arXiv subjects

John Ellis

Publications and source records attributed to John Ellis.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Metastable Charged Sparticles and the Cosmological Li7 Problem

We consider the effects of metastable charged sparticles on Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), including bound-state reaction rates and chemical effects. We make a new analysis of the bound states of negatively-charged massive particles with the light nuclei most prominent in BBN, and present a new code to track their abundances, paying particular attention to that of Li7. Assuming, as an example, that the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), and that the lighter stau slepton, stau_1, is the metastable next-to-lightest sparticle within the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), we analyze the possible effects on the standard BBN abundances of stau_1 bound states and decays for representative values of the gravitino mass. Taking into account the constraint on the CMSSM parameter space imposed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, we delineate regions in which the fit to the measured light-element abundances is as good as in standard BBN. We also identify regions of the CMSSM parameter space in which the bound state properties, chemistry and decays of metastable charged sparticles can solve the cosmological Li7 problem.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A Fast Track towards the `Higgs' Spin and Parity

The LHC experiments ATLAS and CMS have discovered a new boson that resembles the long-sought Higgs boson: it cannot have spin one, and has couplings to other particles that increase with their masses, but the spin and parity remain to be determined. We show here that the `Higgs' + gauge boson invariant-mass distribution in `Higgs'-strahlung events at the Tevatron or the LHC would be very different under the J^P = 0+, 0- and 2+ hypotheses, and could provide a fast-track indicator of the `Higgs' spin and parity. Our analysis is based on simulations of the experimental event selections and cuts using PYTHIA and Delphes, and incorporates statistical samples of `toy' experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Global Analysis of the Higgs Candidate with Mass ~ 125 GeV

We analyze the properties of the Higgs candidate with mass ~ 125 GeV discovered by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations, constraining the possible deviations of its couplings from those of a Standard Model Higgs boson. The CMS, ATLAS and Tevatron data are compatible with Standard Model couplings to massive gauge bosons and fermions, and disfavour several types of composite Higgs models unless their couplings resemble those in the Standard Model. We show that the couplings of the Higgs candidate are consistent with a linear dependence on particle masses, scaled by the electroweak scale ~ 246 GeV, the power law and the mass scale both having uncertainties ~ 20%.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Does the `Higgs' have Spin Zero?

The Higgs boson is predicted to have spin zero. The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently reported of an excess of events with mass ~ 125 GeV that has some of the characteristics expected for a Higgs boson. We address the questions whether there is already any evidence that this excess has spin zero, and how this possibility could be confirmed in the near future. The excess observed in the gamma gamma final state could not have spin one, leaving zero and two as open possibilities. We calculate the angular distribution of gamma gamma pairs from the decays of a spin-two boson produced in gluon-gluon collisions, showing that is unique and distinct from the spin-zero case. We also calculate the distributions for lepton pairs that would be produced in the W W* decays of a spin-two boson, which are very different from those in Higgs decays, and note that the kinematics of the event selection used to produce the excess observed in the W W* final state have reduced efficiency for spin two.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Indications on the Mass of the Lightest Electroweak Baryon

In general, an effective low-energy Lagrangian model of composite electroweak symmetry breaking contains soliton solutions that may be identified with technibaryons. We recall how the masses of such states may be related to the coefficients of fourth-order terms in the effective Lagrangian, and review the qualitative success of this approach for baryons in QCD. We then show how the current theoretical and phenomenological constraints on the corresponding fourth-order coefficients in the electroweak theory could be used to estimate qualitative lower and upper bounds on the lightest electroweak baryon mass. We also discuss how the sensitivity of the LHC experiments could enable these bounds to be improved.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Prospective Constraints on Neutrino Masses from a Core-Collapse Supernova

