arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J. W. F. Valle.
We study the potential of LEP II to unravel the existence of invisibly decaying Higgs bosons through the reaction $e^+ e^- \rightarrow b\bar{b} + \ptmis$. We perform our analyses in a model independent way and our results show that LEP II is capable of discovering such a Higgs for a wide range of masses and couplings.
We consider the conversions of active to sterile Majorana neutrinos $ν_{a}$ and $ν_{s}$, due to neutrino transition magnetic moments in the presence of random magnetic fields (r.m.f.) generated at the electroweak phase transition. From a simple Schrödinger-type evolution equation, we derive a stringent constraint on the corresponding transition magnetic moments and display it as a function of the domain size and field geometry. For typical parameter choices one gets limits much stronger than usually derived from stellar energy loss considerations. These bounds are consistent with the hypothesis of seeding of galactic magnetic fields by primordial fields surviving past the re-combination epoch. We also obtain a bound on active-sterile neutrino transition magnetic moments from supernova energy loss arguments. For r.m.f. strengths in the range $10^7$ to $10^{12}$ Gauss we obtain limits varying from $μ_{as}^ν \lsim 10^{-13}μ_B$ to $μ_{as}^ν \lsim 10^{-18}μ_B$, again much stronger than in the case without magnetic fields.
We study a left--right symmetric model which contains only elementary gauge boson and fermion fields and no scalars. The phenomenologically required symmetry breaking emerges dynamically leading to a composite Higgs sector with a renormalizable effective Lagrangian. We discuss the pattern of symmetry breaking and phenomenological consequences of this scenario. It is shown that a viable top quark mass can be achieved for the ratio of the VEVs of the bi--doublet $\tanβ\equivκ/κ'$ =~ 1.3--4. For a theoretically plausible choice of the parameters the right--handed scale can be as low as $\sim 20 TeV$; in this case one expects several intermediate and low--scale scalars in addition to the \SM Higgs boson. These may lead to observable lepton flavour violation effects including $μ\to eγ$ decay with the rate close to its present experimental upper bound.
We study left-right symmetric models which contain only fermion and gauge boson fields and no elementary scalars. The Higgs bosons are generated dynamically through a set of gauge- and parity-invariant 4-fermion operators. It is shown that in a model with a composite bi-doublet and two triplet scalars there is no parity breaking at low energies, whereas in the model with two doublets instead of two triplets parity is broken automatically regardless of the choice of the parameters of the model. For phenomenologically allowed values of the right-handed scale a tumbling symmetry breaking mechanism is realized in which parity breaking at a high scale $μ_R$ propagates down and eventually causes the \EW symmetry breaking at the scale $μ_{EW}\sim 100~GeV$. The model exhibits a number of low and intermediate mass Higgs bosons with certain relations between their masses. In particular, the components of the $SU(2)_L$ Higgs doublet $χ_L$ are pseudo--\GBs of an accidental (approximate) $SU(4)$ symmetry of the Higgs potential and therefore are expected to be relatively light.
We consider the scenario of large scale structure formation with tau neutrino with mass in the MeV range and lifetime of order of years which decays into a massive majoron with KeV mass. The latter are the present-day cold dark matter particles. In contrast to the usual collisionless dark matter, the majorons have a relatively strong self-interaction and the picture of structure formation is rather different from the standard. The decay $J \ra γγ$ leads to the existence of an X-ray line at $E_γ= m_J/2$ which could be detectable. Electron and muon neutrinos are expected to be very light, as required in order to account for the solar neutrino deficit through \ne to \nm oscillations. Supersymmetry with spontaneously broken R parity provides a natural particle physics model for our scenario.
Spontaneous violation of R parity can induce rare single photon decays of the $Z^0$ involving the emission of (nearly) massless pseudoscalar Goldstone bosons, majorons, as well as massive CP even or CP odd spin zero bosons that arise in the electroweak breaking sector of these models. We show that the majoron emitting decays can have a sizeable branching ratio of $10^{-5}$ or so, without conflicting any experimental observation from neutrino physics or particle searches. These decays may lead to interesting structures for the single photon spectrum involving either mono chromatic photons as well as continuous spectra that grow with energy. They would easily account for an excess of single photon events at high energies recently hinted at by the OPAL collaboration.
We consider a left-right symmetric model in which neutrinos acquire mass due to the spontaneous violation of both the gauged $B-L$ and a global $U(1)$ symmetry broken by the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of a gauge singlet scalar boson $\VEVσ$. For suitable choices of $\VEVσ$ consistent with all laboratory and astrophysical observations neutrinos will be unstable against majoron emission. All neutrino masses in the keV to MeV range are possible, since the expected neutrino decay lifetimes can be short enough to dilute their relic density below the cosmologically required level. A wide variety of possible new phenomena, associated to the presence of left-right symmetry and/or the global symmetry at the TeV scale, could therefore be observable, without conflict with cosmology. The latter includes the possibility of invisibly decaying higgs bosons, which can be searched at LEP, NLC and LHC.
Many extensions of the standard electroweak model Higgs sector suggest that the main Higgs decay channel is "invisible", for example, $h \to J J$ where $J$ denotes the majoron, a weakly interacting pseudoscalar Goldstone boson associated to the spontaneous violation of lepton number. In many of these models the Higgs boson may also be produced in association to a massive pseudoscalar boson (HA), in addition to the standard Bjorken mechanism (HZ). We describe a general strategy to determine limits from LEP data on the masses and couplings of such Higgs bosons, using the existing data on acoplanar dijet events as well as data on four and six $b$ jet event topologies. For the sake of illustration, we present constraints that can be obtained for the ALEPH data.
