arXiv subjects

Jong Soo Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Jong Soo Kim.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

CheckMATE 2: From the model to the limit

We present the latest developments to the CheckMATE program that allows models of new physics to be easily tested against the recent LHC data. To achieve this goal, the core of CheckMATE now contains over 60 LHC analyses of which 12 are from the 13 TeV run. The main new feature is that CheckMATE 2 now integrates the Monte Carlo event generation via Madgraph and Pythia 8. This allows users to go directly from a SLHA file or UFO model to the result of whether a model is allowed or not. In addition, the integration of the event generation leads to a significant increase in the speed of the program. Many other improvements have also been made, including the possibility to now combine signal regions to give a total likelihood for a model.

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arXiv2016

Prospects for natural SUSY

As we anticipate the first results of the 2016 run, we assess the discovery potential of the LHC to `natural supersymmetry'. To begin with, we explore the region of the model parameter space that can be excluded with various centre-of-mass energies (13 TeV and 14 TeV) and different luminosities (20 fb$^{-1}$, 100 fb$^{-1}$, 300 fb$^{-1}$ and 3000 fb$^{-1}$). We find that the bounds at 95% CL on stops vary from $m_{\tilde{t}_1}\gtrsim 900$ GeV expected this summer to $m_{\tilde{t}_1}\gtrsim 1500$ GeV at the end of the high luminosity run, while gluino bounds are expected to range from $m_{\tilde{g}}\gtrsim 1700$ GeV to $m_{\tilde{g}}\gtrsim 2500$ GeV over the same time period. However, more pessimistically we find that if no signal begins to appear this summer, only a very small region of parameter space can be discovered with 5-$σ$ significance. For this conclusion to change, we find that both theoretical and systematic uncertainties will need to be significantly reduced.

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arXiv2016

Accelerating the BSM interpretation of LHC data with machine learning

The interpretation of Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data in the framework of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) theories is hampered by the need to run computationally expensive event generators and detector simulators. Performing statistically convergent scans of high-dimensional BSM theories is consequently challenging, and in practice unfeasible for very high-dimensional BSM theories. We present here a new machine learning method that accelerates the interpretation of LHC data, by learning the relationship between BSM theory parameters and data. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that this technique accurately predicts natural SUSY signal events in two signal regions at the High Luminosity LHC, up to four orders of magnitude faster than standard techniques. The new approach makes it possible to rapidly and accurately reconstruct the theory parameters of complex BSM theories, should an excess in the data be discovered at the LHC.

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arXiv2016

Complementarity of Resonant Scalar, Vector-Like Quark and Superpartner Searches in Elucidating New Phenomena

The elucidation of the nature of new phenomena requires a multi-pronged approach to understand the essential physics that underlies it. As an example, we study the simplified model containing a new scalar singlet accompanied by vector-like quarks, as motivated by the recent diphoton excess at the LHC. To be specific, we investigate three models with $SU(2)_L$-doublet, vector-like quarks with Yukawa couplings to a new scalar singlet and which also couple off-diagonally to corresponding Standard Model fermions of the first or third generation through the usual Higgs boson. We demonstrate that three classes of searches can play important and complementary roles in constraining this model. In particular, we find that missing energy searches designed for superparticle production, supply superior sensitivity for vector-like quarks than the dedicated new quark searches themselves.

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arXiv2016

Model-independent combination of diphoton constraints at 750 GeV

Motivated by the recent diphoton excess reported by both the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, we provide a model-independent combination of diphoton results obtained at $\sqrt{s}=8$ and 13 TeV at the LHC. We consider resonant s-channel production of a spin-0 and spin-2 particle with a mass of 750 GeV that subsequently decays to two photons. The size of the excess reported by ATLAS appears to be in slight tension with other measurements under the spin-2 particle hypothesis.

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arXiv2016

Global analysis of the pMSSM in light of the Fermi GeV excess: prospects for the LHC Run-II and astroparticle experiments

We present a new global fit of the 19-dimensional phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (pMSSM-19) that comply with all the latest experimental results from dark matter indirect, direct and accelerator dark matter searches. We show that the model provides a satisfactory explanation of the excess of gamma-rays from the Galactic centre observed by the Fermi~Large Area Telescope, assuming that it is produced by the annihilation of neutralinos in the Milky Way halo. We identify two regions that pass all the constraints: the first corresponds to neutralinos with a mass ~80-100 GeV annihilating into WW with a branching ratio of 95% ; the second to heavier neutralinos, with mass ~180-200 GeV annihilating into t tbar with a branching ratio of 87%. We show that neutralinos compatible with the Galactic centre GeV excess will soon be within the reach of LHC run-II -- notably through searches for charginos and neutralinos, squarks and light smuons -- and of Xenon1T, thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity to spin-dependent cross-section off neutrons.

