0000000000226164

AUTHOR

Jorge C. Romão

Single-photon Z decays and small neutrino masses

We discuss some rare Z decay signatures associated with extensions of the Standard Model with spontaneous lepton number violation at the electroweak scale. We show that single-photon Z decays such as $Z \to \gamma H$ and $Z \to \gamma J J$ where H is a CP-even Higgs boson and J denotes the associated CP-odd Majoron may occur with branching ratios accessible to LEP sensitivities, even though the corresponding neutrino masses can be very small, as required in order to explain the deficit of solar neutrinos.

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Minimal supersymmetric inverse seesaw: neutrino masses, lepton flavour violation and LHC phenomenology

We study neutrino masses in the framework of the supersymmetric inverse seesaw model. Different from the non-supersymmetric version a minimal realization with just one pair of singlets is sufficient to explain all neutrino data. We compute the neutrino mass matrix up to 1-loop order and show how neutrino data can be described in terms of the model parameters. We then calculate rates for lepton flavour violating (LFV) processes, such as mu -> e gamma and chargino decays to singlet scalar neutrinos. The latter decays are potentially observable at the LHC and show a characteristic decay pattern dictated by the same parameters which generate the observed large neutrino angles.

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Minimal Supergravity Scalar Neutrino Dark Matter and Inverse Seesaw Neutrino Masses

We show that within the inverse seesaw mechanism for generating neutrino masses minimal supergravity is more likely to have a sneutrino as the lightest superparticle than the conventional neutralino. We also demonstrate that such schemes naturally reconcile the small neutrino masses with the correct relic sneutrino dark matter abundance and accessible direct detection rates in nuclear recoil experiments.

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Flavour violation at the LHC: type-I versus type-II seesaw in minimal supergravity

20 pages, 13 figures.-- ISI article identifier:000267789100003.-- ArXiv pre-print avaible at:http://arxiv.org/abs/0903.1408

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Invisible Higgs boson decays in spontaneously broken R parity

The Higgs boson may decay mainly to an invisible mode characterized by missing energy, instead of the Standard Model channels. This is a generic feature of many models where neutrino masses arise from the spontaneous breaking of ungauged lepton number at relatively low scales, such as spontaneously broken R-parity models. Taking these models as framework, we reanalyze this striking suggestion in view of the recent data on neutrino oscillations that indicate non-zero neutrino masses. We show that, despite the smallness of neutrino masses, the Higgs boson can decay mainly to the invisible Goldstone boson associated to the spontaneous breaking of lepton number. This requires a gauge singlet su…

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Bilinear R-parity violating SUSY: Neutrinoless double beta decay in the light of solar and atmospheric neutrino data

Neutrinoless double beta ($\znbb$) decay is considered within bilinear R-parity breaking supersymmetry, including the full one-loop corrections to the neutrino-neutralino mass matrix. Expected rates for $\znbb$ decay in this model are discussed in light of recent atmospheric and solar neutrino data. We conclude that (a) tree-level calculations for $\znbb$ decay within the bilinear model are not reliable in the range of parameters preferred by current solar and atmospheric neutrino problems. And (b) if the solar and atmospheric neutrino problems are to be solved within bilinear R-parity violating SUSY the expected rates for $\znbb$ decay are very low; the effective Majorana neutrino mass at …

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Neutrino mixing with revamped A(4) flavor symmetry

We suggest a minimal extension of the simplest A(4) flavor model that can induce a nonzero theta(13) value, as required by recent neutrino oscillation data from reactors and accelerators. The predicted correlation between the atmospheric mixing angle theta(23) and the magnitude of theta(13) leads to an allowed region substantially smaller than indicated by neutrino-oscillation global fits. Moreover, the scheme correlates CP violation in neutrino oscillations with the octant of the atmospheric mixing parameter theta(23) in such a way that, for example, maximal mixing necessarily violates CP. We briefly comment on other phenomenological features of the model.

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Model independent Higgs boson mass limits at LEP

We derive model-independent constraints on Higgs mass and couplings from associated signals for higher masses, accessible at LEP2. This work is motivated by the fact that, in many extensions of the standard model, the Higgs boson can have substantial "invisible" decay modes, for example, into light or massless weakly interacting Goldstone bosons associated to the spontaneous violation of lepton number below the weak scale.

