arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ning Liu.
Motivated by the search for flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) top quark decays at the LHC, we calculate rare Higgs three body decay $H\rightarrow Wbc$ induced by top-Higgs FCNC coupling in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity(LHT). We find that the branching ratios of $H\rightarrow Wbc$ in the LHT model can reach $\mathcal O(10^{-7})$ in the allowed parameter space.
Hybrid plasmonic lasers provide deep subwavelength optical confinement, strongly enhanced light-matter interaction and together with nanoscale footprint promise new applications in optical communication, bio-sensing and photolithography. The subwavelength hybrid plasmonic lasers reported so far often use bottom up grown nanowires, nanorods and nanosquares, making it difficult to integrate these devices into industry-relevant high density plasmonic circuits. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of AlGaInP based, red-emitting hybrid plasmonic lasers at room temperature using lithography based fabrication processes. Resonant cavities with deep subwavelength 2D and 3D mode confinement of lambda square/56 and lambda cube/199, respectively are demonstrated. A range of cavity geometries (waveguides, rings, squares and disks) show very low lasing thresholds of 0.6-1.8 mJ/cm square with wide gain bandwidth (610 nm-685 nm), which are attributed to the heterogeneous geometry of the gain material, the optimized etching technique, and the strong overlap of the gain material with the plasmonic modes. Most importantly, we establish the connection between mode confinements and enhanced absorption and stimulated emission, which play a critical role in maintaining low lasing thresholds at extremely small hybrid plasmonic cavities. Our results pave the way for the further integration of dense arrays of hybrid plasmonic lasers with optical and electronic technology platforms.
We utilise the LHC Run-1 and -2 Higgs data to constrain the CP-violating top-Higgs couplings. In order to satisfy the current full Higgs data sets at $2σ$ level, the CP-odd component $C^p_t$ and the CP-even component $C^s_t$ have to be within the ranges $|C^p_t|< 0.37$ and $0.85 <C^s_t< 1.20$, respectively, which is stronger than the LHC Run-1 bound $|C^p_t|< 0.54$ and $0.68 <C^s_t< 1.20$. With the new bound, we explore the impact on the CP-violating top-Higgs couplings in the Higgs production processes $pp \to t\bar{t}h, thj, hh$ at 13 TeV LHC, and $e^+e^- \to hZ, hγ$ at future 240 GeV Higgs factories. We find that the cross sections of $pp \to t\bar{t}h$, $pp \to thj$, $pp \to hh$, $e^+e^- \to hZ$ and $e^+e^- \to hγ$ can be enhanced up to 1.41, 1.18, 2.20, 1.001 and 1.09 times as large as the SM predictions, respectively. The future precision measurement of the process $e^+e^- \to hγ$ with an accuracy of 5\% will be able to constrain $|C^p_t|<0.19$ at most at a 240 GeV $e^+e^-$ Higgs factory.
We apply high-energy proton ion-implantation to modify TiO2 nanotubes selectively at their tops. In the proton-implanted region we observe the creation of intrinsic co-catalytic centers for photocatalytic H2-evolution. We find proton implantation to induce specific defects and a characteristic modification of the electronic properties not only in nanotubes but also on anatase single crystal (001) surfaces. Nevertheless, for TiO2 nanotubes a strong synergetic effect between implanted region (catalyst) and implant-free tube segment (absorber) can be obtained.
In the present work we show, how a high pressure hydrogenation of commercial anatase or anatase/rutile powder can create a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution that is highly effective and stable without the need of any additional co-catalyst. This activation effect can not be observed for rutile. For anatase/rutile mixtures, however, a strong synergistic effect is found (similar to findings commonly observed for noble metal decorated TiO2). ESR measurements indicate the intrinsic co-catalytic activation of anatase TiO2 to be due to specific defect centers formed during hydrogenation.
In the present work, a simple strategy is used to thermally oxidize TiN nanopowder (ca. 20 nm) to an anatase phase of a TiO2:Ti3+:N compound. In contrast to the rutile phase of such a compound this photocatalyst provides photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution under AM1.5 conditions - this without the use of any noble metal co-catalyst. Moreover the photocatalyst is active and stable over extended periods of time (tested for 4 months). Importantly, to achieve successful conversion to the active anatase polymorph, sufficiently small starting particles of TiN are needed. The key factor for catalysis is the stabilization of the co-catalytically active Ti3+ species against oxidation by nitrogen present in the starting material.
