arXiv subjects

Hasan Serce

Publications and source records attributed to Hasan Serce.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Anomalous muon magnetic moment, supersymmetry, naturalness, LHC search limits and the landscape

The recent measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment a_\mu\equiv (g-2)_\mu/2 by the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment sharpens an earlier discrepancy between theory and the BNL E821 experiment. We examine the predicted \Delta a_\mu\equiv a_\mu(exp)-a_\mu(th) in the context of supersymmetry with low electroweak naturalness (restricting to models which give a plausible explanation for the magnitude of the weak scale). A global analysis including LHC Higgs mass and sparticle search limits points to interpretation within the normal scalar mass hierarchy (NSMH) SUSY model wherein first/second generation matter scalars are much lighter than third generation scalars. We present a benchmark model for a viable NSMH point which is natural, obeys LHC Higgs and sparticle mass constraints and explains the muon magnetic anomaly. Aside from NSMH models, then we find the (g-2)_\mu anomaly cannot be explained within the context of natural SUSY, where a variety of data point to decoupled first/second generation scalars. The situation is worse within the string landscape where first/second generation matter scalars are pulled to values in the 10-50 TeV range. An alternative interpretation for SUSY models with decoupled scalar masses is that perhaps the recent lattice evaluation of the hadronic vacuum polarization could be confirmed which leads to a Standard Model theory-experiment agreement in which case there is no anomaly.

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arXiv2021

Sparticle and Higgs boson masses from the landscape: dynamical versus spontaneous supersymmetry breaking

Perturbative supersymmetry breaking on the landscape of string vacua is expected to favor large soft terms as a power-law or log distribution, but tempered by an anthropic veto of inappropriate vacua or vacua leading to too large a value for the derived weak scale -- a violation of the atomic principle. Indeed, scans of such vacua yield a statistical prediction for light Higgs boson mass m_h~ 125 GeV with sparticles (save possibly light higgsinos) typically beyond LHC reach. In contrast, models of dynamical SUSY breaking (DSB) -- with a hidden sector gauge coupling g^2 scanned uniformly -- lead to gaugino condensation and a uniform distribution of soft parameters on a log scale. Then soft terms are expected to be distributed as $m_{\rm soft}^{-1}$ favoring small values. A scan of DSB soft terms generally leads to $m_h\ll 125$ GeV and sparticle masses usually below LHC limits. Thus, the DSB landscape scenario seems excluded from LHC search results. An alternative is that the exponential suppression of the weak scale is set anthropically on the landscape via the atomic principle.

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arXiv2019

Lepton flavor violation from SUSY with non-universal scalars

Right-handed neutrinos in supersymmetric models can act as the source of lepton flavor violation (LFV). We present experimental implications of lepton flavor-violating processes within a supersymmetric type-I seesaw framework in the three-extra-parameter non-universal Higgs model (NUHM3) for large (PMNS-like) and small (CKM-like) Yukawa mixing scenarios. We highlight LFV predictions for the natural (low $\Delta_{\rm EW}$) portion of parameter space. Our numerical analysis includes full 2-loop renormalization group running effects for the three neutrino masses and mass matrices. We show the projected discovery reach of various LFV experiments ($\textit{i.e.}$ Mu2e, Mu3e, MEG-II, Belle-II), and specify regions that have already been excluded by the LHC searches. Our results depend strongly on whether one has a normal sneutrino hierarchy (NSH) or an inverted sneutrino hierarchy (ISH). Natural SUSY with a NSH is already excluded by MEG-2013 results while large portions of ISH have been or will soon be tested. However, LFV processes from natural SUSY with small Yukawa mixing and an ISH seem below any projected sensitivities. A substantial amount of the remaining parameter space of models with large PMNS-like sneutrino mixing will be probed by Mu2e and MEG-II experiments whereas small, CKM-like Yukawa mixing predicts LFV decays which can hide from LFV experiments.

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arXiv2019

Is the magnitude of the Peccei-Quinn scale set by the landscape?

