1,191 research outputs found
Higgs friends and counterfeits at hadron colliders
We consider the possibility of "Higgs counterfeits" - scalars that can be
produced with cross sections comparable to the SM Higgs, and which decay with
identical relative observable branching ratios, but which are nonetheless not
responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. We also consider a related
scenario involving "Higgs friends," fields similarly produced through gg fusion
processes, which would be discovered through diboson channels WW, ZZ, gamma
gamma, or even gamma Z, potentially with larger cross sections times branching
ratios than for the Higgs. The discovery of either a Higgs friend or a Higgs
counterfeit, rather than directly pointing towards the origin of the weak
scale, would indicate the presence of new colored fields necessary for the
sizable production cross section (and possibly new colorless but electroweakly
charged states as well, in the case of the diboson decays of a Higgs friend).
These particles could easily be confused for an ordinary Higgs, perhaps with an
additional generation to explain the different cross section, and we emphasize
the importance of vector boson fusion as a channel to distinguish a Higgs
counterfeit from a true Higgs. Such fields would naturally be expected in
scenarios with "effective Z's," where heavy states charged under the SM produce
effective charges for SM fields under a new gauge force. We discuss the
prospects for discovery of Higgs counterfeits, Higgs friends, and associated
charged fields at the LHC.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures. References added and typos fixe
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
Bounds and Decays of New Heavy Vector-like Top Partners
We study the phenomenology of new heavy vector-like fermions that couple to
the third generation quarks via Yukawa interactions, covering all the allowed
representations under the standard model gauge groups. We first review tree and
loop level bounds on these states. We then discuss tree level decays and
loop-induced decays to photon or gluon plus top. The main decays at tree level
are to W b and/or Z and Higgs plus top via the new Yukawa couplings. The
radiative loop decays turn out to be quite close to the naive estimate: in all
cases, in the allowed perturbative parameter space, the branching ratios are
mildly sensitive on the new Yukawa couplings and small. We therefore conclude
that the new states can be observed at the LHC and that the tree level decays
can allow to distinguish the different representations. Moreover, the
observation of the radiative decays at the LHC would suggest a large Yukawa
coupling in the non-perturbative regime.Comment: 32 pages, 2 tables, 10 figure
Measurement of the quasi-elastic axial vector mass in neutrino-oxygen interactions
The weak nucleon axial-vector form factor for quasi-elastic interactions is
determined using neutrino interaction data from the K2K Scintillating Fiber
detector in the neutrino beam at KEK. More than 12,000 events are analyzed, of
which half are charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu-mu n to mu- p
occurring primarily in oxygen nuclei. We use a relativistic Fermi gas model for
oxygen and assume the form factor is approximately a dipole with one parameter,
the axial vector mass M_A, and fit to the shape of the distribution of the
square of the momentum transfer from the nucleon to the nucleus. Our best fit
result for M_A = 1.20 \pm 0.12 GeV. Furthermore, this analysis includes updated
vector form factors from recent electron scattering experiments and a
discussion of the effects of the nucleon momentum on the shape of the fitted
distributions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 6 table
Search for the W-exchange decays B0 --> Ds(*)- Ds(*)+
We report a search for the decays , , in a sample of 232
million decays to \BBb ~pairs collected with the \babar detector
at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy storage ring. We find no significant
signal and set upper bounds for the branching fractions: and at 90% confidence level.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRD-R
Measurement of the B+ --> p pbar K+ Branching Fraction and Study of the Decay Dynamics
With a sample of 232x10^6 Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected with the
BaBar detector, we study the decay B+ --> p pbar K+ excluding charmonium decays
to ppbar. We measure a branching fraction Br(B+ --> p pbar
K+)=(6.7+/-0.5+/-0.4)x10^{-6}. An enhancement at low ppbar mass is observed and
the Dalitz plot asymmetry suggests dominance of the penguin amplitude in this B
decay. We search for a pentaquark candidate Theta*++ decaying into pK+ in the
mass range 1.43 to 2.00 GeV/c2 and set limits on Br(B+ -->
Theta*++pbar)xBr(Theta*++ --> pK+) at the 10^{-7} level.Comment: 8 pages, 7 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
A fourth generation, anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry and the LHC
A fourth chiral generation, with in the range GeV and a moderate value of the CP-violating phase can explain the
anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry observed recently by the D0
collaboration. The required parameters are found to be consistent with
constraints from other and decays. The presence of such quarks, apart
from being detectable in the early stages of the LHC, would also have important
consequences in the electroweak symmetry breaking sector.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, Figure 1 is modified, more discussions are added
in section 2. new references adde
Composite GUTs: models and expectations at the LHC
We investigate grand unified theories (GUTs) in scenarios where electroweak
(EW) symmetry breaking is triggered by a light composite Higgs, arising as a
Nambu-Goldstone boson from a strongly interacting sector. The evolution of the
standard model (SM) gauge couplings can be predicted at leading order, if the
global symmetry of the composite sector is a simple group G that contains the
SM gauge group. It was noticed that, if the right-handed top quark is also
composite, precision gauge unification can be achieved. We build minimal
consistent models for a composite sector with these properties, thus
demonstrating how composite GUTs may represent an alternative to supersymmetric
GUTs. Taking into account the new contributions to the EW precision parameters,
we compute the Higgs effective potential and prove that it realizes
consistently EW symmetry breaking with little fine-tuning. The G group
structure and the requirement of proton stability determine the nature of the
light composite states accompanying the Higgs and the top quark: a coloured
triplet scalar and several vector-like fermions with exotic quantum numbers. We
analyse the signatures of these composite partners at hadron colliders:
distinctive final states contain multiple top and bottom quarks, either alone
or accompanied by a heavy stable charged particle, or by missing transverse
energy.Comment: 55 pages, 13 figures, final version to be published in JHE
Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi
We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context
of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since
they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson.
Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected
with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we
set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B-
--> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results
are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
Evidence for X(3872) â Κ (2S)y in B^± â X(3872)K^± Decays and a Study of B â ccyK
In a search for B â ccyK decays with the BABAR detector, where cc includes J/Κ and Κ (2S), and K
includes K^±, K^0_S , and K^*(892), we find evidence for X(3872) â J/Κy and X(3872) â Κ (2S) with 3:6Ï
and 3:5Ï significance, respectively. We measure the product of branching fractions B(B^± â
X(3872)K^±)B(X(3872) â J/Κy)= [2:8 ± 0:8(stat) ± 0:1(syst)]X 10^(-6) and B(B^± â X(3872)K^±) X
B(X(3872) â Κ (2S)y) = [9:5 ± 2:7(stat) ± 0:6(syst)] X 10^(-6)
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