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Probing minimal supergravity in the type-I seesaw mechanism with lepton flavour violation at the CERN LHC

The most general supersymmetric seesaw mechanism has too many parameters to be predictive and thus can not be excluded by any measurements of lepton flavour violating (LFV) processes. We focus on the simplest version of the type-I seesaw mechanism assuming minimal supergravity boundary conditions. We compute branching ratios for the LFV scalar tau decays, ${\tilde \tau}_2 \to (e,\mu) + \chi^0_1$, as well as loop-induced LFV decays at low energy, such as $l_i \to l_j + \gamma$ and $l_i \to 3 l_j$, exploring their sensitivity to the unknown seesaw parameters. We find some simple, extreme scenarios for the unknown right-handed parameters, where ratios of LFV branching ratios correlate with neu…

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Neutrino masses and mixings from supersymmetry with bilinear R-parity violation: A theory for solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillations

The simplest unified extension of the MSSM with bi-linear R--Parity violation naturally predicts a hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum, in which one neutrino acquires mass by mixing with neutralinos, while the other two get mass radiatively. We have performed a full one-loop calculation of the neutralino-neutrino mass matrix in the bi-linear \rp MSSM, taking special care to achieve a manifestly gauge invariant calculation. Moreover we have performed the renormalization of the heaviest neutrino, needed in order to get meaningful results. The atmospheric mass scale and maximal mixing angle arise from tree-level physics, while solar neutrino scale and oscillations follow from calculable one-lo…

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Probing neutrino properties with charged scalar lepton decays

Supersymmetry with bilinear R-parity violation provides a predictive framework for neutrino masses and mixings in agreement with current neutrino oscillation data. The model leads to striking signals at future colliders through the R-parity violating decays of the lightest supersymmetric particle. Here we study charged scalar lepton decays and demonstrate that if the scalar tau is the LSP (i) it will decay within the detector, despite the smallness of the neutrino masses, (ii) the relative ratio of branching ratios Br({tilde tau}_1 --> e sum nu_i)/ Br({tilde tau}_1 --> mu sum nu_i) is predicted from the measured solar neutrino angle, and (iii) scalar muon and scalar electron decays wi…

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Neutrino mass and invisible Higgs decays at the LHC

The discovery of the Higgs boson suggests that also neutrinos get their mass from spontaneous symmetry breaking. In the simplest ungauged lepton number scheme, the Standard Model (SM) Higgs has now two other partners: a massive CP-even, as well as the massless Nambu-Goldstone boson, called majoron. For weak-scale breaking of lepton number the invisible decays of the CP- even Higgs bosons to the majoron lead to potentially copious sources of events with large missing energy. Using LHC results we study how the constraints on invisible decays of the Higgs boson restrict the relevant parameters, substantially extending those previously derived from LEP and shedding light on spontaneous lepton n…

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Minimal supergravity radiative effects on the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing pattern

7 pages, 3 figures.-- PACS nrs.: 14.60.Pq, 12.60.Jv.-- ISI Article Identifier: 000245333000012.-- ArXiv pre-print available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0606082

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Dark matter and LHC phenomenology in a left-right supersymmetric model

Left-right symmetric extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model can explain neutrino data and have potentially interesting phenomenology beyond that found in minimal SUSY seesaw models. Here we study a SUSY model in which the left-right symmetry is broken by triplets at a high scale, but significantly below the GUT scale. Sparticle spectra in this model differ from the usual constrained MSSM expectations and these changes affect the relic abundance of the lightest neutralino. We discuss changes for the standard stau (and stop) co-annihilation, the Higgs funnel and the focus point regions. The model has potentially large lepton flavour violation in both, left and right, scalar l…

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Neutralino phenomenology at LEP2 in supersymmetry with bilinear breaking of R-parity

We discuss the phenomenology of the lightest neutralino in models where an effective bilinear term in the superpotential parametrizes the explicit breaking of R-parity. We consider supergravity scenarios where the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is the lightest neutralino and which can be explored at LEP2. We present a detailed study of the LSP decay properties and general features of the corresponding signals expected at LEP2. We also contrast our model with gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking.

