arXiv subjects

Joan Sola

Publications and source records attributed to Joan Sola.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Cosmologies with a time dependent vacuum

The idea that the cosmological term, Lambda, should be a time dependent quantity in cosmology is a most natural one. It is difficult to conceive an expanding universe with a strictly constant vacuum energy density, namely one that has remained immutable since the origin of time. A smoothly evolving vacuum energy density that inherits its time-dependence from cosmological functions, such as the Hubble rate or the scale factor, is not only a qualitatively more plausible and intuitive idea, but is also suggested by fundamental physics, in particular by quantum field theory (QFT) in curved space-time. To implement this notion, is not strictly necessary to resort to ad hoc scalar fields, as usually done in the literature (e.g. in quintessence formulations and the like). A "running" Lambda term can be expected on very similar grounds as one expects (and observes) the running of couplings and masses with a physical energy scale in QFT. Furthermore, the experimental evidence that the equation of state of the dark energy could be evolving with time/redshift (including the possibility that it might currently behave phantom-like) suggests that a time-variable Lambda term (possibly accompanied by a variable Newton's gravitational coupling G=G(t)) could account in a natural way for all these features. Remarkably enough, a class of these models (the "new cosmon") could even be the clue for solving the old cosmological constant problem, including the coincidence problem.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Dynamically avoiding fine-tuning the cosmological constant: the "Relaxed Universe"

We demonstrate that there exists a large class of action functionals of the scalar curvature and of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant which are able to relax dynamically a large cosmological constant (CC), whatever it be its starting value in the early universe. Hence, it is possible to understand, without fine-tuning, the very small current value of the CC as compared to its theoretically expected large value in quantum field theory and string theory. In our framework, this relaxation appears as a pure gravitational effect, where no ad hoc scalar fields are needed. The action involves a positive power of a characteristic mass parameter, M, whose value can be, interestingly enough, of the order of a typical particle physics mass of the Standard Model of the strong and electroweak interactions or extensions thereof, including the neutrino mass. The model universe emerging from this scenario (the "Relaxed Universe") falls within the class of the so-called LXCDM models of the cosmic evolution. Therefore, there is a "cosmon" entity X (represented by an effective object, not a field), which in this case is generated by the effective functional and is responsible for the dynamical adjustment of the cosmological constant. This model universe successfully mimics the essential past epochs of the standard (or "concordance") cosmological model (LCDM). Furthermore, it provides interesting clues to the coincidence problem and it may even connect naturally with primordial inflation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Quantum effects on Higgs-strahlung events at Linear Colliders within the general 2HDM

The associated production of neutral Higgs bosons with the Z gauge boson is investigated in the context of the future linear colliders, such as the ILC and CLIC, within the general two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM). We compute the corresponding production cross-sections at one-loop, in full consistency with the available theoretical and phenomenological constraints. We find that the wave-function renormalization corrections to the external Higgs fields are the dominant source of the quantum effects, which turn out to be large and negative, and located predominantly in the region around \tanβ=1 and moderate values of the parameter λ_5 (being λ_5 < 0). This behavior can be ultimately traced back to the enhancement potential of the triple Higgs boson self-couplings, a trademark feature of the 2HDM with no counterpart in the Higgs sector of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. The predicted Higgs-strahlung rates comfortably reach a few tens of femtobarn, which means barely 10^3 - 10^4 events per 500 inverse femtobarn of integrated luminosity. Due to their great complementarity, we argue that the combined analysis of the Higgs-strahlung events and the previously computed one-loop Higgs-pair production processes could be instrumental to probe the structure of the Higgs sector at future linac facilities.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

The Relaxed Universe: towards solving the cosmological constant problem dynamically from an effective action functional of gravity

We present an unconventional approach for addressing the old cosmological constant (CC) problem in a class of F(R,G) models of modified gravity. For a CC of arbitrary size and sign the corresponding cosmological evolution follows an expansion history which strikingly resembles that of our real universe. The effects of the large CC are relaxed dynamically and there is no fine-tuning at any stage. In addition, the relaxation mechanism alleviates the coincidence problem. The upshot is that a large cosmological constant and the observed cosmic expansion history coexist peacefully in the Relaxed Universe. This model universe can be thought of as an interesting preliminary solution of the cosmological constant problem, in the sense that it provides a successful dynamical mechanism able to completely avoid the fine-tuning problem (the toughest aspect of the CC problem). However, since the Relaxed Universe is formulated within the context of modified gravity, it may still suffer of some of the known issues associated with these theories, and therefore it can be viewed only as a toy-model proposal towards a final solution of the CC problem.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Cosmic perturbations with running G and Lambda

