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Chih-Ting Lu

Publications and source records attributed to Chih-Ting Lu.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Probing highly collimated photon-jets with deep learning

Many extensions of the standard model (SM) predict the existence of axion-like particles and/or dark Higgs in the sub-GeV scale. Two new sub-GeV particles, a scalar and a pseudoscalar, produced through the Higgs boson exotic decays, are investigated. The decay signatures of these two new particles with highly collimated photons in the final states are discriminated from the ones of SM backgrounds using the Convolutional Neural Networks and Boosted Decision Trees techniques. The sensitivities of searching for such new physics signatures at the Large Hadron Collider are obtained.

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Revising inelastic dark matter direct detection by including the cosmic ray acceleration

The null signal from collider and dark matter (DM) direct detector experiments makes the interaction between DM and visible matter too small to reproduce the correct relic density for many thermal DM models. The remaining parameter space indicates that two almost degenerated states in the dark sector, the inelastic DM scenario, can co-annihilate in the early universe to produce the correct relic density. Regarding the direct detection of the inelastic DM scenario, the virialized DM component from the nearby halo is nonrelativistic and not able to excite the DM ground state, even if the relevant couplings can be considerable. Thus, a DM with a large mass splitting can evade traditional virialized DM direct detection. In this study, we connect the concept of cosmic-ray accelerated DM in our Milky Way and the direct detection of inelastic scattering in underground detectors to explore spectra that result from several interaction types of the inelastic DM. We find that the mass splitting $δ<\mathcal{O}(1~{\rm MeV})$ can still be reachable for cosmic ray accelerated DM with mass range $1~{\rm MeV}<m_{χ_1}<100~{\rm GeV}$ and sub-GeV light mediator using the latest PandaX-4T data, even though we conservatively use the astrophysical parameter (effective length) $D_{\rm eff}=1$ kpc.

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Measurement of Higgs boson self-couplings through $2\rightarrow 3$ vector bosons scattering in future muon colliders

The $2\rightarrow 3$ scattering of longitudinal vector bosons (VBS) has been proven to be a complementary channel to measure the Higgs self-couplings in the Standard Model (SM) and the SM effective field theory (SMEFT) at colliders. We perform the first comprehensive study of all main $2\rightarrow 3$ VBS processes at high-energy muon colliders, especially including background analysis. The main contributing channels turn out to be the scattering of $W^+W^-\rightarrow W^+W^-h$, $ZZh$ and $hhh$. We obtain the constraints on $c_6$ and $c_{Φ_1}$ which are the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-6 operators relevant for Higgs self-couplings in the SMEFT. With the center-of-mass energies of 10 TeV and 30 TeV, we find the expected sensitivity to the coefficients $c_6/Λ^2$ and $c_{Φ_1}/Λ^2$ can reach the level of 0.01 TeV$^{-2}$. The tightest constraints come from the $hhh$ channel, while the constraints from $WWh$ are also comparable. Our results crucially depend on selecting the longitudinal polarizations for the final $W$ and $Z$ bosons. We then study how the sensitivities change by varying the efficiency of tagging longitudinal polarizations, and find that the significance remains consistently high.

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Scalar and Fermion Two-component SIMP Dark Matter with an Accidental $\mathbb{Z}^{}_4$ Symmetry

In this paper, we construct for the first time a two-component strongly interacting massive particles (SIMP) dark matter (DM) model, where a complex scalar and a vector-like fermion play the role of the SIMP DM candidates. These two particles are stable due to an accidental $\mathbb{Z}^{}_4$ symmetry after the breaking of a $\text{U}(1)^{}_\textsf{D}$ gauge symmetry. By introducing one extra complex scalar as a mediator between the SIMP particles, this model can have $3 \to 2$ processes that determine the DM relic density. On the other hand, the SIMP DM particles can maintain kinetic equilibrium with the thermal bath until the DM freeze-out temperature via the $\text{U}(1)^{}_\textsf{D}$ gauge couplings. Most importantly, we find an unavoidable two-loop induced $2 \to 2$ process tightly connecting to the $3 \to 2$ process that would redistribute the SIMP DM number densities after the chemical freeze-out of DM. Moreover, this redistribution would significantly modify the predictions of the self-interacting cross section of DM compared with other SIMP models. It is crucial to include the two-loop induced $2 \to 2$ annihilations to obtain the correct DM phenomenology.