Rather general considerations of the string theory landscape imply a mild statistical draw towards large soft SUSY breaking terms tempered by the requirement of proper electroweak symmetry breaking where SUSY contributions to the weak scale are not too far from m(weak)~ 100 GeV. Such a picture leads to the prediction that m_h~ 125 GeV while most sparticles are beyond current LHC reach. Here we explore the possibility that the magnitude of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scale f_a is also set by string landscape considerations within the framework of a compelling SUSY axion model. First, we examine the case where the PQ symmetry arises as an accidental approximate global symmetry from a more fundamental gravity-safe Z(24)^R symmetry and where the SUSY mu parameter arises from a Kim-Nilles operator. The pull towards large soft terms then also pulls the PQ scale as large as possible. Unless this is tempered by rather severe (unknown) cosmological or anthropic bounds on the density of dark matter, then we would expect a far greater abundance of dark matter than is observed. This conclusion cannot be negated by adopting a tiny axion misalignment angle theta_i because WIMPs are also overproduced at large f_a. Hence, we conclude that setting the PQ scale via anthropics is highly unlikely. Instead, requiring soft SUSY breaking terms of order the gravity-mediation scale m_{3/2}~ 10-100 TeV places the mixed axion-neutralino dark matter abundance into the intermediate scale sweet zone where f_a~ 10^{11}-10^{12} GeV. We compare our analysis to the more general case of a generic SUSY DFSZ axion model with uniform selection on theta_i but leading to the measured dark matter abundance: this approach leads to a preference for f_a~ 10^{12} GeV.

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arXiv2019

LHC SUSY and WIMP dark matter searches confront the string theory landscape

The string theory landscape of vacua solutions provides physicists with some understanding as to the magnitude of the cosmological constant. Similar reasoning can be applied to the magnitude of the soft SUSY breaking terms in supersymmetric models of particle physics: there appears to be a statistical draw towards large soft terms which is tempered by the anthropic requirement of the weak scale lying not too far from ~100 GeV. For a mild statistical draw of m_{soft}^n with n=1 (as expected from SUSY breaking due to a single F term) then the light Higgs mass is preferred at ~125 GeV while sparticles are all pulled beyond LHC bounds. We confront a variety of LHC and WIMP dark matter search limits with the statistical expectations from a fertile patch of string theory landscape. The end result is that LHC and WIMP dark matter detectors see exactly that which is expected from the string theory landscape: a Standard Model-like Higgs boson of mass 125 GeV but as yet no sign of sparticles or WIMP dark matter. SUSY from the n=1 landscape is most likely to emerge at LHC in the soft opposite-sign dilepton plus jet plus MET channel. Multi-ton noble liquid WIMP detectors should be able to completely explore the n=1 landscape parameter space.

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arXiv2018

LHC luminosity and energy upgrades confront natural supersymmetry models

The electroweak fine-tuning measure Delta(EW) allows for correlated SUSY soft terms as are expected in any ultra-violet complete theory. Requiring no less than 3% electroweak fine-tuning implies upper bounds of about 360~GeV on all higgsinos, while top squarks are lighter than ~3 TeV and gluinos are bounded by ~ 6-9 TeV. We examine the reach for SUSY of the planned high luminosity (HL: 3 ab^{-1} at 14 TeV) and the proposed high energy (HE: 15 ab^{-1} at 27 TeV) upgrades of the LHC via four LHC collider search channels relevant for natural SUSY: 1. gluino pair production followed by gluino decay to third generation (s)quarks, 2. top-squark pair production followed by decay to third generation quarks and light higgsinos, 3. neutral higgsino pair production with QCD jet radiation (resulting in monojet events with soft dileptons), and 4. wino pair production followed by decay to light higgsinos leading to same-sign diboson production. We confront our reach results with upper limits on superpartner masses in four natural SUSY models: natural gravity-mediation via the 1. two- and 2. three-extra-parameter non-universal Higgs models, 3. natural mini-landscape models with generalized mirage mediation and 4. natural anomaly-mediation. We find that while the HL-LHC can probe considerable portions of natural SUSY parameter space in all these models, the HE-LHC will decisively cover the entire natural SUSY parameter space with better than 3% fine-tuning.

