arXiv subjects

A. Pilaftsis

Publications and source records attributed to A. Pilaftsis.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Physics Opportunities at mu+mu- Higgs Factories

We update theoretical studies of the physics opportunities presented by mu+mu- Higgs factories. Interesting measurements of the Standard Model Higgs decays into {\bar b}b, tau+tau- and WW* may be possible if the Higgs mass is less than about 160 GeV, as preferred by the precision electroweak data, the mass range being extended by varying appropriately the beam energy resolution. A suitable value of the beam energy resolution would also enable the uncertainty in the b-quark mass to be minimized, facilitating measurements of parameters in the MSSM at such a first mu+mu- Higgs factory. These measurements would be sensitive to radiative corrections to the Higgs-fermion-antifermion decay vertices, which may violate CP. Radiative corrections in the MSSM may also induce CP violation in Higgs-mass mixing, which can be probed via various asymmetries measurable using polarized mu+mu- beams. In addition, Higgs-chargino couplings may be probed at a second mu+mu- Higgs factory.

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arXiv2002

Higgs-Boson Pole Masses in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation

Extending previous results obtained in the effective-potential approach, we derive analytic expressions for the pole masses of the charged and neutral Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with explicit CP violation. In such a minimal supersymmetric model, the CP invariance of the Higgs potential is explicitly broken by quantum effects dominated by third-generation squarks at the one-loop level and by one-loop gluino- and higgsino-mediated threshold corrections to the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings at the two-loop level. Field-theoretic issues arising in the description of a two-level Higgs-boson system strongly mixed due to CP violation are addressed. Numerical results for the pole masses of the CP-violating Higgs bosons are presented, and comparisons are made with previous results obtained in the effective-potential approach.

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arXiv2001

Light Charged Higgs Boson and Supersymmetry

A possible discovery of a relatively light charged Higgs boson H^+ in near future experiments, with a mass M_{H+} ~< 110 GeV, together with the present LEP2 direct limits on the chargino and neutral Higgs sectors, would disfavour the minimal supersymmetric standard model as well as its frequently discussed next-to-minimal supersymmetric extension. We show that a supersymmetric origin can naturally be ascribed to the existence of such a light charged Higgs scalar within the context of the recently introduced minimal nonminimal supersymmetric standard model.

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arXiv2000

Higgs Scalars in the Minimal Non-minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We consider the simplest and most economic version among the proposed non-minimal supersymmetric models, in which the $μ$-parameter is promoted to a singlet superfield, whose all self-couplings are absent from the renormalizable superpotential. Such a particularly simple form of the renormalizable superpotential may be enforced by discrete $R$-symmetries which are extended to the gravity-induced non-renormalizable operators as well. We show explicitly that within the supergravity-mediated supersymmetry-breaking scenario, the potentially dangerous divergent tadpoles associated with the presence of the gauge singlet first appear at loop levels higher than 5 and therefore do not destabilize the gauge hierarchy. The model provides a natural explanation for the origin of the $μ$-term, without suffering from the visible axion or the cosmological domain-wall problem. Focusing on the Higgs sector of this minimal non-minimal supersymmetric standard model, we calculate its effective Higgs potential by integrating out the dominant quantum effects due to stop squarks. We then discuss the phenomenological implications of the Higgs scalars predicted by the theory for the present and future high-energy colliders. In particular, we find that our new minimal non-minimal supersymmetric model can naturally accommodate a relatively light charged Higgs boson, with a mass close to the present experimental lower bound.

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arXiv2000

Search for solar Kaluza-Klein axions in theories of low-scale quantum gravity

We explore the physics potential of a terrestrial detector for observing axionic Kaluza-Klein excitations coming from the Sun within the context of higher-dimensional theories of low-scale quantum gravity. In these theories, the heavier Kaluza-Klein axions are relatively short-lived and may be detected by a coincidental triggering of their two-photon decay mode. Because of the expected high multiplicity of the solar axionic excitations, we find experimental sensitivity to a fundamental Peccei-Quinn axion mass up to $10^{-2}$ eV (corresponding to an effective axion-photon coupling $g_{aγγ} \approx 2.\times 10^{-12}$ GeV$^{-1}$) in theories with 2 extra dimensions and a fundamental quantum-gravity scale $M_{\rm F}$ of order 100 TeV, and up to $3.\times 10^{-3}$ eV (corresponding to $g_{aγγ} \approx 6.\times 10^{-13}$ GeV$^{-1}$) in theories with 3 extra dimensions and $M_{\rm F}=1$ TeV. For comparison, based on recent data obtained from lowest level underground experiments, we derive the experimental limits: $g_{a γγ} \stackrel{<}{{}_\sim} 2.5\times 10^{-11}$ GeV$^{-1}$ and $g_{a γγ} \stackrel{<}{{}_\sim} 1.2\times 10^{-11}$ GeV$^{-1}$ in the aforementioned theories with 2 and 3 large compact dimensions, respectively.

