arXiv subjects

Kfir Blum

Publications and source records attributed to Kfir Blum.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

WIMP Dark Matter through the Dilaton Portal

We study a model in which dark matter couples to the Standard Model through a dilaton of a sector with spontaneously broken approximate scale invariance. Scale invariance fixes the dilaton couplings to the Standard Model and dark matter fields, leaving three main free parameters: the symmetry breaking scale $f$, the dilaton mass $m_σ$, and the dark matter mass $m_χ$. We analyze the experimental constraints on the parameter space from collider, direct and indirect detection experiments including the effect of Sommerfeld enhancement, and show that dilaton exchange provides a consistent, calculable framework for cold dark matter with $f,\,m_σ,\,m_χ$ of roughly similar magnitude and in the range $\sim 1-10$ TeV. Direct and indirect detection experiments, notably future ground-based gamma ray and space-based cosmic ray measurements, can probe the model all the way to dark matter mass in the multi-TeV regime.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

High energy neutrino telescopes as a probe of the neutrino mass mechanism

We show that measurements of the spectral shape and flavor ratios of high energy astrophysical neutrinos at neutrino telescopes can be sensitive to the details of the neutrino mass mechanism. We propose a simple model for Majorana neutrino mass generation that realizes the relevant parameter space, in which small explicit lepton number violation is mediated to the Standard Model through the interactions of a light scalar. IceCube, with about ten years of exposure time, could reveal the presence of anomalous neutrino self-interactions. Precision electroweak and lepton flavor laboratory experiments and a determination of the total neutrino mass from cosmology would provide consistency checks on the interpretation of a signal.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

2 Higgs or not 2 Higgs

Motivated by recent results from the LHC experiments, we analyze Higgs couplings in two Higgs doublet models with an approximate PQ symmetry. Models of this kind can naturally accommodate sizable modifications to Higgs decay patterns while leaving production at hadron colliders untouched. Near the decoupling limit, we integrate out the heavy doublet to obtain the effective couplings of the SM-like Higgs and express these couplings in a physically transparent way, keeping all orders in (m_h/m_H) for small PQ breaking. Considering supersymmetric models, we show that the effects on the Higgs couplings are considerably constrained.

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arXiv2014

Constraining Axion Dark Matter with Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

We show that Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) significantly constrains axion-like dark matter. The axion acts like an oscillating QCD $θ$ angle that redshifts in the early universe, increasing the neutron-proton mass difference at neutron freeze-out. An axion-like particle that couples too strongly to QCD results in the underproduction of 4He during BBN and is thus excluded. The BBN bound overlaps with much of the parameter space that would be covered by proposed searches for time-varying neutron EDMs. The QCD axion does not couple strongly enough to affect BBN.

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arXiv2013

Constraining Dark Matter-Baryon Scattering with Linear Cosmology

We derive constraints on elastic scattering between baryons and dark matter using the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from the Planck satellite and the Lyman-alpha forest data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Elastic scattering allows baryons and dark matter to exchange momentum, affecting the dynamics of linear density perturbations in the early Universe. We derive constraints to scattering cross sections of the form sigma \propto v^n, allowing for a wide range of velocity dependencies with n between -4 and 2. We improve and correct previous estimates where they exist, including velocity-independent cross section as well as dark matter millicharge and electromagnetic dipole moments. Lyman-alpha forest data dominates the constraints for n>-3, where the improvement over CMB data alone can be several orders of magnitude. Dark matter-baryon scattering cannot affect the halo mass function on mass scales M>10^{12} M_{solar}. Our results imply, model-independently, that a baryon in the halo of a galaxy like our own Milky Way, does not scatter from dark matter particles during the age of the galaxy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

AMS02 results support the secondary origin of cosmic ray positrons

We show that the recent AMS02 positron fraction measurement is consistent with a secondary origin for positrons, and does not require additional primary sources such as pulsars or dark matter. The measured positron fraction at high energy saturates the previously predicted upper bound for secondary production (Katz et al 2009), obtained by neglecting radiative losses. This coincidence, which will be further tested by upcoming AMS02 data at higher energy, is a compelling indication for a secondary source. Within the secondary model the AMS02 data imply a cosmic ray propagation time in the Galaxy of < Myr and an average traversed interstellar matter density of order 1/cc, comparable to the density of the Milky Way gaseous disk, at a rigidity of 300 GV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Perturbed Recombination from Dark Matter Annihilation