Talk presented at the XXIX Rencontres de Moriond, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, March 12-19, 1994, Meribel
We consider active-sterile neutrino conversions in a supernova in the presence of random magnetic field domains. For large enough fields the magnetization of the medium may enhance the active to sterile neutrino conversion rates. Neglecting neutrino transition magnetic moments we show that for KeV neutrino mass squared differences these limits may overcome those that would apply in the isotropic case.
This version corrects the first one in eq.3.4 and table 1 where there was a bar missing in the 126 representation. All other equations and results are unchanged and correct. However, the criticism we had made in the earlier version to the work of Caldwell and Mohapatra was not correct and has been removed from the "note added" where it appeared. Moreover one new reference has been added to ref.13.
We consider active-sterile neutrino conversions in the early universe hot plasma in the presence of a random magnetic field generated at the electroweak phase transition. Within a random field domain the magnetization asymmetry of the lepton antilepton plasma produced by a uniform constant magnetic field is huge in contrast to their small density asymmetry, leading to a drastic change in the active-sterile conversion rates. Assuming that the random field provides the seed for the galactic field one can estimate the restrictions from primordial nucleosynthesis. Requiring that the extra sterile \neu does not enter in equilibrium with the active ones before nucleosynthesis we find limits of the oscillation parameters which are stronger than in the isotropic case.
Higgs bosons can have a substantial ``invisible'' branching ratio in many extensions of the Standard Model, such as models where the Higgs bosons decay predominantly into light or massless weakly interacting Goldstone bosons. In this work, we examine the production mechanisms and backgrounds for invisibly decaying Higgs bosons at the Next Linear $e^+e^-$ Collider operating in the modes $e^+e^-$, $eγ$, and $γγ$. We demonstrate that such machine is much more efficient to survey for invisibly decaying Higgs bosons than the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
We consider a very weakly interacting KeV majoron as dark matter particle (DMP), which provides both the critical density $ρ_{cr} = 1.88 \times 10^{-29} h^{2}$ $g/cm^{3}$ and the galactic scale $M_{gal}$ $\sim m^{3}_{Pl}/m^{2}_{J} \sim 10^{12} M_{\odot} (m_{J}/1 KeV)^{-2}$ for galaxy formation. The majoron couples to leptons only through some new "directly interacting particles", called DIPS, and this provides the required smallness of the coupling constants. If the masses of these DIPS are greater than the scale $V_s$ characterizing the spontaneous violation of the global lepton symmetry they are absent at the corresponding phase transition ($T \sim V_s$) and the majorons are produced during the phase transition, never being in thermal equilibrium during the history of the universe. In the alternative case $m_{DIP} < V_{s}$ the majorons can be for a short period in thermal equilibrium. This scenario is not forbidden by nucleosynthesis and gives a reasonable growth factor for the density fluctuations compatible with COBE. A possible signature is an X-ray line at $E_γ= \frac{m_J}{2}$, produced by the decay $J \to γ+ γ$. A model is described which realizes the possibility of the KeV majoron as DMP and may also lead to observable rates for decays such as $μ\ra e γ$ and $μ\ra 3e$.
We discuss the potential of $τ$-charm and B factories for the search of new physics through the study of rare $τ$ decays. We consider decays that involve the violation of lepton flavour conservation. Such decays bear a close relationship to the physics of neutrino mass and the properties of the lepton sector of the electroweak theory.
We derive model-independent constraints on Higgs mass and couplings from associated signals for higher masses, accessible at LEP2. This work is motivated by the fact that, in many extensions of the standard model, the Higgs boson can have substantial "invisible" decay modes, for example, into light or massless weakly interacting Goldstone bosons associated to the spontaneous violation of lepton number below the weak scale.
Light gluinos have been suggested in order to reconcile $α_s$ determinations from low energy deep inelastic experiments with those inferred from LEP measurements. {}From this hypothesis then one expects, in unified N=1 supergravity models, that also the "photino" will be light. We show that this possibility is not in conflict with recent LEP measurements and also that cosmology does not necessarily rule it out in any convincing way. Moreover it leads to $upper$ limits on the masses of the other supersymmetric fermions, for example, the lightest chargino should be lighter than about 75 GeV}
We present models that can reconcile the solar and atmospheric neutrino data with the existence of a hot dark matter component in the universe. This dark matter is a quasi-Dirac neutrino whose mass $m_{DM}$ arises at the one-loop level. The solar neutrino deficit is explained via nonadiabatic conversions of electron neutrino to a sterile neutrino and the atmospheric neutrino data via maximal muon neutrino to tau neutrino oscillations generated by higher order loop diagrams. For $m_{DM} \sim 30$ eV the radiative neutrino decay can lead to photons that can ionize interstellar hydrogen. In one of the models one can have observable $ν_e$ to $ν_τ$ oscillation rates, with no appreciable muon neutrino oscillations at accelerator experiments. In addition, there can be observable rates for tau number violating processes such as $τ\to 3e$ and $τ\to e + γ$. In the other model one can have sizeable $ν_e$ to $ν_μ$ oscillation rates, as well as sizeable rates for muon number violating processes such as $μ\to e + γ$, $μ\to e + majoron$ and $μ\to 3e$.