Boosted Higgs Channels

In gluon fusion both a modified top Yukawa and new colored particles can alter the cross section. However in a large set of composite Higgs models and in realistic areas of the MSSM parameter space, these two effects can conspire and hide new physics in a Standard Model-like inclusive cross section. We first show that it is possible to break this degeneracy in the couplings by demanding a boosted Higgs recoiling against a high-$p_T$ jet. Subsequently we propose an analysis based on this idea in the $H\to2\ell+E\!\!/_T$ channels. This measurement allows an alternative determination of the important top Yukawa besides the $t\bar t H$ channel.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 27th Rencontres the Blois on Particle Physics and Cosmology, May 31 - June 05, 201

Relaxion and light (pseudo)scalars at the HL-LHC and lepton colliders

We study the potential of future lepton colliders, running at the Z-pole and above, and the High-Luminosity LHC to search for the relaxion and other light scalars $\phi$. We investigate the interplay of direct searches and precision observables for both CP-even and -odd couplings. In particular, precision measurements of exotic Z-decays, Higgs couplings, the exotic Higgs decay into a relaxion pair and associated $Z\phi$ and $\gamma \phi$ production are promising channels to yield strong bounds.Comment: 27 pages + references, 5 figures, 2 table

Probing the strange Higgs coupling at lepton colliders using light-jet flavor tagging

We propose a method to probe the coupling of the Higgs to strange quarks by tagging strange jets at future lepton colliders. For this purpose we describe a jet-flavor observable, $J_F$, that is correlated with the flavor of the quark associated with the hard part of the jet. Using this variable, we set up a strangeness tagger aimed at studying the decay $h\to s\bar{s}$. We determine the sensitivity of our method to the strange Yukawa coupling, and find it to be of the order of the standard-model expectation.Comment: 6 pages, v2 accepted for publication in PR

Searching for supersymmetry scalelessly

In this paper we propose a scale invariant search strategy for hadronic top or bottom plus missing energy final states. We present a method which shows flat efficiencies and background rejection factors over broad ranges of parameters and masses. The resulting search can easily be recast into a limit on alternative models. We show the strength of the method in a natural SUSY setup where stop and sbottom squarks are pair produced and decay into hadronically decaying top quarks or bottom quarks and higgsinos

PISA-Studie versus Realität Schule

Die PISA-Studie zählt zu einer der wichtigsten und renommiertesten internationalen Studien weltweit. Sie testet das Wissen beziehungsweise die Kompetenzen 15- / 16- jähriger SchülerInnen in drei Bereichen: Mathematik, Lesen und Naturwissenschaft. Vor allem die österreichischen Medien aber auch die Politiker kritisieren kontinuierlich das „schlechte Abschneiden“ der österreichischen SchülerInnen bei der PISA-Studie. Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist daher auf der einen Seite die Auseinandersetzung mit der PISA-Studie und auf der anderen Seite mit jener des österreichischen Lehrstoffes sowie drei verschiedener Lehrwerksammlungen (Das ist Mathematik, Blickpunkt Mathematik, Mach mit - Mathematik) um im Anschluss daran Vergleiche untereinander ziehen zu können. Diese Arbeit soll daher einen Einblick sowohl in die Grundkonzepte von PISA als auch in den Kontext „Schule“ gewähren und dabei herausfinden, ob die beiden komplexen Systeme miteinander vereinbar sind. Dabei wird zuerst das Konzept der PISA-Studie genauer betrachtet und erläutert. Danach werden, mit Hilfe der Lehrwerke, der Lehrstoff der Mathematik bis zur 8. Schulstufe und die mathematischen PISA-Stoffgebiete verglichen. Die Gegenüberstellung der beiden Inhalte soll darüber Auskunft geben, ob sich diese in irgendeiner Hinsicht decken oder ob die SchülerInnen mit komplett neuen mathematischen Themengebieten bei dem PISA-Test konfrontiert werden

ESSAYS ON THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION FINANCE AND MOBILITY

This dissertation is an exploration of education finance. Most notably the passage of education financing bonds as well as the effects of the school construction that comes from the passage of education bonds. Chapter 1 explores the effect of elderly voting populations on the probability of passing a bond vote to improve school infrastructure. The addition to the literature is the inclusion of a measure of the community connection in the elderly community by including data regarding recent movers into the county within the last year. This inclusion separates the elderly community and shows that school districts with a large number of recent movers are more likely to not pass a school bond. Chapter 2 examines the effect of opening a new school campus on the students who are not able to attend the new school. Using a regression discontinuity design employing school bond votes and an event study analysis using school openings. The results show a small increase in testing results for students that stay, as well as a large positive effect on the lowest performing students and a large negative effect on the highest performing students who remain at existing schools. Chapter 3 attempts to determine the likelihood that the effect on student achievement of opening a new school comes from the increased mobility of quality teachers due to the opening of a new campus. The results show that there is a larger probability of experienced teachers changing position after a new school opens and therefore it is possible that any positive or negative effect on student achievement of opening a new school comes from increased teacher mobility

