arXiv subjects

M. Carena

Publications and source records attributed to M. Carena.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Physics Opportunities at mu+mu- Higgs Factories

We update theoretical studies of the physics opportunities presented by mu+mu- Higgs factories. Interesting measurements of the Standard Model Higgs decays into {\bar b}b, tau+tau- and WW* may be possible if the Higgs mass is less than about 160 GeV, as preferred by the precision electroweak data, the mass range being extended by varying appropriately the beam energy resolution. A suitable value of the beam energy resolution would also enable the uncertainty in the b-quark mass to be minimized, facilitating measurements of parameters in the MSSM at such a first mu+mu- Higgs factory. These measurements would be sensitive to radiative corrections to the Higgs-fermion-antifermion decay vertices, which may violate CP. Radiative corrections in the MSSM may also induce CP violation in Higgs-mass mixing, which can be probed via various asymmetries measurable using polarized mu+mu- beams. In addition, Higgs-chargino couplings may be probed at a second mu+mu- Higgs factory.

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arXiv2002

Suggestions for Benchmark Scenarios for MSSM Higgs Boson Searches at Hadron Colliders

The Higgs boson search has shifted from LEP2 to the Tevatron and will subsequently move to the LHC. Due to the different initial states, the Higgs production and decay channels relevant for Higgs boson searches were different at LEP2 to what they are at hadron colliders. We suggest new benchmark scenarios for the MSSM Higgs boson search at hadron colliders that exemplify the phenomenology of different parts of the MSSM parameter space. Besides the m_h^max scenario and the no-mixing scenario used in the LEP2 Higgs boson searches, we propose two new scenarios. In one the main production channel at the LHC, gg -> h, is suppressed. In the other, important Higgs decay channels at the Tevatron and at the LHC, h -> b \bar b and h -> tau^+ tau^-, are suppressed. All scenarios evade the LEP2 constraints for nearly the whole M_A-tan beta-plane.

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arXiv2002

Higgs-Boson Pole Masses in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation

Extending previous results obtained in the effective-potential approach, we derive analytic expressions for the pole masses of the charged and neutral Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with explicit CP violation. In such a minimal supersymmetric model, the CP invariance of the Higgs potential is explicitly broken by quantum effects dominated by third-generation squarks at the one-loop level and by one-loop gluino- and higgsino-mediated threshold corrections to the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings at the two-loop level. Field-theoretic issues arising in the description of a two-level Higgs-boson system strongly mixed due to CP violation are addressed. Numerical results for the pole masses of the CP-violating Higgs bosons are presented, and comparisons are made with previous results obtained in the effective-potential approach.

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arXiv2001

Do electroweak precision data and Higgs-mass constraints rule out a scalar bottom quark with mass of O(5 GeV)?

We investigate the phenomenological implications of a light scalar bottom quark, with a mass of about the bottom quark mass, within the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The study of such a scenario is of theoretical interest, since, depending on their production and decay modes, light sbottoms may have escaped experimental detection up to now and, in addition, may naturally appear for large values of \tanβ. In this article we show that such a light sbottom cannot be ruled out by the constraints from the electroweak precision data and the present bound on the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass at LEP. It is inferred that a light sbottom scenario requires in general a relatively light scalar top quark whose mass is typically about the top-quark mass. It is also shown that under these conditions the lightest CP-even Higgs boson decays predominantly into scalar bottom quarks in most of the parameter space and that its mass is restricted to m_h ~< 123 GeV.

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arXiv2001

Brane Effects on Extra Dimensional Scenarios: A Tale of Two Gravitons

We analyze the propagation of a scalar field in multidimensional theories which include kinetic corrections in the brane, as a prototype for gravitational interactions in a four dimensional brane located in a (nearly) flat extra dimensional bulk. We regularize the theory by introducing an infrared cutoff given by the size of the extra dimensions and a physical ultraviolet cutoff of the order of the fundamental Planck scale in the higher dimensional theory. We show that, contrary to recent suggestions, the radius of the extra dimensions cannot be arbitrarily large. Moreover, for finite radii, the gravitational effects localized on the brane can substantially alter the phenomenology of collider and/or table-top gravitational experiments. This phenomenology is dictated by the presence of a massless graviton, with standard couplings to the matter fields, and a massive graviton which couples to matter in a much stronger way. While graviton KK modes lighter than the massive graviton couple to matter in a standard way, the couplings to matter of the heavier KK modes are strongly suppressed.

