168 research outputs found
QCD Coherence and the Top Quark Asymmetry
Coherent QCD radiation in the hadroproduction of top quark pairs leads to a
forward--backward asymmetry that grows more negative with increasing transverse
momentum of the pair. This feature is present in Monte Carlo event generators
with coherent parton showering, even though the production process is treated
at leading order and has no intrinsic asymmetry before showering. In addition,
depending on the treatment of recoils, showering can produce a positive
contribution to the inclusive asymmetry. We explain the origin of these
features, compare them in fixed-order calculations and the Herwig++, Pythia and
Sherpa event generators, and discuss their implications.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
Light Sneutrino Dark Matter at the LHC
In supersymmetric (SUSY) models with Dirac neutrino masses, a weak-scale
trilinear A-term that is not proportional to the small neutrino Yukawa
couplings can induce a sizable mixing between left and right-handed sneutrinos.
The lighter sneutrino mass eigenstate can hence become the lightest SUSY
particle (LSP) and a viable dark matter candidate. In particular, it can be an
excellent candidate for light dark matter with mass below ~10 GeV. Such a light
mixed sneutrino LSP has a dramatic effect on SUSY signatures at the LHC, as
charginos decay dominantly into the light sneutrino plus a charged lepton, and
neutralinos decay invisibly to a neutrino plus a sneutrino. We perform a
detailed study of the LHC potential to resolve the light sneutrino dark matter
scenario by means of three representative benchmark points with different
gluino and squark mass hierarchies. We study in particular the determination of
the LSP (sneutrino) mass from cascade decays involving charginos, using the mT2
variable. Moreover, we address measurements of additional invisible sparticles,
in our case the lightest neutralino, and the question of discrimination against
the MSSM.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure
Interpreting a 1 fb^-1 ATLAS Search in the Minimal Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking Model
Recent LHC data significantly extend the exclusion limits for supersymmetric
particles, particularly in the jets plus missing transverse momentum channels.
The most recent such data have so far been interpreted by the experiment in
only two different supersymmetry breaking models: the constrained minimal
supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM) and a simplified model with only squarks
and gluinos and massless neutralinos. We compare kinematical distributions of
supersymmetric signal events predicted by the CMSSM and anomaly mediated
supersymmetry breaking (mAMSB) before calculating exclusion limits in mAMSB. We
obtain a lower limit of 900 GeV on squark and gluino masses at the 95%
confidence level for the equal mass limit, tan(beta)=10 and mu>0.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
RECAST: Extending the Impact of Existing Analyses
Searches for new physics by experimental collaborations represent a
significant investment in time and resources. Often these searches are
sensitive to a broader class of models than they were originally designed to
test. We aim to extend the impact of existing searches through a technique we
call 'recasting'. After considering several examples, which illustrate the
issues and subtleties involved, we present RECAST, a framework designed to
facilitate the usage of this technique.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Ordering variable for parton showers
The parton splittings in a parton shower are ordered according to an ordering
variable, for example the transverse momentum of the daughter partons relative
to the direction of the mother, the virtuality of the splitting, or the angle
between the daughter partons. We analyze the choice of the ordering variable
and conclude that one particular choice has the advantage of factoring softer
splittings from harder splittings graph by graph in a physical gauge.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figure
Measuring Slepton Masses and Mixings at the LHC
Flavor physics may help us understand theories beyond the standard model. In
the context of supersymmetry, if we can measure the masses and mixings of
sleptons and squarks, we may learn something about supersymmetry and
supersymmetry breaking. Here we consider a hybrid gauge-gravity supersymmetric
model in which the observed masses and mixings of the standard model leptons
are explained by a U(1) x U(1) flavor symmetry. In the supersymmetric sector,
the charged sleptons have reasonably large flavor mixings, and the lightest is
metastable. As a result, supersymmetric events are characterized not by missing
energy, but by heavy metastable charged particles. Many supersymmetric events
are therefore fully reconstructible, and we can reconstruct most of the charged
sleptons by working up the long supersymmetric decay chains. We obtain
promising results for both masses and mixings, and conclude that, given a
favorable model, precise measurements at the LHC may help shed light not only
on new physics, but also on the standard model flavor parameters.Comment: 24 pages; v2: fixed a typo in our computer program that led to some
miscalculated branching ratios, various clarifications and minor
improvements, conclusions unchanged, published versio
Interleaved Parton Showers and Tuning Prospects
General-purpose Monte Carlo event generators have become important tools in
particle physics, allowing the simulation of exclusive hadronic final states.
