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J. L. Hewett

Publications and source records attributed to J. L. Hewett.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Les Houches 2015: Physics at TeV colliders - new physics working group report

We present the activities of the 'New Physics' working group for the 'Physics at TeV Colliders' workshop (Les Houches, France, 1-19 June, 2015). Our report includes new physics studies connected with the Higgs boson and its properties, direct search strategies, reinterpretation of the LHC results in the building of viable models and new computational tool developments. Important signatures for searches for natural new physics at the LHC and new assessments of the interplay between direct dark matter searches and the LHC are also considered.

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Simplified Models for Higgs Physics: Singlet Scalar and Vector-like Quark Phenomenology

Simplified models provide a useful tool to conduct the search and exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model in a model-independent fashion. In this work we consider the complementarity of indirect searches for new physics in Higgs couplings and distributions with direct searches for new particles, using a simplified model which includes a new singlet scalar resonance and vector-like fermions that can mix with the SM top-quark. We fit this model to the combined ATLAS and CMS 125 GeV Higgs production and coupling measurements and other precision electroweak constraints, and explore in detail the effects of the new matter content upon Higgs production and kinematics. We highlight some novel features and decay modes of the top partner phenomenology, and discuss prospects for Run II.

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The ATLAS Z + MET Excess in the MSSM

We demonstrate that the $3σ$ excess observed by ATLAS in the Z + MET channel can be explained within the context of the MSSM. Using the freedom inherent in the pMSSM, we perform a detailed analysis of the parameter space and find a scenario that describes the excess while simultaneously complying with all other search constraints from the Run I data at 7 and 8 TeV, including the Z + MET analysis by CMS. We generate a small sample of simplified models, using promising models from our existing pMSSM sample as seeds, and study their properties. The successful region is described by the production of 1st/2nd generation squark pairs, followed by their decay into a bino-like neutralino which in turn decays into a Higgsino-like LSP triplet by emitting a Z boson, i.e., $\tilde q\to\tilde B\to\tilde h$ with $\tilde q = \tilde Q_L,\tilde u_R,$ or $\tilde d_R$. The sweet spot for the sparticle spectrum is found to have squark masses in the 500-750 GeV range, with bino masses near 350 GeV with a mass splitting of 150-200 GeV with the Higgsino LSP. If this excess holds, then this scenario predicts that a signal will be observed in the 0l + jets and/or 1l + jets searches in the early operations of Run II.

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Lessons and Prospects from the pMSSM after LHC Run I: Neutralino LSP

We study SUSY signatures at the 7, 8 and 14 TeV LHC employing the 19-parameter, R-Parity conserving p(henomenological)MSSM, in the scenario with a neutralino LSP. Our results were obtained via a fast Monte Carlo simulation of the ATLAS SUSY analysis suite. The flexibility of this framework allows us to study a wide variety of SUSY phenomena simultaneously and to probe for weak spots in existing SUSY search analyses. We determine the ranges of the sparticle masses that are either disfavored or allowed after the searches with the 7 and 8 TeV data sets are combined. We find that natural SUSY models with light squarks and gluinos remain viable. We extrapolate to 14 TeV with both 300 fb$^{-1}$ and 3 ab$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity and determine the expected sensitivity of the jets + MET and stop searches to the pMSSM parameter space. We find that the high-luminosity LHC will be powerful in probing SUSY with neutralino LSPs and can provide a more definitive statement on the existence of natural Supersymmetry.

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Planning the Future of U.S. Particle Physics (Snowmass 2013): Chapter 2: Intensity Frontier

These reports present the results of the 2013 Community Summer Study of the APS Division of Particles and Fields ("Snowmass 2013") on the future program of particle physics in the U.S. Chapter 2, on the Intensity Frontier, discusses the program of research with high-intensity beams and rare processes. This area includes experiments on neutrinos, proton decay, charged-lepton and quark weak interactions, atomic and nuclear probes of fundamental symmetries, and searches for new, light, weakly-interacting particles.

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Neutrinos

This document represents the response of the Intensity Frontier Neutrino Working Group to the Snowmass charge. We summarize the current status of neutrino physics and identify many exciting future opportunities for studying the properties of neutrinos and for addressing important physics and astrophysics questions with neutrinos.