Very boosted Higgs in gluon fusion

The Higgs production and decay rates offer a new way to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model. While dynamics aiming at alleviating the hierarchy problem generically predict deviations in the Higgs rates, the current experimental analyses cannot resolve the long- and short-distance contributions to the gluon fusion process and thus cannot access directly the coupling between the Higgs and the top quark. We investigate the production of a boosted Higgs in association with a high-transverse momentum jet as an alternative to the $t\bar{t}h$ channel to pin down this crucial coupling. Presented first in the context of an effective field theory, our analysis is then applied to models of partial compositeness at the TeV scale and of natural supersymmetry. The Higgs production and decay rates offer a new way to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model. While dynamics aiming at alleviating the hierarchy problem generically predict deviations in the Higgs rates, the current experimental analyses cannot resolve the long- and short-distance contributions to the gluon fusion process and thus cannot access directly the coupling between the Higgs and the top quark. We investigate the production of a boosted Higgs in association with a high-transverse momentum jet as an alternative to the $t\bar{t}h$ channel to pin down this crucial coupling. Presented first in the context of an effective field theory, our analysis is then applied to models of partial compositeness at the TeV scale and of natural supersymmetry

Capability of C-band SAR for operational wetland monitoring at high latitudes

Wetlands store large amounts of carbon, and depending on their status and type, they release specific amounts of methane gas to the atmosphere. The connection between wetland type and methane emission has been investigated in various studies and utilized in climate change monitoring and modelling. For improved estimation of methane emissions, land surface models require information such as the wetland fraction and its dynamics over large areas. Existing datasets of wetland dynamics present the total amount of wetland (fraction) for each model grid cell, but do not discriminate the different wetland types like permanent lakes, periodically inundated areas or peatlands. Wetland types differently influence methane fluxes and thus their contribution to the total wetland fraction should be quantified. Especially wetlands of permafrost regions are expected to have a strong impact on future climate due to soil thawing. In this study ENVISAT ASAR Wide Swath data was tested for operational monitoring of the distribution of areas with a long-term SW near 1 (hSW) in northern Russia (SW = degree of saturation with water, 1 = saturated), which is a specific characteristic of peatlands. For the whole northern Russia, areas with hSW were delineated and discriminated from dynamic and open water bodies for the years 2007 and 2008. The area identified with this method amounts to approximately 300,000 km2 in northern Siberia in 2007. It overlaps with zones of high carbon storage. Comparison with a range of related datasets (static and dynamic) showed that hSW represents not only peatlands but also temporary wetlands associated with post-forest fire conditions in permafrost regions. Annual long-term monitoring of change in boreal and tundra environments is possible with the presented approach. Sentinel-1, the successor of ENVISAT ASAR, will provide data that may allow continuous monitoring of these wetland dynamics in the future complementing global observations of wetland fraction

Distributed modelling of climate change impacts on snow sublimation in Northern Mongolia

Sublimation of snow is an important factor of the hydrological cycle in Mongolia and is likely to increase according to future climate projections. In this study the hydrological model TRAIN was used to assess spatially distributed current and future sublimation rates based on interpolated daily data of precipitation, air temperature, air humidity, wind speed and solar radiation. An automated procedure for the interpolation of the input data is provided. Depending on the meteorological parameter and the data availability for the individual days, the most appropriate interpolation method is chosen automatically from inverse distance weighting, Ordinary Least Squares interpolation, Ordinary or Universal Kriging. Depending on elevation simulated annual sublimation in the period 1986–2006 was 23 to 35 mm, i.e. approximately 80% of total snowfall. Moreover, future climate projections for 2071–2100 of ECHAM5 and HadCM3, based on the A1B emission scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, were analysed with TRAIN. In the case of ECHAM5 simulated sublimation increases by up to 17% (26...41 mm) while it remains at the same level for HadCM3 (24...34 mm). The differences are mainly due to a distinct increase in winter precipitation for ECHAM5. Simulated changes of the all-season hydrological conditions, e.g. the sublimation-to-precipitation ratio, were ambiguous due to diverse precipitation patterns derived by the global circulation models