Dark Matter in the Singlet Extension of MSSM: Explanation of Pamela and Implication on Higgs Phenomenology

As discussed recently by Hooper and Tait, the singlino-like dark matter in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) extended by a singlet Higgs superfield can give a perfect explanation for both the relic density and the Pamela result through the Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation into singlet Higgs bosons ($a$ or $h$ followed by $h->a a$) with $a$ being light enough to decay dominantly to muons or electrons. In this work we analyze the parameter space required by such a dark matter explanation and also consider the constraints from the LEP experiments. We find that although the light singlet Higgs bosons have small mixings with the Higgs doublets in the allowed parameter space, their couplings with the SM-like Higgs boson $h_{SM}$ (the lightest doublet-dominant Higgs boson) can be enhanced by the soft parameter $A_\kappa$ and, in order to meet the stringent LEP constraints, the $h_{SM}$ tends to decay into the singlet Higgs pairs $aa$ or $hh$ instead of $b\bar b$. So the $h_{SM}$ produced at the LHC will give a multi-muon signal, h_{SM} -> aa -> 4 muons or h_{SM} -> hh -> 4 a -> 8 muons.Comment: Version in JHE

Absolute electron and positron fluxes from PAMELA/Fermi and Dark Matter

We extract the positron and electron fluxes in the energy range 10 - 100 GeV by combining the recent data from PAMELA and Fermi LAT. The {\it absolute positron and electron} fluxes thus obtained are found to obey the power laws: $E^{-2.65}$ and $E^{-3.06}$ respectively, which can be confirmed by the upcoming data from PAMELA. The positron flux appears to indicate an excess at energies E\gsim 50 GeV even if the uncertainty in the secondary positron flux is added to the Galactic positron background. This leaves enough motivation for considering new physics, such as annihilation or decay of dark matter, as the origin of positron excess in the cosmic rays.Comment: Accepted by JCA

PAMELA/ATIC anomaly from the meta-stable extra dark matter component and the leptophilic Yukawa interaction

We present a supersymmetric model with two dark matter (DM) components explaining the galactic positron excess observed by PAMELA/HEAT and ATIC/PPB-BETS: One is the conventional (bino-like) lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) \chi, and the other is a TeV scale meta-stable neutral singlet N_D, which is a Dirac fermion (N,N^c). In this model, N_D decays dominantly into \chi e^+e^- through an R parity preserving dimension 6 operator with the life time \tau_N\sim 10^{26} sec. We introduce a pair of vector-like superheavy SU(2) lepton doublets (L,L^c) and lepton singlets (E,E^c). The dimension 6 operator leading to the N_D decay is generated from the leptophilic Yukawa interactions by W\supset Ne^cE+Lh_dE^c+m_{3/2}l_1L^c with the dimensionless couplings of order unity, and the gauge interaction by {\cal L}\supset \sqrt{2} g'\tilde{e}^{c*}e^c\chi + h.c. The superheavy masses of the vector-like leptons (M_L, M_E\sim 10^{16} GeV) are responsible for the longevity of N_D. The low energy field spectrum in this model is just the MSSM fields and N_D. Even for the case that the portion of N_D is much smaller than that of \chi in the total DM density [{\cal O}(10^{-10}) \lesssim n_{N_D}/n_\chi], the observed positron excess can be explained by adopting relatively lighter masses of the vector-like leptons (10^{13} GeV \lesssim M_{L,E} \lesssim 10^{16} GeV). The smallness of the electron mass is also explained. This model is easily embedded in the flipped SU(5) grand unification, which is a leptophilic unified theory.Comment: 12 pages, published versio

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Constraints on spin-0 dark matter mediators and invisible Higgs decays using ATLAS 13 TeV pp collision data with two top quarks and missing transverse momentum in the final state

This paper presents a statistical combination of searches targeting final states with two top quarks and invisible particles, characterised by the presence of zero, one or two leptons, at least one jet originating from a b-quark and missing transverse momentum. The analyses are searches for phenomena beyond the Standard Model consistent with the direct production of dark matter in pp collisions at the LHC, using 139 fb−1 of data collected with the ATLAS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The results are interpreted in terms of simplified dark matter models with a spin-0 scalar or pseudoscalar mediator particle. In addition, the results are interpreted in terms of upper limits on the Higgs boson invisible branching ratio, where the Higgs boson is produced according to the Standard Model in association with a pair of top quarks. For scalar (pseudoscalar) dark matter models, with all couplings set to unity, the statistical combination extends the mass range excluded by the best of the individual channels by 50 (25) GeV, excluding mediator masses up to 370 GeV. In addition, the statistical combination improves the expected coupling exclusion reach by 14% (24%), assuming a scalar (pseudoscalar) mediator mass of 10 GeV. An upper limit on the Higgs boson invisible branching ratio of 0.38 (0.30+0.13−0.09) is observed (expected) at 95% confidence level

