arXiv subjects

Kirtimaan Mohan

Publications and source records attributed to Kirtimaan Mohan.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Strong Coupling Constant Determination from the new CTEQ-TEA Global QCD Analysis

We present a new determination of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$ from a global QCD analysis CT25 of parton distribution functions (PDFs) that incorporates high-precision experimental measurements from the Run-2 of the Large Hadron Collider together with a large sample of other measurements over a wide interval of energies. This work addresses two objectives: providing an up-to-date determination of $\alpha_s$ using NNLO calculations and a sensitive nucleon data set within a self-consistent framework, and critically assessing the robustness of the $\alpha_s(M_Z)$ extraction in light of systematic uncertainties as well as correlations of $\alpha_s(M_Z)$ with the functional forms of PDFs and other model parameters. In regard to the uncertainty assessment, we demonstrate that some commonly used criteria, including the dynamical tolerance and Bayesian hierarchical models, may produce significantly different or even unstable estimates for the net $\alpha_s$ uncertainty, and we introduce a concept of \textit{data-clustering safety} that the replicable uncertainty estimates must satisfy. Based on this in-depth examination of the CT25 global hadronic data set using a combination of analysis methods, and after demonstrating a weak correlation between $\alpha_s$ and the functional forms of CT25 PDF parametrizations, we find $\alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1183^{+0.0023}_{-0.0020}$ at the 68\% credibility level.

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arXiv2025

t-channel dark matter at the LHC -- a whitepaper

This report, summarising work achieved in the context of the LHC Dark Matter Working Group, investigates the phenomenology of $t$-channel dark matter models, spanning minimal setups with a single dark matter candidate and mediator to more complex constructions closer to UV-complete models. For each considered class of models, we examine collider, cosmological and astrophysical implications. In addition, we explore scenarios with either promptly decaying or long-lived particles, as well as featuring diverse dark matter production mechanisms in the early universe. By providing a unified analysis framework, numerical tools and guidelines, this work aims to support future experimental and theoretical efforts in exploring $t$-channel dark matter models at colliders and in cosmology.

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arXiv2025

A generalized statistical model for fits to parton distributions

Parton distribution functions (PDFs) form an essential part of particle physics calculations. Currently, the most precise predictions for these non-perturbative functions are generated through fits to global data. A problem that several PDF fitting groups encounter is the presence of tension in data sets that appear to pull the fits in different directions. In other words, the best fit depends on the choice of data set. Several methods to capture the uncertainty in PDFs in presence of seemingly inconsistent fits have been proposed and are currently in use. These methods are important to ensure that uncertainty in PDFs are not underestimated. Here we propose a novel method for estimating the uncertainty by introducing a generalized statistical model based on Bayesian Hierarchical models which is implemented via the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). The methodology is inspired by unsupervised machine learning techniques and is closely related to the statistical methods of Ensemble learning and Bayesian model averaging. Using a toy model of PDFs, we demonstrate how the GMM can be used to faithfully reconstruct the likelihood associated with PDF fits, which can in turn be used to accurately determine the uncertainty on PDFs, especially in the presence of tension in the fitted data sets. We further show how this statistical model reduces to the usual chi-squared likelihood function for a consistent data set and provide measures to optimize the number of Gaussians in the GMM.

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arXiv2024

Identifying the Quantum Properties of Hadronic Resonances using Machine Learning

With the great promise of deep learning, discoveries of new particles at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may be imminent. Following the discovery of a new Beyond the Standard model particle in an all-hadronic channel, deep learning can also be used to identify its quantum numbers. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) using jet-images can significantly improve upon existing techniques to identify the quantum chromodynamic (QCD) (`color') as well as the spin of a two-prong resonance using its substructure. Additionally, jet-images are useful in determining what information in the jet radiation pattern is useful for classification, which could inspire future taggers. These techniques improve the categorization of new particles and are an important addition to the growing jet substructure toolkit, for searches and measurements at the LHC now and in the future.

