arXiv subjects

José Zurita

Publications and source records attributed to José Zurita.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Leptophilic $Z'$ bosons at the FCC-ee: discovery opportunities

We examine the possibility to detect new SM-neutral vector bosons ($Z'$) that couple exclusively to leptons in the electron-positron mode of the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee). Focusing on the $Z'$ production with a radiated photon search channel, we show that the FCC-ee can significantly extend the unprobed parameter space by increasing the exclusion in the coupling by one to two orders of magnitude in the kinematically allowed mass range (from 10 GeV to 365 GeV), with the leading sensitivity being driven by the muon channel. In doing so, it outperforms other proposed lepton collider options such as CLIC and ILC in this range of masses. Further, we discuss the possibility of improving the sensitivity of the FCC-ee to this model through the modification of the dilepton invariant mass resolution and the photon energy resolution. The impact of systematic uncertainties on the expected sensitivities is also studied.

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arXiv2024

Emerging jet probes of strongly interacting dark sectors

A strongly interacting dark sector can give rise to a class of signatures dubbed dark showers, where in analogy to the strong sector in the Standard Model, the dark sector undergoes its own showering and hadronization, before decaying into Standard Model final states. When the typical decay lengths of the dark sector mesons are larger than a few centimeters (and no larger than a few meters) they give rise to the striking signature of emerging jets, characterized by a large multiplicity of displaced vertices. In this article we consider the general reinterpretation of the CMS search for emerging jets plus prompt jets into arbitrary new physics scenarios giving rise to emerging jets. More concretely, we consider the cases where the SM Higgs mediates between the dark sector and the SM, for several benchmark decay scenarios. Our procedure is validated employing the same model than the CMS emerging jet search. We find that emerging jets can be the leading probe in regions of parameter space, in particular when considering the so-called gluon-portal and dark photon-portal decay benchmarks. With the current 16.1 fb$^{-1}$ of luminosity this search can exclude down to ${\cal O} (20) \% $ exotic branching ratio of the SM Higgs, but a naive extrapolation to the 139 fb$^{-1}$ luminosity employed in the current model-independent, indirect bound of 16% would probe exotic branching ratios into dark quarks down to below 10%. Further extrapolating these results to the HL-LHC, we find that one can pin down exotic branching ratio values of 1%, which is below the HL-LHC expectations of 2.5$-$4%. We make our recasting code publicly available, as part of the LLP Recasting Repository.

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arXiv2023

Testing Heavy Neutral Leptons in Cosmic Ray Beam Dump experiments

In this work, we discuss the possibility to test Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs) using $``$Cosmic Ray Beam Dump$"$ experiments. In analogy with terrestrial beam dump experiments, where a beam first hits a target and is then absorbed by a shield, we consider high-energy incident cosmic rays impinging on the Earth's atmosphere and then the Earth's surface. We focus here on HNL production from atmospherically produced kaon, pion and $D$-meson decays, and discuss the possible explanation of the appearing Cherenkov showers observed by the SHALON Cherenkov telescope and the ultra-high energy events detected by the neutrino experiment ANITA. We show that these observations can not be explained with a long-lived HNL, as the relevant parameter space is excluded by existing constraints. Then we propose two new experimental setups that are inspired by these experiments, namely a Cherenkov telescope pointing at the horizon and shielded by the mountain cliff at Mount Thor, and a geostationary satellite that observes part of the Sahara desert. We show that the Cherenkov telescope at Mount Thor can probe currently untested HNL parameter space for masses below the kaon mass. We also show that the geostationary satellite experiment can significantly increase the HNL parameter space coverage in the whole mass range from 10 MeV up to 2 GeV and test neutrino mixing $|U_{\alpha4}|^2$ down to $10^{-11}$ for masses around 300 MeV.

