arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Dean J. Robinson.
Ultraviolet completions for axion-like particles (ALPs) lighter than the neutral pion generically induce ALP-neutral pion mixing, and are therefore sensitive to direct constraints on the mixing angle. For ALPs below the pion mass, we demonstrate that strong and novel bounds on the ALP-pion mixing angle can be extracted from existing rare pion decay data, measured by the PIENU and PIBETA experiments.
A dark QCD sector is a relatively minimal extension of the Standard Model (SM) that admits Dark Matter (DM) candidates but requires no portal to the visible sector beyond gravitational interactions: A "nightmare scenario" for DM detection. We consider a secluded dark sector containing a single flavor of light, vector-like dark quark gauged under $SU(N)$. In the large-$N$ limit, this single-flavor theory becomes highly predictive, generating two DM candidates whose masses and dynamics are described by few parameters: A light quark-antiquark bound state, the dark analog of the $η'$ meson, and a heavy bound state of $N$ quarks, the dark analog of the $Δ^{++}$ baryon. We show that the latter may freeze-in with an abundance independent of the confinement scale, forming DM-like relics for $N \lesssim 10$, while the former may generate DM via cannibalization and freeze-out. We study the interplay of this two-component DM system and determine the characteristic ranges of the confinement scale, dark-visible sector temperature ratio, and $N$ that admit non-excluded DM, once the effects of self-interaction constraints and bounds on effective degrees of freedom at the BBN and CMB epochs are included.
We present new precision predictions for semitauonic decays involving $ρ$ and $ω$ final state mesons. These decay channels offer an interesting orthogonal probe to study the existing B anomalies in semitauonic transitions and are accessible with the Belle II experiment. The predictions are based on combining existing light-cone sum-rule calculations for the form factors with measured experimental spectra from the BaBar and Belle collaborations. This allows us to reliably extrapolate the light-lepton form factor predictions to large values of the four-momentum transfer squared, $q^2$, and in turn to derive precise predictions for $R_ρ$ and $R_ω$, the ratio of the total decay rates of $B \rightarrow ρτν_τ$ and $B \rightarrow ωτν_τ$ for $τ$ final states with respect to light leptons in the SM. In addition, we investigate the impact of all four-fermi operators on the semitauonic $q^2$ spectra and these ratios.
The determination of $|V_{cb}|$ from exclusive semileptonic $B\to D^*\ellν$ decays is sensitive to the choice of form factor parametrization. Larger $|V_{cb}|$ values are obtained fitting the BGL versus the CLN parametrization to recent Belle measurements. For the BGL parametrization, published fits use different numbers of parameters. We propose a method based on nested hypothesis tests to determine the optimal number of BGL parameters to fit the data, and find that six parameters are optimal to fit the Belle tagged and unfolded measurement. We further explore the differences between fits that use different numbers of parameters. The fits which yield $|V_{cb}|$ values in better agreement with determinations from inclusive semileptonic decays, tend to exhibit tensions with heavy quark symmetry expectations. These have to be resolved before the determinations of $|V_{cb}|$ from exclusive and inclusive decays can be considered understood.
We explore scenarios where the $R(D^{(*)})$ anomalies arise from semitauonic decays to a right-handed sterile neutrino. We perform an EFT study of all five simplified models capable of generating at tree-level the lowest dimension electroweak operators that give rise to this decay. We analyze their compatibility with current $R(D^{(*)})$ data and other relevant hadronic branching ratios, and show that one simplified model is excluded by this analysis. The remainder are compatible with collider constraints on the mediator semileptonic branching ratios, provided the mediator mass is of order TeV. We also discuss the phenomenology of the sterile neutrino itself, which includes possibilities for displaced decays at colliders and direct searches, measurable dark radiation, and gamma ray signals.