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arXiv2017

Higgs and superparticle mass predictions from the string theory landscape

Predictions for the scale of SUSY breaking from the string landscape go back at least a decade to the work of Denef and Douglas on the statistics of flux vacua. The assumption that an assortment of SUSY breaking F and D terms are present in the hidden sector, and their values are uniformly distributed in the landscape of D=4, N=1 effective supergravity models, leads to the expectation that the landscape pulls towards large values of soft terms favored by a power law behavior P(m(soft))~ m(soft)^n. On the other hand, similar to Weinberg's prediction of the cosmological constant, one can assume an anthropic selection of weak scales not too far from the measured value characterized by m(W,Z,h)~ 100 GeV. Working within a fertile patch of gravity-mediated low energy effective theories where the superpotential mu term is << m(3/2), as occurs in models such as radiative breaking of Peccei-Quinn symmetry, this biases statistical distributions on the landscape by a cutoff on the parameter Delta(EW), which measures fine-tuning in the m(Z)-mu mass relation. The combined effect of statistical and anthropic pulls turns out to favor low energy phenomenology that is more or less agnostic to UV physics. While a uniform selection n=0 of soft terms produces too low a value for m(h), taking n=1 or 2 produce most probabilistically m(h)~125 GeV for negative trilinear terms. For n>=1, there is a pull towards split generations with m(squarks,sleptons)(1,2)~10-30 TeV whilst m(t1)~ 1-2 TeV. The most probable gluino mass comes in at ~ 3-4 TeV--apparently beyond the reach of HL-LHC (although the required quasi-degenerate higgsinos should still be within reach). We comment on consequences for SUSY collider and dark matter searches.

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arXiv2017

The Reach of the High-Energy LHC for Gluinos and Top Squarks in SUSY Models with Light Higgsinos

We examine the top squark (stop) and gluino reach of the proposed 33 TeV energy upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC33) in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with light higgsinos and relatively heavy electroweak gauginos. In our analysis, we assume that stops decay to higgsinos via ${\tilde t}_1 \to t {\tilde{Z}}_1$, $\tilde{t}_1 \to t\tilde{Z}_2$ and $\tilde{t}$$_1 \to b\tilde{W}_1$ with branching fractions in the ratio 1:1:2 (expected if the decay occurs dominantly via the superpotential Yukawa coupling) while gluinos decay via $\tilde{g}\to t\tilde{t}_1$ or via three-body decays to third generation quarks plus higgsinos. These decay patterns are motivated by models of natural supersymmetry where higgsinos are expected to be close in mass to $m_Z$, but gluinos may be as heavy as $5 - 6$ TeV and stops may have masses up to $\sim 3 $ TeV. We devise cuts to optimize the signals from stop and gluino pair production at LHC33. We find that experiments at LHC33 should be able to discover stops with $> 5\sigma$ significance if $m_{\tilde{t}_1} < 2.3 \ (2.8) \ [3.2]$ TeV for an integrated luminosity of 0.3 (1)[3] ab$^{-1}$. The corresponding reach for gluinos extends to 5 (5.5) [6] TeV. These results imply that experiments at LHC33 should be able to discover at least one of the stop or gluino pair signals even with an integrated luminosity of 0.3 ab$^{-1}$ for natural SUSY models with no worse than 3% electroweak fine-tuning, and quite likely both gluinos and stops for an integrated luminosity of 3 ab$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2017

Superparticle phenomenology from the natural mini-landscape

The methodology of the heterotic mini-landscape attempts to zero in on phenomenologically viable corners of the string landscape where the effective low energy theory is the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with localized grand unification. The gaugino mass pattern is that of mirage-mediation. The magnitudes of various SM Yukawa couplings point to a picture where scalar soft SUSY breaking terms are related to the geography of fields in the compactified dimensions. Higgs fields and third generation scalars extend to the bulk and occur in split multiplets with TeV scale soft masses. First and second generation scalars, localized at orbifold fixed points or tori with enhanced symmetry, occur in complete GUT multiplets and have much larger masses. This picture can be matched onto the parameter space of generalized mirage mediation. Naturalness considerations, the requirement of the observed electroweak symmetry breaking pattern, and LHC bounds on m(gluino) together limit the gravitino mass to the m_{3/2}~ 5-60 TeV range. The mirage unification scale is bounded from below with the limit depending on the ratio of squark to gravitino masses. We show that while natural SUSY in this realization may escape detection even at the high luminosity LHC, the high energy LHC with \sqrt{s}=33 TeV could unequivocally confirm or exclude this scenario. It should be possible to detect the expected light higgsinos at the ILC if these are kinematically accessible, and possibly also discriminate the expected compression of gaugino masses in the natural mini-landscape picture from the mass pattern expected in models with gaugino mass unification. The thermal WIMP signal should be accessible via direct detection searches at the multi-ton noble liquid detectors such as Xenon-nT or LZ.

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arXiv2017

Prospects for axion detection in natural SUSY with mixed axion-higgsino dark matter: back to invisible?