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arXiv2000

Supersymmetric CP-violating Currents and Electroweak Baryogenesis

In this work we compute the CP-violating currents of the right-handed stops and Higgsinos, induced by the presence of non-trivial vacuum expectation values of the Higgs fields within the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with explicit CP-violating phases. Using the Keldysh formalism, we perform the computation of the currents at finite temperature, in an expansion of derivatives of the Higgs fields. Contrary to previous works, we implement a resummation of the Higgs mass insertion effects to all orders in perturbation theory. While the components of the right-handed stop current j^μ_{\widetilde t_R} become proportional to the difference H_2 \partial^μH_1-H_1 \partial^μ H_2 (suppressed by Δβ), the Higgsino currents, j^μ_{\widetilde{H}_i}, present contributions proportional to both H_2 \partial^μH_1\pm H_1 \partial^μ H_2. For large values of the charged Higgs mass and moderate values of \tanβthe contribution to the source proportional to H_2 \partial^μH_1+H_1 \partial^μ H_2 in the diffusion equations become sizeable, although it is suppressed by the Higgsino number violating interaction rate Γ_μ^{-1/2}. For small values of the wall velocity, 0.04\simlt v_ω\simlt 0.1, the total contribution leads to acceptable values of the baryon asymmetry for values of the CP-violating phases ϕ_{CP} in the range 0.04\simlt|\sinϕ_{CP}|\simlt 1. Finally, we comment on the relevance of the latest results of Higgs searches at LEP2 for the mechanism of electroweak baryogenesis within the MSSM.

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arXiv2000

Report of the Higgs Working Group of the Tevatron Run 2 SUSY/Higgs Workshop

This report presents the theoretical analysis relevant for Higgs physics at the upgraded Tevatron collider and documents the Higgs Working Group simulations to estimate the discovery reach in Run 2 for the Standard Model and MSSM Higgs bosons. Based on a simple detector simulation, we have determined the integrated luminosity necessary to discover the SM Higgs in the mass range 100-190 GeV. The first phase of the Run 2 Higgs search, with a total integrated luminosity of 2 fb-1 per detector, will provide a 95% CL exclusion sensitivity comparable to that expected at the end of the LEP2 run. With 10 fb-1 per detector, this exclusion will extend up to Higgs masses of 180 GeV, and a tantalizing 3 sigma effect will be visible if the Higgs mass lies below 125 GeV. With 25 fb-1 of integrated luminosity per detector, evidence for SM Higgs production at the 3 sigma level is possible for Higgs masses up to 180 GeV. However, the discovery reach is much less impressive for achieving a 5 sigma Higgs boson signal. Even with 30 fb-1 per detector, only Higgs bosons with masses up to about 130 GeV can be detected with 5 sigma significance. These results can also be re-interpreted in the MSSM framework and yield the required luminosities to discover at least one Higgs boson of the MSSM Higgs sector. With 5-10 fb-1 of data per detector, it will be possible to exclude at 95% CL nearly the entire MSSM Higgs parameter space, whereas 20-30 fb-1 is required to obtain a 5 sigma Higgs discovery over a significant portion of the parameter space. Moreover, in one interesting region of the MSSM parameter space (at large tan(beta)), the associated production of a Higgs boson and a b b-bar pair is significantly enhanced and provides potential for discovering a non-SM-like Higgs boson in Run 2.

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arXiv2000

b -> s γand supersymmetry with large tanβ

We discuss the constraints on the supersymmetric parameter space from the decay mode b -> s γfor large values of tanβ. We improve the theoretical prediction for the decay rate by summing very large radiative corrections to all orders in perturbation theory. This extends the validity of the perturbative calculation to the large tanβregime. This resummation of terms of order alpha_s^n tan^{n+1}βuses a recently proposed effective lagrangian for the Yukawa interaction of bottom quarks. Moreover, we identify an additional source of tanβ-enhanced terms, which are of order alpha_s tanβand involve the charged Higgs boson, and analyze their behaviour in higher orders of perturbation theory. After correcting the current expressions for this rare decay branching ratio at next-to-leading order, we obtain that, contrary to recent claims, the presently measured branching ratio of b -> s γconstrains the supersymmetric parameter space in a relevant way, even if tanβis large.