We show that dark matter annihilation around the time of recombination can lead to growing ionization fraction perturbations, that track the linear collapse of matter over-densities. This amplifies small scale cosmological perturbations to the free electron density by a significant amount compared to the usual acoustic oscillations. Electron density perturbations distort the CMB, inducing secondary non-gaussianity. We calculate the CMB bispectrum from recombination, that is marginally observable by Planck. Even though electron perturbations can be markedly boosted compared with the Standard Model prediction, the dark matter effect in the CMB bispectrum turns out to be small and will be difficult to disentangle from the standard model in the foreseeable future.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

2:1 for Naturalness at the LHC?

A large enhancement of a factor of 1.5 - 2 in Higgs production and decay in the diphoton channel, with little deviation in the ZZ channel, can only plausibly arise from a loop of new charged particles with large couplings to the Higgs. We show that, allowing only new fermions with marginal interactions at the weak scale, the required Yukawa couplings for a factor of 2 enhancement are so large that the Higgs quartic coupling is pushed to large negative values in the UV, triggering an unacceptable vacuum instability far beneath the 10 TeV scale. An enhancement by a factor of 1.5 can be accommodated if the charged fermions are lighter than 150 GeV, within reach of discovery in almost all cases in the 8 TeV run at the LHC, and in even the most difficult cases at 14 TeV. Thus if the diphoton enhancement survives further scrutiny, and no charged fermions beneath 150 GeV are found, there must be new bosons far beneath the 10 TeV scale. This would unambiguously rule out a large class of fine-tuned theories for physics beyond the Standard Model, including split SUSY and many of its variants, and provide strong circumstantial evidence for a natural theory of electroweak symmetry breaking at the TeV scale. Alternately, theories with only a single fine-tuned Higgs and new fermions at the weak scale, with no additional scalars or gauge bosons up to a cutoff much larger than the 10 TeV scale, unambiguously predict that the hints for a large diphoton enhancement in the current data will disappear.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Natural SUSY Predicts: Higgs Couplings

We study Higgs production and decays in the context of natural SUSY, allowing for an extended Higgs sector to account for a 125 GeV lightest Higgs boson. Under broad assumptions, Higgs observables at the LHC depend on at most four free parameters with restricted numerical ranges. Two parameters suffice to describe MSSM particle loops. The MSSM loop contribution to the diphoton rate is constrained from above by direct stop and chargino searches and by electroweak precision tests. Naturalness, in particular in demanding that rare B decays remain consistent with experiment without fine-tuned cancellations, provides a lower (upper) bound to the stop contribution to the Higgs-gluon coupling (Higgs mass). Two parameters suffice to describe Higgs mixing, even in the presence of loop induced non-holomorphic Yukawa couplings. Generic classes of MSSM extensions, that address the fine-tuning problem, predict sizable modifications to the effective bottom Yukawa, yb. Non-decoupling gauge extensions enhance yb, while a heavy SM singlet reduces yb. A factor of 4-6 enhancement in the diphoton rate at the LHC, compared to the SM prediction, can be accommodated. The ratio of the enhancements in the diphoton vs. the WW and ZZ channels cannot exceed 1.4. The h to bbbar rate in associated production cannot exceed the SM rate by more than 50%.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Asymmetric Higgsino Dark Matter

In the supersymmetric framework, a higgsino asymmetry exists in the universe before the electroweak phase transition. We investigate whether the higgsino is a viable asymmetric dark matter candidate. We find that this is indeed possible. The gauginos, squarks and sleptons must all be very heavy, such that the only electroweak-scale superpartners are the higgsinos. The temperature of the electroweak phase transition must be in the (1-10) GeV range.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