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pMSSM Studies at the 7, 8 and 14 TeV LHC

The 19/20-parameter p(henomenological)MSSM with either a neutralino or gravitino LSP offers a flexible framework for the study of a wide variety of R-parity conserving MSSM SUSY phenomena at the 7, 8 and 14 TeV LHC. Here we present the results of a study of SUSY signatures at these facilities obtained via a fast Monte Carlo 'replication' of the ATLAS SUSY analysis suite. In particular, we show the ranges of the sparticle masses that are either disfavored or remain viable after all of the various searches at the 7 and 8 TeV runs are combined. We then extrapolate to 14 TeV with both 300 fb^-1 and 3 ab^-1 of integrated luminosity and determine the sensitivity of a jets + MET search to the pMSSM parameter space. We find that the high-luminosity LHC performs extremely well in probing natural SUSY models.

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SUSY Without Prejudice at the 7 and 8 TeV LHC: Gravitino LSPs

We have examined the capability of the LHC, running at both 7 and 8 TeV, to explore the 19(20)-dimensional parameter space of the pMSSM with neutralino(gravitino) LSPs and soft masses up to 4 TeV employing the ATLAS SUSY analysis suite. Here we present some preliminary results for the gravitino model set, following the ATLAS analyses whose data were publically available as of mid-September 2012. We find that the impact of the reduced MET, resulting from models with gravitino LSPs on sparticle searches is more than off-set by the detectability of the many possible long-lived NLSPs.

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Bounds on Dark Matter Interactions with Electroweak Gauge Bosons

We investigate scenarios in which dark matter interacts with the Standard Model primarily through electroweak gauge bosons. We employ an effective field theory framework wherein the Standard Model and the dark matter particle are the only light states in order to derive model-independent bounds. Bounds on such interactions are derived from dark matter production by weak boson fusion at the LHC, indirect detection searches for the products of dark matter annihilation and from the measured invisible width of the $Z^0$. We find that limits on the UV scale, $Λ$, reach weak scale values for most operators and values of the dark matter mass, thus probing the most natural scenarios in the WIMP dark matter paradigm. Our bounds suggest that light dark matter ($m_χ\lsim m_Z/2$ or $m_χ\lsim 100-200\gev$, depending on the operator) cannot interact only with the electroweak gauge bosons of the Standard Model, but rather requires additional operator contributions or dark sector structure to avoid overclosing the universe.

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Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier

The Proceedings of the 2011 workshop on Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier. Science opportunities at the intensity frontier are identified and described in the areas of heavy quarks, charged leptons, neutrinos, proton decay, new light weakly-coupled particles, and nucleons, nuclei, and atoms.

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Constraints on the pMSSM from LAT Observations of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

We examine the ability for the Large Area Telescope (LAT) to constrain Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) dark matter through a combined analysis of Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We examine the Lightest Supersymmetric Particles (LSPs) for a set of ~71k experimentally valid supersymmetric models derived from the phenomenological-MSSM (pMSSM). We find that none of these models can be excluded at 95% confidence by the current analysis; nevertheless, many lie within the predicted reach of future LAT analyses. With two years of data, we find that the LAT is currently most sensitive to light LSPs (m_LSP < 50 GeV) annihilating into tau-pairs and heavier LSPs annihilating into b-bbar. Additionally, we find that future LAT analyses will be able to probe some LSPs that form a sub-dominant component of dark matter. We directly compare the LAT results to direct detection experiments and show the complementarity of these search methods.

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Dissecting the Wjj Anomaly: Diagnostic Tests of a Leptophobic Z'

We examine the scenario where a leptophobic Z' boson accounts for the excess of events in the Wjj channel as observed by CDF. We assume generation independent couplings for the Z' and obtain allowed regions for the four hadronic couplings using the cross section range quoted by CDF as well as constraints from dijet production at UA2. These coupling regions translate into well-determined rates for the associated production of Z/γ+Z' at the Tevatron and LHC, as well as W+Z' at the LHC,that are directly correlated with the Wjj rate observed at the Tevatron. The Wjj rate at the LHC is large and this channel should be observed soon once the SM backgrounds are under control. The rates for Z/γ+Z' associated production are smaller, and these processes should not yet have been observed at the Tevatron given the expected SM backgrounds. In addition, we also show that valuable coupling information is obtainable from the distributions of other kinematic variables, e.g., M_{WZ'}, p_T^W, and \cos θ_W^*. Once detected, these associated production processes and the corresponding kinematic distributions examined here will provide further valuable information on the Z' boson couplings.