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arXiv2017

Broadening the Reach of Simplified Limits on Resonances at the LHC

Recently, we introduced an approach for more easily interpreting searches for resonances at the LHC - and to aid in distinguishing between realistic and unrealistic alternatives for potential signals. This `simplfied limits' approach was derived using the narrow width approximation (NWA) - and therefore was not obviously relevant in the case of wider resonances. Here, we broaden the scope of the analysis. First, we explicitly generalize the formalism to encompass resonances of finite width. We then examine how the width of the resonance modifies bounds on new resonances that are extracted from LHC searches. Second, we demonstrate, using a wide variety of cases, with different incoming partons, resonance properties, and decay signatures, that the limits derived in the NWA yield pertinant, and somewhat conservative (less stringent) bounds on the model parameters. We conclude that the original simplified limits approach is useful in the early stages of evaluating and interpreting new collider data and that the generalized approach is a valuable further aid when evidence points toward a broader resonance.

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arXiv2016

Simplified Limits on New LHC Resonances

If an excess potentially heralding new physics is noticed in collider data, it would be useful to be able to compare the data with entire classes of models at once. This talk discusses a method that applies when the new physics corresponds to the production and decay of a single, relatively narrow, s-channel resonance. A simplifed model of the resonance allows us to convert an estimated signal cross section into model-independent bounds on the product of the branching ratios corresponding to production and decay. This quickly reveals whether a given class of models could possibly produce a signal of the observed size. We will describe how to apply our analysis framework to cases of current experimental interest, including resonances decaying to dibosons, diphotons, dileptons, or dijets.

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arXiv2016

Simplified Limits on Resonances at the LHC

In the earliest stages of evaluating new collider data, especially if a small excess may be present, it would be useful to have a method for comparing the data with entire classes of models, to get an immediate sense of which classes could conceivably be relevant. In this paper, we propose a method that applies when the new physics invoked to explain the excess corresponds to the production and decay of a single, relatively narrow, $s$-channel resonance. A simplifed model of the resonance allows us to convert an estimated signal cross section into model-independent bounds on the product of the branching ratios corresponding to production and decay. This quickly reveals whether a given class of models could possibly produce a signal of the required size at the LHC. Our work sets up a general framework, outlines how it operates for resonances with different numbers of production and decay modes, and analyzes cases of current experimental interest, including resonances decaying to dibosons, diphotons, dileptons, or dijets. If the LHC experiments were to report their searches for new resonances beyond the standard model in the simplified limits variable $ζ$ defined in this paper, that would make it far easier to avoid blind alleys and home in on the most likely candidate models to explain any observed excesses.

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arXiv2016

Diphoton Resonances in the Renormalizable Coloron Model

The renormalizable coloron model, which has previously been shown in the literature to be consistent with a wide array of theoretical and precision electroweak constraints, includes a pair of spinless bosons (one scalar, one pseudoscalar). We show that either of them, or both together if they are degenerate, could be responsible for the diphoton resonance signal for which both CMS and ATLAS have seen evidence. Because either of these bosons would be produced and decay through loops of spectator fermions, the absence of signals in dijet, $t\bar{t}$, and electroweak boson pair channels is not a surprise.

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arXiv2015

The Diboson Excess: Experimental Situation and Classification of Explanations; A Les Houches Pre-Proceeding

We examine the `diboson' excess at $\sim 2$ TeV seen by the LHC experiments in various channels. We provide a comparison of the excess significances as a function of the mass of the tentative resonance and give the signal cross sections needed to explain the excesses. We also present a survey of available theoretical explanations of the resonance, classified in three main approaches. Beyond that, we discuss methods to verify the anomaly, determining the major properties of the various surpluses and exploring how different models can be discriminated. Finally, we give a tabular summary of the numerous explanations, presenting their main phenomenological features.

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arXiv2015

Color Discriminant Variable to Separate Dijet Resonances at the LHC

A narrow resonance decaying to dijets could be discovered at the 14 TeV run of the LHC. To quickly identify its color structure in a model-independent manner, we introduced a method based on a color discriminant variable, determined from the measurements of the resonance's production cross section, mass and width. This talk introduces a more transparent theoretical formulation of the color discriminant variable that highlights its relationship to the branching ratios of the resonance into incoming and outgoing partons and to the properties of those partons. The formulation makes it easier to predict the value of the variable for a given class of resonance. We show that this method applies well to color-triplet and color-sextet scalar diquarks, distinguishing them clearly from other candidate resonances.