DAMA vs. the annually modulated muon background

We compare the DAMA signal to the muon flux underground, which is annually modulated due to temperature variations in the stratosphere. We show that the muon flux at LNGS and the DAMA signal are tightly correlated. Different mechanisms were proposed in the literature by which muon-induced events may dominate the signal region in DAMA. We discuss simple statistical constraints on such mechanisms and show that the DAMA collaboration can falsify the muon hypothesis, if it is wrong, by reporting their annual baseline count rates.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Scalar-mediated $t\bar t$ forward-backward asymmetry

A large forward-backward asymmetry in $t\bar t$ production, for large invariant mass of the $t\bar t$ system, has been recently observed by the CDF collaboration. Among the scalar mediated mechanisms that can explain such a large asymmetry, only the t-channel exchange of a color-singlet weak-doublet scalar is consistent with both differential and integrated $t\bar t$ cross section measurements. Constraints from flavor changing processes dictate a very specific structure for the Yukawa couplings of such a new scalar. No sizable deviation in the differential or integrated $t\bar t$ production cross section is expected at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Implications of the CDF t\bar{t} Forward-Backward Asymmetry for Boosted Top Physics

New physics at a high scale Lambda can affect top-related observables at O(1/Lambda^2) via the interference of effective four quark operators with the SM amplitude. The (\bar{u} gamma_mu gamma^5 T^a u)(\bar{t} gamma^mu gamma^5 T^a t) operator modifies the large M_{t\bar{t}} forward-backward asymmetry, and can account for the recent CDF measurement. The (\bar{u} gamma_mu T^a u)(\bar{t} gamma^mu T^a t) operator modifies the differential cross section, but cannot enhance the cross section of ultra-massive boosted jets by more than 60%. The hint for a larger enhancement from a recent CDF measurement may not persist future experimental improvements, or may be a QCD effect that is not accounted for by leading order and matched Monte Carlo tools or naive factorization. If it comes from new physics, it may stem from new light states or an O(1/Lambda^4) new physics effect.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Cosmic ray propagation time scales: lessons from radioactive nuclei and positron data

We take a fresh look at high energy radioactive nuclei data reported in the 90's and at the positron data recently reported by PAMELA. Our aim is to study the model independent implications of these data for the propagation time scales of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Considering radioactive nuclei, using decaying charge to decayed charge ratios -- the only directly relevant data available at relativistic energies -- we show that a rigidity independent residence time is consistent with observations. The data for all nuclei can be described by f_{s,i}=(t_i/100 Myr)^{0.7}, where f_{s,i} is the suppression of the flux due to decay and t_i is the observer frame lifetime for nucleus specie i. Considering positron measurements, we argue that the positron flux is consistent with a secondary origin. Comparing the positron data with radioactive nuclei at the same energy range, we derive an upper bound on the mean electromagnetic energy density traversed by the positrons, \bar U_T<1.25 eV/cm^3 at a rigidity of R=40 GV. Charge ratio measurements within easy reach of the AMS-02 experiment, most notably a determination of the Cl/Ar ratio extending up to R\sim100 GV, will constrain the energy dependence of the positron cooling time. Such constraints can be used to distinguish between different propagation scenarios, as well as to test the secondary origin hypothesis for the positrons in detail.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Implications of large dimuon CP asymmetry in B_{d,s} decays on minimal flavor violation with low tan beta

The D0 collaboration has recently announced evidence for a dimuon CP asymmetry in B_{d,s} decays of order one percent. If confirmed, this asymmetry requires new physics. We argue that for minimally flavor violating (MFV) new physics, and at low tan beta=v_u/v_d, there are only two four-quark operators (Q_{2,3}) that can provide the required CP violating effect. The scale of such new physics must lie below 260 GeV sqrt{tan beta}. The effect is universal in the B_s and B_d systems, leading to S_{psi K}~sin(2beta)-0.15 and S_{psi phi}~0.25. The effects on epsilon_K and on electric dipole moments are negligible. The most plausible mechanism is tree-level scalar exchange. MFV supersymmetry with low tan beta will be excluded. Finally, we explain how a pattern of deviations from the Standard Model predictions for S_{psi phi}, S_{psi K} and epsilon_K can be used to test MFV and, if MFV holds, to probe its structure in detail.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

What can we really learn from positron flux 'anomalies'?

