the new contributions can account for a variation of several GeV in the lightest Higgs boson mass.Comment: 19 pages, 4 eps figures. Some formulae corrected in the Appendi