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arXiv2022

LHC Signatures of $τ$-Flavoured Vector Leptoquarks

We consider the phenomenological signatures of Simplified Models of Flavourful Leptoquarks, whose Beyond-the-Standard Model (SM) couplings to fermion generations occur via textures that are well motivated from a broad class of ultraviolet flavour models (which we briefly review). We place particular emphasis on the study of the vector leptoquark $Δ_μ$ with assignments $\left({\bf{3}}, {\bf{1}}, 2/3 \right)$ under the SM's gauge symmetry, $SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$, which has the tantalising possibility of explaining both $\mathcal{R}_{K^{(\star)}}$ and $\mathcal{R}_{D^{(\star)}}$ anomalies. Upon performing global likelihood scans of the leptoquark's coupling parameter space, focusing in particular on models with tree-level couplings to a single charged lepton species, we then provide confidence intervals and benchmark points preferred by low(er)-energy flavour data. Finally, we use these constraints to further evaluate the (promising) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) detection prospects of pairs of $τ$-flavoured $Δ_μ$, through their distinct (a)symmetric decay channels. Namely, we consider direct third-generation leptoquark and jets plus missing-energy searches at the LHC, which we find to be complementary. Depending on the simplified model under consideration, the direct searches constrain the $Δ_μ$ mass up to 1500-1770 GeV when the branching fraction of $Δ_μ$ is entirely to third-generation quarks (but are significantly reduced with decreased branching ratios to the third generation), whereas the missing-energy searches constrain the mass up to 1150-1700 GeV while being largely insensitive to the third-generation branching fraction.

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arXiv2022

Leptoquark manoeuvres in the dark: a simultaneous solution of the dark matter problem and the $R_{D^{(*)}}$ anomalies

The measured branching fractions of $B$-mesons into leptonic final states derived by the LHCb collaboration hint towards the breakdown of lepton flavour universality. In this work we take at face value the so-called $R_{D^{(*)}}$ observables that are defined as the ratios of neutral $B$-meson charged-current decays into a charged $D$-meson, a charged lepton and a neutrino final state in the tau and muon channels. A well-studied and simple solution to this charged current anomaly is to introduce a scalar leptoquark $S_1$ that couples to the second and third generation of fermions. We investigate how $S_1$ can also serve as a mediator between the Standard Model and a dark sector. We study this scenario in detail and estimate the constraints arising from collider searches for leptoquarks, collider searches for missing energy signals, direct detection experiments and the dark matter relic abundance. We stress that the production of a pair of leptoquarks that decays into different final states (i.e. the commonly called "mixed" channels) provides critical information for identifying the underlying dynamics, and we exemplify this by studying the $t τb ν$ and the resonant $S_1$ plus missing energy channels. We find that direct detection data provides non-negligible constraints on the leptoquark coupling to the dark sector, which in turn affects the relic abundance. We also show that the correct relic abundance can not only arise via standard freeze-out, but also through conversion-driven freeze-out. We illustrate the rich phenomenology of the model with a few selected benchmark points, providing a broad stroke of the interesting connection between lepton flavour violation and dark matter.

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arXiv2022

Unleashing the full power of LHCb to probe Stealth New Physics

In this paper, we describe the potential of the LHCb experiment to detect Stealth physics. This refers to dynamics beyond the Standard Model that would elude searches that focus on energetic objects or precision measurements of known processes. Stealth signatures include long-lived particles and light resonances that are produced very rarely or together with overwhelming backgrounds. We will discuss why LHCb is equipped to discover this kind of physics at the Large Hadron Collider and provide examples of well-motivated theoretical models that can be probed with great detail at the experiment.

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arXiv2021

Review of opportunities for new long-lived particle triggers in Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider

Long-lived particles (LLPs) are highly motivated signals of physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) with great discovery potential and unique experimental challenges. The LLP search programme made great advances during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), but many important regions of signal space remain unexplored. Dedicated triggers are crucial to improve the potential of LLP searches, and their development and expansion is necessary for the full exploitation of the new data. The public discussion of triggers has therefore been a relevant theme in the recent LLP literature, in the meetings of the LLP@LHC Community workshop and in the respective experiments. This paper documents the ideas collected during talks and discussions at these Workshops, benefiting as well from the ideas under development by the trigger community within the experimental collaborations. We summarise the theoretical motivations of various LLP scenarios leading to highly elusive signals, reviewing concrete ideas for triggers that could greatly extend the reach of the LHC experiments. We thus expect this document to encourage further thinking for both the phenomenological and experimental communities, as a stepping stone to further develop the LLP@LHC physics programme.

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arXiv2019

Spotting hidden sectors with Higgs binoculars

We explore signals of new physics with two Higgs bosons and large missing transverse energy at the LHC. Such a signature is characteristic of models for dark matter or other secluded particles that couple to the standard model through an extended scalar sector. Our goal is to provide search strategies and an interpretation framework for this new signature that are applicable to a large class of models. To this end, we define simplified models of hidden sectors leading to two different event topologies: symmetric decay, i.e., pair-produced mediators decaying each into a Higgs plus invisible final state; and di-Higgs resonance, i.e., resonant Higgs-pair production recoiling against a pair of invisible particles. For both scenarios, we optimize the discovery potential by performing a multi-variate analysis of final states with four bottom quarks and missing energy, employing state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms for signal-background discrimination. We determine the parameter space that the LHC can test in both scenarios, thus facilitating an interpretation of our results in terms of complete models. Di-Higgs production with missing energy is competitive with other missing energy searches and thus provides a new opportunity to find hidden particles at the LHC.