We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of Standard Model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the $μ$m scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of $\sim 10^7$m. Neutral LLPs with lifetimes above $\sim$ 100m are particularly difficult to probe, as the sensitivity of the LHC main detectors is limited by challenging backgrounds, triggers, and small acceptances. MATHUSLA is a proposal for a minimally instrumented, large-volume surface detector near ATLAS or CMS. It would search for neutral LLPs produced in HL-LHC collisions by reconstructing displaced vertices (DVs) in a low-background environment, extending the sensitivity of the main detectors by orders of magnitude in the long-lifetime regime. In this white paper we study the LLP physics opportunities afforded by a MATHUSLA-like detector at the HL-LHC. We develop a model-independent approach to describe the sensitivity of MATHUSLA to BSM LLP signals, and compare it to DV and missing energy searches at ATLAS or CMS. We then explore the BSM motivations for LLPs in considerable detail, presenting a large number of new sensitivity studies. While our discussion is especially oriented towards the long-lifetime regime at MATHUSLA, this survey underlines the importance of a varied LLP search program at the LHC in general. By synthesizing these results into a general discussion of the top-down and bottom-up motivations for LLP searches, it is our aim to demonstrate the exceptional strength and breadth of the physics case for the construction of the MATHUSLA detector.
The measured $\bar{B}\to D^{(*)} l \barν$ decay rates for light leptons ($l=e,μ$) constrain all $\bar{B}\to D^{(*)}$ semileptonic form factors, by including both the leading and ${\cal O}(Λ_{\text{QCD}}/m_{c,b})$ subleading Isgur-Wise functions in the heavy quark effective theory. We perform a novel combined fit to the $\bar{B}\to D^{(*)} l \barν$ decay distributions to predict the $\bar{B} \to D^{(*)} τ\barν$ rates and determine the CKM matrix element $|V_{cb}|$. Most theoretical and experimental papers have neglected uncertainties in the predictions for form factor ratios at order $Λ_{\text{QCD}}/m_{c,b}$, which we include. We also calculate ${\cal O}(Λ_{\text{QCD}}/m_{c,b})$ and ${\cal O}(α_s)$ contributions to semileptonic $\bar{B}\to D^{(*)} \ell \barν$ decays for all possible $b \to c$ currents. This result has not been available for the tensor current form factors, and for two of those, which are ${\cal O}(Λ_{\text{QCD}}/m_{c,b})$, the corrections are of the same order as approximations used in the literature. These results allow us to determine with improved precision how new physics may affect the $\bar{B}\to D^{(*)} τ\barν$ rates. Our predictions can be systematically improved with more data; they need not rely on lattice QCD results, although these can be incorporated.
We calculate the $Λ_b \to Λ_c \ell ν$ form factors and decay rates for all possible $b\to c \ell\barν$ four-Fermi interactions beyond the Standard Model, including nonzero charged lepton masses and terms up to order $α_s\, Λ_\text{QCD}/m_{c,b}$ and $Λ_\text{QCD}^2/m_c^2$ in the heavy quark effective theory. At this order, we obtain model independent predictions for semileptonic $Λ_b \to Λ_c$ decays in terms of only two unknown sub-subleading Isgur-Wise functions, which can be determined from fitting LHCb and lattice QCD data. We thus obtain model independent results for $Λ_b\to Λ_c\ell\barν$ decays, including predictions for the ratio $R(Λ_c) = {\cal B}(Λ_b\to Λ_c τ\barν) / {\cal B}(Λ_b\to Λ_c μ\barν)$ in the presence of new physics, that are more precise than prior results in the literature, and systematically improvable with better data on the decays with $μ$ (or $e$) in the final state. We also explore tests of factorization in $Λ_b \to Λ_cπ$ decays, and emphasize the importance of measuring at LHCb the double differential rate $d^2Γ(Λ_b\toΛ_c\ell\barν) / (d q^2\, d\cosθ)$, in addition to the $q^2$ spectrum.
The heavy quark effective theory makes model independent predictions for semileptonic $Λ_b \to Λ_c$ decays in terms of a small set of parameters. No subleading Isgur-Wise function occurs at order $Λ_{\rm QCD}/m_{c,b}$, and only two sub-subleading functions enter at order $Λ_{\rm QCD}^2/m_c^2$. These features allow us to fit the form factors and decay rates calculated up to order $Λ_{\rm QCD}^2/m_c^2$ to LHCb data and lattice QCD calculations. We derive a significantly more precise standard model prediction for the ratio ${\cal B}(Λ_b\to Λ_c τ\barν) / {\cal B}(Λ_b\to Λ_c μ\barν)$ than prior results, and find the expansion in $Λ_{\rm QCD}/m_c$ well-behaved, addressing a long-standing question. Our results allow more precise and reliable calculations of $Λ_b\to Λ_c\ell\barν$ rates, and are systematically improvable with better data on the $μ$ (or $e$) modes.
