arXiv subjects

B. C. Allanach

Publications and source records attributed to B. C. Allanach.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Explaining Anomalous CDF mu gamma Missing-E_T Events With Supersymmetry

CDF recently reported an excess of events in the mu-gamma-missing E_T channel that disagrees with the Standard Model prediction. No such excess was observed in the e-gamma-mett channel. We explain the excess via resonant smuon production with a single dominant R-parity violating coupling lambda'_{211}, in the context of models where the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. The slepton decays to the lightest neutralino and a muon followed by neutralino decaying to a gravitino and photon. We determine a viable region of parameter space that fits the kinematical distributions of the Run I excess and illustrate the effect by examining the best fit point in detail. We provide predictions for an excess in the missing E_T and photon channel at Run I and Run II. Run II will decisively rule out or confirm our scenario.

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arXiv2002

The Snowmass Points and Slopes: Benchmarks for SUSY Searches

The ``Snowmass Points and Slopes'' (SPS) are a set of benchmark points and parameter lines in the MSSM parameter space corresponding to different scenarios in the search for Supersymmetry at present and future experiments. This set of benchmarks was agreed upon at the 2001 ``Snowmass Workshop on the Future of Particle Physics'' as a consensus based on different existing proposals.

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arXiv2001

Investigating the Supersymmetric Explanation of Anomalous CDF lepton(s) photon(s) Missing-E_T Events

The recent excess over the Standard Model prediction in the μγmissing-E_T channel reported by CDF can be well-explained by resonant smuon production with a single dominant R-parity violating coupling λ'_{211}, in the context of models where the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. The slepton decays to the lightest neutralino and a muon followed by neutralino decaying to a gravitino and photon. The kinematical distributions are fitted well by our hypothesis and we use them to constrain the available parameter space. The model also provides an explanation for the eeγγmissing-E_T event observed in Run I of the Tevatron by the CDF experiment. Our model predicts an excess of between 5 and 35 events in a γmissing-E_T channel at Run I. We provide predictions for signatures expected by the model at Run II.

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arXiv2001

Theoretical Uncertainties in Sparticle Mass Predictions

We contrast the sparticle spectra obtained from three modern publicly available codes along model lines in minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) parameter space. From this we gain an idea of the uncertainties involved with sparticle spectra calculations. The differences in predicted sparticle masses are typically at the several percent-level. In the focus-point scenario, there are differences of 30% in the weak gaugino masses. These uncertainties need to be reduced in order to obtain accurate information about fundamental models of supersymmetry breaking.

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arXiv2001

Detecting Exotic Heavy Leptons at the Large Hadron Collider

New almost-degenerate charged and neutral heavy leptons are a feature of a number of theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. The prospects for detecting these at the Large Hadron Collider using a time-of-flight technique are considered, along with any cosmological or experimental constraints on their masses. Based on a discovery criterion of 10 detected exotic leptons we conclude that, with an integrated luminosity of 100 fb-1, it should be possible to detect such leptons provided their masses are less than 950 GeV. It should also be possible to use the angular distribution of the produced particles to distinguish these exotic leptons from supersymmetric scalar leptons, at a better than 90% confidence level, for masses up to 580 GeV.

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arXiv2001

Extracting the Flavour Structure of a Baryon-Number R-parity Violating Coupling at the LHC

The detection of the flavour content of jets produced from R-parity violating neutralino decays is investigated in the case where one baryon-number violating coupling dominates. Simulations are performed of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC for all couplings, other than lambda"_tjk since neutralino decays through these couplings are very suppressed. Secondary vertex distributions and muons produced by heavy-quark (b- and c-) jets allow discrimination between LSP decay modes. The dominant coupling can be identified at better than 3.5 sigma in almost all cases, with the only remaining ambiguity caused by the inability to distinguish strange from down quarks.

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arXiv2001

Measuring Supersymmetric Particle Masses at the LHC in Scenarios with Baryon-Number R-Parity Violating Couplings

The measurement of sparticle masses in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model at the LHC is analysed, in the scenario where the lightest neutralino decays into three quarks. Such decays, occurring through the baryon-number violating coupling lambda"\_ijk, pose a severe challenge to the capability of the LHC detectors since the final state has no missing energy signature and a high jet multiplicity. We focus on the case of non-zero lambda"\_212 which is the most difficult experimentally. The proposed method is valid over a wide range of SUGRA parameter space with lambda"\_212 between 10^{-5}-0.1. Simulations are performed of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Using the lightest neutralino from the decay chain left-squark to quark + next-to-lightest neutralino to right-slepton + lepton + quark and finally to lightest neutralino + lepton pair + quark, we show that the lightest and next-to-lightest neutralino masses can be measured by 3-jet and 3-jet + lepton pair invariant mass combinations. At the SUGRA point M_0=100 GeV, M_{1/2}=300 GeV, A_0=300 GeV, tan beta=10, sign of mu positive and with lambda"\_212=0.005, we achieve statistical (systematic) errors of 3 (3), 3 (3), 0.3 (4) and 5 (12) GeV respectively for the masses of the lightest neutralino, next-to-lightest neutralino, right-slepton and left-squark, with an integrated luminosity of 30 fb^{-1}.

