arXiv subjects

Lingfeng Li

Publications and source records attributed to Lingfeng Li.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

A Theory of Dark Pions

We present a complete model of a dark QCD sector with light dark pions, broadly motivated by hidden naturalness arguments. The dark quarks couple to the Standard Model via irrelevant $Z$- and Higgs-portal operators, which encode the low-energy effects of TeV-scale fermions interacting through Yukawa couplings with the Higgs field. The dark pions, depending on their $CP$ properties, behave as either composite axion-like particles (ALPs) mixing with the $Z$ or scalars mixing with the Higgs. The dark pion lifetimes fall naturally in the most interesting region for present and proposed searches for long-lived particles, at the LHC and beyond. This is demonstrated by studying in detail three benchmark scenarios for the symmetries and structure of the theory. Within a coherent framework, we analyze and compare the GeV-scale signatures of flavor-changing meson decays to dark pions, the weak-scale decays of $Z$ and Higgs bosons to hidden hadrons, and the TeV-scale signals of the ultraviolet theory. New constraints are derived from $B$ decays at CMS and from $Z$-initiated dark showers at LHCb, focusing on the displaced dimuon signature. We also emphasize the strong potential sensitivity of ATLAS and CMS to dark shower signals with large multiplicities and long lifetimes of the dark pions. As a key part of our phenomenological study, we perform a new data-driven calculation of the decays of a light ALP to exclusive hadronic Standard Model final states. The results are provided in a general form, applicable to any model with arbitrary flavor-diagonal couplings of the ALP to fermions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Axi-Higgs Cosmology

If the electroweak Higgs vacuum expectation value $v$ in early universe is $\sim 1 \%$ higher than its present value $v_0=246$ GeV, the $^7$Li puzzle in BBN and the CMB/$Λ$CDM tension with late-universe measurements on Hubble parameter are mitigated. We propose a model of an axion coupled to the Higgs field, named ``axi-Higgs'', with its mass $m_a \sim 10^{-30} - 10^{-29}\,{\rm eV}$ and decay constant $f_a \sim 10^{17} - 10^{18}\,{\rm GeV}$, to achieve this goal. The axion initial value $a_{\rm ini}$ yields an initial $Δv_{\rm ini}/v_0 \sim 0.01$ throughout the BBN-recombination epoch and a percent level contribution to the total matter density today. Because of its very large de Broglie wavelength, this axion matter density $ω_a$ suppresses the matter power spectrum, alleviating the CMB/$Λ$CDM $S_8/σ_8$ tension with the weak-lensing data. It also explains the recently reported isotropic cosmic birefringence by its coupling with photons. Adding the axion ($m \sim 10^{-22}\,$eV) in the fuzzy dark matter model to the axi-Higgs model allows bigger $Δv_{\rm rec}$ and $ω_a$ to address the Hubble and $S_8/σ_8$ tensions simultaneously. The model predicts that $Δv$ may be detected by the spectral measurements of quasars, while its oscillation may be observed in the atomic clock measurements.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Generalization Error Analysis of Neural networks with Gradient Based Regularization

We study gradient-based regularization methods for neural networks. We mainly focus on two regularization methods: the total variation and the Tikhonov regularization. Applying these methods is equivalent to using neural networks to solve some partial differential equations, mostly in high dimensions in practical applications. In this work, we introduce a general framework to analyze the generalization error of regularized networks. The error estimate relies on two assumptions on the approximation error and the quadrature error. Moreover, we conduct some experiments on the image classification tasks to show that gradient-based methods can significantly improve the generalization ability and adversarial robustness of neural networks. A graphical extension of the gradient-based methods are also considered in the experiments.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2020