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Gauge and Yukawa unification with broken R-parity

We study gauge and Yukawa coupling unification in the simplest extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) which incorporates R-Parity violation through a bilinear superpotential term. Contrary to what happens in the MSSM, we show that bottom-tau unification at the scale M_GUT where the gauge couplings unify can be achieved for any value of tan(beta) by choosing appropriately the sneutrino vacuum expectation value. In addition, we show that bottom-tau-top unification occurs in a slightly wider tan(beta) range than in the MSSM.

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Thermal leptogenesis in extended supersymmetric seesaw model

We consider an extended supersymmetric SO(10) seesaw model with only doublet Higgs scalars, in which neutrino masses are suppressed by the scale of D-parity violation. Leptogenesis can occur at the TeV scale through the decay of a singlet Sigma, thereby avoiding the gravitino crisis. Washout of the asymmetry can be effectively suppressed by the absence of direct couplings of Sigma to leptons.

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Charge Breaking Minima in the Broken R-parity Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We reconsider the possible presence of charge and colour breaking minima in the scalar potential of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and its minimal generalization with R-parity explicitly broken by bilinear terms (RMSSM). First we generalize some results previously derived for the MSSM case. Next we investigate how robust is the MSSM against its RMSSM extension. We examine the constraints on the RMSSM parameter space that follow from the required absence of charge breaking minima in the scalar potential. We point out the possibility of generating non--zero vacuum expectation values for the charged Higgs field which is not present in the MSSM. However, given the smallness of…

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LHC-scale left-right symmetry and unification

We construct a comprehensive list of nonsupersymmetric standard model extensions with a low-scale left-right (LR)-symmetric intermediate stage that may be obtained as simple low-energy effective theories within a class of renormalizable SO(10) grand unified theories. Unlike the traditional minimal LR models many of our example settings support a perfect gauge coupling unification even if the LR scale is in the LHC domain at a price of only (a few copies of) one or two types of extra fields pulled down to the TeV-scale ballpark. We discuss the main aspects of a potentially realistic model building conforming the basic constraints from the quark and lepton sector flavor structure, proton deca…

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Fermion masses, leptogenesis, and supersymmetric SO(10) unification

Current neutrino oscillation data indicate the existence of two large lepton mixing angles, while Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are all small. Here we show how supersymmetric SO(10) with extra chiral singlets can easily reconcile large lepton mixing angles with small quark mixing angles within the framework of the successful Fritzsch ansatz. Moreover we show how this is fully consistent with the thermal leptogenesis scenario, avoiding the so-called gravitino problem. A sizeable asymmetry can be generated at relatively low scales. We present our results in terms of the leptonic CP violation parameter that characterizes neutrino oscillations.

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Primordial Nucleosynthesis, Majorons and Heavy Tau Neutrinos

We determine the restrictions imposed by primordial nucleosynthesis upon a heavy tau neutrino, in the presence of nu-tau annihilations into Majorons, as expected in a wide class of particle physics models of neutrino mass. We determine the equivalent number of light neutrino species $N_{eq}$ as a function of nu-tau mass and the nu-tau-Majoron coupling $g$. We show that for theoretically plausible $g$ values $\gsim 10^{-4}$ present nucleosynthesis observations can not rule out nu-tau masses in the MeV range. Moreover, these models give $N_{eq} \leq 3$ in the nu-tau mass region 1-10 MeV, for very reasonable values of $g \geq 3 \times 10^{-4}$. The evasion of the cosmological limits brings new…

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Dark matter in minimal supergravity with type-II seesaw mechanism

We calculate the relic density of the lightest neutralino in a supersymmetric seesaw type-II (``triplet seesaw'') model with minimal supergravity boundary conditions at the grand unified theory (GUT) scale. The presence of a triplet below the GUT scale, required to explain measured neutrino data in this setup, leads to a characteristic deformation of the sparticle spectrum with respect to the pure minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) expectations, affecting the calculated relic dark matter (DM) density. We discuss how the DM allowed regions in the $({m}_{0},{M}_{1/2})$ plane change as a function of the (type-II) seesaw scale. We also compare the constraints imposed on the models parameter space fo…

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Solar Neutrino Masses and Mixing from Bilinear R-Parity Broken Supersymmetry: Analytical versus Numerical Results

We give an analytical calculation of solar neutrino masses and mixing at one-loop order within bilinear R-parity breaking supersymmetry, and compare our results to the exact numerical calculation. Our method is based on a systematic perturbative expansion of R-parity violating vertices to leading order. We find in general quite good agreement between approximate and full numerical calculation, but the approximate expressions are much simpler to implement. Our formalism works especially well for the case of the large mixing angle MSW solution (LMA-MSW), now strongly favoured by the recent KamLAND reactor neutrino data.