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arXiv2019

Long-Lived Particles at the Energy Frontier: The MATHUSLA Physics Case

We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of Standard Model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the $μ$m scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of $\sim 10^7$m. Neutral LLPs with lifetimes above $\sim$ 100m are particularly difficult to probe, as the sensitivity of the LHC main detectors is limited by challenging backgrounds, triggers, and small acceptances. MATHUSLA is a proposal for a minimally instrumented, large-volume surface detector near ATLAS or CMS. It would search for neutral LLPs produced in HL-LHC collisions by reconstructing displaced vertices (DVs) in a low-background environment, extending the sensitivity of the main detectors by orders of magnitude in the long-lifetime regime. In this white paper we study the LLP physics opportunities afforded by a MATHUSLA-like detector at the HL-LHC. We develop a model-independent approach to describe the sensitivity of MATHUSLA to BSM LLP signals, and compare it to DV and missing energy searches at ATLAS or CMS. We then explore the BSM motivations for LLPs in considerable detail, presenting a large number of new sensitivity studies. While our discussion is especially oriented towards the long-lifetime regime at MATHUSLA, this survey underlines the importance of a varied LLP search program at the LHC in general. By synthesizing these results into a general discussion of the top-down and bottom-up motivations for LLP searches, it is our aim to demonstrate the exceptional strength and breadth of the physics case for the construction of the MATHUSLA detector.

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arXiv2016

The Coannihilation Codex

We present a general classification of simplified models that lead to dark matter (DM) coannihilation processes of the form DM + X $\rightarrow$ SM$_1$ + SM$_2$, where X is a coannihilation partner for the DM particle and SM$_1$, SM$_2$ are Standard Model fields. Our classification also encompasses regular DM pair annihilation scenarios if DM and X are identical. Each coannhilation scenario motivates the introduction of a mediating particle M that can either belong to the Standard Model or be a new field, whereby the resulting interactions between the dark sector and the Standard Model are realized as tree-level and dimension-four couplings. We construct a basis of coannihilation models, classified by the $SU(3)_C\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ quantum numbers of DM, X and M. Our main assumptions are that dark matter is an electrically neutral color singlet and that all new particles are either scalars, Dirac or Majorana fermions, or vectors. We illustrate how new scenarios arising from electroweak symmetry breaking effects can be connected to our electroweak symmetric simplified models. We offer a comprehensive discussion of the phenomenological features of our models, encompassing the physics of thermal freeze-out, direct and indirect detection constraints, and in particular searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Many novel signatures that are not covered in current LHC searches are emphasized, and new and improved LHC analyses tackling these signatures are proposed. We discuss how the coannihilation simplified models can be used to connect results from all classes of experiments in a straightforward and transparent way. This point is illustrated with a detailed discussion of the phenomenology of a particular simplified model featuring leptoquark-mediated dark matter coannihilation.

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arXiv2015

Higgs boson pair production in the D=6 extension of the SM

We derive the constraints that can be imposed on the dimension-6 effective theory extension of the Standard Model, using gluon fusion-initiated Higgs boson pair production at the LHC. We use a realistic analysis focussing on the $hh \rightarrow (b\bar{b}) ( τ^+ τ^- )$ final state, including initial-state radiation and non-perturbative effects. We include the statistical uncertainties on the signal rates as well as conservative estimates of the theoretical uncertainties. We first consider a theory containing only modifications of the trilinear coupling, through a $c_6 λ\, H^6/ v^2$ Lagrangian term, and then examine the full parameter space of the effective theory, incorporating current bounds obtained through single Higgs boson measurements. We also consider an alternative scenario, where we vary a smaller sub-set of parameters. Allowing, finally, the values of the other coefficients to vary within \textit{projected} experimental ranges, we find that the currently unbounded parameter, $c_6$, could be constrained to lie within $|c_6| \lesssim 0.6$ at 1$σ$ confidence, at the end of the high-luminosity run of the LHC (14~TeV) in the full model, and to $-0.6 \lesssim c_6 \lesssim 0.5$ in the alternative model. This study constitutes a first step towards the inclusion of multi-Higgs boson production in a full fit to the dimension-6 effective field theory framework.