$b\to sτ^+τ^-$ Physics at Future $Z$ Factories

$b\to sτ^+τ^-$ measurements are highly motivated for addressing lepton-flavor-universality (LFU)-violating puzzles such as $R_{K^{(\ast)}}$ anomalies. The anomalies of $R_{D^{(*)}}$ and $R_{J/ψ}$ further strengthen their necessity and importance, given that the LFU-violating hints from both involve the third-generation leptons directly. $Z$ factories at the future $e^-e^+$ colliders stand at a great position to conduct such measurements because of their relatively high production rates and reconstruction efficiencies for $B$ mesons at the $Z$ pole. To fully explore this potential, we pursue a dedicated sensitivity study in four $b\to sτ^+τ^-$ benchmark channels, namely $B^0\to K^{\ast 0} τ^+ τ^-$, $B_s\toϕτ^+ τ^-$, $B^+ \to K^+ τ^+ τ^- $ and $B_s \to τ^+ τ^-$, at the future $Z$ factories. We develop a fully tracker-based scheme for reconstructing the signal $B$ mesons and introduce a semi-quantitative method for estimating their major backgrounds. The simulations indicate that branching ratios of the first three channels can be measured with a precision $\sim \mathcal O(10^{-7} - 10^{-6})$ and that of $B_s \to τ^+ τ^-$ with a precision $\sim \mathcal O(10^{-5})$ at Tera-$Z$. The impacts of luminosity and tracker resolution on the expected sensitivities are explored. The interpretations of these results in effective field theory are also presented.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Jet Topology

We introduce persistent Betti numbers to characterize topological structure of jets. These topological invariants measure multiplicity and connectivity of jet branches at a given scale threshold, while their persistence records evolution of each topological feature as this threshold varies. With this knowledge, in particular, we are able to reconstruct branch phylogenetic tree of each jet. These points are demonstrated in the benchmark scenario of light-quark versus gluon jets. This study provides a topological tool to develop jet taggers, and opens a new angle to look into jet physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Learning Physics at Future $e^-e^+$ Colliders with Machine

Information deformation and loss in jet clustering are one of the major limitations for precisely measuring hadronic events at future $e^-e^+$ colliders. Because of their dominance in data, the measurements of such events are crucial for advancing the precision frontier of Higgs and electroweak physics in the next decades. We show that this difficulty can be well-addressed by synergizing the event-level information into the data analysis, with the techniques of deep neutral network. In relation to this, we introduce a CMB-like observable scheme, where the event-level kinematics is encoded as Fox-Wolfram (FW) moments at leading order and multi-spectra at higher orders. Then we develop a series of jet-level (w/ and w/o the FW moments) and event-level classifiers, and analyze their sensitivity performance comparatively with two-jet and four-jet events. As an application, we analyze measuring Higgs decay width at $e^-e^+$ colliders with the data of 5ab$^{-1}@$240GeV. The precision obtained is significantly better than the baseline ones presented in documents. We expect this strategy to be applied to many other hadronic-event measurements at future $e^-e^+$ colliders, and to open a new angle for evaluating their physics capability.

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arXiv2020

Deep Multi-task Prediction of Lung Cancer and Cancer-free Progression from Censored Heterogenous Clinical Imaging

Annual low dose computed tomography (CT) lung screening is currently advised for individuals at high risk of lung cancer (e.g., heavy smokers between 55 and 80 years old). The recommended screening practice significantly reduces all-cause mortality, but the vast majority of screening results are negative for cancer. If patients at very low risk could be identified based on individualized, image-based biomarkers, the health care resources could be more efficiently allocated to higher risk patients and reduce overall exposure to ionizing radiation. In this work, we propose a multi-task (diagnosis and prognosis) deep convolutional neural network to improve the diagnostic accuracy over a baseline model while simultaneously estimating a personalized cancer-free progression time (CFPT). A novel Censored Regression Loss (CRL) is proposed to perform weakly supervised regression so that even single negative screening scans can provide small incremental value. Herein, we study 2287 scans from 1433 de-identified patients from the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program (VLSP) and Molecular Characterization Laboratories (MCL) cohorts. Using five-fold cross-validation, we train a 3D attention-based network under two scenarios: (1) single-task learning with only classification, and (2) multi-task learning with both classification and regression. The single-task learning leads to a higher AUC compared with the Kaggle challenge winner pre-trained model (0.878 v. 0.856), and multi-task learning significantly improves the single-task one (AUC 0.895, p<0.01, McNemar test). In summary, the image-based predicted CFPT can be used in follow-up year lung cancer prediction and data assessment.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2020

