Higgs Couplings and Phenomenology in a Warped Extra Dimension

We present a comprehensive description of the Higgs-boson couplings to Standard Model fermions and bosons in Randall-Sundrum (RS) models with a Higgs sector localized on or near the infra-red brane. The analytic results for all relevant Higgs couplings including the loop-induced couplings to gluons and photons are summarized for both the minimal and the custodial RS model. The RS predictions for all relevant Higgs decays are compared with current LHC data, which already exclude significant portions of the parameter space. We show that the latest measurements are sensitive to KK gluon masses up to $20\, \rm{TeV} \times (y_*/3)$ at $95\%$ confidence level for anarchic 5D Yukawa couplings boun…

On the Structure of Infrared Singularities of Gauge-Theory Amplitudes

A closed formula is obtained for the infrared singularities of dimensionally regularized, massless gauge-theory scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of legs and loops. It follows from an all-order conjecture for the anomalous-dimension matrix of n-jet operators in soft-collinear effective theory. We show that the form of this anomalous dimension is severely constrained by soft-collinear factorization, non-abelian exponentiation, and the behavior of amplitudes in collinear limits. Using a diagrammatic analysis, we demonstrate that these constraints imply that to three-loop order the anomalous dimension involves only two-parton correlations, with the possible exception of a single c…

Massive Boson Production at Small qT in Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

We study the differential cross sections for electroweak gauge-boson and Higgs production at small and very small transverse-momentum qT. Large logarithms are resummed using soft-collinear effective theory. The collinear anomaly generates a non-perturbative scale q⁎, which protects the processes from receiving large long-distance hadronic contributions. A numerical comparison of our predictions with data on the transverse-momentum distribution in Z-boson production at the Tevatron and LHC is given.

Collider probes of axion-like particles.

Axion-like particles (ALPs), which are gauge-singlets under the Standard Model (SM), appear in many well-motivated extensions of the SM. Describing the interactions of ALPs with SM fields by means of an effective Lagrangian, we discuss ALP decays into SM particles at one-loop order, including for the first time a calculation of the $a\to\pi\pi\pi$ decay rates for ALP masses below a few GeV. We argue that, if the ALP couples to at least some SM particles with couplings of order $(0.01-1) \mbox{TeV}^{-1}$, its mass must be above 1 MeV. Taking into account the possibility of a macroscopic ALP decay length, we show that large regions of so far unconstrained parameter space can be explored by se…

Exclusive radiative decays of W and Z bosons in QCD factorization

We present a detailed theoretical analysis of very rare, exclusive hadronic decays of the electroweak gauge bosons V=W, Z from first principles of QCD. Our main focus is on the radiative decays V->M+gamma, in which M is a pseudoscalar or vector meson. At leading order in an expansion in powers of Lambda_{QCD}/m_V the decay amplitudes can be factorized into convolutions of calculable hard-scattering coefficients with the leading-twist light-cone distribution amplitude of the meson M. Power corrections to the decay rates arise first at order (Lambda_{QCD}/m_V)^2. They can be estimated in terms of higher-twist distribution amplitudes and are predicted to be tiny. We include one-loop O(alpha…

NNLL momentum-space resummation for stop-pair production at the LHC

If supersymmetry near the TeV scale is realized in Nature, the pair production of scalar top squarks is expected to be observable at the Large Hadron Collider. Recently, effective field-theory methods were employed to obtain approximate predictions for the cross section for this process, which include soft-gluon emission effects up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbation theory. In this work we employ the same techniques to resum soft-gluon emission effects to all orders in perturbation theory and with next-to-next-to-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. We analyze the effects of NNLL resummation on the stop-pair production cross section by obtaining NLO+NNLL predictions in pair inv…

Dynamical threshold enhancement and resummation in Drell-Yan production

Partonic cross sections for the production of massive objects in hadronic collisions receive large corrections when the invariant mass of the initial-state partons is just above the production threshold. Since typically the center-of-mass energy of the hadronic collision is much higher than the mass of the heavy objects, it is not obvious that these contributions translate into large corrections to the hadronic cross section. Using a recent approach to threshold resummation based on effective field theory, we quantify to which extent the fall-off of the parton densities at high x leads to a dynamical enhancement of the partonic threshold region. With the example of Drell-Yan production, we …

