380 research outputs found
A closer look at string resonances in dijet events at the LHC
The first string excited state can be observed as a resonance in dijet
invariant mass distributions at the LHC, if the scenario of low-scale string
with large extra dimensions is realized. A distinguished property of the dijet
resonance by string excited states from that the other "new physics" is that
many almost degenerate states with various spin compose a single resonance
structure. It is examined that how we can obtain evidences of low-scale string
models through the analysis of angular distributions of dijet events at the
LHC. Some string resonance states of color singlet can obtain large mass shifts
through the open string one-loop effect, or through the mixing with closed
string states, and the shape of resonance structure can be distorted. Although
the distortion is not very large (10% for the mass squared), it might be able
to observe the effect at the LHC, if gluon jets and quark jets could be
distinguished in a certain level of efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
FCNC Processes from D-brane Instantons
Low string scale models might be tested at the LHC directly by their Regge
resonances. For such models it is important to investigate the constraints of
Standard Model precision measurements on the string scale. It is shown that
highly suppressed FCNC processes like K0- bar K^0 oscillations or leptonic
decays of the D0-meson provide non-negligible lower bounds on both the
perturbatively and surprisingly also non-perturbatively induced string theory
couplings. We present both the D-brane instanton formalism to compute such
amplitudes and discuss various possible scenarios and their constraints on the
string scale for (softly broken) supersymmetric intersecting D-brane models.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, reference added, 1 typo corrected, style file
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Signatures of low-scale string models at the LHC
Low-scale string models, in which the string scale M_s is of the order of TeV
with large extra dimensions, can solve the problems of scale hierarchy and
non-renormalizable quantum gravity in the standard model. String excited states
of the standard model particles are possibly observed as resonances in the
dijet invariant mass distribution at the LHC. There are two properties to
distinguish whether the resonances are due to low-scale string or some other
"new physics". One is a characteristic angular distribution in dijet events at
the resonance due to spin degeneracy of string excited states, and the other is
an appearance of the second resonance at a characteristic mass of second string
excited states. We investigate a possibility to observe these evidences of
low-scale string models by Monte Carlo simulations with a reference value of
M_s = 4 TeV at sqrt{s} = 14 TeV. It is shown that spin degeneracy at the dijet
resonance can be observed by looking the chi-distribution with integrated
luminosity of 20 fb^-1. It is shown that the second resonance can be observed
at rather close to the first resonance in the dijet invariant mass distribution
with integrated luminosity of 50 fb^-1. These are inevitable signatures of
low-scale string models.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Top Quarks as a Window to String Resonances
We study the discovery potential of string resonances decaying to
final state at the LHC. We point out that top quark pair production is a
promising and an advantageous channel for studying such resonances, due to
their low Standard Model background and unique kinematics. We study the
invariant mass distribution and angular dependence of the top pair production
cross section via exchanges of string resonances. The mass ratios of these
resonances and the unusual angular distribution may help identify their
fundamental properties and distinguish them from other new physics. We find
that string resonances for a string scale below 4 TeV can be detected via the
channel, either from reconstructing the semi-leptonic
decay or recent techniques in identifying highly boosted tops.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Quantum Black Holes from Cosmic Rays
We investigate the possibility for cosmic ray experiments to discover
non-thermal small black holes with masses in the TeV range. Such black holes
would result due to the impact between ultra high energy cosmic rays or
neutrinos with nuclei from the upper atmosphere and decay instantaneously. They
could be produced copiously if the Planck scale is in the few TeV region. As
their masses are close to the Planck scale, these holes would typically decay
into two particles emitted back-to-back. Depending on the angles between the
emitted particles with respect to the center of mass direction of motion, it is
possible for the simultaneous showers to be measured by the detectors.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Brane world models need low string scale
Models with large extra dimensions offer the possibility of the Planck scale being of order the electroweak scale, thus alleviating the gauge hierarchy problem. We show that these models suffer from a breakdown of unitarity at around three quarters of the low effective Planck scale. An obvious candidate to fix the unitarity problem is string theory. We therefore argue that it is necessary for the string scale to appear below the effective Planck scale and that the first signature of such models would be string resonances. We further translate experimental bounds on the string scale into bounds on the effective Planck scale
Probing Quantum Geometry at LHC
We present an evidence, that the volumes of compactified spaces as well as
the areas of black hole horizons must be quantized in Planck units. This
quantization has phenomenological consequences, most dramatic being for micro
black holes in the theories with TeV scale gravity that can be produced at LHC.
We predict that black holes come in form of a discrete tower with well defined
spacing. Instead of thermal evaporation, they decay through the sequence of
spontaneous particle emissions, with each transition reducing the horizon area
by strictly integer number of Planck units. Quantization of the horizons can be
a crucial missing link by which the notion of the minimal length in gravity
eliminates physical singularities. In case when the remnants of the black holes
with the minimal possible area and mass of order few TeV are stable, they might
be good candidates for the cold dark matter in the Universe.Comment: 14 pages, Late
Colored Resonant Signals at the LHC: Largest Rate and Simplest Topology
We study the colored resonance production at the LHC in a most general
approach. We classify the possible colored resonances based on group theory
decomposition, and construct their effective interactions with light partons.
The production cross section from annihilation of valence quarks or gluons may
be on the order of 400 - 1000 pb at LHC energies for a mass of 1 TeV with
nominal couplings, leading to the largest production rates for new physics at
the TeV scale, and simplest event topology with dijet final states. We apply
the new dijet data from the LHC experiments to put bounds on various possible
colored resonant states. The current bounds range from 0.9 to 2.7 TeV. The
formulation is readily applicable for future searches including other decay
modes.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures. References updated and additional K-factors
include
The high energy neutrino cross-section in the Standard Model and its uncertainty
Updated predictions are presented for high energy neutrino and antineutrino
charged and neutral current cross-sections within the conventional DGLAP
formalism of NLO QCD using modern PDF fits. PDF uncertainties from model
assumptions and parametrization bias are considered in addition to the
experimental uncertainties. Particular attention is paid to assumptions and
biases which could signal the need for extension of the conventional formalism
to include effects such as ln(1/x) resummation or non-linear effects of high
gluon density.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables (REVTeX4); clarifying comments and
link to tabulated cross sections at
http://www-pnp.physics.ox.ac.uk/~cooper/neutrino/ added; to appear in JHE
Does the `Higgs' have Spin Zero?
The Higgs boson is predicted to have spin zero. The ATLAS and CMS experiments
have recently reported of an excess of events with mass ~ 125 GeV that has some
of the characteristics expected for a Higgs boson. We address the questions
whether there is already any evidence that this excess has spin zero, and how
this possibility could be confirmed in the near future. The excess observed in
the gamma gamma final state could not have spin one, leaving zero and two as
open possibilities. We calculate the angular distribution of gamma gamma pairs
from the decays of a spin-two boson produced in gluon-gluon collisions, showing
that is unique and distinct from the spin-zero case. We also calculate the
distributions for lepton pairs that would be produced in the W W* decays of a
spin-two boson, which are very different from those in Higgs decays, and note
that the kinematics of the event selection used to produce the excess observed
in the W W* final state have reduced efficiency for spin two.Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, Version accepted for publication in JHEP,
includes additional plots of dilepton mass distribution
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