We discuss the prospects for improved upper limits on neutrino masses that may be provided by a core-collapse supernova explosion in our galaxy, if it exhibits time variations in the neutrino emissions on the scale of a few milliseconds as suggested by recent two-dimensional simulations. Analyzing simulations of such neutrino emissions using the wavelet technique adopted in [1], we find that an upper limit m_nu ~ 0.14 eV could be established at the 95% confidence level if the time variations in emissions were to be preserved during neutrino propagation to the Earth.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Global Analysis of Experimental Constraints on a Possible Higgs-Like Particle with Mass ~ 125 GeV

We perform a global analysis of the constraints on a possible Higgs-like particle with mass ~ 125 GeV that are provided by the ATLAS, CDF, CMS and D0 experiments. We combine the available constraints on possible deviations from the Standard Model Higgs couplings to massive vector bosons and to fermions, considering also the possibilities of non-standard loop-induced couplings to photon and gluon pairs. We analyze the combined constraints on pseudo-dilaton scenarios and on some other scenarios in which the possible new particle is identified as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson in a composite electroweak symmetry-breaking sector.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Flavour-Changing Decays of a 125 GeV Higgs-like Particle

The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC have reported the observation of a possible excess of events corresponding to a new particle $h$ with mass $\sim 125$ GeV that might be the long-sought Higgs boson, or something else. Decyphering the nature of this possible signal will require constraining the couplings of the $h$ and measuring them as accurately as possible. Here we analyze the indirect constraints on flavour-changing $h$ decays that are provided by limits on low-energy flavour-changing interactions. We find that indirect limits in the quark sector impose such strong constraints that flavour-changing $h$ decays to quark-antiquark pairs are unlikely to be observable at the LHC. On the other hand, the upper limits on lepton-flavour-changing decays are weaker, and the experimental signatures less challenging. In particular, we find that either ${\mathcal B}(h \to τ\bar μ+ \bar μτ)$ or ${\mathcal B}(h \to τ\bar e + \bar e τ) $ could be ${\cal O}(10)%$, i.e., comparable to ${\mathcal B}(h \to τ^+ τ^-)$ and potentially observable at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Revisiting the Higgs Mass and Dark Matter in the CMSSM

Taking into account the available accelerator and astrophysical constraints, the mass of the lightest neutral Higgs boson h in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking masses (CMSSM) has been estimated to lie between 114 and ~ 130 GeV. Recent data from ATLAS and CMS hint that m_h ~ 125 GeV, though m_h ~ 119 GeV may still be a possibility. Here we study the consequences for the parameters of the CMSSM and direct dark matter detection if the Higgs hint is confirmed, focusing on the strips in the (m_1/2, m_0) planes for different tan beta and A_0 where the relic density of the lightest neutralino chi falls within the range of the cosmological cold dark matter density allowed by WMAP and other experiments. We find that if m_h ~ 125 GeV focus-point strips would be disfavoured, as would the low-tan beta stau-chi and stop -chi coannihilation strips, whereas the stau-chi coannihilation strip at large tan beta and A_0 > 0 would be favoured, together with its extension to a funnel where rapid annihilation via direct-channel H/A poles dominates. On the other hand, if m_h ~ 119 GeV more options would be open. We give parametrizations of WMAP strips with large tan beta and fixed A_0/m_0 > 0 that include portions compatible with m_h = 125 GeV, and present predictions for spin-independent elastic dark matter scattering along these strips. These are generally low for models compatible with m_h = 125 GeV, whereas the XENON100 experiment already excludes some portions of strips where m_h is smaller.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Probing Lorentz Violation in Neutrino Propagation from a Core-Collapse Supernova