Effective Field Theory for Jet Processes

Processes involving narrow jets receive perturbative corrections enhanced by logarithms of the jet opening angle and the ratio of the energies inside and outside the jets. Analyzing cone-jet processes in effective field theory, we find that in addition to soft and collinear fields their description requires degrees of freedom which are simultaneously soft and collinear to the jets. These collinear-soft particles can resolve individual collinear partons, leading to a complicated multi-Wilson-line structure of the associated operators at higher orders. Our effective field theory provides, for the first time, a factorization formula for a cone-jet process, which fully separates the physics at …

Structure of infrared singularities of gauge-theory amplitudes at three and four loops

The infrared divergences of massless n-parton scattering amplitudes can be derived from the anomalous dimension of n-jet operators in soft-collinear effective theory. Up to three-loop order, the latter has been shown to have a very simple structure: it contains pairwise color-dipole interactions among the external partons, governed by the cusp anomalous dimension and a logarithm of the kinematic invariants s_{ij}, plus a possible three-loop correlation involving four particles, which is described by a yet unknown function of conformal cross ratios of kinematic invariants. This function is constrained by two-particle collinear limits and by the known behavior of amplitudes in the high-energy…

Factorization and NNLL Resummation for Higgs Production with a Jet Veto

Using methods of effective field theory, we derive the first all-order factorization theorem for the Higgs-boson production cross section with a jet veto, imposed by means of a standard sequential recombination jet algorithm. Like in the case of small-q_T resummation in Drell-Yan and Higgs production, the factorization is affected by a collinear anomaly. Our analysis provides the basis for a systematic resummation of large logarithms log(m_H/p_T^veto) beyond leading-logarithmic order. Specifically, we present predictions for the resummed jet-veto cross section and efficiency at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. Our results have important implications for Higgs-boson searches at the…

Diphoton resonance from a warped extra dimension

We argue that extensions of the Standard Model (SM) with a warped extra dimension, which successfully address the hierarchy and flavor problems of elementary particle physics, can provide an elegant explanation of the 750 GeV diphoton excess recently reported by ATLAS and CMS. A gauge-singlet bulk scalar with ${\cal O}(1)$ couplings to fermions is identified as the new resonance $S$, and the vector-like Kaluza-Klein excitations of the SM quarks and leptons mediate its loop-induced couplings to photons and gluons. The electroweak gauge symmetry almost unambiguously dictates the bulk matter content and hence the hierarchies of the $S\to \gamma\gamma$, $WW$, $ZZ$, $Z\gamma$, $t\bar t$ and dije…

Review of Particle Physics

The Review summarizes much of particle physics and cosmology. Using data from previous editions, plus 2,143 new measurements from 709 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured properties of gauge bosons and the recently discovered Higgs boson, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as supersymmetric particles, heavy bosons, axions, dark photons, etc. Particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as Higgs Boson Physics, Supersymmetry, Grand Unified Theories, Neutrino Mixing, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Particle Detectors, Colliders, …

Precision predictions for the tt¯ production cross section at hadron colliders

Abstract We make use of recent results in effective theory and higher-order perturbative calculations to improve the theoretical predictions of the top-quark pair production cross section at hadron colliders. In particular, we supplement the fixed-order NLO calculation with higher-order corrections from soft gluon resummation at NNLL accuracy. Uncertainties due to power corrections to the soft limit are estimated by combining results from single-particle inclusive and pair invariant-mass kinematics. We present our predictions as functions of the top-quark mass in both the pole scheme and the M S ¯ scheme. We also discuss the merits of using threshold masses as an alternative, and calculate …

Factorization and resummation for jet broadening

Jet broadening is an event-shape variable probing the transverse momenta of particles inside jets. It has been measured precisely in e+e- annihilations and is used to extract the strong coupling constant. The factorization of the associated cross section at small values of the broadening is afflicted by a collinear anomaly. Based on an analysis of this anomaly, we present the first all-order expressions for jet-broadening distributions, which are free of large perturbative logarithms in the two-jet limit. Our formulae reproduce known results at next-to-leading logarithmic order but also extend to higher orders.