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arXiv2016

Confronting dark matter with the diphoton excess from a parent resonance decay

A diphoton excess with an invariant mass of about 750 GeV has been recently reported by both ATLAS and CMS experiments at LHC. While the simplest interpretation requires the resonant production of a 750 GeV (pseudo)scalar, here we consider an alternative setup, with an additional heavy parent particle which decays into a pair of 750 GeV resonances. This configuration improves the agreement between the 8 TeV and 13 TeV data. Moreover, we include a dark matter candidate in the form of a Majorana fermion which interacts through the 750 GeV portal. The invisible decays of the light resonance help to suppress additional decay channels into Standard Model particles in association with the diphoton signal. We realise our hierarchical framework in the context of an effective theory, and we analyse the diphoton signal as well as the consistency with other LHC searches. We finally address the interplay of the LHC results with the dark matter phenomenology, namely the compatibility with the relic density abundance and the indirect detection bounds.

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arXiv2015

Naughty or Nice? The Role of the `N' in the Natural NMSSM for the LHC

In this work, we present mass limits on gluinos and stops in a natural Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with a singlino as the lightest supersymmetric particle. Motivated by naturalness, we consider spectra with light higgsinos, sub-TeV third generation sparticles and gluinos well below the multi-TeV regime while the electroweak gauginos, the sleptons and the first and second generation squarks are decoupled. We check that our natural supersymmetry spectra satisfy all electroweak precision observables and flavour measurements as well as theoretical constraints. By reinterpreting the results from the 8 TeV ATLAS supersymmetry searches we present the 95% CL exclusion limits on the model. The results show that the presence of a singlino LSP can lengthen decay chains and soften the final state particle energies. Whilst this does reduce the strength of the bounds in some areas of parameter space, the LHC still displays good sensitivity to the model.

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arXiv2015

Higgsophilic gauge bosons and monojets at the LHC

We consider a generic framework where the Standard Model (SM) coexists with a hidden sector endowed with some additional gauge symmetry. When this symmetry is broken by a scalar field charged under the hidden gauge group, the corresponding scalar boson generally mixes with the SM Higgs boson. In addition, massive hidden gauge bosons emerge and via the mixing, the observed Higgs-like mass eigenstate is the only known particle that couples to these hidden gauge bosons directly. We study the LHC monojet signatures of this scenario and the corresponding constraints on the gauge coupling of the hidden gauge group as well as the mixing of the Higgs scalars.

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arXiv2015

A framework to create customised LHC analyses within CheckMATE

Checkmate is a framework that allows the user to conveniently test simulated BSM physics events against current LHC data in order to derive exclusion limits. For this purpose, the data runs through a detector simulation and is then processed by a user chosen number of experimental analyses. These analyses are all defined by signal regions that can be compared to the experimental data with a multitude of statistical tools. Due to the large and continuously growing number of experimental analyses available, users may quickly find themselves in the situation that the study they are particularly interested in has not (yet) been implemented officially into the Checkmate framework. However, the code includes a rather simple framework to allow users to add new analyses on their own. This document serves as a guide to this. In addition, Checkmate serves as a powerful tool for testing and implementing new search strategies. To aid this process, many tools are included to allow a rapid prototyping of new analyses.

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arXiv2015

The Higgsino-Singlino World at the Large Hadron Collider

We consider light higgsinos and singlinos in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. We assume that the singlino is the lightest supersymmetric particle and that the higgsino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle with the remaining supersymmetric particles in the multi-TeV range. This scenario, which is motivated by the flavor and CP issues, provides a phenomenologically viable dark matter candidate and improved electroweak fit consistent with the measured Higgs mass. Here, the higgsinos decay into on (off)-shell gauge boson and the singlino. We consider the leptonic decay modes and the resulting signature is three isolated leptons and missing transverse energy which is known as the trilepton signal. We simulate the signal and the Standard Model backgrounds and present the exclusion region in the higgsino-singlino mass plane at the Large Hadron Collider at $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV for an integrated luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2014

`Stop' that ambulance! New physics at the LHC?

A number of LHC searches now display intriguing excesses. Most prominently, the measurement of the $W^+W^-$ cross-section has been consistently $\sim 20\%$ higher than the theoretical prediction across both ATLAS and CMS for both 7 and 8 TeV runs. More recently, supersymmetric searches for final states containing two or three leptons have also seen more events than predicted in certain signal regions. We show that a supersymmetric model containing a light stop, winos and binos can consistently match the data. We perform a fit to all measurements and searches that may be sensitive to our model and find a reduction in the log-likelihood of 15.4 compared to the Standard Model which corresponds to 3.5-$σ$ once the extra degrees of freedom in the fit are considered.