Supernova explosions provide the most sensitive probes of neutrino propagation, such as the possibility that neutrino velocities might be affected by the foamy structure of space-time thought to be generated by quantum-gravitational (QG) effects. Recent two-dimensional simulations of the neutrino emissions from core-collapse supernovae suggest that they might exhibit variations in time on the scale of a few milliseconds. We analyze simulations of such neutrino emissions using a wavelet technique, and consider the limits that might be set on a linear or quadratic violation of Lorentz invariance in the group velocities of neutrinos of different energies, v/c = [1 \pm (E/M_{nuLV1})] or [1 \pm (E/M_{\nuLV2})^2], if variations on such short time scales were to be observed, where the mass scales M_{nuLVi} might appear in models of quantum gravity. We find prospective sensitivities to M_{nuLV1} ~ 2 X 10^{13} GeV and M_{nuLV2} ~ 10^6 GeV at the 95% confidence level, up to two orders of magnitude beyond estimates made using previous one-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae. We also analyze the prospective sensitivities to scenarios in which the propagation times of neutrinos of fixed energies are subject to stochastic fluctuations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

A Historical Profile of the Higgs Boson

The Higgs boson was postulated in 1964, and phenomenological studies of its possible production and decays started in the early 1970s, followed by studies of its possible production in e+ e-, pbar p and pp collisions, in particular. Until recently, the most sensitive searches for the Higgs boson were at LEP between 1989 and 2000, which have been complemented by searches at the Fermilab Tevatron. The LHC has recently entered the hunt, excluding a Higgs boson over a large range of masses and revealing a tantalizing hint in the range 119 to 125 GeV, and there are good prospects that the existence or otherwise of the Higgs boson will soon be established. One of the most attractive possibilities is that the Higgs boson is accompanied by supersymmetry, though composite options have yet to be excluded. This article reviews some of the key historical developments in Higgs physics over the past half-century.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Phenomenology and Cosmology of an Electroweak Pseudo-Dilaton and Electroweak Baryons

In many strongly-interacting models of electroweak symmetry breaking the lowest-lying observable particle is a pseudo-Goldstone boson of approximate scale symmetry, the pseudo-dilaton. Its interactions with Standard Model particles can be described using a low-energy effective nonlinear chiral Lagrangian supplemented by terms that restore approximate scale symmetry, yielding couplings of the pseudo-dilaton that differ from those of a Standard Model Higgs boson by fixed factors. We review the experimental constraints on such a pseudo-dilaton in light of new data from the LHC and elsewhere. The effective nonlinear chiral Lagrangian has Skyrmion solutions that may be identified with the `electroweak baryons' of the underlying strongly-interacting theory, whose nature may be revealed by the properties of the Skyrmions. We discuss the finite-temperature electroweak phase transition in the low-energy effective theory, finding that the possibility of a first-order electroweak phase transition is resurrected. We discuss the evolution of the Universe during this transition and derive an order-of-magnitude lower limit on the abundance of electroweak baryons in the absence of a cosmological asymmetry, which suggests that such an asymmetry would be necessary if the electroweak baryons are to provide the cosmological density of dark matter. We revisit estimates of the corresponding spin-independent dark matter scattering cross section, with a view to direct detection experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

On the Possibility of Superluminal Neutrino Propagation

We analyze the possibility of superluminal neutrino propagation delta v = (v - c)/c > 0 as indicated by OPERA data, in view of previous phenomenological constraints from supernova SN1987a and gravitational Cerenkov radiation. We argue that the SN1987a data rule out delta v ~ (E_ν/M_N)^N for N \le 2 and exclude, in particular, a Lorentz-invariant interpretation in terms of a 'conventional' tachyonic neutrino. We present two toy Lorentz-violating theoretical models, one a Lifshitz-type fermion model with superluminality depending quadratically on energy, and the other a Lorentz-violating modification of a massless Abelian gauge theory with axial-vector couplings to fermions. In the presence of an appropriate background field, fermions may propagate superluminally or subluminally, depending inversely on energy, and on direction. Reconciling OPERA with SN1987a would require this background field to depend on location.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Probes of Lorentz Violation

Lorentz invariance is such an important principle of fundamental physics that it should constantly be subjected to experimental scrutiny as well as theoretical questioning. Distant astrophysical sources of energetic photons with rapid time variations, such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and gamma-ray bursters (GRBs), provide ideal experimental opportunities for testing Lorentz invariance. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an excellent experimental tool for making such tests with sensitivities exceeding those possible using other detectors.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