Higgs production and decay in models of a warped extra dimension with a bulk Higgs

Warped extra-dimension models in which the Higgs boson is allowed to propagate in the bulk of a compact AdS5 space are conjectured to be dual to models featuring a partially composite Higgs boson. They offer a framework with which to investigate the implications of changing the scaling dimension of the Higgs operator, which can be used to reduce the constraints from electroweak precision data. In the context of such models, we calculate the cross section for Higgs production in gluon fusion and the H → γγ decay rate and show that they are finite (at one-loop order) as a consequence of gauge invariance. The extended scalar sector comprising the Kaluza-Klein excitations of the Standard Model …

Flavor physics in the quark sector

218 páginas, 106 figuras, 89 tablas.-- arXiv:0907.5386v2.-- Report of the CKM workshop, Rome 9-13th Sep. 2008.-- et al.

Exclusive radiative Higgs decays as probes of light-quark Yukawa couplings

We present a detailed analysis of the rare exclusive Higgs-boson decays into a single vector meson and a photon and investigate the possibility of using these processes to probe the light-quark Yukawa couplings. We work with an effective Lagrangian with modified Higgs couplings to account for possible new-physics effects in a model-independent way. The h->V\gamma{} decay rate is governed by the destructive interference of two amplitudes, one of which involves the Higgs coupling to the quark anti-quark pair inside the vector meson. We derive this amplitude at next-to-leading order in \alpha_s using QCD factorization, including the resummation of large logarithmic corrections and accounting f…

Long-lived particles at the energy frontier: the MATHUSLA physics case

We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of Standard Model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the $\mu$m scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of $\sim 10^7$m. Neutral LLPs with lifetimes above $\sim$ 100m are particularly difficult to probe, as the sensitivity of the LHC main detectors is limited by challenging …

Dipole operator constraints on composite Higgs models

Flavour- and CP-violating electromagnetic or chromomagnetic dipole operators in the quark sector are generated in a large class of new physics models and are strongly constrained by measurements of the neutron electric dipole moment and observables sensitive to flavour-changing neutral currents, such as the $B\to X_s\gamma$ branching ratio and $\epsilon'/\epsilon$. After a model-independent discussion of the relevant constraints, we analyze these effects in models with partial compositeness, where the quarks get their masses by mixing with vector-like composite fermions. These scenarios can be seen as the low-energy limit of composite Higgs or warped extra dimensional models. We study diffe…

Higgs decay into two photons in a warped extra dimension

A detailed five-dimensional calculation of the Higgs-boson decay into two photons is performed in both the minimal and the custodially protected Randall–Sundrum (RS) model, where the Standard Model (SM) fields propagate in the bulk and the scalar sector lives on or near the IR brane. It is explicitly shown that the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$R_\xi $$\end{document}Rξ gauge invariance of the sum of diagrams involving bosonic fields in the SM also applies to the case of these RS scenarios. An e…

Factorization at Subleading Power, Sudakov Resummation and Endpoint Divergences in Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

Starting from the first renormalized factorization theorem for a process described at subleading power in soft-collinear effective theory, we discuss the resummation of Sudakov logarithms for such processes in renormalization-group improved perturbation theory. Endpoint divergences in convolution integrals, which arise generically beyond leading power, are regularized and removed by systematically rearranging the factorization formula. We study in detail the example of the $b$-quark induced $h\to\gamma\gamma$ decay of the Higgs boson, for which we resum large logarithms of the ratio $M_h/m_b$ at next-to-leading logarithmic order. We also briefly discuss the related $gg\to h$ amplitude.

Effective field theory after a new-physics discovery

When a new heavy particle is discovered at the LHC or at a future high-energy collider, it will be interesting to study its decays into Standard Model particles using an effective field-theory framework. We point out that the proper effective theory can not be constructed as an expansion in local, higher-dimensional operators; rather, it must be based on non-local operators defined in soft-collinear effective theory (SCET). For the interesting case where the new resonance is a gauge-singlet spin-0 boson, which is the first member of a new sector governed by a mass scale $M$, we show how a consistent scale separation between $M$ and the electroweak scale $v$ is achieved up to next-to-next-to…

Soft Gluon Resummation in t anti-t Production at Hadron Colliders

Little Randall-Sundrum models:ϵKstrikes again

A detailed phenomenological analysis of neutral kaon mixing in ``little Randall-Sundrum'' models is presented. It is shown that the constraints arising from the $CP$-violating quantity ${ϵ}_{K}$ can, depending on the value of the ultraviolet cutoff, be even stronger than in the original Randall-Sundrum scenario addressing the hierarchy problem up to the Planck scale. The origin of the enhancement is explained, and a bound ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{\mathrm{UV}}g\mathrm{\text{several}}$ ${10}^{3}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ is derived, below which vast corrections to ${ϵ}_{K}$ are generically unavoidable. Implications for nonstandard ${Z}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}b\overline{b}$ couplings ar…

