Two-Loop O(αsGFmt2) O(\alpha_sG_Fm_t^2) Correction to the H→bbˉH\to b\bar b Decay Rate

We present the two-loop ${\cal O}(\alpha_sG_Fm_t^2)$ correction to the $b\bar b$ decay rate of the Stan\-dard-Model Higgs boson, assuming that the $t$ quark is much heavier than the Higgs boson. Apart from the universal correction connected with the renormalizations of the wave function and the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field, this involves vertex corrections specific to the presence of beauty in the final state. We calculate the latter by means of a low-energy theorem. All would-be mass singularities related to the $b$ quark can be absorbed into the running Higgs-bottom Yukawa coupling. It turns out that the total ${\cal O}(\alpha_sG_Fm_t^2)$ correction screens the leading high-$m_t$ behaviour of the one-loop result by 71\% to 75\% for $M_H$ between 60~GeV and $2M_W$.Comment: 16 p., Latex, 2 figures included (uuencoded PS-files), DESY 94-10

Low-Energy Theorems in Higgs Physics

We present low-energy theorems for the calculation of loop amplitudes with external scalar or pseudoscalar Higgs bosons which are light compared to the loop particles. Starting from existing lowest-order versions of these theorems, we show how their applicability may be extended to the two--loop level. To illustrate the usefulness of these theorems, we discuss a number of applications to Higgs production and decay at and beyond the one--loop order.Comment: 24 pages, latex, no figure

A study of stress-free living bone and its application to space flight

Observations of animals and human subjects in weightless space flight (Skylab and COSMOS) document altered bone metabolism. Bone metabolism is affected by a number of local and systemic factors. The calcification and growth of transplanted bone is independent of local muscle, nervous, and mechanical forces; therefore, transplanted bone would provide data on the role of local vs. systematic factors. Bone metabolism in living transplanted bone, devoid of stress, was investigated as a possible tool for the investigation of countermeasures against disuse bone loss. An animal model using Sprague-Dawley rats was developed for transplantation of femur bone tissue on a nutrient vascular pedicel. The long term course of these implants was assessed through the measure of regional and total bone mineral, blood flow, and methylene diphosphonate (MDP) uptake. Clomid, an estrogen agonist/antagonist, was shown to protect bone from disuse loss of minerals by retarding trabecular and cortical resorption

HDECAY: a Program for Higgs Boson Decays in the Standard Model and its Supersymmetric Extension

We describe the Fortran code HDECAY which calculates the decay widths and the branching ratios of the Standard Model Higgs boson, and of the neutral and charged Higgs particles of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. The program is self-contained (with all subroutines included), easy to run, fast and calculates the decay widths and branching ratios according to the current theoretical knowledge.Comment: LaTeX, 26 pages, 3 ps figures include

Large-p_T Photoproduction of D^*+- Mesons in ep Collisions

The cross section for the inclusive photoproduction of large-p_T D^*+- mesons is calculated at next-to-leading order, adopting different approaches to describe the fragmentation of charm quarks into D^*+- mesons. We treat the charm quark according to the massless factorization scheme, where it is assumed to be one of the active flavours inside the proton and the photon. We present inclusive single-particle distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity, including the contributions due to both direct and resolved photons. We compare and assess the various implementations of fragmentation. We argue that, in the high-p_T regime, a particularly realistic description can be obtained by convoluting the Altarelli-Parisi-evolved fragmentation functions of Peterson et al. with the hard-scattering cross sections of massless partons where the factorization of the collinear singularities associated with final-state charm quarks is converted to the massive-charm scheme. The predictions thus obtained agree well with recent experimental data by the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations at DESY HERA.Comment: 31 pages (Latex), 13 figures (Postscript). This version of the manuscript is identical with the one being printed in Z. Phys.

Decays of Supersymmetric Particles: the program SUSY-HIT (SUspect-SdecaY-Hdecay-InTerface)

We present the program package SUSY-HIT for the computation of supersymmetric particle decays within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. The code is based on two existing programs HDECAY and SDECAY for the calculation of the decay widths and branching ratios of, respectively, the MSSM Higgs bosons and the SUSY particles, and calls a program for the calculation of the SUSY particle spectrum such as SuSpect. Including all important higher order effects, the package allows the consistent calculation of the MSSM particle spectrum and decays with the presently highest level of precision.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

Search for MSSM Higgses at the Tevatron

We present an overview of searches for MSSM Higgs at the Tevatron, concentrating on searches probing the high tan(beta) region. We discuss the search for A/H -> tau tau which is soon to be completed in the Run I data and review the new tau triggers implemented by CDF and D0 in Run II, which will greatly impact this analysis. We also present the results of a Run I search for A/H bb -> bbbb performed by CDF and highlight expected improvements in this channel by both experiments in Run II.Comment: 3 pages with 1 figure, to be published in "Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on High Energy Physics ICHEP 2002

Cross Sections for Charm Production in epep Collisions: Massive versus Massless Scheme

The next--to--leading order inclusive cross section for large-$p_\perp$ photoproduction of charm quarks at HERA is calculated in two different approaches. In the first approach the charm quarks are treated as massive objects which are strictly external to the proton and the photon while in the second approach the charm mass is neglected and the $c$ quark is assumed to be one of the active flavours in the proton and photon structure functions. We present single-inclusive distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity including direct and resolved photons. The cross section in the massless approach is found to be significantly larger than in the massive scheme. The deviation originates from several contributions which are disentangled. We argue that large-$p_\perp$ photoproduction of charm quarks at HERA will be sensitive to the charm content of the photon structure function.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, epsfig, 6 figures appended as uuencoded file (hardcopy can be obtained upon request from [email protected]

Two-Photon Decay Widths of Higgs Particles

Two--photon decays of Higgs bosons are important channels for the search of these particles in the intermediate mass range at the $pp$ colliders LHC and SSC. Dynamical aspects of the Higgs coupling to two photons can also be studied by means of the $\gamma \gamma$ fusion of Higgs particles at high--energy e$^+$e$^-$ linear colliders. Extending earlier analyses which had been restricted to the Standard Model, we present in this note the QCD radiative corrections to the $\gamma \gamma$ decay widths of scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs particles in multi--doublet extensions of the Higgs sector, as realized for instance in supersymmetric theories.Comment: 8pages + 3figures (not included, a hard copy is available from A.D. upon request), Prep. DESY 92-170 (to appear in Phys. Lett. B

The measurement of the Higgs self-coupling at the LHC: theoretical status

Now that the Higgs boson has been observed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC, the next important step would be to measure accurately its properties to establish the details of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism. Among the measurements which need to be performed, the determination of the Higgs self-coupling in processes where the Higgs boson is produced in pairs is of utmost importance. In this paper, we discuss the various processes which allow for the measurement of the trilinear Higgs coupling: double Higgs production in the gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, double Higgs-strahlung and associated production with a top quark pair. We first evaluate the production cross sections for these processes at the LHC with center-of-mass energies ranging from the present $\sqrt s=8$ TeV to $\sqrt s=100$ TeV, and discuss their sensitivity to the trilinear Higgs coupling. We include the various higher order QCD radiative corrections, at next-to-leading order for gluon and vector boson fusion and at next-to-next-to-leading order for associated double Higgs production with a gauge boson. The theoretical uncertainties on these cross sections are estimated. Finally, we discuss the various channels which could allow for the detection of the double Higgs production signal at the LHC and the accuracy on the self-coupling that could be ultimately achieved.Comment: 37 pages, 10 tables, 17 figures. Typos corrected, matches the journal versio