arXiv subjects

Christoph Borschensky

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph Borschensky.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Comprehensive Analysis of the R2HDM Vacuum Evolution and the Induced GW and Collider Phenomenology

Extended Higgs sectors beyond the Standard Model (BSM) allow to dynamically generate the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe through electroweak baryogenesis and thereby solve one of the most prominent open problems of the SM. The strong first-order phase transitions (PTs), required to preserve the generated asymmetry in the electroweak vacuum, source gravitational waves (GW) that can be tested at future experiments like LISA. Gravitational waves hence provide the exciting possibility to probe BSM physics through cosmological processes. In order to be able to eventually pin down the specific underlying physics, a good understanding of the evolution of the vacuum of the model under investigation is indispensable as well as of the uncertainties that are involved in the derivation of the GW spectrum. We use our code BSMPTv3 that allows to reliably derive the finite temperature vacuum structure of extended Higgs sectors with multiple vacuum directions and calculates the GW spectrum of the found (multiple) strong first-order PTs, and we apply it to the real, i.e. CP-conserving, 2-Higgs-Doublet Model. Taking into account all relevant theoretical and experimental constraints, we perform a thorough analysis of its vacuum evolution, the related collider and GW phenomenology and complement it by an uncertainty discussion.

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arXiv2025

Higgs Mass Predictions in the CP-Violating High-Scale NMSSM

In a supersymmetric theory, large mass hierarchies can lead to large uncertainties in fixed-order calculations of the Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs mass. A reliable prediction is then obtained by performing the calculation in an effective field theory (EFT) framework, involving a matching to the full supersymmetric theory at the high scale to include contributions from the heavy particles, and a subsequent renormalisation-group running down to the low scale. We report on the prediction of the SM-like Higgs mass within the CP-violating Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the SM (NMSSM) in a scenario where all non-SM particles feature TeV-scale masses. The matching conditions are calculated at full one-loop order using two approaches. These are the matching of the quartic Higgs couplings as well as of the SM-like Higgs pole masses of the low- and high-scale theory. A comparison between the two methods allows us to estimate the size of terms suppressed by the heavy mass scale that are neglected in a pure EFT calculation as given by the quartic-coupling matching. Furthermore, we study the different sources of uncertainty which enter our calculation as well as the effect of CP-violating phases on the Higgs mass prediction. The matching calculation is implemented in a new version of the public program package NMSSMCALC.

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arXiv2024

NNLL-fast 2.0: Coloured Sparticle Production at the LHC Run 3 with $\sqrt{S}$ = 13.6 TeV

We report on updated precision predictions for total cross sections of coloured supersymmetric particle production at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt S$ = 13.6 TeV, computed with the modern PDF4LHC21 set. The cross sections are calculated at an approximated NNLO accuracy in QCD and contain corrections from the threshold resummation of soft-gluon emission up to NNLL accuracy as well as Coulomb-gluon contributions including bound-state terms. The corrections are found to increase the cross sections and reduce the theoretical uncertainty as compared to the best available fixed-order calculations. These predictions constitute the state-of-the-art calculations and update the existing results for $\sqrt S$ = 13 TeV. We make our new results publicly available in the version 2.0 update to the code package NNLL-fast.

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arXiv2024

Double and Triple Higgs Production to probe the Electroweak Phase Transition

The production of three Higgs bosons could be a stretch goal for the LHC and a strategic case for future colliders. In this work, we analyse the phenomenological prospects of (neutral) triple Higgs compared to di-Higgs boson production, for a range of Higgs-sector extensions from a strong first-order electroweak phase transition perspective. In parallel, we include constraints from existing exotics and Higgs boson measurements that further limit the parameter space of such models. Resonance contributions offer large modifications in particular for triple Higgs production, albeit starting from a small SM expectation. With enhancements of order 40 over the SM, however, experimental efforts to obtain limits at the HL-LHC are well-motivated and well-placed. This is further highlighted by the potential of these processes to inform the investigation of the thermal history of our universe.

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arXiv2024

Squark production with R-symmetry beyond NLO at the LHC

The Minimal R-symmetric Supersymmetric Standard Model (MRSSM) provides a realisation of supersymmetry in which the parameter space is less constrained by the current LHC data than in the simplest supersymmetric scenarios. In the present paper, we obtain the most precise theoretical predictions in the MRSSM for squark production at the LHC, enabling accurate interpretations of LHC data in terms of the MRSSM. We perform threshold resummation of soft gluon corrections to the total cross sections for the production of squark-(anti)squark pairs at the LHC in the MRSSM framework. The resummation is carried out using the direct QCD method and reaches the next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy, which requires calculating the one-loop matching coefficients in the relevant production channels. The resummed cross sections are then matched to the available NLO results and evaluated for $\sqrt{S}=13.6$ TeV. Compared with the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the cross sections in the MRSSM can be significantly reduced, implying less stringent limits on squark and gluino masses. Our results carry significant implications for exploring the viability of supersymmetry at the LHC. The results of our calculation are publicly available as a numerical package.