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arXiv2000

CP-Violating MSSM Higgs Bosons in the Light of LEP 2

In the MSSM, the CP parities of the neutral Higgs bosons may be mixed by radiative effects induced by explicit CP violation in the third generation of squarks. To allow for this possibility, we argue that the charged Higgs-boson mass and tan(beta) should be used to parametrize the MSSM Higgs sector. We introduce a new benchmark scenario of maximal CP violation appropriate for direct searches of CP-violating MSSM Higgs bosons. We show that the bounds established by LEP 2 on the MSSM Higgs sector may be substantially relaxed at low and intermediate values of tan(beta) in the presence of CP violation, and comment on possible Higgs boson signatures at LEP 2 within this framework.

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arXiv2000

Renormalization-Group-Improved Effective Potential for the MSSM Higgs Sector with Explicit CP Violation

We perform a systematic study of the one-loop renormalization-group-improved effective potential of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), including CP violation induced radiatively by soft trilinear interactions related to squarks of the third generation. We calculate the charged and neutral Higgs-boson masses and couplings, including the two-loop logarithmic corrections that arise from QCD effects, as well as those associated with the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings. We also include the potentially large two-loop non-logarithmic corrections induced by one-loop threshold effects on the top- and bottom-quark Yukawa couplings, due to the decoupling of the third-generation squarks. Within this minimal CP-violating framework, the charged and neutral Higgs sectors become intimately related to one another and therefore require a unified treatment. In the limit of a large charged Higgs-boson mass, M_{H^+} >> M_Z, the lightest neutral Higgs boson resembles that in the Standard Model (SM), and CP violation occurs only in the heavy Higgs sector. Our analysis shows that sizeable radiative effects of CP violation in the Higgs sector of the MSSM may lead to significant modifications of previous studies for Higgs-boson searches at LEP2, the Tevatron and the LHC. In particular, CP violation could enable a relatively light Higgs boson to escape detection at LEP2.

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arXiv2000

Reconciling the Two-Loop Diagrammatic and Effective Field Theory Computations of the Mass of the Lightest CP-even Higgs Boson in the MSSM

The mass of the lightest CP-even Higgs boson of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) has previously been computed including O(alpha alpha_s) two-loop contributions by an on-shell diagrammatic method, while approximate analytic results have also been obtained via renormalization-group-improved effective potential and effective field theory techniques. Initial comparisons of the corresponding two-loop results revealed an apparent discrepancy between terms that depend logarithmically on the supersymmetry-breaking scale, and different dependences of the non-logarithmic terms on the squark mixing parameter, X_t. In this paper, we determine the origin of these differences as a consequence of different renormalization schemes in which both calculations are performed. By re-expressing the on-shell result in terms of MS-bar parameters, the logarithmic two-loop contributions obtained by the different approaches are shown to coincide. The remaining difference, arising from genuine non-logarithmic two-loop contributions, is identified, and its effect on the maximal value of the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass is discussed. Finally, we show that in a simple analytic approximation to the Higgs mass, the leading two-loop radiative corrections can be absorbed to a large extent into an effective one-loop expression by evaluating the running top quark mass at appropriately chosen energy scales.

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arXiv2000

Effective lagrangian for the tbH^+ interaction in the MSSM and charged Higgs phenomenology

In the framework of a 2HDM effective lagrangian for the MSSM, we analyse important phenomenological aspects associated with quantum soft SUSY-breaking effects that modify the relation between the bottom mass and the bottom Yukawa coupling. We derive a resummation of the dominant supersymmetric corrections for large values of \tb to all orders in perturbation theory. With the help of the operator product expansion we also perform the resummation of the leading and next-to-leading logarithms of the standard QCD corrections. We use these resummation procedures to compute the radiative corrections to the \tbH, \Htb decay rates. In the large \tb regime, we derive simple formulae embodying all the dominant contributions to these decay rates and we compute the corresponding branching ratios. We show, as an example, the effect of these new results on determining the region of the \mH--\tb plane excluded by the Tevatron searches for a supersymmetric charged Higgs boson in top quark decays, as a function of the MSSM parameter space.