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Crossing two-component dark matter models and implications for 511 keV $γ$-ray and XENON1T excesses

We study scalar and fermionic crossing two-component dark matter (C2CDM) models with $ U(1)_X $ dark gauge symmetry. This $ U(1)_X $ gauge symmetry is broken via the dark Higgs mechanism of a dark Higgs field $Φ$ and the dark photon becomes massive. On the other hand, the same dark Higgs field $Φ$ also serves as a bridge between each component of two DM sectors such that the dark flavor-changing neutral current (DFCNC) interaction between them is induced. Moreover, the mass splitting between these two DM sectors is generated after $ U(1)_X $ gauge symmetry breaking by nonzero $\langle Φ\rangle$. We discuss the stability of DM candidates and allowed parameter space from the relic density and other constraints in C2CDM models. Some novel signatures with displaced vertices at Belle II are studied. Finally, the possible explanations of 511 keV $γ$-ray line and XENON1T excess in C2CDM models are discussed.

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Measuring Higgs Boson Self-couplings with $2\rightarrow 3$ VBS Processes

We study the measurement of Higgs boson self-couplings through $2\rightarrow 3$ vector boson scattering (VBS) processes in the framework of Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) at both proton and lepton colliders. The SMEFT contribution to the amplitude of the $2\to3$ VBS processes, taking $W_L W_L\rightarrow W_L W_L h$ and $W_L W_L\rightarrow h h h$ as examples, exhibits enhancement with the energy $\frac{\mathcal{A}^{\text{BSM}}}{\mathcal{A}^{\text{SM}}} \sim \frac{E^2}{Λ^2}$, which indicates the sensitivity of these processes to the related dimension-six operators in SMEFT. Simulation of the full processes at both hadron and lepton colliders with a variety of collision energies are performed to estimate the allowed region on $c_6$ and $c_{Φ_1}$. Especially we find that, with the help of exclusively choosing longitudinal polarizations in the final states and suitable $p_T$ cuts, $WWh$ process is as important as the more widely studied triple Higgs production ($hhh$) in the measurement of Higgs self-couplings. Our analysis indicates that these processes can play important roles in the measurement of Higgs self-couplings at future 100 TeV pp colliders and muon colliders. However, their cross sections are generally tiny at low energy machines, which makes them much more challenging to explore.

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Shedding light on dark matter with recent muon $(g-2)$ and Higgs exotic decay measurements

Recently, we have witnessed two hints of physics beyond the standard model: A 3.3$σ$ local excess ($M_{A_0} = 52$ GeV) in the search for $H_0\to A_0 A_0\to b\bar{b}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ and a 4.2$σ$ deviation from the SM prediction in the $(g-2)_μ$ measurement. The first excess was found by the ATLAS Collaboration using 139 fb$^{-1}$ data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The second deviation is a combination of the results from the Brookhaven E821 and the recently reported Fermilab E989 experiment. We attempt to explain these deviations in terms of a renormalizable simplified dark matter model. Inspired by the null signal result from dark matter (DM) direct detection, we interpret the possible new particle, $A_0$, as a pseudoscalar mediator connecting DM and the standard model. On the other hand, a new vector-like muon lepton can explain these two excesses at the same time while contributiong to the DM phenomenology.

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Comment on "New Freezeout Mechanism for Strongly Interacting Dark Matter"

Inspired by our recent paper "reshuffled SIMP dark matter", we notice that the reaction rate of the two-loop induced $2 \to 2$ process may dominate over or be comparable with that of the $3 \to 2$ process at the chemical freezeout of Co-SIMP dark matter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 131301 (2020)], especially when the Co-SIMP mass is close to the standard model particle mass (called the edge case). To check our point, we then derive the Boltzmann equation with all relevant annihilation cross sections in an electrophilic model and numerically solve it to obtain the cosmological evolution of Co-SIMP dark matter. Our result shows that the two-loop induced $2 \to 2$ process does modify the parameter space of the coupling for the edge case in the Co-SIMP mechanism and has to be taken into account in UV completion models.