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A(4)-based neutrino masses with Majoron decaying dark matter

We propose an A(4) flavor-symmetric SU(3) circle times SU(2) circle times U(1) seesaw model where lepton number is broken spontaneously. A consistent two-zero texture pattern of neutrino masses and mixing emerges from the interplay of type-I and type-II seesaw contributions, with important phenomenological predictions. We show that, if the Majoron becomes massive, such seesaw scenario provides a viable candidate for decaying dark matter, consistent with cosmic microwave background lifetime constraints that follow from current WMAP observations. We also calculate the subleading one-loop-induced decay into photons which leads to a monoenergetic emission line that may be observed in future x-r…

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A Supersymmetric Solution to the Solar and Atmospheric Neutrino Problems

The simplest unified extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with bi-linear R--Parity violation provides a predictive scheme for neutrino masses which can account for the observed atmospheric and solar neutrino anomalies in terms of bi-maximal neutrino mixing. The maximality of the atmospheric mixing angle arises dynamically, by minimizing the scalar potential, while the solar neutrino problem can be accounted for either by large or by small mixing oscillations. One neutrino picks up mass by mixing with neutralinos, while the degeneracy and masslessness of the other two is lifted only by loop corrections. Despite the smallness of neutrino masses R-parity violation is observab…

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Production and decays of supersymmetric Higgs bosons in spontaneously brokenRparity

We study the mass spectra, production and decay properties of the lightest supersymmetric CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons in models with spontaneously broken R-parity (SBRP). We compare the resulting mass spectra with expectations of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), stressing that the model obeys the upper bound on the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass. We discuss how the presence of the additional scalar singlet states affects the Higgs production cross sections, both for the Bjorken process and the "associated production". The main phenomenological novelty with respect to the MSSM comes from the fact that the spontaneous breaking of lepton number leads to the existence of…

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Minimal supergravity with R-parity breaking

We show that the minimal R-parity breaking model characterized by an effective bilinear violation of R-parity in the superpotential is consistent with minimal N=1 supergravity unification with radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry and universal scalar and gaugino masses. This one-parameter extension of the MSSM-SUGRA model provides therefore the simplest reference model for the breaking of R-parity and constitutes a consistent truncation of the complete dynamical models with spontaneous R-parity breaking proposed previously. We comment on the lowest-lying CP-even Higgs boson mass and discuss its minimal N=1 supergravity limit, determine the ranges of $\tan\beta$ and bottom quark Yu…

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Testing neutrino mixing at future collider experiments

Low energy supersymmetry with bilinear breaking of R-parity leads to a weak-scale seesaw mechanism for the atmospheric neutrino scale and a radiative mechanism for the solar neutrino scale. The model has striking implications for collider searches of supersymmetric particles. Assuming that the lightest SUSY particle is the lightest neutralino we demonstrate that (i) The neutralino decays inside the detector even for tiny neutrino masses. (ii) Measurements of the neutrino mixing angles lead to predictions for the ratios of various neutralino branching ratios implying an independent test of neutrino physics at future colliders, such as the Large Hadron Collider or a Linear Collider.