Low-dose nitrogen implantation induces in TiO2 nanotubes a co-catalytic activity for photocatalytic H2-evolution. The use of an ion implantation process leads to a N-implanted zone only at the top part of the tubes. The coupling of this top layer and the underlying non-implanted part of the nanotubes strongly contributes to an efficient carrier separation and thus to a significantly enhanced H2 generation.
In the present work, extended Argon ion bombardment was used to modify anatase TiO2 nanotube (NTs) layers. In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed a high content of sub-oxide formed (Ti3+, Ti2+ states) in the nanotube layers. These samples were tested for their ability to show open-circuit photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. We found for UV (cw laser 325nm) illumination as well as for AM1.5 conditions, a strongly enhanced H2 evolution activity in absence of the usual noble metal-nanoparticle decoration. We conclude therefore that these sub-oxide states can play an important role in the activation of TiO2 nanotubes - namely as a H2 evolution co-catalyst.
In the framework of the minimal $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of the Standard Model, we investigate the Higgs boson production processes $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow ZH$, $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow ν_{e}\bar{ν_{e}}H$, $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow t\bar{t}H$, $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow ZHH$ and $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow ν_{e}\bar{ν_{e}}HH$ at the International Linear Collider (ILC). We present the production cross sections, the relative corrections and compare our results with the expected experimental accuracies for Higgs decay channel $H\rightarrow b\bar{b}$. In the allowed parameter space, we find that the effects of the three single Higgs boson production processes might approach the observable threshold of the ILC, and that the Higgs signal strengths $μ_{b\bar{b}}$ of the two double Higgs boson production processes are all out of the observable threshold of the ILC so that the effects will be difficult to be observed at the ILC.
Metal-intercalated iron selenides are a class of superconductors that have received much attention but are less understood in comparison with their FeAs-based counterparts. Here, the controversial issues such as Fe vacancy, the real phase responsible for superconductivity, and lattice stability have been addressed based on first-principles calculations. New insights into the distinct features in terms of carrier doping have been revealed.
In this paper, we study the recent 750 GeV diphoton excess in the Hill Model with vector-like fermions, in which the singlet-like Higgs boson is chosen as 750 GeV resonance and is mainly produced by the gluon fusion through vector-like top and bottom quarks. Meanwhile its diphoton decay rate is greatly enhanced by the vector-like lepton. Under the current experimental and theoretical constraints, we present the viable parameter space that fits the 750 GeV diphoton signal strength at 13 TeV LHC. We find that the heavier vector-like fermion masses are, the smaller mixing angle $θ$ is required. The mixing angle of singlet and doublet Higgs bosons is constrained within $|\sinθ| \lesssim 0.15$ in the condition of the perturbative Yukawa couplings. In the allowed parameter space, the 750 GeV diphoton cross section can be maximally enhanced to about 6 fb at 13 TeV LHC.
The top partner as a hallmark of the Littlest Higgs model with $T$-parity (LHT model) has been extensively searched for during the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Run-1. With the increasing mass limits on the top partner, the single production of the top partner will be dominant over the pair production. Under the constraints from the Higgs data, the electroweak precision observables and $R_b$, we find that the mass of $T$-even top partner ($T_+$) has to be heavier than 730 GeV. Then, we investigate the observability of the single $T$-even top partner production through the process $pp \to T_+ j$ with the sequent decay $T_+ \to th$ in the di-photon channel in the LHT model at the LHC. We find that the mass of $T_+$ can be excluded up to 800 GeV at $2σ$ level at 14 TeV LHC with the integrated luminosity ${\cal L}=3$ ab$^{-1}$.