Deep generative models for fast photon shower simulation in ATLAS

The need for large-scale production of highly accurate simulated event samples for the extensive physics programme of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider motivates the development of new simulation techniques. Building on the recent success of deep learning algorithms, variational autoencoders and generative adversarial networks are investigated for modelling the response of the central region of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter to photons of various energies. The properties of synthesised showers are compared with showers from a full detector simulation using geant4. Both variational autoencoders and generative adversarial networks are capable of quickly simulating electromagnetic showers with correct total energies and stochasticity, though the modelling of some shower shape distributions requires more refinement. This feasibility study demonstrates the potential of using such algorithms for ATLAS fast calorimeter simulation in the future and shows a possible way to complement current simulation techniques

Search for doubly charged Higgs boson production in multi-lepton final states using 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for pair production of doubly charged Higgs bosons (H±± ), each decaying into a pair of prompt, isolated, and highly energetic leptons with the same electric charge, is presented. The search uses a proton–proton collision data sample at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This analysis focuses on same-charge leptonic decays, H±±→ℓ±ℓ′± where ℓ,ℓ′=e,μ,τ, in two-, three-, and four-lepton channels, but only considers final states which include electrons or muons. No evidence of a signal is observed. Corresponding upper limits on the production cross-section of a doubly charged Higgs boson are derived, as a function of its mass m(H±±), at 95% confidence level. Assuming that the branching ratios to each of the possible leptonic final states are equal, B(H±±→e±e±)=B(H±±→e±μ±)=B(H±±→μ±μ±)=B(H±±→e±τ±)=B(H±±→μ±τ±)=B(H±±→τ±τ±)=1/6, the observed (expected) lower limit on the mass of a doubly charged Higgs boson is 1080 GeV (1065 GeV) within the left-right symmetric type-II seesaw model, which is the strongest limit to date produced by the ATLAS Collaboration. Additionally, this paper provides the first direct test of the Zee–Babu neutrino mass model at the LHC, yielding an observed (expected) lower limit of m(H±±) = 900 GeV (880 GeV)

Search for long-lived neutral particles in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV that decay into displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS calorimeter

This paper describes a search for pairs of neutral, long-lived particles decaying in the ATLAS calorimeter. Long-lived particles occur in many extensions to the Standard Model and may elude searches for new promptly decaying particles. The analysis considers neutral, long-lived scalars with masses between 5 and 400 GeV, produced from decays of heavy bosons with masses between 125 and 1000 GeV, where the long-lived scalars decay into Standard Model fermions. The analysis uses either 10.8 fb−1 or 33.0 fb−1 of data (depending on the trigger) recorded in 2016 at the LHC with the ATLAS detector in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant excess is observed, and limits are reported on the production cross section times branching ratio as a function of the proper decay length of the long-lived particles

Study of Z → llγ decays at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a study of Z → llγ decays with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a proton–proton data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1 collected at a centre-ofmass energy √s = 8 TeV. Integrated fiducial cross-sections together with normalised differential fiducial cross-sections, sensitive to the kinematics of final-state QED radiation, are obtained. The results are found to be in agreement with stateof-the-art predictions for final-state QED radiation. First measurements of Z → llγ γ decays are also reported

Software performance of the ATLAS track reconstruction for LHC run 3

Charged particle reconstruction in the presence of many simultaneous proton–proton (pp) collisions in the LHC is a challenging task for the ATLAS experiment’s reconstruction software due to the combinatorial complexity. This paper describes the major changes made to adapt the software to reconstruct high-activity collisions with an average of 50 or more simultaneous pp interactions per bunch crossing (pileup) promptly using the available computing resources. The performance of the key components of the track reconstruction chain and its dependence on pile-up are evaluated, and the improvement achieved compared to the previous software version is quantified. For events with an average of 60 pp collisions per bunch crossing, the updated track reconstruction is twice as fast as the previous version, without significant reduction in reconstruction efficiency and while reducing the rate of combinatorial fake tracks by more than a factor two