Under the expectation that nature is natural, we extend the Standard Model to include SUSY to stabilize the electroweak sector and PQ symmetry to stabilize the QCD sector. Then natural SUSY arises from a Kim-Nilles solution to the SUSY mu problem which allows for a little hierarchy where mu ~ f_a^2/M_P ~ 100-300 GeV while the SUSY particle mass scale m(SUSY)~ 1-10 TeV >> mu. Dark matter then consists of two particles: a higgsino-like WIMP and a SUSY DFSZ axion. The range of allowed axion mass values m(axion) depends on the mixed axion-higgsino relic density. The range of m(axion) is actually restricted in this case by limits on WIMPs from direct and indirect detection experiments. We plot the expected axion detection rate at microwave cavity experiments. The axion-photon-photon coupling is severely diminished by charged higgsino contributions to the anomalous coupling. In this case, the axion may retreat, at least temporarily, back into the regime of near invisibility. From our results, we urge new ideas for techniques which probe both deeper and more broadly into axion coupling versus axion mass parameter space.

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arXiv2017

Implications of Mixed Axion-Neutralino Dark Matter

The lack of evidence for weak scale supersymmetry from LHC Run-I and Run-II results along with null results from direct/indirect dark matter detection experiment have caused a paradigm shift in expected phenomenology of SUSY models. The SUSY dark matter candidate, neutralino $\widetilde{Z}_1$, can only satisfy the measured dark matter abundance due to resonance- and co-annihilations in cMSSM model. Moreover, viable parameter space is highly fine-tuned in the cMSSM. In models that can still satisfy the naturalness condition such as NUHM2, the neutralino is underproduced due to its higgsino nature. Neutralino combined with axion that solves the strong CP problem can explain the observed dark matter in the universe. Here I briefly discuss implications of the mixed axion-neutralino scenario.

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arXiv2017

What hadron collider is required to discover or falsify natural supersymmetry?

Weak scale supersymmetry (SUSY) remains a compelling extension of the Standard Model because it stabilizes the quantum corrections to the Higgs and W, Z boson masses. In natural SUSY models these corrections are, by definition, never much larger than the corresponding masses. Natural SUSY models all have an upper limit on the gluino mass, too high to lead to observable signals even at the high luminosity LHC. However, in models with gaugino mass unification, the wino is sufficiently light that supersymmetry discovery is possible in other channels over the entire natural SUSY parameter space with no worse than 3% fine-tuning. Here, we examine the SUSY reach in more general models with and without gaugino mass unification (specifically, natural generalized mirage mediation), and show that the high energy LHC (HE-LHC), a pp collider with \sqrt{s}=33 TeV, will be able to detect the SUSY signal over the entire allowed mass range. Thus, HE-LHC would either discover or conclusively falsify natural SUSY with better than 3% fine-tuning using a conservative measure that allows for correlations among the model parameters.

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arXiv2017

Natural generalized mirage mediation

In the supersymmetric scenario known as mirage mediation (MM), the soft SUSY breaking terms receive comparable anomaly-mediation and moduli-mediation contributions leading to the phenomenon of mirage unification. The simplest MM SUSY breaking models which are consistent with the measured Higgs mass and sparticle mass constraints are strongly disfavoured by fine-tuning considerations. However, while MM makes robust predictions for gaugino masses, the scalar sector is quite sensitive to specific mechanisms for moduli stabilization and potential uplifting. We suggest here a broader setup of generalized mirage mediation (GMM), where heretofore discrete parameters are allowed as continuous to better parametrize these other schemes. We find that natural SUSY spectra consistent with both the measured value of m(h). as well as LHC lower bounds on superpartner masses are then possible. We explicitly show that models generated from natural GMM may be beyond the reach of even high-luminosity LHC searches. In such a case, the proposed International Linear e^+e^- Collider (ILC) will be required for natural SUSY discovery via higgsino pair production reactions. We also outline prospects for detection of higgsino-like WIMPs from natural GMM.

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arXiv2016

SUSY under siege from direct and indirect WIMP detection experiments

We examine updated prospects for detecting WIMPs in supersymmetric models via direct and indirect dark matter search experiments. We examine several historical and also still viable scenarios: projections for well-tempered neutralinos (WTN), projections from the MasterCode (MC), BayesFits (BF) and Fittino (FO) collaborations, non-thermal wino dark matter (NThW) and finally mixed axion-higgsino dark matter from SUSY with radiatively-driven naturalness (RNS). The WTN is ruled out by recent limits from XENON and LUX collaborations. The NThW scenario, previously on tenuous ground due to gamma-line searches, appears also ruled out by recent combined Fermi-LAT/MAGIC limits combined with new HESS results from continuum gamma rays. Substantial portions of MC parameter space and 1 TeV higgsino parameter space from BF group are ruled out. The 100-300 GeV higgsino-like WIMP from RNS survives due to its possible depleted local abundance (where the axion may make up the bulk of dark matter). Projections from ton-scale noble liquid detectors should discover or rule out WIMPs from the remaining parameter space of these surviving models.