Run 5 of the HL-LHC era (and beyond) may provide new opportunities to search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) at interaction point 2 (IP2). In particular, taking advantage of the existing ALICE detector and infrastructure provides an opportunity to search for displaced decays of beyond standard model long-lived particles (LLPs). While this proposal may well be preempted by ongoing ALICE physics goals, examination of its potential new physics reach provides a compelling comparison with respect to other LLP proposals. In particular, full event reconstruction and particle identification could be possible by making use of the existing L3 magnet and ALICE time projection chamber. For several well-motivated portals, the reach competes with or exceeds the sensitivity of MATHUSLA and SHiP, provided that a total integrated luminosity of approximately $100\, \text{fb}^{-1}$ could be delivered to IP2.
We advocate for the construction of a new detector element at the LHCb experiment, designed to search for displaced decays of beyond standard model long-lived particles, taking advantage of a large shielded space in the LHCb cavern that is expected to soon become available. We discuss the general features and putative capabilities of such an experiment, as well as its various advantages and complementarities with respect to the existing LHC experiments and proposals such as SHiP and MATHUSLA. For two well-motivated beyond Standard Model benchmark scenarios -- Higgs decay to dark photons and $B$ meson decays via a Higgs mixing portal -- the reach either complements or exceeds that predicted for other LHC experiments.
We explore semileptonic $B$ decays to the four lightest excited charm mesons, $D^{**} = \{D_0^*,\, D_1^*,$ $D_1,\, D_2^*\}$, for nonzero charged lepton mass and for all $b\to c \ell\barν$ four-Fermi interactions, including calculation of the ${\cal O}(Λ_\text{QCD}/m_{c,b})$ and ${\cal O}(α_s)$ corrections to the heavy quark limit for all form factors. In the heavy quark limit some form factors are suppressed at zero recoil, therefore, the ${\cal O}(Λ_\text{QCD}/m_{c,b})$ corrections can be very important. The $D^{**}$ rates exhibit sensitivities to new physics in $b\to cτ\barν$ mediated decays complementary to the $D$ and $D^*$ modes. Since they are also important backgrounds to $B\to D^{(*)}τ\barν$, the correct interpretation of future semitauonic $B\to D^{(*)}$ rate measurements requires consistent treatment of both the $D^{**}$ backgrounds and the signals. Our results allow more precise and more reliable calculations of these $B\to D^{**}\ell\barν$ decays, and are systematically improvable by better data on the $e$ and $μ$ modes. As an example, we show that the $D^{**}$ rates are more sensitive to a new $\bar c\, σ_{μν} b$ tensor interaction than the $D^{(*)}$ rates.
We provide an ultraviolet (UV) complete model for the $R(D^{(*)})$ anomalies, in which the additional contribution to semi-tauonic $b \to c$ transitions arises from decay to a right-handed sterile neutrino via exchange of a TeV-scale $SU(2)_L$ singlet $W'$. The model is based on an extension of the Standard Model (SM) hypercharge group, $U(1)_Y$, to the $SU(2)_V\times U(1)'$ gauge group, containing several pairs of heavy vector-like fermions. We present a comprehensive phenomenological survey of the model, ranging from the low-energy flavor physics, direct searches at the LHC, to neutrino physics and cosmology. We show that, while the $W'$ and $Z'$-induced constraints are important, it is possible to find parameter space naturally consistent with all the available data. The sterile neutrino sector also offers rich phenomenology, including possibilities for measurable dark radiation, gamma ray signals, and displaced decays at colliders.
We propose a new framework to generate the Standard Model (SM) quark flavor hierarchies in the context of two Higgs doublet models (2HDM). The `flavorful' 2HDM couples the SM-like Higgs doublet exclusively to the third quark generation, while the first two generations couple exclusively to an additional source of electroweak symmetry breaking, potentially generating striking collider signatures. We synthesize the flavorful 2HDM with the `flavor-locking' mechanism, that dynamically generates large quark mass hierarchies through a flavor-blind portal to distinct flavon and hierarchon sectors: Dynamical alignment of the flavons allows a unique hierarchon to control the respective quark masses. We further develop the theoretical construction of this mechanism, and show that in the context of a flavorful 2HDM-type setup, it can automatically achieve realistic flavor structures: The CKM matrix is automatically hierarchical with $|V_{cb}|$ and $|V_{ub}|$ generically of the observed size. Exotic contributions to meson oscillation observables may also be generated, that may accommodate current data mildly better than the SM itself.