Cosmological Signatures of Superheavy Dark Matter

We discuss two possible scenarios, namely the curvaton mechanism and the dark matter density modulation, where non-Gaussianity signals of superheavy dark matter produced by gravity can be enhanced and observed. In both scenarios, superheavy dark matter couples to an additional light field as a mediator. In the case of derivative coupling, the resulting non-Gaussianities induced by the light field can be large, which can provide inflationary evidences for these superheavy dark matter scenarios.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Light Hidden Mesons through the Z Portal

Confining hidden sectors are an attractive possibility for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). They are especially motivated by neutral naturalness theories, which reconcile the lightness of the Higgs with the strong constraints on colored top partners. We study hidden QCD with one light quark flavor, coupled to the SM via effective operators suppressed by the mass $M$ of new electroweak-charged particles. This effective field theory is inspired by a new tripled top model of supersymmetric neutral naturalness. The hidden sector is accessed primarily via the $Z$ and Higgs portals, which also mediate the decays of the hidden mesons back to SM particles. We find that exotic $Z$ decays at the LHC and future $Z$ factories provide the strongest sensitivity to this scenario, and we outline a wide array of searches. For a larger hidden confinement scale $Λ\sim O(10)\;\mathrm{GeV}$, the exotic $Z$ decays dominantly produce final states with two hidden mesons. ATLAS and CMS can probe their prompt decays up to $M\sim 3\;\mathrm{TeV}$ at the high luminosity phase, while a TeraZ factory would extend the reach up to $M\sim 20\;\mathrm{TeV}$ through a combination of searches for prompt and displaced signals. For smaller $Λ\sim O(1)\;\mathrm{GeV}$, the $Z$ decays to the hidden sector produce jets of hidden mesons, which are long-lived. LHCb will be a powerful probe of these emerging jets. Furthermore, the light hidden vector meson could be detected by proposed dark photon searches.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Detector-size Upper Bounds on Dark Hadron Lifetime from Cosmology

We show that in a confining hidden valley model where the lightest hidden particles are dark hadrons that have mass splittings larger than $\mathcal{O}(0.1)$ GeV, if the lightest dark hadron is either stable or decays into Standard Model (SM) hadrons/charged leptons during the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), at least one of the heavier dark hadrons needs to decay into SM particles within $\mathcal{O}(10)$ nanosec. Once being produced at collider experiments, this heavier dark hadron is likely to decay within $\mathcal{O}(1)$ meter distance, which strengthens the motivation of searching for long-lived particles with sub-meter scale decay lengths at colliders. To illustrate the idea, we study the lifetime constraint in scenarios where the lightest dark particle is a pseudo-scalar meson, and dark hadrons couple to SM particles either through kinetic mixing between the SM and dark photons or by mixing between the SM and dark Higgs. We study the annihilation and decay of dark hadrons in a thermal bath and calculate upper bounds on the lightest vector meson (scalar hadron) lifetime in the kinetic mixing (Higgs portal) scenario. We discuss the application of these lifetime constraints in long-lived particle searches that use the LHCb VELO or the ATLAS/CMS inner detectors.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Convex hull algorithms based on some variational models

Seeking the convex hull of an object is a very fundamental problem arising from various tasks. In this work, we propose two variational convex hull models using level set representation for 2-dimensional data. The first one is an exact model, which can get the convex hull of one or multiple objects. In this model, the convex hull is characterized by the zero sublevel-set of a convex level set function, which is non-positive at every given point. By minimizing the area of the zero sublevel-set, we can find the desired convex hull. The second one is intended to get convex hull of objects with outliers. Instead of requiring all the given points are included, this model penalizes the distance from each given point to the zero sublevel-set. Literature methods are not able to handle outliers. For the solution of these models, we develop efficient numerical schemes using alternating direction method of multipliers. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed methods.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2019

