Holography of a Composite Inflaton

We study the time evolution of a brane construction that is holographically dual to a strongly coupled gauge theory that dynamically breaks a global symmetry through the generation of an effective composite Higgs vev. The D3/D7 system with a background magnetic field or non-trivial gauge coupling (dilaton) profile displays the symmetry breaking. We study motion of the D7 brane in the background of the D3 branes. For small field inflation in the field theory the effective Higgs vev rolls from zero to the true vacuum value. We study what phenomenological dilaton profile generates the slow rolling needed, hence learning how the strongly coupled gauge theory's coupling must run. We note that evolution of our configuration in the holographic direction, representing the phyiscs of the strong interactions, can provide additional slowing of the roll time. Inflation seems to be favoured if the coupling changes by only a small amount or very gently. We speculate on how such a scenario could be realized away from N=4 gauge theory, for example, in a walking gauge theory.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures; v2: Added reference

Thermodynamics of SU(N) Yang-Mills theories in 2+1 dimensions II - The deconfined phase

We present a non-perturbative study of the equation of state in the deconfined phase of Yang-Mills theories in D=2+1 dimensions. We introduce a holographic model, based on the improved holographic QCD model, from which we derive a non-trivial relation between the order of the deconfinement phase transition and the behavior of the trace of the energy-momentum tensor as a function of the temperature T. We compare the theoretical predictions of this holographic model with a new set of high-precision numerical results from lattice simulations of SU(N) theories with N=2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 colors. The latter reveal that, similarly to the D=3+1 case, the bulk equilibrium thermodynamic quantities (pressure, trace of the energy-momentum tensor, energy density and entropy density) exhibit nearly perfect proportionality to the number of gluons, and can be successfully compared with the holographic predictions in a broad range of temperatures. Finally, we also show that, again similarly to the D=3+1 case, the trace of the energy-momentum tensor appears to be proportional to T^2 in a wide temperature range, starting from approximately 1.2 T_c, where T_c denotes the critical deconfinement temperature.Comment: 2+36 pages, 10 figures; v2: comments added, curves showing the holographic predictions included in the plots of the pressure and energy and entropy densities, typos corrected: version published in JHE

A Deep Neural Network for Simultaneous Estimation of b Jet Energy and Resolution

We describe a method to obtain point and dispersion estimates for the energies of jets arising from b quarks produced in proton-proton collisions at an energy of s = 13 TeV at the CERN LHC. The algorithm is trained on a large sample of simulated b jets and validated on data recorded by the CMS detector in 2017 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41 fb - 1 . A multivariate regression algorithm based on a deep feed-forward neural network employs jet composition and shape information, and the properties of reconstructed secondary vertices associated with the jet. The results of the algorithm are used to improve the sensitivity of analyses that make use of b jets in the final state, such as the observation of Higgs boson decay to b b ¯

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

A search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks is performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The signal is characterized by a large missing transverse momentum recoiling against a bottom quark-antiquark system that has a large Lorentz boost. The number of events observed in the data is consistent with the standard model background prediction. Results are interpreted in terms of limits both on parameters of the type-2 two-Higgs doublet model extended by an additional light pseudoscalar boson a (2HDM+a) and on parameters of a baryonic Z simplified model. The 2HDM+a model is tested experimentally for the first time. For the baryonic Z model, the presented results constitute the most stringent constraints to date.Peer reviewe

Observation of triple J/ψ meson production in proton-proton collisions

Data availability: Tabulated results are provided in the HEPData record for this analysis71. Release and preservation of data used by the CMS Collaboration as the basis for publications is guided by the CMS policy as stated in CMS data preservation, re-use and open access policy.Code availability: The CMS core software is publically available at https://github.com/cms-sw/cmssw.Copyright . Protons consist of three valence quarks, two up-quarks and one down-quark, held together by gluons and a sea of quark-antiquark pairs. Collectively, quarks and gluons are referred to as partons. In a proton-proton collision, typically only one parton of each proton undergoes a hard scattering – referred to as single-parton scattering – leaving the remainder of each proton only slightly disturbed. Here, we report the study of double- and triple-parton scatterings through the simultaneous production of three J/ψ mesons, which consist of a charm quark-antiquark pair, in proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. We observed this process – reconstructed through the decays of J/ψ mesons into pairs of oppositely charged muons – with a statistical significance above five standard deviations. We measured the inclusive fiducial cross-section to be 272+141−104(stat)±17(syst)fb, and compared it to theoretical expectations for triple-J/ψ meson production in single-, double- and triple-parton scattering scenarios. Assuming factorization of multiple hard-scattering probabilities in terms of single-parton scattering cross-sections, double- and triple-parton scattering are the dominant contributions for the measured process.SCOAP3.Change history: 27 February 2023A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-01992-

Search for dark matter produced in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson in proton–proton collisions at s√=13TeV

A search for dark matter particles is performed using events with a Z boson candidate and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on proton–proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137fb−1. The search uses the decay channels Z→ee and Z→μμ. No significant excess of events is observed over the background expected from the standard model. Limits are set on dark matter particle production in the context of simplified models with vector, axial-vector, scalar, and pseudoscalar mediators, as well as on a two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional pseudoscalar mediator. In addition, limits are provided for spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering cross sections and are compared to those from direct-detection experiments. The results are also interpreted in the context of models of invisible Higgs boson decays, unparticles, and large extra dimensions.SCOAP

Search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays to four-lepton final states in proton–proton collisions at √s=13TeV

Data Availability: This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Authors’ comment: For CMS Release and preservation of data used by the CMS Collaboration as the basis for publications is guided by the CMS policy as stated in “CMS data preservation, re-use and open access policy” (https://cms-docdb.cern.ch/cgi-bin/PublicDocDB/RetrieveFile?docid=6032&filename=CMSDataPolicyV1.2.pdf&version=2).]Copyright © CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration 2022. A search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays is conducted in the four-lepton final state. The decay is assumed to proceed via a pair of beyond the standard model particles, or one such particle and a Z boson. The search uses proton–proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137fb−1, at a center-of-mass energy s√=13TeV. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent Higgs boson decay branching fractions. Additionally, limits on dark photon and axion-like particle production, based on two specific models, are reported.SCOAP3

Search for light Higgs bosons from supersymmetric cascade decays in pp collisions at √s=13TeV

A search is reported for pairs of light Higgs bosons (H1) produced in supersymmetric cascade decays in f inal states with small missing transverse momentum. A data set of LHC pp collisions collected with the CMS detector at √s = 13TeV and corresponding to an integrated lumi nosity of 138fb−1 is used. The search targets events where both H1 bosons decay into b¯b pairs that are reconstructed as large-radius jets using substructure techniques. No evi dence is found for an excess of events beyond the back ground expectations of the standard model (SM). Results from the search are interpreted in the next-to-minimal super symmetric extension of the SM, where a “singlino” of small mass leads to squark and gluino cascade decays that can pre dominantly end in a highly Lorentz-boosted singlet-like H1 andasinglino-likeneutralinoofsmalltransversemomentum. Upperlimitsaresetontheproductofthesquarkorgluinopair production cross section and the square of the b¯b branching fraction of the H1 in a benchmark model containing almost mass-degenerategluinosandlight-flavoursquarks.Underthe assumption of an SM-like H1 → b¯b branching fraction, H1 bosonswithmassesintherange40–120GeVarisingfromthe decays of squarks or gluinos with a mass of 1200–2500GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.SCOA