A General MSSM Parameter Scan

The excluded tan(beta) range and Higgs boson mass regions in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) depend on several parameters. The Higgs boson masses, cross-sections and branching fractions have been determined including two-loop diagrammatic calculations. The limits obtained with a more general scan over the parameter space of the MSSM are compared with those in the so-called benchmark scenario. The combination of the searches for Higgs particles in the 1999 data collected by the DELPHI collaboration at center-of-mass energies between 191.6 and 201.7 GeV allows stringent limits to be set in combination with previous DELPHI results. In addition, an interpretation in the framework of the general MSSM scan of the 2000 LEP data at the hightest energies between 201.7 and 209.0 GeV is given. We show that the current data for the HZ and hA production can be comfortably accommodated in the MSSM.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Search for New Particles at LEP

The latest preliminary results of the searches for Higgs bosons and Supersymmetric particles at LEP are reviewed. The results include the data-taking in 1999 up to center-of-mass energies of 196 GeV. The combination of the results from the four LEP experiments leads to a significant increase of the detection sensitivity. No indication of a signal has been observed. In the Standard Model (SM) a lower limit of 102.6 GeV on the mass of the Higgs boson is set at 95% CL. In extended models, stringent limits are also set on the HZZ coupling. Interpretations in the Minimal extension of the Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) are given and the importance of general MSSM parameter scans is emphasized. In general scans, the limit on the mass of the lightest scalar Higgs boson is about 7 GeV lower in comparison with benchmark results. The data also constrains charged Higgs bosons of a general two-doublet model and Supersymmetric partners of the SM particles.Comment: 16 pages, 38 figure

Complete LEP Data: Status of Higgs Boson Searches

The LEP experiments completed data-taking in November 2000. New preliminary combined results of the four LEP experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL are presented for various Higgs boson searches.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures. Proc. Third Int.Conference on Non-Accelerator New Physics, NANP-01, Moscow, 200

Status of Higgs Boson Searches at the Tevatron

Over the last years the Tevatron Run-II has extended several limits on Higgs boson masses and coupling which were pioneered during the LEP accelerator operation between 1989 and 2000. Higgs boson searches will also be at the forefront of research at the LHC. This review concisely discusses the experimental constraints set by the CDF and D0 collaborations in winter 2008/2009 at the beginning of the LHC era. Model-independent and model-dependent limits on Higgs boson masses and couplings have been set and interpretations are discussed both in the Standard Model and in extended models. Recently, for the first time the Tevatron excludes a SM Higgs boson mass range (160-170 GeV) beyond the LEP limit at 95% CL. The experimental sensitivities are estimated for the completion of the Tevatron programme.Comment: Presented at WONP'09, 18 pages, 38 figure

A Comparison of Mixed-Higgs Scenarios In the NMSSM and the MSSM

We study scenarios in the minimal and next-to minimal supersymmetric models in which the lightest CP-even Higgs boson can have mass below the 114 GeV standard model LEP limit by virtue of reduced ZZ coupling due to substantial mixing among the Higgs bosons. We pay particular attention to the size of corrections from superpartners needed for these scenarios to be viable and point to boundary conditions at large scales which lead to these scenarios while at the same time keeping electroweak fine tuning modest in size. We find that naturalness of electroweak symmetry breaking in the mixed-Higgs scenarios of both models points to the same region of soft supersymmetry breaking terms, namely those leading to large mixing in the stop sector at the electroweak scale, especially if we also require that the lightest CP-even Higgs explains the Higgs-like LEP events at about 98 GeV.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figure

Alignment of the Central D-Zero Detector

The alignment procedure of the Silicon Microstrip Tracker, SMT, and the Central Fiber Tracker, CFT, is described. Alignment uncertainties and resulting systematic errors in physics analyses are addressed.Comment: 20 pages, 33 figures, presented at workshop on Tracking In high Multiplicity Environments (TIME'05) Zurich, October 3-7, 2005. Proceedings Nucl. Inst. Methods

Charge Transfer Inefficiency Studies for CCD Vertex Detectors at a LC

The Linear Collider Flavour Identification (LCFI) collaboration studies CCD detectors for quark flavour identification in the framework of a future linear e+e- collider. The flavour identification is based on precision reconstruction of charged tracks very close to the interaction point. Therefore, this detector will be exposed to a high level of radiation and thus an important aspect of the vertex detector development are radiation hardness studies. Results of detailed simulations of the charged transport properties of a CCD prototype chip are reported and compared with initial measurements. The simulation program allows to study the effect of radiation damage after the exposure of the detector to a realistic radiation dose, which is expected in the environment of detector operation at a future LC.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, Proceedings 2005 International Linear Collider Workshop - Stanford, U.S.