Cosmologies with running cosmological term (Lambda) and gravitational Newton's coupling (G) may naturally be expected if the evolution of the universe can ultimately be derived from the first principles of Quantum Field Theory or String Theory. In this paper, we derive the general cosmological perturbation equations for models with variable G and Lambda in which the fluctuations in both variables are explicitly included. We demonstrate that, if matter is covariantly conserved, the late growth of matter density perturbations is independent of the wavenumber. Furthermore, if Lambda is negligible at high redshifts and G varies slowly, we find that these cosmologies produce a matter power spectrum with the same shape as that of the concordance LCDM model, thus predicting the same basic features on structure formation. Despite this shape indistinguishability, the free parameters of the variable G and Lambda models can still be effectively constrained from the observational bounds on the spectrum amplitude.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Neutral Higgs-pair production at Linear Colliders within the general 2HDM: quantum effects and triple Higgs boson self-interactions

The pairwise production of neutral Higgs bosons is analyzed in the context of the future linear colliders, such as the ILC and CLIC, within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). The corresponding cross-sections are computed at the one-loop level in full compliance with the current phenomenological bounds and the stringent theoretical constraints inherent to the consistency of the model. We uncover regions across the 2HDM parameter space, mainly for low tanβnear 1 and moderate values of the relevant lambda_5 parameter, wherein the radiative corrections to the Higgs-pair production cross sections can comfortably reach 50% This behavior can be traced back to the enhancement capabilities of the trilinear Higgs self-interactions -- a trademark feature of the 2HDM, with no counterpart in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Interestingly enough, the quantum effects are positive for energies around 500 GeV, thereby producing a significant enhancement in the expected number of events precisely around the fiducial startup energy of the ILC. The Higgs-pair production rates can be substantial, typically amounting to a few thousand events per 500 inverse femtobarn of integrated luminosity. In contrast, the corrections are negative in the highest energy range (1 TeV). We also compare the exclusive pairwise production of Higgs bosons with the inclusive gauge boson fusion channels leading to 2H+X finals states, and also with the exclusive triple Higgs boson production. We find that these multiparticle final states can be highly complementary in the overall Higgs bosons search strategy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Neutral Higgs-pair Production at one-loop from a Generic 2HDM

We present a one-loop analysis of the pairwise production of neutral Higgs bosons (h0A0, H0A0) at linear colliders, such as the ILC and CLIC, within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). We single out sizable radiative corrections, which can well reach the level of 50 % and may be either positive (typically for \sqrt{s} \sim 0.5 TeV) and negative (for \sqrt{s} of 1 TeV and above). These large quantum effects, obtained in full agreement with the current phenomenological bounds and the stringent theoretical constraints on the parameter space of the model, can be traced back to the enhancement capabilities of the triple-Higgs self-interactions -- a trademark feature of the 2HDM, with no counterpart in e.g. the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. In the most favorable scenarios, the Higgs-pair cross sections may be boosted up to barely 30 fb at the fiducial center-of-mass energy of 500 GeV -- amounting to a few thousand events per 500 inverse femtobarn of integrated luminosity. We also compare these results with several complementary double and triple Higgs-boson production mechanisms at order α^3_{ew} and leading α^4_{ew}, and we spotlight a plethora of potentially distinctive signatures of a Two-Higgs-Doublet structure of non-supersymmetric nature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

On the possible running of the cosmological "constant"

Despite the many outstanding cosmological observations leading to a strong evidence for a nonvanishing cosmological constant (CC) term in the gravitational field equations, the theoretical status of this quantity seems to be lagging well behind the observational successes. It thus seems timely to revisit some fundamental aspects of the CC term in Quantum Field Theory (QFT). We emphasize that, in curved space-time, nothing a priori prevents this term from potentially having a mild running behavior associated to quantum effects. Remarkably, this could be the very origin of the dynamical nature of the Dark Energy, in contrast to many other popular options considered in the literature. In discussing this possibility, we also address some recent criticisms concerning the possibility of such running. Our conclusion is that, while there is no comprehensive proof of the CC running, there is no proof of the non-running either. The problem can be solved only through a deeper understanding of the vacuum contributions of massive quantum fields on a curved spacetime background. We suggest that such investigations are at the heart of one of the most important endeavors of fundamental theoretical cosmology in the years to come.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Relaxing a large cosmological constant

The cosmological constant (CC) problem is the biggest enigma of theoretical physics ever. In recent times, it has been rephrased as the dark energy problem in order to encompass a wider spectrum of possibilities. It is, in any case, a polyhedric puzzle with many faces, including the cosmic coincidence problem, i.e. why the density of matter is presently so close to the CC density. However, the oldest, toughest and most intriguing face of this polyhedron is the big CC problem, namely why the measured value of the CC at present is so small as compared to any typical density scale existing in high energy physics, especially taking into account the many phase transitions that our Universe has undergone since the early times, including inflation. In this letter, we propose to extend the field equations of General Relativity by including a class of invariant terms that automatically relax the value of the CC irrespective of the initial size of the vacuum energy in the early epochs. We show that, at late times, the Universe enters an eternal de Sitter stage mimicking a tiny positive cosmological constant. Thus, these models could solve the big CC problem and have also a bearing on the cosmic coincidence problem. Remarkably, they mimic the LCDM model to a large extent, but they still leave some characteristic imprints that should be testable in the next generation of experiments.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Single Higgs-boson production through gamma-gamma scattering within the general 2HDM

