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At least 379 records · Page 21

Winos from natural SUSY at the high luminosity LHC

In natural supersymmetric models defined by no worse than a part in thirty electroweak fine-tuning, winos and binos are generically expected to be much heavier than Higgsinos. Moreover, the splitting between the Higgsinos is expected to be small, so that the visible decay products of the heavier Higgsinos are soft, rendering the Higgsinos quasi-invisible at the LHC. Within the natural supersymmetry (SUSY) framework, heavy electroweak gauginos decay to W , Z or h bosons plus Higgsinos in the ratio ∼ 2 ∶ 1 ∶ 1 , respectively. This is in sharp contrast to models with a binolike lightest superpartner and very heavy Higgsinos, where the charged (neutral) wino essentially always decays to a W ( h ) boson and an invisible bino. Wino pair production at the LHC, in natural SUSY, thus leads to V V , V h and h h + E T final states ( V = W , Z ) where, for TeV scale winos, the vector bosons and h daughters are considerably boosted. We identify eight different channels arising from the leptonic and hadronic decays of the vector bosons and the decay h → b b ¯ , each of which offers an avenue for wino discovery at the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). By combining the signal in all eight channels we find, assuming s = 14 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb − 1 , that the discovery reach for winos extends to m ( w i n o ) ∼ 1.1 TeV , while the 95% CL exclusion range extends to a wino mass of almost 1.4 TeV. We also identify “Higgsino specific channels” which could serve to provide 3 σ evidence that winos lighter than 1.2 TeV decay to light Higgsinos rather than to a binolike lightest supersymmetric particle, should a wino signal appear at the HL-LHC. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Search for Higgs boson pair production in association with a vector boson in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV}$ with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a search for Higgs boson pair (hh) production in association with a vector boson ($W\; {\text {o}r}\; Z$) using 139 fb –1 of proton–proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV}$ recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in final states in which the vector boson decays leptonically ($W\rightarrow \ell \nu ,\, Z\rightarrow \ell \ell ,\nu \nu$ with $\ell =e, \mu$) and the Higgs bosons each decay into a pair of b-quarks. It targets Vhh signals from both non-resonant hh production, present in the Standard Model (SM), and resonant hh production, as predicted in some SM extensions. A 95% confidence-level upper limit of 183 (87) times the SM cross-section is observed (expected) for non-resonant Vhh production when assuming the kinematics are as expected in the SM. Constraints are also placed on Higgs boson coupling modifiers. For the resonant search, upper limits on the production cross-sections are derived for two specific models: one is the production of a vector boson along with a neutral heavy scalar resonance H, in the mass range 260–1000 GeV, that decays into hh, and the other is the production of a heavier neutral pseudoscalar resonance A that decays into a Z boson and H boson, where the A boson mass is 360–800 GeV and the H boson mass is 260–400 GeV. Constraints are also derived in the parameter space of two-Higgs-doublet models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Leading-color two-loop amplitudes for four partons and a $\textit{W}$ boson in QCD

We present the leading-color two-loop QCD corrections for the scattering of four partons and a W boson, including its leptonic decay. The amplitudes are assembled from the planar two-loop helicity amplitudes for four partons and a vector boson decaying to a lepton pair, which are also used to determine the planar two-loop amplitudes for four partons and a $Z/γ^\ast$ boson with a leptonic decay. The analytic expressions are obtained by setting up a dedicated Ansatz and constraining the free parameters from numerical samples obtained within the framework of numerical unitarity. The large linear systems that must be solved to determine the analytic expressions are constructed to be in Vandermonde form. Such systems can be very efficiently solved, bypassing the bottleneck of Gaussian elimination. Our results are expressed in a basis of one-mass pentagon functions, which opens the possibility of their efficient numerical evaluation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A theory of dark pions