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arXiv2001

Soft SUSY Breaking, Dilaton Domination and Intermediate Scale String Models

We present an analysis of the low-energy implications of an intermediate scale ~10^{11} GeV string theory. We mainly focus on the evolution of the physical parameters under the renormalisation group equations (RGEs) and find several interesting new features that differ from the standard GUT scale or Planck scale scenarios. We give a general discussion of soft supersymmetry breaking terms in type I theories and then investigate the renormalization group running. In the dilaton domination scenario, we present the sparticle spectra, analyzing constraints from charge and colour breaking, fine tuning and radiative electroweak symmetry breaking. We compare with the allowed regions of parameter space when the RGEs start running at the standard GUT or the intermediate scales, and find quite remarkably that the dilaton dominated supersymmetry breaking scenario, which is essentially ruled out from constraints on charge and colour breaking if the fundamental scale is close to the Planck mass, is allowed in a large region of parameter space if the fundamental scale is intermediate.

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arXiv2000

Measuring sparticle masses in non-universal string inspired models at the LHC

We demonstrate that some of the suggested five supergravity points for study at the LHC could be approximately derived from perturbative string theories or M-theory, but that charge and colour breaking minima would result. As a pilot study, we then analyse a perturbative string model with non-universal soft masses that are optimised in order to avoid global charge and colour breaking minima. By combining measurements of up to six kinematic edges from squark decay chains with data from a new kinematic variable, designed to improve slepton mass measurements, we demonstrate that a typical LHC experiment will be able to determine squark, slepton and neutralino masses with an accuracy sufficient to permit an optimised model to be distinguished from a similar standard SUGRA point. The technique thus generalizes SUSY searches at the LHC.

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arXiv2000

Searching for Narrow Graviton Resonances with the ATLAS Detector at the Large Hadron Collider

A spectrum of massive graviton states is present in several recent theoretical models that include extra space dimensions. In some such models the graviton states are well separated in mass, and can be detected as resonances in collider experiments. The ability of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider to identify such states and measure their properties is considered, in the case that the resonances are narrow compared to the experimental resolution. The discovery limits for the detection of the decay mode G->e+e- are derived. The angular distribution of the lepton pair is used to determine the spin of the intermediate state. In one specific model, the resonance can be detected up to a graviton resonance mass of 2080 GeV, while the angular distribution favours a spin-2 hypothesis over a spin-1 hypothesis at 90% confidence for resonance masses up to 1720 GeV.

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arXiv2000

Naturalness Reach of the Large Hadron Collider in Minimal Supergravity

We re-analyse the prospects of discovering supersymmetry at the LHC, in order to re-express coverage in terms of a fine-tuning parameter and to extend the analysis to scalar masses (m_0) above 2 TeV. We use minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) unification assumptions for the SUSY breaking parameters. The discovery reach at high m_0 is of renewed interest because this region has recently been found to have a focus point, leading to relatively low fine-tuning, and because it remains uncertain how much of the region can be ruled out due to lack of radiative electroweak symmetry breaking. The best fine tuning reach is found in a mono-leptonic channel, where for mu>0, A_0=0 and tan beta=10 (within the focus point region), and a top mass of 174 GeV, all points in mSUGRA with m_0 < 4000 GeV, with a fine tuning measure up to 210 (500) are covered by the search, where the definition of fine-tuning excludes (includes) the contribution from the top Yukawa coupling. Even for arbitrarily high m_0, mSUGRA can be discovered through gaugino events, provided the gaugino mass parameter M_1/2 < 460 GeV. In this region, the mono-leptonic channel still provides the best reach.

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arXiv2000

R-parity violating anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking

We propose a new scenario that solves the slepton negative mass squared problem of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking. The solution is achieved by including three trilinear R-parity violating operators in the superpotential. The soft supersymmetry breaking terms satisfy renormalisation group invariant relations in terms of supersymmetric couplings and the overall supersymmetry breaking mass scale. Flavour changing neutral currents can be naturally highly suppressed. A specific model predicts tan beta=4.2+/-1.0. Excluding sleptons, the supersymmetric particle spectrum then depends upon two remaining free parameters. In the case of the R-parity violating couplings set at their quasi-fixed points at a supersymmetric GUT scale, the whole sparticle spectrum approximately depends upon only one free parameter. Imposing experimental limits leads to a constrained and distinctive phenomenology. The lightest CP-even Higgs of mass m_h=118 GeV would be seen at the Tevatron. All sparticles and heavy Higgs would evade detection except for the lightest charginos and neutralinos, whose distinctive leptonic decays would be seen at the LHC.