Anatomy of the $tthh$ Physics at HL-LHC

The $tthh$ production at colliders contain rich information on the nature of Higgs boson. In this article, we systematically studied its physics at High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), using exclusive channels with multiple ($\geq 5$) $b$-jets and one lepton ($5b1\ell$), multiple ($\geq 5$) $b$-jets and opposite-sign di-lepton ($5b2\ell$), same-sign di-lepton (SS2$\ell$), multiple leptons (multi-$\ell$), and di-tau resonance ($ττ$). The scenarios analyzed include: (1) the $tthh$ production in Standard Model; (2) the $tthh$ production mediated by anomalous cubic Higgs self-coupling and $tthh$ contact interaction; (3) heavy Higgs ($H$) production with $tt H \to tthh$; and (4) pair production of fermionic top partners ($T$) with $T T \to tthh$. To address the complication of event topologies and the mess of combinatorial backgrounds, a tool of Boosted-Decision-Tree was applied in the analyses. The $5b1\ell$ and SS2$\ell$ analyses define the two most promising channels, resulting in slightly different sensitivities. For non-resonant $tthh$ production, a combination of these exclusive analyses allows for its measurment in the SM with a statistical significance $\sim 0.9σ$ (with $S/B > 1 \%$), and may assist partially breaking the sensitivity degeneracy w.r.t. the cubic Higgs self-coupling, a difficulty usually thought to exist in gluon fusion di-Higgs analysis at HL-LHC. These sensitivities were also projected to future hadron colliders at 27 TeV and 100 TeV. For resonant $tthh$ productions, the heavy Higgs boson in type II Two-Higgs-Doublet-Model could be efficiently searched for between the mass thresholds $2 m_h < m_H < 2 m_t$ and even beyond that, for relatively small $\tanβ$, while the fermionic top partners in composite Higgs models could be probed for up to $\sim 1.5$ TeV and $\sim 1.7$ TeV, for Br$(T\to th)=25\%$ and $50\%$, respectively.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Gravitational Production of Superheavy Dark Matter and Associated Cosmological Signatures

We study the gravitational production of super-Hubble-mass dark matter in the very early universe. We first review the simplest scenario where dark matter is produced mainly during slow roll inflation. Then we move on to consider the cases where dark matter is produced during the transition period between inflation and the subsequent cosmological evolution. The limits of smooth and sudden transitions are studied, respectively. The relic abundances and the cosmological collider signals are calculated.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Compressed Stop Searches with Two Leptons and Two b-jets

In top squark (stop) searches with a compressed spectrum, it is very helpful to consider the stop production recoiling against a hard jet from the initial state radiation to obtain a significant amount of missing transverse energy. In particular, the kinematic variable $R_M$ which measures the ratio of the lightest neutralino mass and the stop mass proved to be crucial in separating the signals from the backgrounds in both the all-hadronic decay and the semileptonic decay of the stops. Here we generalize the search method to the dileptonic stop decays. In this case, due to the two missing neutrinos, there are not enough kinematic constraint equations to solve for the $R_M$ variable exactly, but only render an allowed interval consistent with the event. However, we show that the minimum and the maximum values of this allowed interval still provide useful variables in discriminating signals from the backgrounds. Although in the traditional stop decay to a top quark and the lightest neutralino, the dileptonic mode is not as competitive due to its small branching ratio, it becomes the main search mode if the stops decay through the charginos and sleptons with a compressed spectrum. We show that with the new variables, the dileptonic search of the stop can cover regions of the parameter space which have not been constrained before.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Coscattering/Coannihilation Dark Matter in a Fraternal Twin Higgs Model

Dark matter candidates arise naturally in many models that address the hierarchy problem. In the fraternal twin Higgs model which could explain the absence of the new physics signals at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), there are several viable dark matter candidates. In this paper we study the twin neutrino in the mass range $\sim$ 0.1--10 GeV as the dark matter. The thermal relic density is determined by the interplay of several annihilation and scattering processes between the twin neutrino, twin tau, and twin photon, depending on the order of the freeze-out temperatures of these processes. Besides the common coannihilation scenario where the relic density is controlled by the twin tau annihilation, it can realize the recently discovered coscattering phase if the scattering of the twin neutrino into the twin tau freezes out earlier than the twin tau annihilation. We also provide a method to calculate the thermal relic density in the intermediate regime where both coannihilation and coscattering processes contribute to the determination of the dark matter density. We show that the right amount of dark matter can be obtained in various scenarios in different regions of the parameter space. The current experimental constraints and future probes into the parameter space from direct detections, cosmological and astrophysical bounds, dark photon searches, and displaced decays at colliders, are discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Singlet Scalar Top Partners from Accidental Supersymmetry

