arXiv subjects

Alan S. Cornell

Publications and source records attributed to Alan S. Cornell.

64 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

The compatibility of LHC Run 1 data with a heavy scalar of mass around 270\,GeV

The first run of the LHC was successful in that it saw the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson, a particle that is consistent with the SM hypothesis. There are a number of excesses in Run 1 ATLAS and CMS results which can be interpreted as being due to the existence of another heavier scalar particle. This particle has decay modes which we have studied using LHC Run 1 data. Using a minimalistic model, we can predict the kinematics of these final states and compare the prediction against data directly. A statistical combination of these results shows that a best fit point is found for a heavy scalar having a mass of 272$^{+12}_{-9}$\,GeV. This result has been quantified as a three sigma effect, based on analyses which are not necessarily optimized for the search of a heavy scalar. The smoking guns for the discovery of this new heavy scalar and the prospects for Run 2 are discussed.

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arXiv2015

Some theories beyond the Standard Model

A brief review on the physics beyond the Standard Model is given, as was presented in the High Energy Particle Physics workshop on the $12^{th}$ of February 2015 at the iThemba North Labs. Particular emphasis is given to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, with mention of extra-dimensional theories also.

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arXiv2015

Hyperbolic extra-dimensions in particle physics and beyond

The nature of space-time at high energy is an open question and the link between extra-dimensional theories with the physics of the Standard Model can not be established in a unique way. The compactification path is not unique and supersymmetry breaking can be done in different ways. Compactifications based on hyperbolic orbifolds gather a large number of properties that are useful for this problem, like a Dirac spectrum chiral zero modes, a mass gap with the Kaluza-Klein modes, discrete residual symmetries for the stability of dark matter, and interesting cosmological constructions. This shall be explored here for bulk scalar fields, with a roadmap provided for fermionic studies and beyond.

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arXiv2015

Large trilinear $A_t$ soft supersymmetry breaking coupling from 5D MSSM

The possibility of generating a large trilinear $A_t$ soft supersymmetry breaking coupling at low energies through renormalisation group evolution in the 5D MSSM is investigated. Using the power law running in five dimensions and a compactification scale in the 10-$10^3$ TeV range, to show that gluino mass may drive a large enough $A_t$ to reproduce the measured Higgs mass and have a light stop superpartner below $\sim 1$ TeV as preferred by the fine tuning argument for the Higgs mass.

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arXiv2015

Natural Supersymmetry and Unification in Five Dimensions

We explore unification and natural supersymmetry in a five dimensional extension of the standard model in which the extra dimension may be large, of the order of 1-10 TeV. Power law running generates a TeV scale A_ term allowing for the observed 125 GeV Higgs and allowing for stop masses below 2 TeV, compatible with a natural SUSY spectrum. We supply the full one-loop RGEs for various models and use metastability to give a prediction that the gluino mass should be lighter than 3.5 TeV for A_t <= 2.5 TeV, for such a compactification scale, with brane localised 3rd generation matter. We discuss why models in which the 1st and 2nd generation of matter fields are located in the bulk are likely to be ruled out. We also look at electroweak symmetry breaking in these models.

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arXiv2015

Exploration of the Tensor Structure of the Higgs Boson Coupling to Weak Bosons in $e^+e^-$ Collisions

Probing signatures of anomalous interactions of the Higgs boson with pairs of weak vector bosons is an important goal of an $e^+e^-$ collider commissioned as a Higgs factory. We perform a detailed analysis of such potential of a collider operating at $250 - 300$ GeV. Mostly using higher dimensional operators in a gauge-invariant framework, we show that substantial information on anomalous couplings can be extracted from the total rates of $s$-and $t$-channel Higgs production. The most obvious kinematic distributions, based on angular dependence of matrix elements, are relatively less sensitive with moderate coefficients of anomalous couplings, unless one goes to higher centre-of-mass energies. Some important quantities to use here, apart from the total event rates, are the ratios of event rates at different energies, ratios of $s$ and $t$-channel rates at fixed energies, and under some fortunate circumstances, the correlated changes in the rates for $W$-boson pair-production. A general scheme of calculating rates with as many as four gauge-invariant operators is also outlined. At the end, we perform a likelihood analysis using phenomenological parametrization of anomalous $HWW$ interaction, and indicate their distinguishability for illustrative values of the strength of such interactions.

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arXiv2014

Probing the Higgs Boson via VBF with Single Jet Tagging at the LHC

The signature produced by the Standard Model Higgs boson in the Vector Boson Fusion (VBF) mechanism is usually pinpointed by requiring two well separated hadronic jets, one of which (at least) of them tends to be in the forward direction. With the increase of instantaneous luminosity at the LHC, the isolation of the Higgs boson produced with the VBF mechanism is rendered more challenging. In this paper the feasibility of single jet tagging is explored in a high-luminosity scenario. It is demonstrated that the separation in rapidity between the tagging jet and the Higgs boson can be effectively used to isolate the VBF signal. This variable is robust from the experimental and QCD stand points. Single jet tagging allows us to probe the spin-CP quantum numbers of the Higgs boson.

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arXiv2014

Large $A_{t}$ Without the Desert

Even if the unification and supersymmetry breaking scales are around $10^6$ to $10^{9}$ TeV, a large $A_t$ coupling may be entirely generated at low energies through RGE evolution in the 5D MSSM. Independent of the precise details of supersymmetry breaking, we take advantage of power law running in five dimensions and a compactification scale in the $10-10^3$ TeV range to show how the gluino mass may drive a large enough $A_t$ to achieve the required $125.5$ GeV Higgs mass. This also allows for sub-TeV stops, possibly observable at the LHC, and preserving GUT unification, thereby resulting in improved naturalness properties with respect to the four dimensional MSSM. The results apply also to models of "split families" in which the first and second generation matter fields are in the bulk and the third is on the boundary, which may assist in the generation of light stops whilst satisfying collider constraints on the first two generations of squarks.

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arXiv2014

Higgs quartic coupling and neutrino sector evolution in 2UED models

Two compact universal extra dimensional models are an interesting class of models for different theoretical and phenomenological issues, such as the justification of having three standard model fermion families, suppression of proton decay rate, dark matter parity from relics of the 6-dimensional Lorentz symmetry, origin of masses and mixings in the standard model. However, these theories are merely effective ones, with typically a reduced range of validity in their energy scale. We explore two limiting cases of the three standard model generations all propagating in the bulk or all localised to a brane, from the point of view of renormalisation group equation evolutions for the Higgs sector and for the neutrino sector of these models. The recent experimental results of the Higgs boson from the LHC allow, in some scenarios, stronger constraints on the cut-off scale to be placed, from the requirement of the stability of the Higgs potential.

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arXiv2010

Universality test of the charged Higgs boson couplings at the LHC and at B factories

Many extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics predict the existence of charged Higgs bosons with substantial couplings to SM particles, which would render them observable both directly at the LHC and indirectly at B-factories. For example, the charged Higgs boson couplings to fermions in two doublet Higgs models of type II, are proportional to the ratio of the two Higgs doublet vacuum expectation values (tan(beta)) and fermionic mass factors and could thus be substantial at large tan(beta) and/or for heavy fermions. In this work we perform a model-independent study of the charged Higgs boson couplings at the LHC and at B-factories for large values of tan(beta). We have shown that at high luminosity it is possible to measure the couplings of a charged Higgs boson to the third generation of quarks up to an accuracy of 10%. We further argue that by combining the possible measurements of the LHC and the B-factories, it is possible to perform a universality test of charged Higgs boson couplings to quarks.

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