The production of a single neutral Higgs boson h through (loop-induced) gamma-gamma collisions is explored in the context of the linear colliders within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). Two different mechanisms are analyzed: on the one hand, the scattering gamma gamma-> h of two real photons in a gamma-gamma collider; on the other, the more traditional mechanism of virtual photon fusion, e+e- -->e+e- + h. Owing to the peculiar properties of the Higgs boson self-interactions within the general 2HDM, we find that the overall production rates can be boosted up significantly, provided the charged Higgs mass is not too heavy. For example, if the latter is slightly above 100 GeV and, in addition, the lightest CP-even Higgs boson falls in the ballpark of the LEP bound on the SM Higgs mass up to a few hundred GeV, the cross-sections may typically render σ(gamma gamma-> h)= 0.1-1 pb and σ(e+e- --> e+e- + h)\sim 0.01 pb -- in both cases well above the SM prediction. Although for charged Higgs masses above 300 GeV the rates become virtually insensitive to the Higgs boson self-couplings, a significant tail of non-SM effects produced by the combined contribution of the Yukawa couplings and gauge bosons could still reveal a smoking gun.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Dark energy perturbations and a possible solution to the coincidence problem

We analyze some generic properties of the dark energy (DE) perturbations, in the case of a self-conserved DE fluid. We also apply a simple test (the "F-test") to compare a model to the data on large scale structure (LSS) under the assumption of negligible DE perturbations. We exemplify our discussions by means of the LXCDM model, showing that it provides a viable solution to the cosmological coincidence problem.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark energy perturbations and cosmic coincidence

While there is plentiful evidence in all fronts of experimental cosmology for the existence of a non-vanishing dark energy (DE) density ρ_D in the Universe, we are still far away from having a fundamental understanding of its ultimate nature and of its current value, not even of the puzzling fact that ρ_D is so close to the matter energy density ρ_M at the present time (i.e. the so-called "cosmic coincidence" problem). The resolution of some of these cosmic conundrums suggests that the DE must have some (mild) dynamical behavior at the present time. In this paper, we examine some general properties of the simultaneous set of matter and DE perturbations (δρ_M, δρ_D) for a multicomponent DE fluid. Next we put these properties to the test within the context of a non-trivial model of dynamical DE (the LXCDM model) which has been previously studied in the literature. By requiring that the coupled system of perturbation equations for δρ_M and δρ_D has a smooth solution throughout the entire cosmological evolution, that the matter power spectrum is consistent with the data on structure formation and that the "coincidence ratio" r=ρ_D/ρ_M stays bounded and not unnaturally high, we are able to determine a well-defined region of the parameter space where the model can solve the cosmic coincidence problem in full compatibility with all known cosmological data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

Effective growth of matter density fluctuations in the running LCDM and LXCDM models

We investigate the matter density fluctuations δρ/ρfor two dark energy (DE) models in the literature in which the cosmological term Λis a running parameter. In the first model, the running LCDM model, matter and DE exchange energy, whereas in the second model, the LXCDM model, the total DE and matter components are conserved separately. The LXCDM model was proposed as an interesting solution to the cosmic coincidence problem. It includes an extra dynamical component, the "cosmon" X, which interacts with the running Λ, but not with matter. In our analysis we make use of the current value of the linear bias parameter, b^2(0)= P_{GG}/P_{MM}, where P_{MM} ~ (δρ/ρ)^2 is the present matter power spectrum and P_{GG} is the galaxy fluctuation power spectrum. The former can be computed within a given model, and the latter is found from the observed LSS data (at small z) obtained by the 2dF galaxy redshift survey. It is found that b^2(0)=1 within a 10% accuracy for the standard LCDM model. Adopting this limit for any DE model and using a method based on the effective equation of state for the DE, we can set a limit on the growth of matter density perturbations for the running LCDM model, the solution of which is known. This provides a good test of the procedure, which we then apply to the LXCDM model in order to determine the physical region of parameter space, compatible with the LSS data. In this region, the LXCDM model is consistent with known observations and provides at the same time a viable solution to the cosmic coincidence problem.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Higgs boson pair production through gauge boson fusion at linear colliders within the general 2HDM