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arXiv2000

Quasi-Fixed Points and Charge and Colour Breaking in Low Scale Models

We show that the current LEP2 lower bound upon the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) lightest Higgs mass rules out quasi-fixed scenarios for string scales between 10^6 and 10^{11} GeV unless the heaviest stop mass is more than 2 TeV. We consider the implications of the low string scale for charge and colour breaking (CCB) bounds in the MSSM, and demonstrate that CCB bounds from F and D-flat directions are significantly weakened. For scales less than 10^{10} GeV these bounds become merely that degenerate scalar mass squared values are positive at the string scale.

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arXiv2000

Report of the Beyond the Standard Model Working Group of the 1999 UK Phenomenology Workshop on Collider Physics (Durham)

The Beyond the Standard Model Working Group discussed a variety of topics relating to exotic searches at current and future colliders, and the phenomenology of current models beyond the Standard Model. For example, various supersymmetric (SUSY) and extra dimensions search possibilities and constraints are presented. Fine-tuning implications of SUSY searches are derived. The implications of Higgs (non)-discovery are discussed, as well as the program HDECAY. The individual contributions are included seperately. Much of the enclosed work is original, although some is reviewed.

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arXiv1999

Bounds on R-parity Violating Couplings at the Weak Scale and at the GUT Scale

We present an update of the most stringent experimental bounds on the trilinear R-parity violating couplings. We then analyse bounds on the R-parity violating couplings at the unification scale by renormalising the weak scale bounds. We derive unification scale upper bounds upon the couplings which are broadly independent of the fermion mass texture assumed. The R-parity violating couplings are factors of two to five more severely bounded at the unification scale than at the electroweak scale. In the presence of quark mixing, a few of the bounds are orders of magnitude stronger than their weak scale counterparts due to new R-parity violating operators being induced in the renormalisation between high and low scales. These induced bounds are fermion mass texture dependent. New bounds upon the weak scale couplings are obtained by the requirement of perturbativity between the weak and unification scales. A comprehensive set of the latest limits is included.

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arXiv1999

2-Loop Supersymmetric Renormalisation Group Equations Including R-Parity Violation and Aspects of Unification

We present the complete 2-loop renormalisation group equations of the superpotential parameters for the supersymmetric standard model including the full set of R-parity violating couplings. We use these equations to do a study of (a) gauge coupling unification, (b) bottom-tau unification, (c) the fixed-point structure of the top quark Yukawa coupling, and (d) two-loop bounds from perturbative unification. For large values of the R-parity violating coupling, the value of α_S(M_Z) predicted from unification can be reduced by 5% with respect to the R-parity conserving case, bringing it to within 2σof the observed value. Bottom-tau Yukawa unification becomes potentially valid for any value of \tanβ\sim 2-50. The prediction of the top Yukawa coupling from the low \tanβ, infra-red quasi fixed point can be lowered by up to 10%, raising \tanβup to a maximum of 5 and relaxing experimental constraints upon the quasi-fixed point scenario. For heavy scalar fermion masses of order 1 Tev the limits on the higher family ΔL\not=0 operators from perturbative unification are competitive with the indirect laboratory bounds. We calculate the dependence of these bounds upon \tan β.

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arXiv1999

Atmospheric neutrino oscillations and maximal nu_mu-nu_tau mixing in unified models

The recent data describing the evidence for neutrino oscillations by Super Kamiokande implies that two neutrinos are very strongly mixed. We ask the question: can approximate maximal neutrino mixing be natural in unified (GUT or string) models? We attempt to answer this question in as much generality as possible. Without specifying a particular model, we are able to show that a gauged family symmetry can naturally provide the required maximal mixing between mu and tau neutrinos. The second and third family neutrino mass eigenstates are almost degenerate with masses of order 0.2 eV.

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arXiv1998

The MSSM at the low tan beta fixed point is meta-stable

We analyse the mass spectrum of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model at the low tan beta fixed point. We find that the model only satisfies experimental and dark matter bounds in regions where the vacuum is meta-stable -- ie where it violates `unbounded from below' (UFB) bounds. Adding a small amount of R-parity violation solves these problems but the absolute upper bound on the lowest higgs mass m_{h^0}<97 GeV remains. We present the predicted sparticle mass spectrum as a function of the gluino mass m_g.

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