A composite scalar hint from di-boson resonances?

We study the light scalar resonance sector of a composite Higgs model UV embedding based on the coset $SU(4)/Sp(4)$. Beyond the Higgs multiplet, the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone sector of this model contains Standard Model singlets which couple to the Standard Model gauge bosons through Wess-Zumino-Witten anomaly terms. They can thus be produced in gluon fusion and decay into either gluons or pairs of electroweak gauge bosons $WW$, $ZZ$, $Z\gamma$, or $\gamma\gamma$. In this letter we show that one of the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson states has appropriate couplings in order to explain a di-boson excess in the $WW$ channel whilst not being excluded by LHC run I bounds on the di-jet, $Z\gamma$ and $\gamma\gamma$ decay channels. A di-boson resonance production cross section of $\sim$ 10 fb at LHC run I is not a prediction of the model, but can be obtained if the confining gauge group is of high rank.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Constraints on models with universal extra dimensions from dilepton searches at the LHC

Models with universal extra dimensions predict that each Standard Model particle is accompanied by a tower of Kaluza-Klein resonances. Canonical searches for the production and cascade decays of first Kaluza-Klein modes through missing transverse momentum signatures suffer in general from low detection efficiencies because of the rather compressed Kaluza-Klein particle mass spectrum. Here, instead we analyze signatures from the production of second Kaluza-Klein states which can decay into Standard Model particles and thus do not result in any missing transverse momentum. Such signatures provide a strong sensitivity, and are of particular interest as they would allow for a clear distinction between extra dimension models and other models of new physics like supersymmetry. We constrain the production of second Kaluza-Klein particles from recent LHC searches for dilepton resonances, and place limits on the compactification scale to be larger than 715GeV, and on the masses of the second Kaluza-Klein particles to be larger than 1.4TeV.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, analysis updated (inclusion of data from CMS-PAS-EXO-12-061), MUED bound improved to R^{-1} > 715 GeV, version published in JHE

Pseudo-Goldstones from Supersymmetric Wilson Lines on 5D Orbifolds

We consider a U(1) gauge theory on the five dimensional orbifold $\mathcal{M}_4\times S^1/Z_2$, where $A_5$ has even $Z_2$ parity. This leads to a light pseudoscalar degree of freedom $W(x)$ in the effective 4D theory below the compactification scale arising from a gauge-invariant brane-to-brane Wilson line. As noted by Arkani-Hamed et al in the non-supersymmetric $S^1$ case the 5D bulk gauge-invariance of the underlying theory together with the non-local nature of the Wilson line field leads to the protection of the 4D theory of $W(x)$ from possible large global-symmetry violating quantum gravitational effects. We study the $S^1/Z_2$ theory in detail, in particular developing the supersymmetric generalization of this construction, involving a pseudoscalar Goldstone field (the `axion') and its scalar and fermion superpartners (`saxion' and `axino'). The global nature of $W(x)$ implies the absence of independent Kaluza-Klein excitations of its component fields. The non-derivative interactions of the (supersymmetric) Wilson line in the effective 4D theory arising from U(1) charged 5D fields $\Phi$ propagating between the boundary branes are studied. We show that, similar to the non-supersymmetric $S^1$ case, these interactions are suppressed by $\exp(-\pi R m_{\Phi})$ where $\pi R$ is the size of the extra dimension.Comment: LaTex, 16 page

126 GeV Higgs in Next-to-Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions

Discovery of a Higgs boson and precise measurements of its properties open a new window to test physics beyond the standard model. Models with Universal Extra Dimensions are not exception. Kaluza-Klein excitations of the standard model particles contribute to the production and decay of the Higgs boson. In particular, the parameters associated with third generation quarks are constrained by Higgs data, which are relatively insensitive to other searches often involving light quarks and leptons. We investigate implications of the 126 GeV Higgs in Next-to-Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions, and show that boundary terms and bulk masses allow a lower compactification scale as compared to in Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Constraints on split-UED from Electroweak Precision Tests

We present strongly improved electroweak precision constraints on the split-UED model. We find that the dominating effect arises from contributions to the muon decay rate by the exchange of even-numbered W-boson Kaluza-Klein modes at tree-level, which so far have not been discussed in the context of UED models. The constraints on the split-UED parameter space are translated into bounds on the mass difference of the first Kaluza-Klein mode of fermions and the lightest Kaluza-Klein mode, which will be tested is the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Warped Axions

We study a number of realizations of axions existing in a multi-`throat' generalization of the warped throat geometry of a Randall-Sundrum slice of $AdS_5$. As argued by previous authors, the problem of generating a suitable, phenomenologically allowed Peccei-Quinn scale is simply and elegantly solved by the warping. In compactifications with two or more throats it is possible to simultaneously solve the Standard Model hierarchy problem by the Randall-Sundrum mechanism while implementing interesting warped axion models. The constructions discussed are related to holographic duals of previously studied models of composite axions arising from strongly coupled four-dimensional dynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, references adde