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arXiv2000

CP-Violating MSSM Higgs Bosons in the Light of LEP 2

In the MSSM, the CP parities of the neutral Higgs bosons may be mixed by radiative effects induced by explicit CP violation in the third generation of squarks. To allow for this possibility, we argue that the charged Higgs-boson mass and tan(beta) should be used to parametrize the MSSM Higgs sector. We introduce a new benchmark scenario of maximal CP violation appropriate for direct searches of CP-violating MSSM Higgs bosons. We show that the bounds established by LEP 2 on the MSSM Higgs sector may be substantially relaxed at low and intermediate values of tan(beta) in the presence of CP violation, and comment on possible Higgs boson signatures at LEP 2 within this framework.

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arXiv2000

Renormalization-Group-Improved Effective Potential for the MSSM Higgs Sector with Explicit CP Violation

We perform a systematic study of the one-loop renormalization-group-improved effective potential of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), including CP violation induced radiatively by soft trilinear interactions related to squarks of the third generation. We calculate the charged and neutral Higgs-boson masses and couplings, including the two-loop logarithmic corrections that arise from QCD effects, as well as those associated with the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings. We also include the potentially large two-loop non-logarithmic corrections induced by one-loop threshold effects on the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings, due to the decoupling of the third-generation squarks. Within this minimal CP-violating framework, the charged and neutral Higgs sectors become intimately related to one another and therefore require a unified treatment. In the limit of a large charged Higgs-boson mass, M_{H^+} >> M_Z, the lightest neutral Higgs boson resembles that in the Standard Model (SM), and CP violation occurs only in the heavy Higgs sector. Our analysis shows that sizeable radiative effects of CP violation in the Higgs sector of the MSSM may lead to significant modifications of previous studies for Higgs-boson searches at LEP2, the Tevatron and the LHC. In particular, CP violation could enable a relatively light Higgs boson to escape detection at LEP2.

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arXiv1999

Flavour-Violating Charged Lepton Decays in Seesaw-Type Models

Analytic expressions of lepton-flavour- and lepton-number-violating decays of charged leptons are derived in the context of general $SU(2)_L\otimes U(1)_Y$ seesaw scenarios that are motivated by grand unified theories (GUT's) or superstring models, in which left-handed and/or right-handed neutral singlets are present. Possible constraints imposed by cosmology and low-energy data are briefly discussed. The violation of the decoupling theorem in flavour-dependent graphs due to the presence of heavy neutral leptons of Dirac or Majorana nature is emphasized. Numerical estimates reveal that the decays $τ^-\to e^-e^-e^+$ or $τ^-\to e^-μ^-μ^+$ can be as large as $\sim 10^{-6}$, which may be observed in LEP experiments or other $τ$ factories.

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arXiv1997

Loop Effects of Exotic Leptons on Vector-Boson Pair Production at e^+e^- Colliders

We study quantum effects of exotic heavy leptons on the production of two vector bosons in e^+e^- annihilation. We present closed analytic expressions for vector-boson self-couplings and differential cross sections, within the framework of two favourable new-physics scenarios: (i) the fourth-generation Majorana-neutrino model and (ii) an E_6-inspired model with sequential mirror isodoublets. We constrain these models by requiring that their contributions to the oblique electroweak parameters be compatible with a recent global fit to high-precision data. We then systematically analyze the loop-induced deviations in the LEP2 cross section of e^+e^- -> W^+W^- predicted by the models thus confined.

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arXiv1995

Unitarity and the Time Evolution of Quantum Mechanical Systems

The basic requirement that, in quantum theory, the time-evolution of any state is determined by the action of a unitary operator, is shown to be the underlying cause for certain ``exact'' results which have recently been reported about the time-dependence of transition rates in quantum theory. Departures from exponential decay, including the ``Quantum Zeno Effect'', as well as a theorem by Khalfin about the ratio of reciprocal transition-rates, are shown to follow directly from such considerations. At sufficiently short times, unitarity requires that reciprocity must hold, independent of whether $T$-invariance is valid. If $T$-invariance does not hold, unitarity restricts the form of possible time-dependence of reciprocity ratios.