Higgs production in a warped extra dimension

Measurements of the Higgs-boson production cross section at the LHC are an important tool for studying electroweak symmetry breaking at the quantum level, since the main production mechanism gg → h is loop-suppressed in the Standard Model (SM). Higgs production in extra-dimensional extensions of the SM is sensitive to the Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitations of the quarks, which can be exchanged as virtual particles in the loop. In the context of the minimal Randall-Sundrum (RS) model with bulk fields and a brane-localized Higgs sector, we derive closed analytical expressions for the gluon-gluon fusion process, finding that the effect of the infinite tower of virtual KK states can be described in …

Analyzing the CP Nature of a New Scalar Particle via S→Zh Decays

Scalar particles $S$ that are singlets under the standard model gauge group are generic features of many models of fundamental physics, in particular, as possible mediators to a hidden sector. We show that the decay $S\ensuremath{\rightarrow}Zh$ provides a powerful probe of the $CP$ nature of the scalar, because it is allowed only if $S$ has $CP$-odd interactions. We perform a model-independent analysis of this decay using an effective Lagrangian and compute the relevant Wilson coefficients arising from integrating out heavy fermions to one-loop order.

Evolution of the $B$-Meson Light-Cone Distribution Amplitude in Laplace Space

The $B$-meson light-cone distribution amplitude is a central quantity governing non-perturbative hadronic dynamics in exclusive $B$ decays. We show that the information needed to describe such processes at leading power in $\Lambda_{\rm QCD}/m_b$ is most directly contained in its Laplace transform $\tilde\phi_+(\eta)$. We derive the renormalization-group (RG) equation satisfied by this function and present its exact solution. We express the RG-improved QCD factorization theorem for the decay $B^-\to\gamma\ell^-\bar\nu$ in terms of $\tilde\phi_+(\eta)$ and show that it is explicitly independent of the factorization scale. We propose an unbiased parameterization of $\tilde\phi_+(\eta)$ in ter…

Origin of the Large Perturbative Corrections to Higgs Production at Hadron Colliders

The very large K-factor for Higgs-boson production at hadron colliders is shown to result from enhanced perturbative corrections of the form (C_A\pi\alpha_s)^n, which arise in the analytic continuation of the gluon form factor to time-like momentum transfer. These terms are resummed to all orders in perturbation theory using the renormalization group. After the resummation, the K-factor for the production of a light Higgs boson at the LHC is reduced to a value close to 1.3.

Threshold expansion at order αs4 for the tt¯ invariant mass distribution at hadron colliders

Abstract We calculate the leading O ( α s 4 ) contributions to the invariant mass distribution of top-quark pairs produced at the Tevatron and LHC, in the limit where the invariant mass of the t t ¯ pair approaches the partonic center-of-mass energy. Our results determine at NNLO in α s the coefficients of all singular plus distributions and scale-dependent logarithms in the differential partonic cross sections for q q ¯ , g g → t t ¯ + X . A numerical analysis showing the effects of the NNLO corrections on the central values and scale dependence of the invariant mass distribution is performed. The NNLO corrections are found to significantly enhance the cross section and reduce the perturba…

Forward-Backward and Charge Asymmetries in the Standard Model

This talk reviews the Standard Model predictions for the top-quark forward backward and charge asymmetries measured at the Tevatron and at the LHC.

Top-Quark Pair Production Beyond Next-to-Leading Order

We report on recent calculations of the differential cross section for top-quark pair production at hadron colliders. The results are differential with respect to the top-pair invariant mass and to the partonic scattering angle. In these calculations, which were carried out by employing soft-collinear effective theory techniques, we resummed threshold logarithms up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. Starting from the differential cross section, it is possible to obtain theoretical predictions for the invariant-mass distribution and the total cross section. We summarize here our results for these observables, and we compare them with the results obtained from different calculation…