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Exploring properties of long-lived particles in inelastic dark matter models at Belle II

The inelastic dark matter model is one kind of popular models for the light dark matter (DM) below $O(1)$ GeV. If the mass splitting between DM excited and ground states is small enough, the co-annihilation becomes the dominant channel for thermal relic density and the DM excited state can be long-lived at the collider scale. We study scalar and fermion inelastic dark matter models for $ {\cal O}(1) $ GeV DM at Belle II with $ U(1)_D $ dark gauge symmetry broken into its $Z_2$ subgroup. We focus on dilepton displaced vertex signatures from decays of the DM excited state. With the help of precise displaced vertex detection ability at Belle II, we can explore the DM spin, mass and mass splitting between DM excited and ground states. Especially, we show scalar and fermion DM candidates can be discriminated and the mass and mass splitting of DM sector can be determined within the percentage of deviation for some benchmark points. Furthermore, the allowed parameter space to explain the excess of muon $(g-2)_μ$ is also studied and it can be covered in our displaced vertex analysis during the early stage of Belle II experiment.

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Proceedings of the second MadAnalysis 5 workshop on LHC recasting in Korea

We document the activities performed during the second MadAnalysis 5 workshop on LHC recasting, that was organised in KIAS (Seoul, Korea) on February 12-20, 2020. We detail the implementation of 12 new ATLAS and CMS searches in the MadAnalysis 5 Public Analysis Database, and the associated validation procedures. Those searches probe the production of extra gauge and scalar/pseudoscalar bosons, supersymmetry, seesaw models and deviations from the Standard Model in four-top production.

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Same-sign Charged Higgs Pair Production in bosonic decay channels at the HL-LHC and HE-LHC

Same-sign charged Higgs pair production via vector-boson scattering is a useful probe of the mass spectrum among the heavier scalar, pseudoscalar, and charged Higgs bosons in two-Higgs-doublet models. It has been shown that the production cross section scales as the square of the mass difference $Δm = (m_{H^0} - m_{A^0})$ in the alignment limit $(\cos(β- α)=0)$. We study the potential measurement of this same-sign charged Higgs pair production at the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) and the proposed 27 TeV $pp$ collider, with emphasis in the decay channel $H^\pm H^\pm \to (W^\pm A^0 ) (W^\pm A^0)$, which is in general the dominant mode when the charged Higgs mass is above the $W^\pm A^0$ threshold. We also examine the current allowed parameter space taking into account the theoretical constraints on the model, the electroweak precision measurements, $B$ decays, and direct searches in the $H^\pm \to τ^\pm ν_τ$ and $H^\pm \to W ^\pm A^0 \to (\ell^\pmν_{\ell} ) (μμ)$.

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Sensitivity Reach on the Heavy Neutral Leptons and $τ$-Neutrino Mixing $|U_{τN}|^2 $ at the HL-LHC

The model of heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) is one of the well-motivated models beyond the standard model (BSM) from both theoretical and phenomenological point of views. It is an indispensable ingredient to explain the puzzle of tiny neutrino masses and the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in our Universe, based on the models in which the simplest Type-I seesaw mechanism can be embedded. The HNL with a mass up to the electroweak scale is an attractive scenario which can be readily tested in present or near-future experiments including the LHC. In this work, we study the decay rates of HNLs and find the sensitive parameter space of the mixing angles between the active neutrinos and HNLs. Since the mixing between $ ν_τ $ and HNL is not well established in literature compared with those of $ν_e$ and $ν_μ$ for the HNL of mass in the electroweak scale, we focus on the channel $ pp\rightarrow W^{\pm(\ast)} + X\rightarrow τ^{\pm} N + X$ to search for HNLs at the LHC 14 TeV. The targeted signature consists of three prompt charged leptons, which include at least two tau leptons. After the signal-background analysis, we further set sensitivity bounds on the mixing $ |U_{τN}|^2 $ with $ M_N $ at High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). We predict the testable bounds from HL-LHC can be stronger than the previous LEP constraints and Electroweak Precision Data (EWPD), especially for $ M_N \lesssim $ 50 GeV can reach down to $ |U_{τN}|^2 \approx 2\times 10^{-6} $.