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SINGLE PHOTON DECAYS OF THE $Z^0$ AND SUSY WITH SPONTANEOUSLY BROKEN R-PARITY

Spontaneous violation of R parity can induce rare single photon decays of the $Z^0$ involving the emission of (nearly) massless pseudoscalar Goldstone bosons, majorons, as well as massive CP even or CP odd spin zero bosons that arise in the electroweak breaking sector of these models. We show that the majoron emitting decays can have a sizeable branching ratio of $10^{-5}$ or so, without conflicting any experimental observation from neutrino physics or particle searches. These decays may lead to interesting structures for the single photon spectrum involving either mono chromatic photons as well as continuous spectra that grow with energy. They would easily account for an excess of single p…

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LHC and lepton flavour violation phenomenology of a left-right extension of the MSSM

We study the phenomenology of a supersymmetric left-right model, assuming minimal supergravity boundary conditions. Both left-right and (B-L) symmetries are broken at an energy scale close to, but significantly below the GUT scale. Neutrino data is explained via a seesaw mechanism. We calculate the RGEs for superpotential and soft parameters complete at 2-loop order. At low energies lepton flavour violation (LFV) and small, but potentially measurable mass splittings in the charged scalar lepton sector appear, due to the RGE running. Different from the supersymmetric “pure seesaw” models, both, LFV and slepton mass splittings, occur not only in the left-but also in the right slepton sector. …

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LEP sensitivities to spontaneous R-parity violating signals

We illustrate the sensitivities of LEP experiments to leptonic signals associated to models where supersymmetry (SUSY) is realized with spontaneous breaking of R-parity. We focus on missing transverse momentum plus acoplanar muon events arising from lightest neutralino single production $\chi \nu$ as well as pair production $\chi \chi$, followed by $\chi$ decays, where $\chi$ denotes the lightest neutralino. We show that the integrated luminosity achieved at LEP already starts probing the basic parameters of the theory. We discuss the significance of these constraints for the simplest spontaneous R-parity breaking models and their relevance for future searches of SUSY particles.

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Supersymmetric type-III seesaw mechanism: Lepton flavor violating decays and dark matter

We study a supersymmetric version of the seesaw mechanism type III. The model consists of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model particle content plus three copies of $\mathbf{24}$ superfields. The fermionic part of the $SU(2)$ triplet contained in the $\mathbf{24}$ is responsible for the type-III seesaw, which is used to explain the observed neutrino masses and mixings. Complete copies of $\mathbf{24}$ are introduced to maintain gauge coupling unification. These additional states change the beta functions of the gauge couplings above the seesaw scale. Using minimal Supergravity boundary conditions, we calculate the resulting supersymmetric mass spectra at the electrowea…

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Supersymmetric Unification with Radiative Breaking of R-parity

We show how R-parity can break spontaneously as a result of radiative corrections in unified N=1 supergravity models. We illustrate this with a concrete rank-four unified model, where the spontaneous breaking of R-parity is accompanied by the existence of a physical majoron. We determine the resulting supersymmetric particle mass spectrum and show that R-parity-breaking signals may be detectable at LEP200.

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Detection of intermediate mass Higgs bosons from spontaneously broken R-parity supersymmetry

The Higgs sector in spontaneously broken R Parity supersymmetry (RPSUSY) shows interesting features that require new search techniques. Both the mass spectrum and production rates may differ from the standard model and minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM) expectations. For some parameter choices, the dominant Higgs boson decay mode can even be invisible, leading to events with large missing transverse momentum carried by superweakly interacting majorons. We study the reaction $pp \ra Z + H + X$, and find that it canlead to detectable events at LHC/SSC for a large region of parameter space.

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The Hunt for New Physics at the Large Hadron Collider

233 páginas.-- AHEP Group: et al..-- El Pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print: arXiv.1001.2693v1.-- Trabajo presentado al "The International Workshop on Beyond the Standard Model Physics and LHC Signatures (BSM-LHC) celebrado en Boston (USA) del 2 al 4 de junio de 2009.

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Unification of gauge couplings and the tau-neutrino mass in supergravity without R parity

Minimal R-parity violating supergravity predicts a value for $alpha_s(M_Z)$ smaller than in the case with conserved R-parity, and therefore closer to the experimental world average. We show that the R-parity violating effect on the $alpha_s$ prediction comes from the larger two-loop b-quark Yukawa contribution to the renormalization group evolution of the gauge couplings which characterizes R-parity violating supergravity. The effect is correlated to the tau neutrino mass and is sensitive to the initial conditions on the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters at the unification scale. We show how a few percent effect on $alpha_s(M_Z)$ may naturally occur even with tau neutrino masses as sma…

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