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arXiv2014

CheckMATE: Confronting your Favourite New Physics Model with LHC Data

In the first three years of running, the LHC has delivered a wealth of new data that is now being analysed. With over 20 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, both ATLAS and CMS have performed many searches for new physics that theorists are eager to test their model against. However, tuning the detector simulations, understanding the particular analysis details and interpreting the results can be a tedious task. CheckMATE (Check Models At Terascale Energies) is a program package which accepts simulated event files in many formats for any model. The program then determines whether the model is excluded or not at 95% C.L. by comparing to many recent experimental analyses. Furthermore the program can calculate confidence limits and provide detailed information about signal regions of interest. It is simple to use and the program structure allows for easy extensions to upcoming LHC results in the future. CheckMATE can be found at: http://checkmate.hepforge.org

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arXiv2012

Light Stop Searches at the LHC with Monojet Events

We consider light top squarks (stops) in the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. Here, we assume that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and the lighter stop is the next-to-LSP. Stop pair production is difficult to probe at the Large Hadron Collider for small stop-LSP mass splitting. It has been shown previously that even in this case stop detection is possible if one considers stop pair production in association with one hard jet. We reconsider this supersymmetric monojet signature and go beyond previous works by including the full Standard Model background and optimizing the cuts, working at the hadron level and including detector effects. As a result, a larger portion of the stop-LSP mass plane becomes accessible to monojet searches.

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arXiv2012

First LHC Constraints on Neutralinos

The ATLAS and CMS collaborations have recently reported tantalizing hints of the existence of a 125 GeV Higgs--like particle, whose couplings appear to match well the Standard Model (SM) expectations. In this work, we study implications of this observation for the neutralino sector of supersymmetric models, assuming that the Higgs signal gets confirmed. In general, the Higgs decay into neutralinos can be one of its dominant decay channels. Since a large invisible Higgs decay branching ratio would be in conflict with the data, this possibility is now constrained. In particular, we find that most of the region mu < 170 GeV, M_1 < 70 GeV at tan beta ~ 10 and mu < 120 GeV, M_1 < 70 GeV at tan beta ~ 40 is disfavored.

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arXiv2011

Probing Minimal Flavor Violation with Long-Lived Stops and Light Gravitinos at Hadron Colliders

In the framework of minimal flavor violation (MFV), we discuss the decay properties of a supersymmetric scalar top (stop) in the presence of a light gravitino. Given a small mass difference between the lighter stop and lightest neutralino and an otherwise sufficiently decoupled spectrum, the stop may be long-lived and thus can provide support to MFV at hadron colliders. For a bino-like lightest neutralino, we apply bounds from searches in the gamma gamma plus missing transverse energy channel (ATLAS with 1 fb^-1 and D0 with 6.3 fb^-1) and give a 5 fb^-1 projection for the ATLAS search.

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arXiv2009

Collider Signatures of Minimal Flavor Mixing from Stop Decay Length Measurements

We investigate the prospects to extract supersymmetric couplings from a decay length measurement at the LHC. Specifically, we exploit the opportunity of a light and long-lived stop which is pair-produced through gluinos in association with like-sign top quarks. Any observed finite value of the stop decay length strongly supports models in which flavor is broken in a minimal way solely by the Standard Model Yukawa couplings. We find that a 1 picosecond stop lifetime, dominated by t~ -> c chi^0 decays, yields macroscopic transverse impact parameters of about 180 microns. If the lightest neutralino is predominantly higgsino or very close in mass to the light stop, the stop lifetime even increases and allows to observe stop tracks and possibly secondary vertices directly. Measuring squark flavor violation with the stop decay length works also with a gravitino LSP if the neutralino is the NLSP. For this case, opportunities from t~ -> c chi^0 -> c gamma G~ decays for very light gravitinos with mass <= keV are pointed out.

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arXiv2009

Rapidity Gap Events for Squark Pair Production at the LHC

The exchange of electroweak gauginos in the $t-$ or $u-$channel allows squark pair production at hadron colliders without color exchange between the squarks. This can give rise to events where little or no energy is deposited in the detector between the squark decay products. We discuss the potential for detection of such rapidity gap events at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We present an analysis with full event simulation using PYTHIA as well as Herwig++, but without detector simulation. We analyze the transverse energy deposited between the jets from squark decay, as well as the probability of finding a third jet in between the two hardest jets. For the mSUGRA benchmark point SPS1a we find statistically significant evidence for a color singlet exchange contribution.

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