Top-pair forward-backward asymmetry beyond next-to-leading order

We make use of recent results in effective theory and higher-order perturbative calculations to improve the theoretical predictions of the QCD contribution to the top-quark pair production forward-backward asymmetry at the Tevatron. In particular, we supplement the fixed-order next-to-leading order calculation with higher-order corrections from soft-gluon resummation at next-to next-to-leading order accuracy performed in two different kinematic schemes, which allows us to make improved predictions for the asymmetry in the $p\overline{p}$ and $t\overline{t}$ rest frames as a function of the rapidity and invariant mass of the $t\overline{t}$ pair. Furthermore, we provide binned results which …

Axionlike Particles, Lepton-Flavor Violation, and a New Explanation of aμ and ae

Axionlike particles (ALPs) with lepton-flavor-violating couplings can be probed in exotic muon and tau decays. The sensitivity of different experiments depends strongly on the ALP mass and its couplings to leptons and photons. For ALPs that can be resonantly produced, the sensitivity of three-body decays such as μ→3e and τ→3μ exceeds by many orders of magnitude that of radiative decays like μ→eγ and τ→μγ. Searches for these two types of processes are therefore highly complementary. We discuss experimental constraints on ALPs with a single dominant lepton-flavor-violating coupling. Allowing for one or more such couplings offers qualitatively new ways to explain the anomalies related to the m…

Solution to the Flavor Problem of Warped Extra-Dimension Models

A minimal solution to the flavor problem of warped extra-dimension models, i.e. the excessive mixed-chirality contribution to CP violation in K-Kbar mixing arising from Kaluza-Klein (KK) gluon exchange, is proposed. Extending the strong-interaction gauge group in the bulk by an additional SU(3), and breaking this symmetry to QCD via boundary conditions, the constraints arising from the epsilon_K parameter are significantly relaxed. As a result, KK scales M_KK ~ 2 TeV are consistent with all flavor observables without significant fine-tuning. The model predicts the existence of an extended Higgs sector featuring massive color-octet scalars and a tower of KK pseudo-axial gluon resonances, who…

Approximate NNLO predictions for the stop-pair production cross section at the LHC

If the minimal supersymmetric standard model at scales of around 1 TeV is realized in nature, the total top-squark pair production cross section should be measurable at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. In this work we present precise predictions for this observable, which are based upon approximate NNLO formulas obtained using soft-collinear effective theory methods.

Resummation of Super-Leading Logarithms

Jet cross sections at high-energy colliders exhibit intricate patterns of logarithmically enhanced higher-order corrections. In particular, so-called non-global logarithms emerge from soft radiation emitted off energetic partons inside jets. While this is a single-logarithmic effect at lepton colliders, at hadron colliders phase factors in the amplitudes lead to double-logarithmic corrections starting at four-loop order. This effect was discovered a long time ago, but not much is known about the higher-order behavior of these terms and their process dependence. We derive, for the first time, the all-order structure of these "super-leading logarithms" for generic $2\to l$ scattering processe…

5D perspective on Higgs production at the boundary of a warped extra dimension

A comprehensive, five-dimensional calculation of Higgs-boson production in gluon fusion is performed for both the minimal and the custodially protected Randall-Sundrum (RS) model, with Standard Model fields propagating in the bulk and the scalar sector confined on or near the IR brane. For the first time, an exact expression for the gg->h amplitude in terms of the five-dimensional fermion propagator is derived, which includes the full dependence on the Higgs-boson mass. Various results in the literature are reconciled and shown to correspond to different incarnations of the RS model, in which the Higgs field is either localized on the IR brane or is described in terms of a narrow bulk st…

Factorization and N3LLp+NNLO predictions for the Higgs cross section with a jet veto

We have recently derived a factorization formula for the Higgs-boson production cross section in the presence of a jet veto, which allows for a systematic resummation of large Sudakov logarithms of the form alpha_s^n ln^m(p_T^veto/m_H), along with the large virtual corrections known to affect also the total cross section. Here we determine the ingredients entering this formula at two-loop accuracy. Specifically, we compute the dependence on the jet-radius parameter R, which is encoded in the two-loop coefficient of the collinear anomaly, by means of a direct, fully analytic calculation in the framework of soft-collinear effective theory. We confirm the result obtained by Banfi et al. from a…

Bounds on Warped Extra Dimensions from a Standard Model-like Higgs Boson

We point out that the discovery of a light Higgs boson in the \gamma\gamma, ZZ and WW decay channels at the LHC, with cross sections not far from the predictions of the Standard Model, would have important implications for the parameters of warped extra-dimension models. Due to loop effects of Kaluza-Klein particles, these models predict a significant reduction of the Higgs production cross section via gluon-gluon fusion, combined with an enhancement of the ratio Br(h->\gamma\gamma)/Br(h->ZZ). LHC measurements of these decays will probe Kaluza-Klein masses up to the 10 TeV range, exceeding by far the reach for direct production.

