Constraints on B and Higgs Physics in Minimal Low Energy Supersymmetric Models

We study the implications of minimal flavor violating low energy supersymmetry scenarios for the search of new physics in the B and Higgs sectors at the Tevatron collider and the LHC. We show that the already stringent Tevatron bound on the decay rate B_s -> mu+ mu- sets strong constraints on the possibility of generating large corrections to the mass difference Delta M_s of the B_s eigenstates. We also show that the B_s -> mu+ mu- bound together with the constraint on the branching ratio of the rare decay b -> s gamma has strong implications for the search of light, non-standard Higgs bosons at hadron colliders. In doing this, we demonstrate that the former expressions derived for the analysis of the double penguin contributions in the Kaon sector need to be corrected by additional terms for a realistic analysis of these effects. We also study a specific non-minimal flavor violating scenario, where there are flavor changing gluino-squark-quark interactions, governed by the CKM matrix elements, and show that the B and Higgs physics constraints are similar to the ones in the minimal flavor violating case. Finally we show that, in scenarios like electroweak baryogenesis which have light stops and charginos, there may be enhanced effects on the B and K mixing parameters, without any significant effect on the rate of B_s -> mu+ mu-.Comment: 40 pages, 14 figures; added references and note about recent measurement

Anomaly-Free Sets of Fermions

We present new techniques for finding anomaly-free sets of fermions. Although the anomaly cancellation conditions typically include cubic equations with integer variables that cannot be solved in general, we prove by construction that any chiral set of fermions can be embedded in a larger set of fermions which is chiral and anomaly-free. Applying these techniques to extensions of the Standard Model, we find anomaly-free models that have arbitrary quark and lepton charges under an additional U(1) gauge group.Comment: 21 (+1) page

Supersymmetry Without Prejudice at the 7 TeV LHC

We investigate the model independent nature of the Supersymmetry search strategies at the 7 TeV LHC. To this end, we study the missing-transverse-energy-based searches developed by the ATLAS Collaboration that were essentially designed for mSUGRA. We simulate the signals for ~71k models in the 19-dimensional parameter space of the pMSSM. These models have been found to satisfy existing experimental and theoretical constraints and provide insight into general features of the MSSM without reference to a particular SUSY breaking scenario or any other assumptions at the GUT scale. Using backgrounds generated by ATLAS, we find that imprecise knowledge of these estimated backgrounds is a limiting factor in the potential discovery of these models and that some channels become systematics-limited at larger luminosities. As this systematic error is varied between 20-100%, roughly half to 90% of this model sample is observable with significance S>5 for 1 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity. We then examine the model characteristics for the cases which cannot be discovered and find several contributing factors. We find that a blanket statement that squarks and gluinos are excluded with masses below a specific value cannot be made. We next explore possible modifications to the kinematic cuts in these analyses that may improve the pMSSM model coverage. Lastly, we examine the implications of a null search at the 7 TeV LHC in terms of the degree of fine-tuning that would be present in this model set and for sparticle production at the 500 GeV and 1 TeV Linear Collider.Comment: 51 pages, 26 figure

A Method for the Precision Mass Measurement of the Stop Quark at the International Linear Collider

Many supersymmetric models predict new particles within the reach of the next generation of colliders. For an understanding of the model structure and the mechanism(s) of symmetry breaking, it is important to know the masses of the new particles precisely. In this article the measurement of the mass of the scalar partner of the top quark (stop) at an e+e- collider is studied. A relatively light stop is motivated by attempts to explain electroweak baryogenesis and can play an important role in dark matter relic density. A method is presented which makes use of cross-section measurements near the pair-production threshold as well as at higher center-of-mass energies. It is shown that this method not only increases the statistical precision, but also greatly reduces the systematic uncertainties, which can be important. Numerical results are presented, based on a realistic event simulation, for two signal selection strategies: using conventional selection cuts, and using an Iterative Discriminant Analysis (IDA). Our studies indicate that a precision of \Delta\mstop = 0.42 GeV can be achieved, representing a major improvement over previous studies. While the analysis of stops is particularly challenging due to the possibility of stop hadronization, the general procedure could be applied to the mass measurement of other particles as well. We also comment on the potential of the IDA to discover a stop quark in this scenario, and we revisit the accuracy of the theoretical predictions for the neutralino relic densityComment: 41 pages, 14 figures, in JHEP forma

Initial OTR Measurements of 150 GeV Protons in the Tevatron at FNAL

Fermilab has developed standard optical transition radiation (OTR) detectors as part of its Run II upgrade program for measuring intense proton and antiproton beams. These detectors utilize radiation-hardened CID cameras to image the OTR and produce high-resolution two-dimensional beam profiles. One of these detectors has been installed in the Tevatron next to the new ionization profile monitor (IPM). Initial OTR measurements are presented for 150 GeV injected coalesced and uncoalesced proton bunches. OTR images are taken for one-turn and two-turn injections over an intensity range of 1.5e11 to 3.5e11 protons. Preliminary profile measurements give uncoalesced beam size sigmas of 1.0 mm horizontally by 0.7 mm vertically and coalesced beam size sigmas of 1.8 mm horizontally by 0.70 mm vertically. OTR images are also presented for changes in the Tevatron skew quadrupole magnet currents, which produce a rotation to the OTR image, and for changes to the Tevatron RF, which can be used to measure single-turn dispersion. Operational aspects of this detector for beam studies and Tevatron tuneup are also discussed

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

Many of Argonne National Laboratory`s (ANL`s) scientific staff members were very active in R & D work related to accelerator-based spoliation sources in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1984, the Seitz/Eastman Panel of the National Academy of Sciences reviewed U.S. materials science research facilities. One of the recommendations of this panel was that the United States build a reactor-based steady-state source, the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS), at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Subsequently, R & D activities related to the design of an accelerator-based source assumed a lower priority. The resumption of pulsed-source studies in this country started simultaneously with design activities in Europe aimed at the European Spallation Source (ESS). The European Community funded a workshop in September 1991 to define the parameters of the ESS. Participants in this workshop included both accelerator builders and neutron source users. A consortium of European countries has proposed to build a 5-MW pulsed source, and a feasibility study is currently under way. Soon after the birth of the ESS, a small group at ANL set about bringing themselves up to date on pulsed-source information since 1984 and studied the feasibility of upgrading ANL`s Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) to 1 MW by means of a rapidly cycling synchrotron that could be housed, along with its support facilities, in existing buildings. In early 1993, the Kohn panel recommended that (1) design and construction of the ANS should be completed according to the proposed project schedule and (2) development of competitive proposals for cost-effective design and construction of a 1-MW pulsed spallation source should be authorized immediately

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

This sixth symposium covers process control processes and issues involved in the conversion of fossil fuels into synthetic fuels