We present a model wherein the Higgs mass is protected from the quadratic one-loop top quark corrections by scalar particles that are complete singlets under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group. While bearing some similarity to Folded Supersymmetry, the construction is purely four dimensional and enjoys more parametric freedom, allowing electroweak symmetry breaking to occur easily. The cancelation of the top loop quadratic divergence is ensured by a $Z_3$ symmetry that relates the SM top sector and two hidden top sectors, each charged under its own hidden color group. In addition to the singlet scalars, the hidden sectors contain electroweak-charged supermultiplets below the TeV scale, which provide the main access to this model at colliders. The phenomenology presents both differences and similarities with respect to other realizations of neutral naturalness. Generally, the glueballs of hidden color have longer decay lengths. The production of hidden sector particles results in quirk or squirk bound states, which later annihilate. We survey the possible signatures and corresponding experimental constraints.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Electroweak-Charged Bound States as LHC Probes of Hidden Forces

We explore the LHC reach on beyond-the-Standard Model (BSM) particles $X$ associated with a new strong force in a hidden sector. We focus on the motivated scenario where the SM and hidden sectors are connected by fermionic mediators $ψ^{+, 0}$ that carry SM electroweak charges. The most promising signal is the Drell-Yan production of a $ψ^\pm \barψ^0$ pair, which forms an electrically charged vector bound state $Υ^\pm$ due to the hidden force and later undergoes resonant annihilation into $W^\pm X$. We analyze this final state in detail in the cases where $X$ is a real scalar $ϕ$ that decays to $b\bar{b}$, or a dark photon $γ_d$ that decays to dileptons. For prompt $X$ decays, we show that the corresponding signatures can be efficiently probed by extending the existing ATLAS and CMS diboson searches to include heavy resonance decays into BSM particles. For long-lived $X$, we propose new searches where the requirement of a prompt hard lepton originating from the $W$ boson ensures triggering and essentially removes any SM backgrounds. To illustrate the potential of our results, we interpret them within two explicit models that contain strong hidden forces and electroweak-charged mediators, namely $λ$-supersymmetry (SUSY) and non-SUSY ultraviolet extensions of the Twin Higgs model. The resonant nature of the signals allows for the reconstruction of the mass of both $Υ^\pm$ and $X$, thus providing a wealth of information about the hidden sector.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Constraining the Compressed Top Squark and Chargino along the W Corridor

Studying superpartner production together with a hard initial state radiation (ISR) jet has been a useful strategy for searches of supersymmetry with a compressed spectrum at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the case of the top squark (stop), the ratio of the missing transverse momentum from the lightest neutralinos and the ISR momentum, defined as $\bar{R}_M$, turns out to be an effective variable to distinguish the signal from the backgrounds. It has helped to exclude the stop mass below 590 GeV along the top corridor where $m_{\tilde{t}} - m_{\tildeχ_1^0} \approx m_t$. On the other hand, the current experimental limit is still rather weak in the $W$ corridor where $m_{\tilde{t}} - m_{\tildeχ_1^0} \approx m_W +m_b$. In this work we extend this strategy to the parameter region around the $W$ corridor by considering the one lepton final state. In this case the kinematic constraints are insufficient to completely determine the neutrino momentum which is required to calculate $\bar{R}_M$. However, the minimum value of $\bar{R}_M$ consistent with the kinematic constraints still provides a useful discriminating variable, allowing the exclusion reach of the stop mass to be extended to $\sim 550$ GeV based on the current 36 fb$^{-1}$ LHC data. The same method can also be applied to the chargino search with $m_{\tildeχ_1^\pm} -m_{\tildeχ_1^0} \approx m_W$ because the analysis does not rely on $b$ jets. If no excess is present in the current data, a chargino mass of 300 GeV along the $W$ corridor can be excluded, beyond the limit obtained from the multilepton search.

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