Inclusive Higgs boson pair production through the mechanism of gauge boson fusion e^{+} e^{-} -> V* V* -> h h + X (V=W,Z) in the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM), with h=h^0,H^0,A^0,H^{\pm}, is analyzed at order α^4_{ew} in the linear colliders ILC and CLIC. This kind of processes is highly sensitive to the trilinear Higgs (3H) boson self-interactions and hence can be a true keystone in the reconstruction of the Higgs potential. For example, in the ILC at 1 TeV, the most favorable scenarios yield cross-sections up to roughly 1 pb, thus entailing 10^5 events per 100 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity, whilst remaining fully consistent with the perturbativity and unitarity bounds on the 3H couplings, the electroweak precision data and the constraints from BR(b->sγ). Comparing with other competing mechanisms, we conclude that the Higgs boson-pair events could be the dominant signature for Higgs-boson production in the TeV-class linear colliders for a wide region of the 2HDM parameter space, with no counterpart in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Owing to the extremely clean environment of these colliders, inclusive 2H events should allow a comfortable tagging and might therefore open privileged new vistas into the structure of the Higgs potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Can the cosmological "constant" run? - It may run

Using standard quantum field theory, we discuss several theoretical aspects of the possible running of the cosmological constant (CC) term in Einstein's equations. The basic motivation for the present work is to emphasize that this possibility should also be taken into account when considering dynamical models for the dark energy (DE), which are nowadays mainly focused on identifying the DE with the energy density associated to one or more ad hoc scalar fields. At the same time, we address some recent criticisms that have been published (or privately communicated to us) attempting to cast doubts on the fundamental possibility of such running. In this work, we argue that while there is no comprehensive proof of the CC running, there is no rigorous proof of the non-running either. In particular, some purported "non-running theorem" recently adduced in the literature is, in our opinion, completely insubstantial and formally incorrect. The way to the CC running is, therefore, still open and we take here the opportunity to present a pedagogical review of the present state of the art in this field, including a a brief historical account.

hep-th↗

arXiv2008

FCNC-induced heavy-quark events at the LHC from Supersymmetry

We analyze the production and subsequent decay of the neutral Higgs bosons of the MSSM into electrically neutral quark pairs qq'=bs,tc of different flavors at the LHC and compare with the direct FCNC production mechanisms. The cross-sections are computed in the unconstrained MSSM with minimal flavor-mixing sources and taking into account the stringent bounds from radiative B-meson decays. We extend the results previously found for these FCNC processes, which are singularly uncommon in the SM. Specifically, we report here on the SUSY-EW contribution of the Higgs-mediated FCNC cross-section into bs and tc final states and the SUSY-QCD and SUSY-EW contributions to bs-production. In this way, the complete map of MSSM predictions for the qq'-pairs produced at the LHC becomes available. The upshot is that the most favorable channels are: 1) the Higgs boson FCNC decays into bs, and 2) the direct production of tc pairs, both of them at the 1 pb level and mediated by SUSY-QCD effects. If, however, the latter are suppressed, we find a small SUSY-EW yield for the tc-production through Higgs decays but, at the same time, a cross-section of 0.1-1 pb for bs-production, which implies a significant number (10^4-10^5) of bs-pairs per 100 inverse femtobarn of integrated luminosity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Dark energy: a quantum fossil from the inflationary Universe?

The discovery of dark energy (DE) as the physical cause for the accelerated expansion of the Universe is the most remarkable experimental finding of modern cosmology. However, it leads to insurmountable theoretical difficulties from the point of view of fundamental physics. Inflation, on the other hand, constitutes another crucial ingredient, which seems necessary to solve other cosmological conundrums and provides the primeval quantum seeds for structure formation. One may wonder if there is any deep relationship between these two paradigms. In this work, we suggest that the existence of the DE in the present Universe could be linked to the quantum field theoretical mechanism that may have triggered primordial inflation in the early Universe. This mechanism, based on quantum conformal symmetry, induces a logarithmic, asymptotically-free, running of the gravitational coupling. If this evolution persists in the present Universe, and if matter is conserved, the general covariance of Einstein's equations demands the existence of dynamical DE in the form of a running cosmological term whose variation follows a power law of the redshift.

hep-th↗

arXiv2008

Triple Higgs boson production at the ILC within a generic Two-Higgs-Doublet Model

We present a study of triple Higgs boson (3H) production at the International Linear Collider (ILC) within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). We compute the production cross-sections at the leading-order for the 3H final states and find values up to sigma ~ 0.1 pb. This result represents a large enhancement with respect to the corresponding MSSM cross-sections, which stay typically at the level of sigma ~ 10^(-6) pb or less. Furthermore, since the 3H cross-sections in the general 2HDM can be of the order of the double Higgs production cross-sections, such 3H processes could be a competitive (if not the dominant) mechanism for Higgs boson production at the ILC. In practice, these 3H events could be identified through the tagging of 6 heavy-quark jet final states and, in this case, they would provide strong evidence of an extended Higgs boson sector -- likely of non-supersymmetric nature.

hep-ph↗