Exploring Extended Scalar Sectors with Di-Higgs Signals: A Higgs EFT Perspective

We consider extended scalar sectors of the Standard Model as ultraviolet-complete motivations for studying the effective Higgs self-interaction operators of the Standard Model effective field theory. We investigate all motivated heavy scalar models which generate the dimension-6 effective operator, $|H|^6$, at tree level and proceed to identify the full set of tree-level dimension-six operators by integrating out the heavy scalars. Of seven models which generate $|H|^6$ at tree level only two, quadruplets of hypercharge $Y=3Y_H$ and $Y=Y_H$, generate only this operator. Next we perform global fits to constrain relevant Wilson coefficients from the LHC single Higgs measurements as well as the electroweak oblique parameters $S$ and $T$. We find that the $T$ parameter puts very strong constraints on the Wilson coefficient of the $|H|^6$ operator in the triplet and quadruplet models, while the singlet and doublet models could still have Higgs self-couplings which deviate significantly from the standard model prediction. To determine the extent to which the $|H|^6$ operator could be constrained, we study the dihiggs signatures at the future 100 TeV collider and explore future sensitivity of this operator. Projected onto the Higgs potential parameters of the extended scalar sectors, with $3$ ab$^{-1}$ luminosity data we will be able to explore the Higgs potential parameters in all seven models.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables; version 3: match the JHEP published versio

Ds+ -- Ds- Asymmetry in Photoproduction

Considering of the possible difference in strange and antistrange quark distributions inside nucleon, we investigate the Ds+ -- Ds- asymmetry in photoproduction in the framework of heavy-quark recombination mechanism. We adopt two distribution models of strange sea, those are the light-cone meson-baryon fluctuation model and the effective chiral quark model. Our results show that the asymmetry induced by the strange quark distributions is distinct, which is measurable in experiments. And, there are evident differences between the predictions of our calculation and previous estimation. Therefore, the experimental measurements on the Ds+ -- Ds- asymmetry may impose a unique restriction on the strange-antistrange distribution asymmetry models.Comment: 11 page, 5 figure

Quantum Decoherence with Holography

Quantum decoherence is the loss of a system's purity due to its interaction with the surrounding environment. Via the AdS/CFT correspondence, we study how a system decoheres when its environment is a strongly-coupled theory. In the Feynman-Vernon formalism, we compute the influence functional holographically by relating it to the generating function of Schwinger-Keldysh propagators and thereby obtain the dynamics of the system's density matrix. We present two exactly solvable examples: (1) a straight string in a BTZ black hole and (2) a scalar probe in AdS$_5$. We prepare an initial state that mimics Schr\"odinger's cat and identify different stages of its decoherence process using the time-scaling behaviors of R\'enyi entropy. We also relate decoherence to local quantum quenches, and by comparing the time evolution behaviors of the Wigner function and R\'enyi entropy we demonstrate that the relaxation of local quantum excitations leads to the collapse of its wave-function.Comment: 55 pages, 13 figures; v2 47 pages & 13 figs, minor revision to match published versio

Search for anomalous top quark production at the early LHC

We present a detailed study of the anomalous top quark production with subsequent decay at the LHC induced by model-independent flavor-changing neutral-current couplings, incorporating the complete next-to-leading order QCD effects. Our results show that, taking into account the current limits from the Tevatron, the LHC with $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV may discover the anomalous coupling at 5$\sigma$ level for a very low integrated luminosity of 61 pb$^{-1}$. The discovery potentials for the anomalous couplings at the LHC are examined in detail. We also discuss the possibility of using the charge ratio to distinguish the $tug$ and $tcg$ couplings.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, version appears in Phys. Rev. Let