Infrared singularities of QCD amplitudes with massive partons

A formula for the two-loop infrared singularities of dimensionally regularized QCD scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of massive and massless legs is derived. The singularities are obtained from the solution of a renormalization-group equation, and factorization constraints on the relevant anomalous-dimension matrix are analyzed. The simplicity of the structure of the matrix relevant for massless partons does not carry over to the case with massive legs, where starting at two-loop order new color and momentum structures arise, which are not of the color-dipole form. The resulting two-loop three-parton correlations can be expressed in terms of two functions, for which some genera…

Infrared Singularities and Soft Gluon Resummation with Massive Partons

Infrared divergences of QCD scattering amplitudes can be derived from an anomalous dimension matrix, which is also an essential ingredient for the resummation of large logarithms due to soft gluon emissions. We report a recent analytical calculation of the anomalous dimension matrix with both massless and massive partons at two-loop level, which describes the two-loop infrared singularities of any scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of massless and massive partons, and also enables soft gluon resummation at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic order. As an application, we calculate the infrared poles in the q qbar -> t tbar and gg -> t tbar scattering amplitudes at two-loop …

Cosmon Lumps and Horizonless Black Holes

We investigate non-linear, spherically symmetric solutions to the coupled system of a quintessence field and Einstein gravity. In the presence of a scalar potential, we find regular solutions that to an outside observer very closely resemble Schwarzschild black holes. However, these cosmon lumps have neither a horizon nor a central singularity. A stability analysis reveals that our static solutions are dynamically unstable. It remains an open question whether analogous stable solutions exist.

Semi-Lorentz invariance, unitarity, and critical exponents of symplectic fermion models

We study a model of N-component complex fermions with a kinetic term that is second order in derivatives. This symplectic fermion model has an Sp(2N) symmetry, which for any N contains an SO(3) subgroup that can be identified with rotational spin of spin-1/2 particles. Since the spin-1/2 representation is not promoted to a representation of the Lorentz group, the model is not fully Lorentz invariant, although it has a relativistic dispersion relation. The hamiltonian is pseudo-hermitian, H^\dagger = C H C, which implies it has a unitary time evolution. Renormalization-group analysis shows the model has a low-energy fixed point that is a fermionic version of the Wilson-Fisher fixed points. T…

LHC as an Axion Factory: Probing an Axion Explanation for (g−2)μ with Exotic Higgs Decays

We argue that a large region of so-far unconstrained parameter space for axionlike particles (ALPs), where their couplings to the standard model are of order (0.01-1)  TeV^{-1}, can be explored by searches for the exotic Higgs decays h→Za and h→aa in run 2 of the LHC. Almost the complete region in which ALPs can explain the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon can be probed by searches for these decays with subsequent decay a→γγ, even if the relevant couplings are loop suppressed and the a→γγ branching ratio is less than 1.

Soft gluon resummation for Slepton pair-production

We report on recent results on the differential cross section for slepton pair-production at hadron colliders. We use an approach to threshold resummation, based on soft-collinear effective theory, to quantify the dynamical enhancement of the partonic threshold region. We evaluate the resummed invariant mass distribution and total cross section at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order, and match the result onto next-to-leading order calculation.

Unparticle physics with jets

Using methods of effective field theory, we show that after resummation of Sudakov logarithms the spectral densities of interacting quark and gluon fields in ordinary quantum field theories such as QCD are virtually indistinguishable from those of "unparticles" of a hypothetical conformal sector coupled to the Standard Model, recently studied by Georgi. Unparticles are therefore less exotic that originally thought. Models in which a hidden sector weakly coupled to the Standard Model contains a QCD-like theory, which confines at some scale much below the characteristic energy of a given process, can give rise to signatures closely resembling those from unparticles.