Recently several papers extracted $|V_{cb}|$ using the Belle measurement of the exclusive $\bar B \to D^* \ell\barν$ unfolded differential decay rates, available for the first time. Depending on the theoretical inputs, some of the fits yield higher $|V_{cb}|$ values, compatible with those from inclusive semileptonic $B$ decays. Since these four fits use mostly the same data, if their correlations were close to 100\%, the tension between them would be over $5σ$. We determine the correlations, find that the tension between the results is less than $3σ$, and explore what might lead to improving the consistency of the fits. We find that fits that yield the higher values of $|V_{cb}|$, also suggest large violations of heavy quark symmetry. These fits are also in tension with preliminary lattice QCD data on the form factors. Without additional experimental data or lattice QCD input, there are no set of assumptions under which the tension between exclusive and inclusive determinations of $|V_{cb}|$ can be considered resolved.
We derive compact expressions for the helicity amplitudes of the many-body $B \to D^{(*)}(\to DY)τ(\to Xν)ν$ decays, specifically for $X = \ell ν$ or $π$ and $Y = π$ or $γ$. We include contributions from all ten possible new physics four-Fermi operators with arbitrary couplings. Our results capture interference effects in the full phase space of the visible $τ$ and $D^*$ decay products which are missed in analyses that treat the $τ$ or $D^*$ or both as stable. The $τ$ interference effects are sizable, formally of order $m_τ/m_B$ for the standard model, and may be of order unity in the presence of new physics. Treating interference correctly is essential when considering kinematic distributions of the $τ$ or $D^*$ decay products, and when including experimentally unavoidable phase space cuts. Our amplitude-level results also allow for efficient exploration of new physics effects in the fully differential phase space, by enabling experiments to perform such studies on fully simulated Monte Carlo datasets via efficient event reweighing. As an example, we explore a class of new physics interactions that can fit the observed $R(D^{(*)})$ ratios, and show that analyses including more differential kinematic information can provide greater discriminating power for new physics, than single kinematic variables alone.
Very high multiplicity, spherically-symmetric distributions of soft particles, with $p_T$ ~ few hundred MeV, may be a signature of strongly-coupled hidden valleys that exhibit long, efficient showering windows. With traditional triggers, such "soft bomb" events closely resemble pile-up and are therefore only recorded with minimum bias triggers at a very low efficiency. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept for a high-level triggering strategy that efficiently separates soft bombs from pile-up by searching for a "belt of fire": A high density band of hits on the innermost layer of the tracker. Seeding our proposed high-level trigger with existing jet, missing transverse energy or lepton hardware-level triggers, we show that net trigger efficiencies of order 10% are possible for bombs of mass several hundred GeV. We also consider the special case that soft bombs are the result of an exotic decay of the 125 GeV Higgs. The fiducial rate for "Higgs bombs" triggered in this manner is marginally higher than the rate achievable by triggering directly on a hard muon from associated Higgs production.
We consider a twin WIMP scenario whose twin sector contains a full dark copy of the SM hadrons, where the lightest twin particles are twin pions. By analogy to the standard WIMP paradigm, the dark matter (DM) freezes out through twin electroweak interactions, and annihilates into a dark shower of light twin hadrons. These are either stable or decay predominantly to standard model (SM) photons. We show that this 'hadrosymmetric' scenario can be consistent with all applicable astrophysical, cosmological and collider constraints. In order to decay the twin hadrons before the big-bang nucleosynthesis epoch, an additional portal between the SM and twin sector is required. In most cases we find this additional mediator is within reach of either the LHC or future intensity frontier experiments. Furthermore, we conduct simulations of the dark shower and consequent photon spectra. We find that fits of these spectra to the claimed galactic center gamma-ray excess seen by Fermi-LAT non-trivially coincide with regions of parameter space that both successfully generate the observed DM abundance and exhibit minimal fine-tuning.