We present a complete model of a dark QCD sector with light dark pions, broadly motivated by hidden naturalness arguments. The dark quarks couple to the Standard Model via irrelevant Z- and Higgs-portal operators, which encode the low-energy effects of TeV-scale fermions interacting through Yukawa couplings with the Higgs field. The dark pions, depending on their CP properties, behave as either composite axion-like particles (ALPs) mixing with the Z or scalars mixing with the Higgs. The dark pion lifetimes fall naturally in the most interesting region for present and proposed searches for long-lived particles, at the LHC and beyond. This is demonstrated by studying in detail three benchmark scenarios for the symmetries and structure of the theory. Within a coherent framework, we analyze and compare the GeV-scale signatures of flavor-changing meson decays to dark pions, the weak-scale decays of Z and Higgs bosons to hidden hadrons, and the TeV-scale signals of the ultraviolet theory. New constraints are derived from B decays at CMS and from Z-initiated dark showers at LHCb, focusing on the displaced dimuon signature. We also emphasize the strong potential sensitivity of ATLAS and CMS to dark shower signals with large multiplicities and long lifetimes of the dark pions. As a key part of our phenomenological study, we perform a new data-driven calculation of the decays of a light ALP to exclusive hadronic Standard Model final states. The results are provided in a general form, applicable to any model with arbitrary flavor-diagonal couplings of the ALP to fermions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Search for direct production of electroweakinos in final states with one lepton, jets and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for electroweak production of wino-like chargino pairs, ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^{+}{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^{-}$, and of wino-like chargino and next-to-lightest neutralino, ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^{\pm }{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0$, are presented. The models explored assume that the charginos decay into a W boson and the lightest neutralino, ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^{\pm}\to {W}^{\pm }{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$. The next-to-lightest neutralinos are degenerate in mass with the chargino and decay to ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$ and either a Z or a Higgs boson, ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0\to Z{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$ or $h{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$. The searches exploit the presence of a single isolated lepton and missing transverse momentum from the W boson decay products and the lightest neutralinos, and the presence of jets from hadronically decaying Z or W bosons or from the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of b-quarks. The searches use 139 fb –1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018. No deviations from the Standard Model expectations are found, and 95% confidence level exclusion limits are set. Chargino masses ranging from 260 to 520 GeV are excluded for a massless ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$ in chargino pair production models. Degenerate chargino and next-to-lightest neutralino masses ranging from 260 to 420 GeV are excluded for a massless ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$ for ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0\to Z{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$. For decays through an on-shell Higgs boson and for mass-splitting between ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^{\pm }/{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0$ and ${\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0$ as small as the Higgs boson mass, mass limits are improved by up to 40 GeV in the range of 200–260 GeV and 280–470 GeV compared to previous ATLAS constraints.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Loop current fluctuations and quantum critical transport

We study electrical transport at quantum critical points (QCPs) associated with loop current ordering in a metal, focusing specifically on models of the “Hertz-Millis” type. At the infrared (IR) fixed point and in the absence of disorder, the simplest such models have infinite DC conductivity and zero incoherent conductivity at nonzero frequencies. However, we find that a particular deformation, involving N N species of bosons and fermions with random couplings in flavor space, admits a finite incoherent, frequency-dependent conductivity at the IR fixed point, \sigma(\omega>0)\sim\omega^{-2/z} σ ( ω > 0 ) ∼ ω − 2 / z , where z z is the boson dynamical exponent. Leveraging the non-perturbative structure of quantum anomalies, we develop a powerful calculational method for transport. The resulting "anomaly-assisted large N N expansion" allows us to extract the conductivity systematically. Although our results imply that such random-flavor models are problematic as a description of the physical N = 1 N = 1 system, they serve to illustrate some general conditions for quantum critical transport as well as the anomaly-assisted calculational methods. In addition, we revisit an old result that irrelevant operators generate a frequency-dependent conductivity, \sigma(\omega>0) \sim \omega^{-2(z-2)/z} σ ( ω > 0 ) ∼ ω − 2 ( z − 2 ) / z , in problems of this kind. We show explicitly, within the scope of the original calculation, that this result does not hold for any order parameter.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to charm quarks

