arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ilaria Brivio.
This document reports the first year of activity of the VBSCan COST Action network, as summarised by the talks and discussions happened during the VBSCan Thessaloniki 2018 workshop. The VBSCan COST action is aiming at a consistent and coordinated study of vector-boson scattering from the phenomenological and experimental point of view, for the best exploitation of the data that will be delivered by existing and future particle colliders.
The Neutrino Option is a scenario where the Higgs mass is generated at the same time as neutrino masses in the type-I seesaw model. This framework provides a dynamical origin for the scalar potential of the Standard Model and suggests a new approach to the hierarchy problem. Here we review the preliminary analysis of Ref. [1], that showed the viability of this scenario, as well as the improved study of Ref. [2], that led to a better identification of the region of the parameter space where the Neutrino Option can be realized. We find that experimental constraints from both Higgs and neutrino physics can be accommodated introducing 2 heavy Majorana neutrinos with mass $M_1\simeq M_2\sim 0.5 - 10$ PeV and Yukawa couplings to the lepton doublet of order $ 10^{-4}-10^{-2}$, assuming that at the scale $M$ the classical Higgs potential is approximately conformal, with a quartic Higgs coupling $λ_0\sim 0.01-0.05$. Specifying the light neutrino mass ordering, the ratio $M_2/M_1$ or a given value of the top quark mass identifies narrower ranges for all the parameters. Although no further signature of the Neutrino Option is generally predicted at the currently accessible energy scales, conformal UV completions have been proposed, that could be tested e.g. via detection of gravitational waves. Leptogenesis can also be successfully realized in this scenario, that intriguingly ties together the breaking of the conformal and electroweak symmetries with the violation of lepton number.
Projecting measurements of the interactions of the known Standard Model (SM) states into an effective field theory (EFT) framework is an important goal of the LHC physics program. The interpretation of measurements of the properties of the Higgs-like boson in an EFT allows one to consistently study the properties of this state, while the SM is allowed to eventually break down at higher energies. In this review, basic concepts relevant to the construction of such EFTs are reviewed pedagogically. Electroweak precision data is discussed as a historical example of some importance to illustrate critical consistency issues in interpreting experimental data in EFTs. A future precision Higgs phenomenology program can benefit from the projection of raw experimental results into consistent field theories such as the SM, the SM supplemented with higher dimensional operators (the SMEFT) or an Electroweak chiral Lagrangian with a dominantly $J^P = 0^+$ scalar (the HEFT). We discuss the developing SMEFT and HEFT approaches, that are consistent versions of such EFTs, systematically improvable with higher order corrections, and comment on the pseudo-observable approach. We review the challenges that have been overcome in developing EFT methods for LHC studies, and the challenges that remain.
The neutrino option is a scenario where the electroweak scale, and thereby the Higgs mass, is generated simultaneously with neutrino masses in the seesaw model. This occurs via the leading one loop and tree level diagrams matching the seesaw model onto the Standard Model Effective Field Theory. We advance the study of this scenario by determining one loop corrections to the leading order matching results systematically, performing a detailed numerical analysis of the consistency of this approach with Neutrino data and the Standard Model particle masses, and by examining the embedding of this scenario into a more ultraviolet complete model. We find that the neutrino option remains a viable and intriguing scenario to explain the origin of observed particle masses.
We define a data exchange format for numerical values of Wilson coefficients of local operators parameterising low-energy effects of physics beyond the Standard Model. The format facilitates interfacing model-specific Wilson coefficient calculators, renormalisation group (RG) runners, and observable calculators. It is designed to be unambiguous (defining a non-redundant set of operators with fixed normalisation in each basis), extensible (allowing the addition of new EFTs or bases by the user), and robust (being based on industry standard file formats with parsers implemented in many programming languages). We have implemented the format for the Standard Model EFT (SMEFT) and for the weak effective theory (WET) below the electroweak scale and have added interfaces to a number of public codes dealing with SMEFT or WET. We also provide command-line utilities and a Python module for convenient manipulation of WCxf files, including translation between different bases and matching from SMEFT to WET.
We explain a reparameterization invariance in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory present when considering $\barψ ψ\rightarrow \barψ ψ$ scatterings (with $ψ$ a fermion) and how this leads to unconstrained combinations of Wilson coefficients in global data analyses restricted to these measurements. We develop a $\{\hat{m}_W, \hat{m}_Z,\hat{G}_F\}$ input parameter scheme and compare results to the case when an input parameter set $\{\hatα, \hat{m}_Z,\hat{G}_F\}$ is used to constrain this effective theory from the global data set, confirming the input parameter independence of the unconstrained combinations of Wilson coefficients, and supporting the reparameterization invariance explanation. We discuss some conceptual issues related to these degeneracies that are relevant for LHC data reporting and analysis.