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arXiv2015

Vector resonances in weak-boson-fusion at future pp colliders

We present a first estimate of the reach of future pp colliders, the 14 TeV LHC and a futuristic 100 TeV pp collider, on a vector resonance, specifically a $W^{'}$, produced via weak-boson-fusion, and decaying dominantly into $tb$. The analysis is motivated by Composite Higgs, Randall-Sundrum and Little Higgs scenarios, which predict the existence of vector resonances with a large coupling to $W$ and $Z$ longitudinal bosons. In particular, in composite Higgs models with partial compositeness, the standard Drell-Yan production channel is suppressed at large coupling while the weak-boson-fusion is enhanced and could thus provide a unique opportunity to directly test the large coupling regime of the theory. We outline a search strategy for the $W^{'}$ in the weak-boson-fusion channel and present the reach of future colliders on the $W^{'}$ mass-coupling parameter space.

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arXiv2015

The Color Discriminant Variable and Scalar Diquarks at the LHC

The LHC is actively searching for narrow dijet resonances corresponding to physics beyond the Standard Model. Among the many resonances that have been postulated (e.g., colored vectors, scalars, and fermions) one that would have a particularly large production rate at the LHC would be a scalar diquark produced in the s-channel via fusion of two valence quarks. In previous work, we introduced a color discriminant variable that distinguishes among various dijet resonances, drawing on measurements of the dijet resonance mass, total decay width and production cross-section. Here, we show that this model-independent method applies well to color-triplet and color-sextet scalar diquarks, distinguishing them clearly from other candidate resonances. We also introduce a more transparent theoretical formulation of the color discriminant variable that highlights its relationship to the branching ratios of the resonance into incoming and outgoing partons and to the properties of those partons. While the original description of the color discriminant variable remains convenient for phenomenological use upon discovery of a new resonance, the new formulation makes it easier to predict the value of the variable for a given class of resonance.

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arXiv2013

Looking for an Invisible Higgs Signal at the LHC

While the recent discovery of a Higgs-like boson at the LHC is an extremely important and encouraging step towards the discovery of the {\it complete} standard model(SM), the current information on this state does not rule out possibility of beyond standard model (BSM) physics. In fact the current data can still accommodate reasonable values of the branching fractions of the Higgs into a channel with `invisible' decay products, such a channel being also well motivated theoretically. In this study we revisit the possibility of detecting the Higgs in this invisible channel for both choices of the LHC energies, 8 and 14 TeV, for two production channels; vector boson fusion(VBF) and associated production($ZH$). In the latter case we consider decays of the $Z$ boson into a pair of leptons as well as a $b \bar b$ pair. For the VBF channel the sensitivity is found to be more than $5 σ$ at both the energies up to an invisible branching ratio ${\cal B}r_{invis} \sim 0.80$, with luminosities $\sim 20/30 {\rm fb}^{-1}$. The sensitivity is further extended to values of ${\cal B}r_{invis} \sim 0.25$ for $300 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ at 14 TeV. However the reach is found to be more modest for the $ZH$ mode with leptonic final state; with about $3.5 σ$ for the planned luminosity at 8 TeV, reaching $8 σ$ only for 14 TeV for $50 {\rm fb}^{-1}$. In spite of the much larger branching ratio of the $Z$ into a $b \bar b$ channel compared to the dilepton case, the former channel, can provide useful reach upto ${\cal B}r_{invis} \gsim 0.75$, only for the higher luminosity ($300{\rm fb}^{-1}$) option using jet-substructure and jet clustering methods for $b$-jet identification.

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arXiv2013

Boosting Higgs CP properties via VH Production at the Large Hadron Collider

We consider ZH and WH production at the Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs decays to a bb pair. We use jet substructure techniques to reconstruct the Higgs boson and construct angular observables involving leptonic decay products of the vector bosons. These efficiently discriminate between the tensor structure of the HVV vertex expected in the Standard Model and that arising from possible new physics, as quantified by higher dimensional operators. This can then be used to examine the CP nature of the Higgs as well as CP mixing effects in the HZZ and HWW vertices separately.

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