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arXiv2024

Intermediate Charge-Breaking Phases and Symmetry Non-Restoration in the 2-Higgs-Doublet Model

The Higgs potentials of extended Higgs sectors exhibit a complex and interesting vacuum structure. When travelling back in time, i.e. going to higher temperatures, the structure may change and exhibit interesting phase patterns and sequences of phases related to the respective minima of the potential. The investigation of the vacuum structure can give us indirect insights in beyond-Standard-Model physics and the evolution of the Universe. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of an intermediate charge-breaking (CB) phase in the 2-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) type I. The existence has been reported previously by using a simple potential setup. We here confirm that the intermediate CB phase can still exist when using the one-loop corrected effective potential including thermal masses. We discuss its features and the relation with SU(2) symmetry (non-)restoration as well as its consistency with the current experimental data. Lastly, we show for some selected benchmark points the rich and interesting phase patterns and sequences that the 2HDM can undergo during its evolution from the early Universe to today's electroweak vacuum.

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arXiv2022

Scalar leptoquarks at the LHC and flavour anomalies: a comparison of pair-production modes at NLO-QCD

We analyse scalar leptoquark pair production at the LHC with predictions including $t$-channel lepton exchange contributions up to next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD. In particular, we calculate NLO-QCD predictions for off-diagonal production channels, {\it i.e.}\ channels that involve two different leptoquark eigenstates and are driven solely by diagrams involving Standard Model leptons in the $t$-channel at leading order, as opposed to diagonal channels where a pair of the same leptoquark eigenstate is produced. We find that reliable theoretical predictions for both channels require NLO accuracy. The relative importance of the off-diagonal modes depends strongly on the considered scenario. In a generic model involving $R_2$ and $S_3$ leptoquarks, at large values of the Yukawa couplings off-diagonal contributions initiated by valence quarks can be up to an order of magnitude higher than the diagonal production. However, we also find that in phenomenologically viable scenarios addressing the flavour anomalies off-diagonal production is generally negligible, with a few exceptions of 10\%--30\% of the total rate depending on the treatment of the charm density in the proton.

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arXiv2022

The Trilinear Higgs Self-Couplings at ${\cal O}(α_t^2)$ in the CP-Violating NMSSM

In supersymmetric theories the Higgs boson masses are derived quantities where higher-order corrections have to be included in order to match the measured Higgs mass value at the precision of current experiments. Closely related through the Higgs potential are the Higgs self-interactions. In addition, the measurement of the trilinear Higgs self-coupling provides the first step towards the reconstruction of the Higgs potential and the experimental verification of the Higgs mechanism sui generis. In this paper, we advance our prediction of the trilinear Higgs self-couplings in the CP-violating Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the SM (NMSSM). We provide the ${\cal O}(α_t^2)$ corrections in the gaugeless limit at vanishing external momenta. The higher-order corrections turn out to be larger than the corresponding mass corrections but show the expected perturbative convergence. The inclusion of the loop-corrected effective trilinear Higgs self-coupling in gluon fusion into Higgs pairs and the estimate of the theoretical uncertainty due to missing higher-order corrections indicate that the missing electroweak higher-order corrections may be significant.

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arXiv2022

Scalar leptoquark pair production at the LHC: precision predictions in the era of flavour anomalies

We comprehensively examine precision predictions for scalar leptoquark pair production at the LHC. In particular, we investigate the impact of lepton $t$-channel exchange diagrams that are potentially relevant in the context of leptoquark scenarios providing an explanation for the flavour anomalies. We also evaluate the corresponding total rates at the next-to-leading order in QCD. Moreover, we complement this calculation with the resummation of soft-gluon radiation at the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, hence providing the most precise predictions for leptoquark pair production at the LHC to date. Relying on a variety of benchmark scenarios favoured by the anomalies, our results exhibit an interesting interplay between the $t$-channel diagram contributions, the flavour texture satisfied by the leptoquark Yukawa couplings, the leptoquark masses and their representations under the Standard Model gauge group, as well as the chosen set of parton densities used for the numerical evaluations. The net effect on a cross section turns out to be very non-generic and ranges up to about 60% with respect to the usual next-to-leading-order predictions in QCD (i.e. without any $t$-channel contribution) for some scenarios considered. Dedicated calculations are thus required for any individual leptoquark model that could be considered in a collider analysis in order to assess the size of the studied corrections. In order to facilitate such calculations we provide dedicated public numerical packages.

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arXiv2021

Precision predictions for scalar leptoquark pair production at the LHC

We present precision predictions for scalar leptoquark pair production at the LHC. Apart from QCD contributions, included are the lepton $t$-channel exchange diagrams relevant in the light of the recent $B$-flavour anomalies. All contributions are evaluated at next-to-leading order in QCD and improved by resummation, in the threshold regime, of the corrections from soft-gluon radiation at the next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy. All corrections are found equally relevant. Furthermore, the impact of different sets of parton distribution functions is discussed. These predictions constitute the most precise leptoquark cross section calculations available to date and are necessary for the best exploitation of leptoquark LHC searches.