On the Role of Space-Time Foam in Breaking Supersymmetry via the Barbero-Immirzi Parameter

We discuss how: (i) a dilaton/axion superfield can play the role of a Barbero-Immirzi field in four-dimensional conformal quantum supergravity theories, (ii) a fermionic component of such a dilaton/axion superfield may play the role of a Goldstino in the low-energy effective action obtained from a superstring theory with F-type global supersymmetry breaking, (iii) this global supersymmetry breaking is communicated to the gravitational sector via the supergravity coupling of the Goldstino, and (iv) such a scenario may be realized explicitly in a D-foam model with D-particle defects fluctuating stochastically.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Galactic-Centre Gamma Rays in CMSSM Dark Matter Scenarios

We study the production of gamma rays via LSP annihilations in the core of the Galaxy as a possible experimental signature of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), in which supersymmetry-breaking parameters are assumed to be universal at the GUT scale, assuming also that the LSP is the lightest neutralino chi. The part of the CMSSM parameter space that is compatible with the measured astrophysical density of cold dark matter is known to include a stau_1 - chi coannihilation strip, a focus-point strip where chi has an enhanced Higgsino component, and a funnel at large tanb where the annihilation rate is enhanced by the poles of nearby heavy MSSM Higgs bosons, A/H. We calculate the total annihilation rates, the fractions of annihilations into different Standard Model final states and the resulting fluxes of gamma rays for CMSSM scenarios along these strips. We observe that typical annihilation rates are much smaller in the coannihilation strip for tanb = 10 than along the focus-point strip or for tanb = 55, and that the annihilation branching ratios differ greatly between the different dark matter strips. Whereas the current Fermi-LAT data are not sensitive to any of the CMSSM scenarios studied, and the calculated gamma-ray fluxes are probably unobservably low along the coannihilation strip for tanb = 10, we find that substantial portions of the focus-point strips and rapid-annihilation funnel regions could be pressured by several more years of Fermi-LAT data, if understanding of the astrophysical background and/or systematic uncertainties can be improved in parallel.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

An Enhanced Cosmological Li6 Abundance as a Potential Signature of Residual Dark Matter Annihilations

Residual late-time dark matter particle annihilations during and after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) may alter the predicted cosmological abundances of the light elements. Within the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (the CMSSM) with a neutralino LSP, we find negligible effects on the abundances of Deuterium, He3, He4 and Li7 predicted by homogeneous BBN, but potentially a large enhancement in the predicted abundance of Li6. This enhancement may be as much as two orders of magnitude in the focus-point WMAP strip and in the coannihilation and funnel regions for large tan beta for small m_{1/2}, and the effect is still significant at large m_{1/2}. However, the potential Li6 enhancement is negligible in the part of the coannihilation strip for tan beta = 10 that survives the latest LHC constraints. A similar enhancement of the \li6 abundance may also be found in a model with common, non-universal Higgs masses (the NUHM1).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Spin Correlations of Lambda anti-Lambda Pairs as a Probe of Quark-Antiquark Pair Production

The polarizations of Lambda and anti-Lambda are thought to retain memories of the spins of their parent s quarks and antiquarks, and are readily measurable via the angular distributions of their daughter protons and antiprotons. Correlations between the spins of Lambda and anti-Lambda produced at low relative momenta may therefore be used to probe the spin states of s anti-s pairs produced during hadronization. We consider the possibilities that they are produced in a 3P_0 state, as might result from fluctuations in the magnitude of , a 1S_0 state, as might result from chiral fluctuations, or a 3S_1 or other spin state, as might result from production by a quark-antiquark or gluon pair. We provide templates for the p anti-p angular correlations that would be expected in each of these cases, and discuss how they might be used to distinguish s anti-s production mechanisms in pp and heavy-ion collisions.

hep-ph↗