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arXiv1999

Suggestions for Improved Benchmark Scenarios for Higgs-Boson Searches at LEP2

We suggest new benchmark scenarios for the Higgs-boson search at LEP2. Keeping m_t and M_SUSY fixed, we improve on the definition of the maximal mixing benchmark scenario defining precisely the values of all MSSM parameters such that the new m_h^max benchmark scenario yields the parameters which maximize the value of m_h for a given tan(beta). The corresponding scenario with vanishing mixing in the scalar top sector is also considered. We propose a further benchmark scenario with a relatively large value of |mu|, a moderate value of M_SUSY, and moderate mixing parameters in the scalar top sector. While the latter scenario yields m_h values that in principle allow to access the complete M_A-tan(beta)-plane at LEP2, on the other hand it contains parameter regions where the Higgs-boson detection can be difficult, because of a suppression of the branching ratio of its decay into bottom quarks.

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arXiv1999

The complementarity of LEP, the Tevatron and the LHC in the search for a light MSSM Higgs boson

We study the properties of the Higgs boson sector in the MSSM, putting special emphasis on radiative effects which can affect the discovery potential of the LHC, Tevatron and/or LEP colliders. We concentrate on the V b b-bar channel, with V=Z or W, and on the channels with diphoton final states, which are the dominant ones for the search for a light Standard Model Higgs boson at LEP/Tevatron and LHC, respectively. By analyzing the regions of parameter space for which the searches in at least one of these colliders can be particularly difficult, we demonstrate the complementarity of these three colliders in the search for a light Higgs boson which couples in a relevant way to the W and Z gauge bosons (and hence plays a relevant role in the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking).

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arXiv1999

Neutrino Masses, Mixing Angles and the Unification of Couplings in the MSSM

In the light of the gathering evidence for $ν_μ-ν_τ$ neutrino oscillations, coming in particular from the Super-Kamiokande data on atmospheric neutrinos, we re-analyze the unification of gauge and Yukawa couplings within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). Guided by a range of different grand-unified models, we stress the relevance of large mixing in the lepton sector for the question of bottom-tau Yukawa coupling unification. We also discuss the dependence of the favoured value of $\tanβ$ on the characteristics of the high-energy quark and lepton mass matrices. In particular, we find that, in the presence of large lepton mixing, Yukawa unification can be achieved for intermediate values of $\tanβ$ that were previously disfavoured. The renormalization-group sensitivity to the structures of different mass matrices may enable Yukawa unification to serve as a useful probe of GUT models.

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arXiv1998

MSSM Higgs Boson Phenomenology at the Tevatron Collider

The Higgs sector of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) consists of five physical Higgs bosons, which offer a variety of channels for their experimental search. The present study aims to further our understanding of the Tevatron reach for MSSM Higgs bosons, addressing relevant theoretical issues related to the SUSY parameter space, with special emphasis on the radiative corrections to the down--quark and lepton couplings to the Higgs bosons for large $\tanβ$. We performed a computation of the signal and backgrounds for the production processes $Wϕ$ and $b \bar{b} ϕ$ at the upgraded Tevatron, with $ϕ$ being the neutral MSSM Higgs bosons. Detailed experimental information and further higher order calculations are demanded to confirm/refine these predictions.

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arXiv1998

The Higgs Boson Mass as a Probe of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

Recently, the LEP collaborations have reported a lower bound on a Standard Model-like Higgs boson of order 89 GeV. We discuss the implications of this bound for the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). In particular, we show that the lower bound on $\tanβ$, which can be obtained from the presently allowed Higgs boson mass value, becomes stronger than the one set by the requirement of perturbative consistency of the theory up to scales of order $M_{GUT}$ (associated with the infrared fixed-point solution of the top quark Yukawa coupling) in a large fraction of the allowed parameter space. The potentiality of future LEP2 searches to further probe the MSSM parameter space is also discussed.

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arXiv1998

Manifestations of R-Parity Violation in Ultrahigh-Energy Neutrino Interactions

Supersymmetric couplings that do not respect R-parity can induce significant changes in the interaction rates of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos through the direct-channel production of superpartner resonances, and can provide new sources of extremely energetic tau-leptons. We analyze the possible observable consequences of R-parity violating transitions in large-volume neutrino telescopes.

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