A direct search for the standard model Higgs boson, H, produced in association with a vector boson, V (W or Z), and decaying to a charm quark pair is presented. The search uses a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{−1}$, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016, at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The search is carried out in mutually exclusive channels targeting specific decays of the vector bosons: W → ℓν, Z → ℓℓ, and Z → νν, where ℓ is an electron or a muon. To fully exploit the topology of the H boson decay, two strategies are followed. In the first one, targeting lower vector boson transverse momentum, the H boson candidate is reconstructed via two resolved jets arising from the two charm quarks from the H boson decay. A second strategy identifies the case where the two charm quark jets from the H boson decay merge to form a single jet, which generally only occurs when the vector boson has higher transverse momentum. Both strategies make use of novel methods for charm jet identification, while jet substructure techniques are also exploited to suppress the background in the merged-jet topology. The two analyses are combined to yield a 95% confidence level observed (expected) upper limit on the cross section $ \sigma \left(\mathrm{VH}\right)\mathrm{\mathcal{B}}\left(\mathrm{H}\to \mathrm{c}\overline{\mathrm{c}}\right) $ of 4.5 $ \left({2.4}_{-0.7}^{+1.0}\right) $ pb, corresponding to 70 (37) times the standard model prediction.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Study of High-Transverse-Momentum Higgs Boson Production in Association with a Vector Boson in the qqbb Final State with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter presents the first study of Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson (V=W or Z) in the fully hadronic qqbb final state using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb –1 . The vector bosons and Higgs bosons are each reconstructed as large-radius jets and tagged using jet substructure techniques. Dedicated tagging algorithms exploiting b-tagging properties are used to identify jets consistent with Higgs bosons decaying into $b\bar{b}$. Dominant backgrounds from multijet production are determined directly from the data, and a likelihood fit to the jet mass distribution of Higgs boson candidates is used to extract the number of signal events. The VH production cross section is measured inclusively and differentially in several ranges of Higgs boson transverse momentum: 250–450, 450–650, and greater than 650 GeV. The inclusive signal yield relative to the standard model expectation is observed to be μ=1.4$^{+1.0}_{–0.9}$ and the corresponding cross section is 3.1±1.3⁢(stat)$^{+1.8}_{–1.4}$(syst.) pb.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for single vector-like $B$ quark production and decay via $B$ → $bH$($b\overline{b}$) in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for single production of a vector-like B quark decaying into a Standard Model b-quark and a Standard Model Higgs boson, which decays into a $b\overline{b}$ pair. The search is carried out in 139 fb -1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC between 2015 and 2018. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and mass-dependent exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the resonance production cross-section in several theoretical scenarios determined by the couplings c W , c Z and c H between the B quark and the Standard Model W, Z and Higgs bosons, respectively. For a vector-like B occurring as an isospin singlet, the search excludes values of c W greater than 0.45 for a B resonance mass (m B ) between 1.0 and 1.2 TeV. For 1.2 TeV < m B < 2.0 TeV, c W values larger than 0.50–0.65 are excluded. If the B occurs as part of a (B, Y) doublet, the smallest excluded c Z coupling values range between 0.3 and 0.5 across the investigated resonance mass range 1.0 TeV < m B < 2.0 TeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Combination of searches for heavy spin-1 resonances using 139 fb -1 of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A combination of searches for new heavy spin-1 resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons or quarks, is presented. The data sample used corresponds to 139 fb -1 of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected during 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting quark pairs (qq, bb, $t\overline{t}$, and tb) or third-generation leptons (τν and ττ) are included in this kind of combination for the first time. A simplified model predicting a spin-1 heavy vector-boson triplet is used. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level and are compared with predictions for the benchmark model. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The complementarity of the various analyses increases the sensitivity to new physics, and the resulting constraints are stronger than those from any individual analysis considered. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.8 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario, below 4.4 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, and up to 1.5 TeV in the case of production via vector-boson fusion.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Energy scale and resolution for anti-$k_t$ jets with radius parameters $R$ = 0.2 and 0.6 measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Jets with different radius parameters R are an important tool for probing quantum chromodynamics processes at different angular scales. Jets with small R = 0.2 are instrumental in measurements of the substructure of large-R jets resulting from collimated hadronic decays of energetic W, Z, and Higgs bosons, top quarks, and of potential new resonances. This paper presents measurements of the energy scale, resolution, and associated uncertainties of jets with radius parameters R = 0.2 and 0.6, obtained using the ATLAS detector. The results are based on 37 fb -1 of proton–proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. A new in situ method for measuring jet energy scale differences between data and Monte Carlo simulations is presented. The systematic uncertainties in the jet energy scale for central jets $(|\eta | < 1.2)$ typically vary from 1% to about 5% as a function of $|\eta |$ at very low transverse momentum, $p_T$ of around 20 GeV for both R = 0.2 and 0.6 jets. The relative energy resolution ranges from (35 ± 6)% at $p_T$ = 20 GeV to (6 ± 0.5)% at $p_T$ = 300 GeV for central R = 0.2 jets, and is found to be slightly worse for R + 0.6 jets. Finally, the effect of close-by hadronic activity on the jet energy scale is investigated and is found to be well modelled by the ATLAS Monte Carlo simulations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for new physics in multijet events with at least one photon and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search for new physics in final states consisting of at least one photon, multiple jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{−1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from 2016 to 2018. The events are divided into mutually exclusive bins characterized by the missing transverse momentum, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and jets consistent with the presence of hadronically decaying W, Z, or Higgs bosons. The observed data are found to be consistent with the prediction from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of pair production of supersymmetric particles via strong and electroweak interactions. Depending on the details of the signal models, gluinos and squarks of masses up to 2.35 and 1.43 TeV, respectively, and electroweakinos of masses up to 1.23 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Primary observables for gauge boson collider signals