We report codes for the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) in FeynRules -- the SMEFTsim package. The codes enable theoretical predictions for dimension six operator corrections to the Standard Model using numerical tools, where predictions can be made based on either the electroweak input parameter set $\{\hatα_{ew}, \hat{m}_Z, \hat{G}_F \}$ or $\{\hat{m}_{W}, \hat{m}_Z, \hat{G}_F\}$. All of the baryon and lepton number conserving operators present in the SMEFT dimension six Lagrangian, defined in the Warsaw basis, are included. A flavour symmetric ${\rm U}(3)^5$ version with possible non-SM $\rm CP$ violating phases, a (linear) minimal flavour violating version neglecting such phases, and the fully general flavour case are each implemented. The SMEFTsim package allows global constraints to be determined on the full Wilson coefficient space of the SMEFT. As the number of parameters present is large, it is important to develop global analyses on reduced sets of parameters minimizing any UV assumptions and relying on IR kinematics of scattering events and symmetries. We simultaneously develop the theoretical framework of a "W-Higgs-Z pole parameter" physics program that can be pursued at the LHC using this approach and the SMEFTsim package. We illustrate this methodology with several numerical examples interfacing SMEFTsim with MadGraph5. The SMEFTsim package can be downloaded at https://feynrules.irmp.ucl.ac.be/wiki/SMEFT
We discuss the possibility that the Higgs potential and electroweak scale are generated radiatively in a type-I seesaw scenario. A Higgs potential consistent with experimental constraints can be obtained in this hypothesis for a Majorana mass scale $m_N\sim 10-500$ PeV and with neutrino Yukawa couplings of order $|ω|\sim 10^{-4.5}-10^{-6}$. Remarkably, neutrino masses and mixings can be simultaneously accommodated within this parameter space. This framework, that ties together Higgs phenomenology, precision top quark mass measurements and neutrino physics, represents an alternative approach to the hierarchy problem, in which the Higgs mass is not stabilized around the TeV scale, but rather determined by radiative corrections at higher energies. Traditional hurdles in overcoming the hierarchy problem are then traded for the new challenge of generating PeV Majorana masses while suppressing the tree-level scalar potential in the UV.
We discuss the constraints on the Standard Model Effective Field Theory inferred from global fits to electroweak data. Special attention is paid to two unconstrained combinations of Wilson coefficients that are present when the analysis is restricted to measurements of $\barψψ\to\barψψ$ scatterings. We illustrate how these unconstrained directions arise due to a reparameterization invariance that characterizes $\barψψ\to\barψψ$ processes but is not respected in $\barψψ\to\barψψ\barψψ$ scatterings. This invariance is independent of the operator basis adopted and of the choice of the input parameters. This is verified comparing the results obtained in the {$\hat α_{em}, \hat m_Z, \hat G_F$} input scheme with those of a {$\hat m_W, \hat m_Z, \hat G_F$} scheme.
We propose a new method to determine the coupling of the Higgs boson to charm quarks, via Higgs production in association with a charm-tagged jet: $pp\to hc$. As a first estimate, we find that at the LHC with 3000 fb$^{-1}$ it should be possible to derive a constraint of order one, relative to the SM value of the charm Yukawa coupling. As a byproduct of this analysis, we present an estimate of the exclusive $pp \to hD^{(*)}$ electroweak cross section. Within the SM, the latter turns out to be not accessible at the LHC even in the high-luminosity phase.
Effective Lagrangians represent an important, model independent tool for studying physics beyond the Standard Model, via its impact on electroweak scale observables. In particular, two different effective descriptions may be appropriate, depending on how the electroweak symmetry breaking is realized at high energies: a linear effective Lagrangian is best suited in presence of linear dynamics, while a non-linear -chiral- one is more pertinent for scenarios featuring a non-linear realization. In this talk I will present a few examples of low-energy signals that differentiate the phenomenology of the two descriptions, thus providing a powerful insight into the nature of the Higgs boson.
Depending on whether electroweak physics beyond the Standard Model is based on a linear or on a non-linear implementation of the electroweak symmetry breaking, a linear or a chiral Effective Lagrangian is more appropriate. In this talk, the main low-energy signals that allow to recognize whether the observed Higgs scalar is a dynamical (composite) particle or rather an elementary one are presented, in a model-independent way. The patterns of effective couplings produced upon the assumption of specific composite Higgs models are also discussed.
In composite Higgs models the Higgs is a pseudo-Goldstone boson of a high-energy strong dynamics. We have constructed the effective chiral Lagrangian for a generic symmetric coset, restricting to CP-even bosonic operators up to four momenta which turn out to depend on seven parameters, aside from kinetic terms. Once the same sources of custodial symmetry breaking as in the Standard Model are considered, the total number of operators in the basis increases up to ten, again aside from kinetic terms. Under these assumptions, we have then particularised the discussion to three distinct frameworks: the original $SU(5)/SO(5)$ Georgi-Kaplan model, the minimal custodial-preserving $SO(5)/SO(4)$ model and the minimal $SU(3)/(SU(2)\times U(1))$ model, which intrinsically breaks custodial symmetry. The projection of the high-energy electroweak effective theory into the bosonic sector of the Standard Model is shown to match the low-energy chiral effective Lagrangian for a dynamical Higgs, and it uncovers strong relations between the operator coefficients. Finally, the relation with the bosonic basis of operators describing linear realisations of electroweak symmetry breaking is clarified.