We present a critical analysis of the observational constraints on, and of the theoretical modeling of, aspects of cosmic ray (CR) generation and propagation in the Galaxy, which are relevant for the interpretation of recent positron and anti-proton measurements. We give simple, analytic, model independent expressions for the secondary pbar flux, and an upper limit for the secondary e+ flux, obtained by neglecting e+ radiative losses, e+/(e+ + e-)<0.2\pm0.1 up to ~300 GeV. These expressions are completely determined by the rigidity dependent grammage, which is measured from stable CR secondaries up to ~150 GeV/nuc, and by nuclear cross sections measured in the laboratory. pbar and e+ measurements, available up to ~100 GeV, are consistent with these estimates, implying that there is no need for new, non-secondary, pbar or e+ sources. The radiative loss suppression factor f_{s,e+} of the e+ flux depends on the e+ propagation in the Galaxy, which is not understood theoretically. A rough, model independent estimate of f_{s,e+} 1/3 can be obtained at a single energy, E\sim20 GeV, from unstable secondary decay and is found to be consistent with e+ measurements, including the positron fraction measured by PAMELA. We show that specific detailed models, that agree with compositional CR data, agree with our simple expressions for the e+ and pbar flux, and that the claims that the positron fraction measured by PAMELA requires new primary e+ sources are based on assumptions, that are not supported by observations. If PAMELA results are correct, they suggest that f_{s,e+} is slightly increasing with energy, which provides an interesting constraint on CR propagation models. We argue that measurements of the e+ to pbar ratio are more useful for challenging secondary production models than the positron fraction.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

CP violation Beyond the MSSM: Baryogenesis and Electric Dipole Moments

We study electroweak baryogenesis and electric dipole moments in the presence of the two leading-order, non-renormalizable operators in the Higgs sector of the MSSM. Significant qualitative and quantitative differences from MSSM baryogenesis arise due to the presence of new CP-violating phases and to the relaxation of constraints on the supersymmetric spectrum (in particular, both stops can be light). We find: (1) spontaneous baryogenesis, driven by a change in the phase of the Higgs vevs across the bubble wall, becomes possible; (2) the top and stop CP-violating sources can become effective; (3) baryogenesis is viable in larger parts of parameter space, alleviating the well-known fine-tuning associated with MSSM baryogenesis. Nevertheless, electric dipole moments should be measured if experimental sensitivities are improved by about one order of magnitude.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Astrophysical Implications of a Visible Dark Matter Sector from a Custodially Warped-GUT

We explore, within the warped extra dimensional framework, the possibility of finding anti-matter signals in cosmic rays (CRs) from dark matter (DM) annihilation. Exchange of order 100 GeV radion, an integral part of our setup, generically results in Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation rate for TeV DM mass. No dark sector is required to obtain boosted annihilation cross sections. A mild hierarchy between the radion and DM masses can be natural due to the pseudo-Goldstone boson nature of the radion. Implications of Sommerfeld enhancement in warped grand unified theory (GUT) models, where proton stability implies a DM candidate, are studied. We show, via partially unified Pati-Salam group, how to incorporate a custodial symmetry for Z->b\bar b into the GUT framework such that a few TeV Kaluza-Klein (KK) mass scale is allowed by precision tests. The model with smallest fully unified SO(10) representation allows us to decouple the DM from the electroweak sector. Thus, a correct DM relic density is obtained and direct detection bounds are satisfied. Looking at robust CR observables, a possible future signal in the \bar p / p flux ratio is found. We show how to embed a similar custodial symmetry for the right handed tau, allowing it to be strongly coupled to KK particles. Such a scenario might lead to observed signal in CR positrons; however, the DM candidate in this case can not constitute all of the DM in the universe. Independently of the above, the strong coupling between KK particles and tau's can lead to striking LHC signals.

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