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Confronting dark matter co-annihilation of Inert two Higgs Doublet Model with a compressed mass spectrum

We perform a comprehensive analysis for the light scalar dark matter (DM)in the Inert two Higgs doublet model (i2HDM) with compressed mass spectra, small mass splittings among three $\mathbb{Z}_2$ odd particles---scalar $S$, pseudo-scalar $A$, and charged Higgs $H^\pm$. In such a case, the co-annihilation processes play a significant role to reduce DM relic density. As long as a co-annihilation governs the total interaction rate in the early universe, a small annihilation rate is expected to reach a correct DM relic density and its coupling $λ_S$ between DM pair and Higgs boson shall be tiny. Consequently, a negligible DM-nucleon elastic scattering cross section is predicted at the tree-level. In this work, we include the one-loop quantum corrections of the DM-nucleon elastic scattering cross section. We found that the quartic self-coupling $λ_2$ between $\mathbb{Z}_2$ odd particles indeed contributes to the one-loop quantum correction and behaves non-trivially for the co-annihilation scenario. Interestingly, the parameter space, which is allowed by the current constraints considered in this study, can predict the DM mass and annihilation cross section at the present compatible with the AMS-02 antiproton excess. The parameter space can be further probed at the future high luminosity LHC.

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Vector-like Quark Interpretation for the CKM Unitarity Violation, Excess in Higgs Signal Strength, and Bottom Quark Forward-Backward Asymmetry

Due to a recent more precise evaluation of $V_{ud}$ and $V_{us}$, the unitarity condition of the first row in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix: $|V_{ud}|^2 + |V_{us}|^2 + |V_{ub}|^2 = 0.99798 \pm 0.00038$ now stands at a deviation more than $4σ$ from unity. Furthermore, a mild excess in the overall Higgs signal strength appears at about $2σ$ above the standard model (SM) prediction, as well as the long-lasting discrepancy in the forward-backward asymmetry ${\cal A}_{\rm FB}^b$ in $Z\to b\bar b$ at LEP. Motivated from the above three anomalies we investigate an extension of the SM with vector-like quarks (VLQs) associated with the down-quark sector, with the goal of alleviating the tension among these datasets. We perform global fits of the model under the constraints coming from the unitarity condition of the first row of the CKM matrix, the $Z$-pole observables ${\cal A}_{\rm FB}^b$, $R_b$ and $Γ_{\rm had}$, Electro-Weak precision observables $ΔS$ and $ΔT$, $B$-meson observables $B_d^0$-$\overline{B}_d^0$ mixing, $B^+ \to π^+ \ell^+ \ell^-$ and $B^0 \to μ^+ μ^-$, and direct searches for VLQs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Our results suggest that adding VLQs to the SM provides better agreement than the SM.

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Disentangling new physics effects on non-resonant Higgs boson pair production from gluon fusion

There are two kinds of new physics effects on non-resonant di-Higgs process from gluon fusion, non-SM Higgs trilinear self-coupling $λ_{hhh}$ or new colored particles running in the loop. With the aim of disentangling different new physics contributions, we study their characteristics in the kinematic distributions. Assuming that the total cross section is observed to be about three times as large as the SM expectation, we consider the cases of $λ_{hhh}/λ_{hhh}^{\rm SM} =-0.5, 5.5$ as well as a new physics model with heavy vectorlike quarks in a type-II two Higgs double model, called the VLQ-2HDM. A reasonable benchmark point is suggested in the exact wrong-sign limit, where the opposite sign between the up-type VLQ and down-type VLQ couplings to the Higgs boson causes the cancellation of their contributions to the single-Higgs production from gluon fusion. Because of the threshold effects from the heavy VLQs in the loop, the VLQ-2HDM accommodates the bumps in the distributions of the invariant mass of the Higgs boson pair ($M_{hh}$) and the transverse momentum of a Higgs boson ($p_T^h$). The positions of two bumps are closely related as $ M_{hh} \simeq 2 M_{\rm VLQ}$ and $p_T^h \simeq M_{\rm VLQ}$. In addition, the bumps located at the heavy VLQ mass naturally lift up the $M_{hh}$ and $p_T^h$ distributions into high-mass and high-$p_T^h$ regions. On the other hand, the non-SM Higgs trilinear coupling cases have the distributions shift into low $ M_{hh}$ and $p_T^h$ regions. Therefore, the kinematic region with high $M_{hh}$ and high $p_T^h$ will be a smoking-gun signal for the VLQ-2HDM. Full HL-LHC simulations for the di-Higgs signals are also performed, confirming that the $b \bar{b} b \bar{b}$ final state can distinguish the VLQ-2HDM.

