119240724
Observing Higgs dark matter at the CERN LHC
Triggering the electroweak symmetry breaking may not be the only key role played by the Higgs boson in particle physics. In a recently proposed warped five-dimensional SO(5) ⊗ U(1) gauge-Higgs unification model, the Higgs boson can also constitute the dark matter that permeates the universe. The stability of the Higgs boson in this model is guaranteed in all orders of perturbation theory by the conservation of an H-parity quantum number that forbids triple couplings to all standard model (SM) particles. Such a unique feature of the model shows up as a delay in the restoration of the tree-level unitarity, which in turn enhances the production cross section as compared to the standard model analogue. Recent astrophysical data constrain the mass of such a Higgs dark matter particle to a narrow window of 70-90 GeV range. We show that the Large Hadron Collider can observe these Higgs bosons in the weak boson fusion channel with about 260 fb -1 of integrated luminosity in that mass range.
117282788
Effective field theory approach to the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess
We explore the possibility of explaining a gamma-ray excess in the Galactic center, originally pointed out by Hooper, collaborators, and other groups, in an effective field theory framework. We assume that dark matter annihilation is mediated by particles heavy enough to be integrated out and that such particles couple to all quark families. We calculate the effective coupling required to explain the annihilation signal in the Galactic center and compare with bounds from direct detection, collider searches, and the requirement that the dark matter particles make up the appropriate fraction of the universal energy budget. We find that only a very small set of operators can explain the gamma-ray excess while being consistent with other constraints. Specifically, for scalar dark matter, the viable options are one scalar-type coupling to quarks and one interaction with gluons, while for fermionic (Dirac) dark matter, the viable options are two scalar-type dimension-7 operators or a dimension-6 vector-type operator. In all cases, future searches with the Large Hadron Collider should probe the relevant operators' effective energy scale, while all viable interactions should escape direct detection experiments.
118401678
Searching for Elko dark matter spinors at the CERN LHC
The aim of this paper is to explore the possibility of discovering a fermionic field with mass dimension one, the Elko field, in the Large Hadron Collider. Due to its mass dimension, an Elko can only interact either with Standard Model spinors and gauge fields at one-loop order or at tree level through a quartic interaction with the Higgs field. In this Higgs portal scenario, the Elko is a viable candidate to a dark matter constituent which has been shown to be compatible with relic abundance measurements from WMAP and direct dark matter searches. We propose a search strategy for this dark matter candidate in the channel at the LHC. We show the LHC potential to discover the Elko considering a triple Higgs–Elkos coupling as small as ~0.5 after 1 ab-1 of integrated luminosity. Some phenomenological consequences of this new particle and its collider signatures are also discussed.
118570640
Is the new resonance spin 0 or 2? Taking a step forward in the Higgs boson discovery
The observation of a new boson of mass $\sim 125\gev$ at the CERN LHC may finally have revealed the existence of a Higgs boson. Now we have the opportunity to scrutinize its properties, determining its quantum numbers and couplings to the standard model particles, in order to confirm or not its discovery. We show that by the end of the 8 TeV run, combining the entire data sets of ATLAS and CMS, it will be possible to discriminate between the following discovery alternatives: a scalar $J^P=0^+$ or a tensor $J^P=2^+$ particle with minimal couplings to photons, at a $5\sigma$ statistical confidence level at least, using only diphotons events. Our results are based on the calculation of a center-edge asymmetry measure of the reconstructed {\it sPlot} scattering polar angle of the diphotons. The results based on asymmetries are shown to be rather robust against systematic uncertainties with comparable discrimination power to a log likelihood ratio statistic.
15784150
Multi-photon signatures at the Fermilab Tevatron
Fermiophobic Higgs bosons (hf) exhibiting large branching ratios for decay to two photons can arise in models with two or more scalar doublets and/or triplets. In such models the conventional production mechanisms at hadron colliders, which rely on the hfVV coupling (V=W,Z), may be rendered ineffective due to severe mixing angle suppression. In this scenario, double hf production may proceed via the complementary mechanism qq’→H±hf with subsequent decay H±→hfW*, leading to events with up to four photons. We perform a simulation of the detection prospects of hf in the multi-photon (>3) channel at the Fermilab Tevatron and show that a sizeable region of the (mH±,mhf) parameter space can be probed during Run II.
56111830
Is There a Hidden Principle in the Higgs Boson Decay to Photons
It is remarkable that the measured Higgs boson mass is so close to the value which maximizes the Higgs decay rate to photons as predicted by the Standard Model. In this letter we explore the consequences to assume that an ∼ 126 GeV Higgs boson mass is not accidental, but fixed by some fundamental principle that enforces it to maximize its decay rate into photons. We provide evidence that only a very narrow slice of the parameters space of the Standard Model, which contains their measured values, could lead to a maximal Higgs boson with that mass. If the principle actually holds, several Standard Model features get fixed, as the number of fermion families, quark colors, and the CP nature of the new boson, for example. We also ilustrate how such principle can place strong bounds on new physics scenarios as a Higgs dark portal model, for example.
197503274
First observations of the rare decays $B^+\!\rightarrow K^+\pi^+\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ and $B^+\!\rightarrow\phi K^+\mu^+\mu^-$
First observations of the rare decays $B^+\rightarrow K^+\pi^+\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ and $B^+\rightarrow \phi K^+\mu^+\mu^-$ are presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3.0\,\mbox{fb}^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8\mathrm{\,TeV}$. The branching fractions of the decays are \begin{eqnarray*} \mathcal{B}(B^+\rightarrow K^+\pi^+\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-) &=& (4.36\,^{+0.29}_{-0.27}\,\mathrm{(stat)}\pm 0.21\,\mathrm{(syst)}\pm0.18\,\mathrm{(norm)})\times10^{-7},\\ \mathcal{B}(B^+\rightarrow\phi K^+\mu^+\mu^-) &=& (0.82 \,^{+0.19}_{-0.17}\,\mathrm{(stat)}\,^{+0.10}_{-0.04}\,\mathrm{(syst)}\pm0.27\,\mathrm{(norm)}) \times10^{-7},\end{eqnarray*} where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the uncertainty on the branching fractions of the normalisation modes. A measurement of the differential branching fraction in bins of the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system is also presented for the decay $B^+\rightarrow K^+\pi^+\pi^-\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$.
119907543
Hadron spectroscopy and exotic states
This contribution summarizes some of the main results from the LHC experiments on hadron spectroscopy and exotic states.