Infrared singularities of scattering amplitudes in perturbative QCD

An exact formula is derived for the infrared singularities of dimensionally regularized scattering amplitudes in massless QCD with an arbitrary number of legs, valid at any number of loops. It is based on the conjecture that the anomalous-dimension matrix of n-jet operators in soft-collinear effective theory contains only a single non-trivial color structure, whose coefficient is the cusp anomalous dimension of Wilson loops with light-like segments. Its color-diagonal part is characterized by two anomalous dimensions, which are extracted to three-loop order from known perturbative results for the quark and gluon form factors. This allows us to predict the three-loop coefficients of all 1/ep…

Higher-order QCD predictions for dark matter production in mono- Z searches at the LHC

We present theoretical predictions for mono-$Z$ production in the search for dark matter in Run-II at the LHC, including next-to-leading order QCD corrections and parton-shower effects. We consider generic simplified models with vector and scalar $s$-channel mediators. The calculation is performed by implementing the simplified models in the FeynRules/MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework, which allows us to include higher-order QCD corrections and parton-shower effects in an automated way. We find that these corrections are sizeable and help to reduce the theoretical uncertainties. We also investigate the discovery potential in several benchmark scenarios in the 13 TeV run at the LHC.

Automated NNLL+NLO Resummation for Jet-Veto Cross Sections

In electroweak-boson production processes with a jet veto, higher-order corrections are enhanced by logarithms of the veto scale over the invariant mass of the boson system. In this paper, we resum these Sudakov logarithms at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy and match our predictions to next-to-leading order (NLO) fixed-order results. We perform the calculation in an automated way, for arbitrary electroweak final states and in the presence of kinematic cuts on the leptons produced in the decays of the electroweak bosons. The resummation is based on a factorization theorem for the cross sections into hard functions, which encode the virtual corrections to the boson product…

Updated Predictions for Higgs Production at the Tevatron and the LHC

We present updated predictions for the total cross section for Higgs boson production through gluon fusion at hadron colliders. In addition to renormalization-group improvement at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, we incorporate the two-loop electroweak corrections, which leads to the most precise predictions at present. Numerical results are given for Higgs masses between 115 GeV and 200 GeV at the Tevatron with \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV and the LHC with \sqrt{s}=7-14 TeV.

Two-loop divergences of scattering amplitudes with massive partons

We complete the study of two-loop infrared singularities of scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of massive and massless partons in non-abelian gauge theories. To this end, we calculate the universal functions F_1 and f_2, which completely specify the structure of three-parton correlations in the soft anomalous-dimension matrix, at two-loop order in closed analytic form. Both functions are found to be suppressed like O(m^4/s^2) in the limit of small parton masses, in accordance with mass factorization theorems proposed in the literature. On the other hand, they are unsuppressed and diverge logarithmically near the threshold for pair production of two heavy particles. As an applica…

Enhanced nonlocal power corrections to theB¯→Xsγdecay rate

A new class of enhanced nonperturbative corrections to the inclusive $\overline{B}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{X}_{s}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ decay rate is identified, which contribute first at order $\ensuremath{\Lambda}/{m}_{b}$ in the heavy-quark expansion and cannot be described using a local operator product expansion. Instead, these effects are described in terms of hadronic matrix elements of nonlocal operators with component fields separated by lightlike distances. They contribute to the high-energy part of the photon-energy spectrum but do not reduce to local operators when an integral over energy is taken to obtain the total inclusive decay rate. The dominant corrections depend on the fla…

Top quark pair production beyond the next-to-leading order

We report on recent calculations of the total cross section and differential distributions of top quark pair production at hardon colliders, including the invariant mass distribution, the transverse momentum and rapidity distributions, as well as the forward-backward asymmetry. The calculations are based on soft gluon resummation at the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy.

Renormalization and Scale Evolution of the Soft-Quark Soft Function

Soft functions defined in terms of matrix elements of soft fields dressed by Wilson lines are central components of factorization theorems for cross sections and decay rates in collider and heavy-quark physics. While in many cases the relevant soft functions are defined in terms of gluon operators, at subleading order in power counting soft functions containing quark fields appear. We present a detailed discussion of the properties of the soft-quark soft function consisting of a quark propagator dressed by two finite-length Wilson lines connecting at one point. This function enters in the factorization theorem for the Higgs-boson decay amplitude of the $h\to\gamma\gamma$ process mediated by…

Consistent Treatment of Axions in the Weak Chiral Lagrangian.