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arXiv2013

Measuring the Higgs boson self-coupling at the LHC using ratios of cross sections

We consider the ratio between the double and single Higgs production cross sections and examine the prospect of measuring the trilinear Higgs self-coupling using this observable. Such a ratio has a reduced theoretical (scale) uncertainty than the double Higgs cross section. We find that with 600/fb, the 14 TeV LHC can constraint the trilinear Higgs self coupling to be positive, and with 3000/fb one could measure it with a +30 % {-20 %}) accuracy.

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arXiv2013

Higgs Boson self-coupling measurements using ratios of cross sections

We consider the ratio of cross sections of double-to-single Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron Collider at 14 TeV. Since both processes possess similar higher-order corrections, leading to a cancellation of uncertainties in the ratio, this observable is well-suited to constrain the trilinear Higgs boson self-coupling. We consider the scale variation, parton density function uncertainties and conservative estimates of experimental uncertainties, applied to the viable decay channels, to construct expected exclusion regions. We show that the trilinear self-coupling can be constrained to be positive with a 600/fb LHC dataset at 95% confidence level. Moreover, we demonstrate that we expect to obtain a ~+30% and ~-20 uncertainty on the self-coupling at 3000/fb without statistical fitting of differential distributions. The present article outlines the most precise method of determination of the Higgs trilinear coupling to date.

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arXiv2013

Higgs boson pair production at the LHC in the $b \bar{b} W^+ W^-$ channel

We consider Higgs boson pair production at the LHC in the $b \bar{b} W^+ W^-$ channel, with subsequent decay of the $W^+W^-$ pair into $\ell νj j$. Employing jet substructure and event reconstruction techniques, we show that strong evidence for this channel can be found at the 14 TeV LHC with 600 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, thus improving the current reach for the production of Higgs boson pairs. This measurement will allow to probe the trilinear Higgs boson coupling $λ$.

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arXiv2012

SUSY confronts LHC data

The current searches at the LHC have set strong bounds on the masses of gluinos and the squarks of the first and second generation. At the same time, the hints of a Higgs boson at 125 GeV imply some degree of fine-tuning from radiative corrections to the lightest Higgs mass. Moreover, the rate into photons seems to be enhanced with respect to the SM, while the ZZ channel is reduced (albeit the SM is still compatible at the 2-sigma level). In this talk I will review how the previous issues can be addressed. If the stop is about a couple-hundred GeV, the SUSY still remains as a natural solution to the hierarchy problem. I will also show how the MSSM can accommodate a 125 GeV Higgs and also how extensions of the MSSM can alleviate the fine-tuning on the Higgs mass. I will also discuss recent literature, showing how both in the MSSM and its extensions one can find suitable ways to accommodate the measured Higgs rates into photons and Z bosons.

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arXiv2011

Collider Bounds on Lee-Wick Higgs Bosons

We study the constraints on the Lee-Wick Higgs sector arising from direct collider searches. We work in an effective-field theory framework, where all of the Lee-Wick partners are integrated out, with the sole exception of the Lee-Wick Higgs bosons. The resulting theory is a two-Higgs doublet model where the second doublet has wrong-sign kinetic and mass terms. We include the bounds coming from direct Higgs searches at both LEP and Tevatron using the code HiggsBounds, and show the currently excluded parameter space. We also analyze the prospects of LHC Run-I, finding that with a total integrated luminosity of 5 fb $^{-1}$ and a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, most of the parameter space for the SM-like CP-even Higgs will be probed.

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arXiv2010

SUSY Higgs bosons and beyond

We consider extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) where the extra degrees of freedom interact weakly with the Higgs sector. These models allow to relax the tension between the lower bound on the lightest CP even Higgs mass from direct LEP searches and the theoretical upper bound of the MSSM. We study the beyond MSSM (BMSSM) effects via an effective field-theory approach, assuming that the MSSM is valid up to a heavy physics scale M. We compute the masses, couplings and branching fractions of the Higgs sector, including all the relevant corrections up to order 1/M^2. We find that the collider phenomenology can be greatly different with respect to both the SM and the MSSM.

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arXiv2007

Soft-gluon resummation for pseudoscalar Higgs boson production at hadron colliders

We compute the threshold-resummed cross section for pseudo-scalar MSSM Higgs boson production by gluon fusion at hadron colliders. The calculation is performed at next-to-next-to leading logarithmic accuracy. We present results for both the LHC and Tevatron Run II. We analyze the factorization and renormalization scale dependence of the results, finding that after performing the resummation the corresponding cross section can be computed with an accuracy better than 10%.

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