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arXiv2016

Precision gaugino mass measurements as a probe of large trilinear soft terms at ILC

In supersymmetric models with radiatively-driven naturalness, higgsino-like electroweak-inos (EW-inos) are expected to lie in a mass range 100--300 GeV, the lighter the more natural. Such states can be pair-produced at high rates at ILC where their masses are nearly equal to the value of the superpotential mu parameter while their mass splittings depend on the gaugino masses M_1 and M_2. The gaugino masses in turn depend on trilinear soft terms---the A parameters, which are expected to lie in the multi-TeV range owing to the 125 GeV Higgs mass---via two-loop contributions to renormalization group running. We examine the extent to which ILC is sensitive to large A-terms via precision EW-ino mass measurement. Extraction of gaugino masses at the percent level should allow for interesting probes of large trilinear soft SUSY breaking terms under the assumption of unified gaugino masses.

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arXiv2016

The Higgs mass and natural supersymmetric spectrum from the landscape

In supersymmetric models where the superpotential mu term is generated with mu<< m_{soft} (e.g. from radiative Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking or compactified string models with sequestration and stabilized moduli), and where the string landscape 1. favors soft supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking terms as large as possible and 2. where the anthropic condition that electroweak symmetry is properly broken with a weak scale m_{W,Z,h}~100 GeV ({\it i.e.} not too weak of weak interactions), then these combined landscape/anthropic requirements act as an attractor pulling the soft SUSY breaking terms towards values required by models with radiatively-driven naturalness: near the line of criticality where electroweak symmetry is barely broken and the Higgs mass is ~125 GeV. The pull on the soft terms serves to ameliorate the SUSY flavor and CP problems. The resulting sparticle mass spectrum may barely be accessible at high-luminosity LHC while the required light higgsinos should be visible at a linear e^+e^- collider with \sqrt{s}>2m(higgsino).

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arXiv2015

Leptogenesis scenarios for natural SUSY with mixed axion-higgsino dark matter

Supersymmetric models with radiatively-driven electroweak naturalness require light higgsinos of mass ~ 100-300 GeV. Naturalness in the QCD sector is invoked via the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) axion leading to mixed axion-higgsino dark matter. The SUSY DFSZ axion model provides a solution to the SUSY mu problem and the Little Hierarchy μ<< m_{3/2} may emerge as a consequence of a mismatch between PQ and hidden sector mass scales. The traditional gravitino problem is now augmented by the axino and saxion problems, since these latter particles can also contribute to overproduction of WIMPs or dark radiation, or violation of BBN constraints. We compute regions of the T_R vs. m_{3/2} plane allowed by BBN, dark matter and dark radiation constraints for various PQ scale choices f_a. These regions are compared to the values needed for thermal leptogenesis, non-thermal leptogenesis, oscillating sneutrino leptogenesis and Affleck-Dine leptogenesis. The latter three are allowed in wide regions of parameter space for PQ scale f_a~ 10^{10}-10^{12} GeV which is also favored by naturalness: f_a~ \sqrt{μM_P/λ_μ}\sim 10^{10}-10^{12} GeV. These f_a values correspond to axion masses somewhat above the projected ADMX search regions.

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arXiv2015

Prospects for Higgs coupling measurements in SUSY with radiatively-driven naturalness

In the post-LHC8 world-- where a Standard Model-like Higgs boson has been established but there is no sign of supersymmetry (SUSY)-- the detailed profiling of the Higgs boson properties has emerged as an important road towards discovery of new physics. We present calculations of the expected deviations in Higgs boson couplings $κ_{τ,b}$, $κ_t$, $κ_{W,Z}$, $κ_g$ and $κ_γ$ versus the naturalness measure $Δ_{\rm EW}$. Low values of $Δ_{\rm EW}\sim 10-30$ give rise to a natural Little Hierarchy characterized by light higgsinos with a mass of $μ\sim m_Z$ while top squarks are highly mixed but lie in the several TeV range. For such models with radiatively-driven naturalness, one expects the Higgs boson $h$ to look very SM-like although deviations can occur. The more promising road to SUSY discovery requires direct higgsino pair production at a high energy $e^+e^-$ collider operating with the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}>2μ\sim \sqrt{2Δ_{\rm EW}}m_Z$.

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