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arXiv1995

CONSTRAINTS FROM LEPTON UNIVERSALITY AT THE Z PEAK ON UNIFIED THEORIES

We suggest the use of a universality-breaking observable based on lepton asymmetries as derived from the left-right asymmetry and the $τ$ polarization at the $Z$ peak, which can efficiently constrain the parameter space of unified theories. The new observable is complementary to the leptonic partial width differences and it depends critically on the chirality of a possible non-universal $Z$-boson coupling to like-flavour leptons. The LEP/SLC potential of probing universality violation is discussed in representative low-energy extensions of the Standard Model (SM) that could be derived by supersymmetric grand unified theories, such as the SM with left-handed and/or right-handed neutral isosinglets, the left-right symmetric model, and the minimal supersymmetric SM.

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arXiv1994

Heavy-Neutrino Chirality Enhancement of the Decay $K_L -> eμ$ in Left-Right Symmetric Models

We study the decay $K_L -> eμ$ in minimal extensions of the Standard Model based on the gauge groups $SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y$ and $SU(2)_R x SU(2)_L x U(1)_{B-L}$, in which heavy Majorana neutrinos are present. In $SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y$ models with chiral neutral singlets, $B(K_L -> eμ)$ cannot be much larger than $5 x 10^{-15}$ without violating other low-energy constraints. In $SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R x U(1)_{B-L}$ models, we find that heavy-neutrino-chirality enhancements due to the presence of left-handed and right- handed currents can give rise to a branching ratio close to the present experimental limit $B(K_L -> e μ)< 3.3 x 10^{-11}$.

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arXiv1994

Anomalous Vector-Boson Couplings in Majorana Neutrino Models

We examine the contributions of Majorana neutrinos to CP-violating WWZ and ZZZ self-couplings, using a model in which sterile neutrinos couple to the W and Z by mixing with a fourth-generation heavy lepton. We find that the induced form factors can be as large as 0.5%. The model satisfies all phenomenological bounds in a natural way, including those due to the strong limits on the neutron and electron electric dipole moments. Anomalous CP-odd couplings of this size are unlikely to be observed at LEP200, but might be detectable at NLC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1994

Quantum Effects on Higgs-Boson Production and Decay due to Majorana Neutrinos

We analyze the phenomenological implications for new electroweak physics in the Higgs sector in the framework of SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y theories that naturally predict heavy Majorana neutrinos. We calculate the one-loop Majorana-neutrino contributions to the decay rates of the Higgs boson into pairs of quarks and intermediate bosons and to its production cross section via bremsstrahlung in e^+e^- collisions. It turns out that these are extremely small in three- generation models. On the other hand, the sizeable quantum corrections generated by a conventional fourth generation with a Dirac neutrino may be screened considerably in the presence of a Majorana degree of freedom.

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arXiv1993

One-Loop QCD Mass Effects in the Production of Polarized Bottom and Top Quarks

The analytic expressions for the production cross sections of polarized bottom and top quarks in $e^+e^-$ annihilation are explicitly derived at the one-loop order of strong interactions. Chirality-violating mass effects will reduce the longitudinal spin polarization for the light quark pairs by an amount of $3\%$, when one properly considers the massless limit for the final quarks. Numerical estimates of longitudinal spin polarization effects in the processes $e^+e^-\to b\bar{b}(g)$ and $e^+e^- \to t\bar{t}(g)$ are presented.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1993

CP Violation in Higgs Decays due to Majorana Neutrinos

The possibility of observing CP violation in the decays of Higgs particles into top-quark, W- and Z-boson pairs induced by heavy Majorana neutrinos is discussed. In the context of minimal "see-saw" models with interfamily mixings, we find that Majorana neutrinos may give rise to sizable CP-odd effects at the one-loop electroweak order. We present numerical estimates of typical CP-odd observables that might be triggered at high-energy e+e- colliders.

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arXiv1993

Probing Lepton Number Violation via Majorana Neutrinos at Hadron Supercolliders

The possibility of discovering heavy Majorana neutrinos and lepton number violation via the like sign dilepton signal at hadron super- colliders is investigated. The cross-sections for the production of these neutrinos singly as well as in pairs are computed both in three and four generation scenarios within the framework of the gauge group $SU(2)_L \otimes U(1)_Y$ and the dominant processes are identified. The suppression of the Standard model background by suitable kinematical cuts is also discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1993

CP Violation Induced by Heavy Majorana Neutrinos in the Decays of Higgs Scalars into Top-Quark, W- and Z-Boson Pairs

We analyze the possibility of $CP$ violation induced by heavy Majorana neutrinos in the decays of the Higgs particle into top-quark, $W$- and $Z$-boson pairs. In the framework of various ``see-saw" models with interfamily mixings, we find that Majorana neutrinos may give rise to sizable $CP$-odd observables at the one-loop electroweak order. Numerical estimates of these $CP$-violating effects that may be detected in high-energy colliders are presented.

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