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Higgs-boson-pair production $H(\rightarrow b\overline{b})H(\rightarrowγγ)$ from gluon fusion at the HL-LHC and HL-100 TeV hadron collider

We perform the most up-to-date comprehensive signal-background analysis for Higgs-pair production in $HH \to b\bar b γγ$ channel at the HL-LHC and HL-100 TeV hadron collider, with the goal of probing the self-coupling $λ_{3H}$ of the Higgs boson. We simulate all the standard-model signal and background processes with the simulation tools almost as sophisticated as what experimentalists are using. We find that even for the most promising channel $HH \to b\bar{b}γγ$ at the HL-LHC with a luminosity of 3000 fb$^{-1}$, the significance is still not high enough to establish the Higgs self-coupling at the standard model (SM) value. Instead, we can only constrain the self-coupling to $-1.0 < λ_{3H} < 7.6 $ at $ 95\% $ confidence level after considering the uncertainties associated with the top-Yukawa coupling and the estimation of backgrounds. Here we also extend the study to the HL-100 TeV hadron collider. With a luminosity of 3 ab$^{-1}$, we find there exists a bulk region of $2.6 \lsim λ_{3H} \lsim 4.8 $ in which one cannot pin down the trilinear coupling. Otherwise one can measure the coupling with a high precision. At the SM value, for example, we show that the coupling can be measured with about 20 \% accuracy. While assuming 30 ab$^{-1}$, the bulk region reduces to $3.1 \lsim λ_{3H} \lsim 4.3$ and the trilinear coupling can be measured with about 7 \% accuracy at the SM value. With all the simulated background events and results, our study can be useful to probe the Higgs potential of various models with extended Higgs sector, such as two-Higgs-doublet model, MSSM, etc.

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Sneutrino Dark Matter via pseudoscalar X-funnel meets Inverse Seesaw

In this paper we study sneutrino dark matter in a recently proposed supersymmetric electroweak-scale inverse seesaw model, in which the majority of the sneutrino dark matter particle is a mixture of the right-handed sneutrino $\tilde{N}^c$ and the singlet field $\tilde{S}$. The scalar field $X$ responsible for the generation of neutrino masses can simultaneously play a crucial role for sneutrino annihilation in the early Universe via the pseudoscalar mediator $A_X$ into neutrinos. We focus here on the dominant annihilation channels and provide all the formulas together with analytic estimates in order to identify the relevant parameters. Furthermore, we show that the direct detection scattering cross section is many orders of magnitude below the current limits, and estimate the indirect detection annihilation rate, which is only a few orders of magnitude below the current limits.

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Signals of New Gauge Bosons in Gauged Two Higgs Doublet Model

Recently a gauged two Higgs doublet model, in which the two Higgs doublets are embedded into the fundamental representation of an extra local $SU(2)_H$ group, is constructed. Both the new gauge bosons $Z^\prime$ and $W^{\prime (p,m)}$ are electrically neutral. While $Z^\prime$ can be singly produced at colliders, $W^{\prime (p,m)}$, which is heavier, must be pair produced. We explore the constraints of $Z^\prime$ using the current Drell-Yan type data from the Large Hadron Collider. Anticipating optimistically that $Z^\prime$ can be discovered via the clean Drell-Yan type signals at high luminosity upgrade of the collider, we explore the detectability of extra heavy fermions in the model via the two leptons/jets plus missing transverse energy signals from the exotic decay modes of $Z^\prime$. For the $W^{\prime (p,m)}$ pair production in a future 100 TeV proton-proton collider, we demonstrate certain kinematical distributions for the two/four leptons plus missing energy signals have distinguishable features from the Standard Model background. In addition, comparisons of these kinematical distributions between the gauged two Higgs doublet model and the littlest Higgs model with T-parity, the latter of which can give rise to the same signals with competitive if not larger cross sections, are also presented.

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