In this paper, we determine a basis for the on-shell four-point amplitudes V V V V for Standard Model gauge bosons V = W ± , Z , γ , g . Following previous work, this completes the analysis of three- and four-point amplitudes for the Standard Model and could be used for model-independent searches for beyond the Standard Model physics at colliders. Our results include a Lagrangian parametrization for the “primary” amplitudes, where including additional derivatives leads to the Mandelstam “descendant” amplitudes, and upper bounds on the coupling constants from imposing unitarity. We also perform an estimate for the sensitivity for new Z decays at the High-Luminosity LHC, finding that Z → γ ℓ ¯ ℓ could be searched for, but that other decay modes, like Z → ( γ γ γ , γ g g ) , are too small to be discovered after imposing unitarity constraints. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Development and validation of HERWIG 7 tunes from CMS underlying-event measurements

This paper presents new sets of parameters (“tunes”) for the underlying-event model of the ${\textsc {herwig}} \,7$ event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in ${\textsc {herwig}} \,7$, and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}=0.9$, 7, and $13 \,\text {Te}\text {V} $. The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for pair-produced vector-like top and bottom partners in events with large missing transverse momentum in $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for pair-produced vector-like quarks using events with exactly one lepton ($e$ or $μ$), at least four jets including at least one $b$-tagged jet, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. Data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC from 2015 to 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 , are analysed. Vector-like partners $T$ and $B$ of the top and bottom quarks are considered, as is a vector-like $X$ with charge +5/3, assuming their decay into a $W$, $Z$, or Higgs boson and a third-generation quark. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section of $T$ and $B$ quark pairs as a function of their mass are derived for various decay branching ratio scenarios. The strongest lower limits on the masses are 1.59 assuming mass-degenerate vector-like quarks and branching ratios corresponding to the weak-isospin doublet model, and 1.47 TeV (1.46 TeV) for exclusive $T$→$Zt$ ($B/X$→$Wt$) decays. In addition, lower limits on the $T$ and $B$ quark masses are derived for all possible branching ratios.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

LHC probes of the 10 TeV scale

The usual range of new particle masses, up to a few TeV, searched for at the LHC may be substantially extended if ultraheavy diquark particles exist. A diquark scalar, $S_{uu}$, that interacts perturbatively with two up quarks may be as heavy as 10 TeV and would still produce tens of spectacular events at the 14 TeV LHC. It is shown here that an ultraheavy $S_{uu}$ could be discovered through final states of very high energy in various channels, especially if the diquark can decay into other new heavy particles. Examples include cascade decays of $S_{uu}$ via a second scalar produced in pairs, which leads to two dijet resonances, or to more exotic signals with top quarks, Higgs bosons, electroweak bosons, and high-$p_T$ jets. Another possibility is that the diquark decays into a vectorlike quark of multi-TeV mass and a top or up quark. Signal events include one or two highly boosted top quarks and a Higgs boson or a $Z$, without counterparts containing top antiquarks. Similarly, direct decays of the diquark into $tj$ or $tt$ with leptonic top decays involve only positively charged leptons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a τ lepton pair in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

A search for dark matter particles produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying into a pair of τ leptons is performed using data collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector. The analysis is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb −1 collected in 2017–2018. No significant excess over the expected standard model background is observed. This result is interpreted within the frameworks of the 2HDM+a and baryonic Z′ benchmark simplified models. The 2HDM+a model is a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model featuring a heavy pseudoscalar with an additional light pseudoscalar. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction for each of these two simplified models. Heavy pseudoscalar boson masses between 400 and 700 GeV are excluded for a light pseudoscalar mass of 100 GeV. For the baryonic Z′ model, a statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data set of 36 fb −1 collected in 2016. In this model, Z′ boson masses up to 1050 GeV are excluded for a dark matter particle mass of 1 GeV.

Dark Matter↗

Exotic invertible phases with higher-group symmetries

We investigate a family of invertible phases of matter with higher-dimensional exotic excitations in even spacetime dimensions, which includes and generalizes the Kitaev’s chain in 1+1d. The excitation has \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 higher-form symmetry that mixes with the spacetime Lorentz symmetry to form a higher group spacetime symmetry. We focus on the invertible exotic loop topological phase in 3+1d. This invertible phase is protected by the \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 one-form symmetry and the time-reversal symmetry, and has surface thermal Hall conductance not realized in conventional time-reversal symmetric ordinary bosonic systems without local fermion particles and the exotic loops. We describe a UV realization of the invertible exotic loop topological order using the SO(3)_- S O ( 3 ) − gauge theory with unit discrete theta parameter, which enjoys the same spacetime two-group symmetry. We discuss several applications including the analogue of ``fermionization’’ for ordinary bosonic theories with \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 non-anomalous internal higher-form symmetry and time-reversal symmetry.

Hsin, Po-Shen↗