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Higgs Properties in the Fourth Generation MSSM: Boosted Signals Over the 3G Plan

The generalization of the MSSM to the case of four chiral fermion generations (4GMSSM) can lead to significant changes in the phenomenology of the otherwise familiar Higgs sector. In most of the 3GMSSM parameter space, the lighter CP-even $h$ is $\sim 115-125$ GeV and mostly Standard Model-like while $H,A,H^\pm$ are all relatively heavy. Furthermore, the ratio of Higgs vevs, $\tan β$, is relatively unconstrained. In contrast to this, in the 4GMSSM, heavy fourth generation fermion loops drive the masses of $h,H,H^\pm$ to large values while the CP-odd boson, $A$, can remain relatively light and $\tan β$ is restricted to the range $1/2 \lsim \tan β\lsim 2$ due to perturbativity requirements on Yukawa couplings. We explore this scenario in some detail, concentrating on the collider signatures of the light CP-odd Higgs at both the Tevatron and LHC. We find that while $gg \to A$ may lead to a potential signal in the $τ^+τ^-$ channel at the LHC, $A$ may first be observed in the $γγ$ channel due to a highly loop-enhanced cross section that can be more than an order of magnitude greater than that of a SM Higgs for $A$ masses of $\sim 115-120$ and $\tanβ<1$. We find that the CP-even states $h,H$ are highly mixed and can have atypical branching fractions. Precision electroweak constraints, particularly for the light $A$ parameter space region, are examined in detail.

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pMSSM Dark Matter Searches on Ice

We explore the capability of the IceCube/Deepcore array to discover signal neutrinos resulting from the annihilations of Supersymmetric WIMPS that may be captured in the solar core. In this analysis, we use a previously generated set of /sim 70k model points in the 19-dimensional parameter space of the pMSSM which satisfy existing experimental and theoretical constraints. Our calculations employ a realistic estimate of the IceCube/DeepCore effective area that has been modeled by the IceCube collaboration. We find that a large fraction of the pMSSM models are shown to have significant signal rates in the anticipated IceCube/DeepCore 1825 day dataset, including some prospects for an early discovery. Many models where the LSP only constitutes a small fraction of the total dark matter relic density are found to have observable rates. We investigate in detail the dependence of the signal neutrino fluxes on the LSP mass, weak eigenstate composition, annihilation products and thermal relic density, as well as on the spin-independent and spin-dependent scattering cross sections. Lastly, We compare the model coverage of IceCube/DeepCore to that obtainable in near-future direct detection experiments and to pMSSM searches at the 7 TeV LHC.

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Cosmic Ray Anomalies from the MSSM?

The recent positron excess in cosmic rays (CR) observed by the PAMELA satellite may be a signal for dark matter (DM) annihilation. When these measurements are combined with those from FERMI on the total ($e^++e^-$) flux and from PAMELA itself on the $\bar p/p$ ratio, these and other results are difficult to reconcile with traditional models of DM, including the conventional mSUGRA version of Supersymmetry even if boosts as large as $10^{3-4}$ are allowed. In this paper, we combine the results of a previously obtained scan over a more general 19-parameter subspace of the MSSM with a corresponding scan over astrophysical parameters that describe the propagation of CR. We then ascertain whether or not a good fit to this CR data can be obtained with relatively small boost factors while simultaneously satisfying the additional constraints arising from gamma ray data. We find that a specific subclass of MSSM models where the LSP is mostly pure bino and annihilates almost exclusively into $τ$ pairs comes very close to satisfying these requirements. The lightest $\tilde τ$ in this set of models is found to be relatively close in mass to the LSP and is in some cases the nLSP. These models lead to a significant improvement in the overall fit to the data by an amount $Δχ^2 \sim 1/$dof in comparison to the best fit without Supersymmetry while employing boosts $\sim 100$. The implications of these models for future experiments are discussed.

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Dark Matter in the MSSM

We have recently examined a large number of points in the parameter space of the phenomenological MSSM, the 19-dimensional parameter space of the CP-conserving MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation. We determined whether each of these points satisfied existing experimental and theoretical constraints. This analysis provides insight into general features of the MSSM without reference to a particular SUSY breaking scenario or any other assumptions at the GUT scale. This study opens up new possibilities for SUSY phenomenology both in colliders and in astrophysical experiments. Here we shall discuss the implications of this analysis relevant to the study of dark matter.

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No Prejudice in Space

We present a summary of recent results obtained from a scan of the 19-dimensional parameter space of the pMSSM and its implications for dark matter searches.

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