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arXiv2021

Direct detection of dark matter: Precision predictions in a simplified model framework

We present a calculation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections for the scattering of Dark Matter particles off nucleons in the framework of simplified models with s- and t-channel mediators. These results are matched to the Wilson coefficients and operators of an effective field theory that is generally used for the presentation of experimental results on spin-independent and spin-dependent direct detection rates. Detailed phenomenological studies illustrate the complementary reach of collider searches for Dark Matter and the direct detection experiments CRESST and XENON. In the case of cancellation effects in the tree-level contributions, one-loop corrections can have a particularly large impact on exclusion limits in the case of combined s+t-channel models.

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arXiv2020

Precision predictions for scalar leptoquark pair-production at hadron colliders

We revisit scalar leptoquark pair-production at hadron colliders and significantly improve the level of precision of the cross section calculations. Apart from QCD contributions, we include lepton t-channel exchange diagrams that turn out to be relevant in the light of the recent B-anomalies. We evaluate all contributions at next-to-leading-order accuracy in QCD and resum, in the threshold regime, soft-gluon radiation at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. Our predictions consist hence in the most precise leptoquark cross section calculations available to date, and are necessary for the best exploitation of leptoquark searches at the LHC.

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arXiv2019

Dark matter pair production in the MSSM and in simplified dark matter models at the LHC

We study the collider phenomenology of dark matter pair production at the LHC in simplified dark matter models and in the MSSM. Among the large space of dark matter models, we focus on two particular models where a fermionic dark matter candidate interacts with the Standard Model via the exchange of either a vector mediator in the s-channel or coloured scalar mediators in the t-channel. We find that the simplified models are capable of reproducing the predictions of the MSSM to some extent in simplified supersymmetric scenarios, but lack the complexity to descibe the complete theory over the full supersymmetric parameter space.

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arXiv2016

Double parton scattering in pair-production of $J/ψ$ mesons at the LHC revisited

Double parton scattering (DPS) is studied at the example of $J/ψ$ pair-production in the LHCb and ATLAS experiments of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{S}=$ 7, 8, and 13 TeV. We report theoretical predictions delivered to the LHCb and ATLAS collaborations adjusted for the fiducial volumes of the corresponding measurements during Run I and provide new predictions at 13 TeV collision energy. It is shown that DPS can lead to noticeable contributions in the distributions of longitudinal variables of the di-$J/ψ$ system, especially at 13 TeV. The increased DPS rate in double $J/ψ$ production at high energies will open up more possibilities for the separation of single parton scattering (SPS) and DPS contributions in future studies.

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arXiv2016

NNLL-fast: predictions for coloured supersymmetric particle production at the LHC with threshold and Coulomb resummation

We present state-of-the art predictions for the production of supersymmetric squarks and gluinos at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), including soft-gluon resummation up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy, the resummation of Coulomb corrections and the contribution from bound states. The NNLL corrections enhance the cross-section predictions and reduce the scale uncertainty to a level of 5-10%. The NNLL resummed cross-section predictions can be obtained from the computer code NNLL-fast, which also provides the scale uncertainty and the pdf and alpha_s error.

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arXiv2016

NNLL resummation for stop pair-production at the LHC

The production of supersymmetric stop-antistop pairs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is studied including corrections from soft-gluon resummation up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy in the Mellin-space approach. Additionally, corrections to the hard-matching coefficient at one-loop and Coulomb contributions at two-loop order are considered. The NNLL corrections enhance the cross section for all stop masses at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV compared to the previously calculated predictions at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy. Furthermore, a slight increase in the dependence on the additional stop-mixing parameters is observed.

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arXiv2016

NLO+NLL squark and gluino production cross-sections with threshold-improved parton distributions

We present updated predictions for the cross-sections for pair production of squarks and gluinos at the LHC Run II. First of all, we update the calculations based on NLO+NLL partonic cross-sections by using the NNPDF3.0NLO global analysis. This study includes a full characterization of theoretical uncertainties from higher orders, PDFs and the strong coupling. Then, we explore the implications for this calculation of the recent NNPDF3.0 PDFs with NLO+NLL threshold resummation. We find that the shift in the results induced by the threshold-improved PDFs is within the total theory uncertainty band of the calculation based on NLO PDFs. However, we also observe that the central values of the cross-sections are modified both in a qualitative and a quantitative way, illustrating the relevance and impact of using threshold-improved PDFs together with resummed partonic cross-sections. The updated NLO+NLL cross-sections based on NNPDF3.0NLO are publicly available in the NLL-fast format, and should be an important ingredient for the interpretation of the searches for supersymmetric particles at Run II.

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arXiv2014

Squark and gluino production cross sections in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13, 14, 33 and 100 TeV

We present state-of-the-art cross section predictions for the production of supersymmetric squarks and gluinos at the upcoming LHC run with a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ and $14$ TeV, and at potential future $pp$ colliders operating at $\sqrt{s} = 33$ and $100$ TeV. The results are based on calculations which include the resummation of soft-gluon emission at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, matched to next-to-leading order supersymmetric QCD corrections. Furthermore, we provide an estimate of the theoretical uncertainty due to the variation of the renormalisation and factorisation scales and the parton distribution functions.

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