We present a consistent implementation of weak decays involving an axion or axion-like particle in the context of an effective chiral Lagrangian. We argue that previous treatments of such processes have used an incorrect representation of the flavor-changing quark currents in the chiral theory. As an application, we derive model-independent results for the decays $K^-\to\pi^- a$ and $\pi^-\to e^-\bar\nu_e a$ at leading order in the chiral expansion and for arbitrary axion couplings and mass. In particular, we find that the $K^-\to\pi^- a$ branching ratio is almost 40 times larger than previously estimated.

A model for the very early universe

A model with N species of massless fermions interacting via (microscopic) gravitational torsion in de Sitter spacetime is investigated in the limit N->infinity. The U_V(N)*U_A(N) flavor symmetry is broken dynamically irrespective of the (positive) value of the induced four-fermion coupling. This model is equivalent to a theory with free but massive fermions fluctuating about the chiral condensate. When the fermions are integrated out in a way demonstrated long ago by Candelas and Raine, the associated gap equation together with the Friedmann equation predict that the Hubble parameter vanishes. Introducing a matter sector (subject to a finite gauge symmetry) as a source for subsequent cos…

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.

Minimal Leptoquark Explanation for theRD(*),RK, and(g−2)μAnomalies

We show that by adding a single new scalar particle to the standard model, a TeV-scale leptoquark with the quantum numbers of a right-handed down quark, one can explain in a natural way three of the most striking anomalies of particle physics: the violation of lepton universality in B[over ¯]→K[over ¯]l^{+}l^{-} decays, the enhanced B[over ¯]→D^{(*)}τν[over ¯] decay rates, and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Constraints from other precision measurements in the flavor sector can be satisfied without fine-tuning. Our model predicts enhanced B[over ¯]→K[over ¯]^{(*)}νν[over ¯] decay rates and a new-physics contribution to B_{s}-B[over ¯]_{s} mixing close to the current central fit v…

Higgs-Boson Production at Small Transverse Momentum

Using methods from effective field theory, we have recently developed a novel, systematic framework for the calculation of the cross sections for electroweak gauge-boson production at small and very small transverse momentum q_T, in which large logarithms of the scale ratio m_V/q_T are resummed to all orders. This formalism is applied to the production of Higgs bosons in gluon fusion at the LHC. The production cross section receives logarithmically enhanced corrections from two sources: the running of the hard matching coefficient and the collinear factorization anomaly. The anomaly leads to the dynamical generation of a non-perturbative scale q_* ~ m_H e^{-const/\alpha_s(m_H)} ~ 8 GeV, whi…

Factorization and Momentum-Space Resummation in Deep-Inelastic Scattering

Renormalization-group methods in soft-collinear effective theory are used to perform the resummation of large perturbative logarithms for deep-inelastic scattering in the threshold region x->1. The factorization theorem for the structure function F_2(x,Q^2) for x->1 is rederived in the effective theory, whereby contributions from the hard scale Q^2 and the jet scale Q^2(1-x) are encoded in Wilson coefficients of effective-theory operators. Resummation is achieved by solving the evolution equations for these operators. Simple analytic results for the resummed expressions are obtained directly in momentum space, and are free of the Landau-pole singularities inherent to the traditional m…

Two-loop divergences of massive scattering amplitudes in non-abelian gauge theories

The infrared divergences of QCD scattering amplitudes can be derived from an anomalous dimension \Gamma, which is a matrix in color space and depends on the momenta and masses of the external partons. It has recently been shown that in cases where there are at least two massive partons involved in the scattering process, starting at two-loop order \Gamma receives contributions involving color and momentum correlations between three (and more) partons. The three-parton correlations can be described by two universal functions F_1 and f_2. In this paper these functions are calculated at two-loop order in closed analytic form and their properties are studied in detail. Both functions are found …

Electroweak Gauge-Boson and Higgs Production at Small qT: Infrared Safety from the Collinear Anomaly

We study the differential cross sections for electroweak gauge-boson and Higgs production at small and very small transverse-momentum $q_T$. Large logarithms are resummed using soft-collinear effective theory. The collinear anomaly generates a non-perturbative scale $q_*$, which protects the processes from receiving large long-distance hadronic contributions. A numerical comparison of our predictions with data on the transverse-momentum distribution in Z-boson production at the Tevatron and LHC is given.