In this article we examine the Pythia 8 generator, in particular focusing on
its parton-shower algorithms. Some relevant new additions to the code are
introduced, that should allow for a better description of data. We also
implement and compare with 2 to 3 real-emission QCD matrix elements, to check
how well the shower algorithm fills the phase space away from the soft and
collinear regions. A tuning of the generator to Tevatron data is performed for
two PDF sets and the impact of first new LHC data is examined
Slepton pair production in the POWHEG BOX
We present an implementation for slepton pair production at hadron colliders
in the POWHEG BOX, a framework for combining next-to-leading order QCD
calculations with parton-shower Monte-Carlo programs. Our code provides a SUSY
Les Houches Accord interface for setting the supersymmetric input parameters.
Decays of the sleptons and parton-shower effects are simulated with PYTHIA.
Focussing on a representative point in the supersymmetric parameter space we
show results for kinematic distributions that can be observed experimentally.
While next-to-leading order QCD corrections are sizable for all distributions,
the parton shower affects the color-neutral particles only marginally.
Pronounced parton-shower effects are found for jet distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Determining R-parity violating parameters from neutrino and LHC data
In supersymmetric models neutrino data can be explained by R-parity violating
operators which violate lepton number by one unit. The so called bilinear model
can account for the observed neutrino data and predicts at the same time
several decay properties of the lightest supersymmetric particle. In this paper
we discuss the expected precision to determine these parameters by combining
neutrino and LHC data and discuss the most important observables. We show that
one can expect a rather accurate determination of the underlying R-parity
parameters assuming mSUGRA relations between the R-parity conserving ones and
discuss briefly also the general MSSM as well as the expected accuracies in
case of a prospective e+ e- linear collider. An important observation is that
several parameters can only be determined up to relative signs or more
generally relative phases.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Spread Supersymmetry
In the multiverse the scale of SUSY breaking, \tilde{m} = F_X/M_*, may scan
and environmental constraints on the dark matter density may exclude a large
range of \tilde{m} from the reheating temperature after inflation down to
values that yield a LSP mass of order a TeV. After selection effects, the
distribution for \tilde{m} may prefer larger values. A single environmental
constraint from dark matter can then lead to multi-component dark matter,
including both axions and the LSP, giving a TeV-scale LSP lighter than the
corresponding value for single-component LSP dark matter.
If SUSY breaking is mediated to the SM sector at order X^* X, only squarks,
sleptons and one Higgs doublet acquire masses of order \tilde{m}. The gravitino
mass is lighter by a factor of M_*/M_Pl and the gaugino masses are suppressed
by a further loop factor. This Spread SUSY spectrum has two versions; the
Higgsino masses are generated in one from supergravity giving a wino LSP and in
the other radiatively giving a Higgsino LSP. The environmental restriction on
dark matter fixes the LSP mass to the TeV domain, so that the squark and
slepton masses are order 10^3 TeV and 10^6 TeV in these two schemes. We study
the spectrum, dark matter and collider signals of these two versions of Spread
SUSY. The Higgs is SM-like and lighter than 145 GeV; monochromatic photons in
cosmic rays arise from dark matter annihilations in the halo; exotic short
charged tracks occur at the LHC, at least for the wino LSP; and there are the
eventual possibilities of direct detection of dark matter and detailed
exploration of the TeV-scale states at a future linear collider. Gauge coupling
unification is as in minimal SUSY theories.
If SUSY breaking is mediated at order X, a much less hierarchical spectrum
results---similar to that of the MSSM, but with the superpartner masses 1--2
orders of magnitude larger than in natural theories.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
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