Top squark (stop) plays a key role in the radiative stability of the Higgs boson mass in supersymmetry (SUSY). The LHC searches for stop have made a great progress and tightly constrained the stop mass during Run-1. In this work, we use the LHC Run-1 data to determine the lower mass limit of the right-handed stop in a natural SUSY scenario, where the higgsinos $\tildeχ^0_{1,2}$ and $\tildeχ^\pm_{1}$ are light and nearly degenerate. We find that the stop mass has been excluded up to 430 GeV for $m_{\tildeχ^0_1} \lesssim 250$ GeV and to 540 GeV for $m_{\tildeχ^0_1} \simeq 100$ GeV by the Run-1 SUSY searches for $2b+E^{miss}_T$ and $1\ell+jets+E^{miss}_T$, respectively. In a small strip of parameter space with $m_{\tildeχ^0_1} \gtrsim 190$ GeV, the stop mass can still be as light as 210 GeV and compatible with the Higgs mass measurement and the monojet bound. The 14 TeV LHC with a luminosity of 20 fb$^{-1}$ can further cover such a light stop window by monojet and $2b+E^{miss}_T$ searches and push the lower bound of the stop mass to 710 GeV. We also explore the potential to use the Higgs golden ratio, $D_{γγ}=σ(pp \to h \to γγ)/σ(pp \to h \to ZZ^* \to4\ell^\pm)$, as a complementary probe for the light and compressed stop. If this golden ratio can be measured at percent level at the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) or future $e^+e^-$ colliders, the light stop can be excluded for most of the currently allowed parameter region.
By using evolutionary algorithm USPEX, we have predicted a number of stable zirconium carbides. In addition to the well-known rocksalt-type stoichiometric ZrC (Fm-3m), present prediction also identifies five stable substoichiometric zirconium carbides adopting rocksalt-type structures with ordered carbon vacancies, Zr8C7 (P-1), Zr6C5 (C2/m), Zr5C4 (P-1), Zr3C2 (C2/m), and Zr2C (Fd-3m). The effects of carbon vacancies on structural and mechanical properties are investigated. We highlight that the distribution of carbon vacancies has significant influence on volume, Pugh's ratio, and hardness. We further propose that hardness can be enhanced by replacing carbon vacancies with suitable elements, in particular nitrogen and oxygen.
We attempt to explain the recent ATLAS 3$σ$ excess of dilepton events with an invariant mass near $Z$ peak through the gluino-mediated sbottom production in a simplified scenario inspired by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The additional $Z$ bosons can be produced through the cascade decay chain $\tilde{g} \to b \tilde{b}^{\dagger}_{1} \to b \bar{b} \tildeχ^{0}_{2,3} \to b \bar{b} \tildeχ^{0}_1 Z$, in which $\tilde b_1$ is the right-handed sbottom, $\tildeχ_1^0$ is the bino-like lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and $\tildeχ_{2,3}^0$ are two nearly degenerate higgsino-like next-to LSPs (NLSPs). Taking into account the constraint from the LHC search for the gluino-mediated sbottom production in the final states with the missing transverse energy and at least three $b$-jets, we find that the ATLAS on-$Z$ excess can only be marginally explained at $2σ$ level. We also note that within the scenario where the gluino predominantly decays to the right-handed stop instead of the sbottom, the excess can hardly be explained, since the $Z$-boson is not produced in the stop dominant decay channel, $\tilde{t}_1 \to b \tildeχ^+_1$.
In this work, we investigate the one-loop QCD correction to top pair production in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity at the LHC. We calculate the relative correction of the top pair production cross section and top-antitop spin correlation at the LHC for $\sqrt{s}=8,14$ TeV. We find that the relative corrections of top pair production cross section can reach about $-0.35\%$, and the top-antitop spin correlation can reach $1.7\%$($2\%$) at the 8(14) TeV LHC in the favorable parameter space.
The measurement of Higgs self-coupling is one of the most crucial physics goals at the future colliders. At the LHC, the di-Higgs production is a main way to measure the Higgs trilinear coupling. As a complementary to the di-Higgs production, $t \bar{t} hh$ process may open a new avenue to measure di-Higgs physics at the LHC and a future 100 TeV $pp$ collider or a high energy $e^+e^-$ collider since the extra $t\bar t$ in the final states may efficiently suppress the backgrounds. However, such a kind of process is also controlled by the top-Higgs coupling. In this work, we investigate the impact of CP-violating top-Higgs coupling on $t\bar{t}hh$ production at the LHC, ILC and a 100 TeV hadron collider under the current Higgs data. Within 2$σ$ Higgs data allowed parameter region, we find that the cross section of $t\bar{t}hh$ at the LHC-14 TeV, ILC-1 TeV and VHE-LHC/SPPC-100 TeV can be enhanced up to 2.1 times the SM predictions. The future precise measurement of Higgs coupling will reveal the nature of top-Higgs interaction and improve the sensitivity of the determination of Higgs self-coupling through $t\bar{t}hh$ production.
Neuron is the most important building block in our brain, and information processing in individual neuron involves the transformation of input synaptic spike trains into an appropriate output spike train. Hardware implementation of neuron by individual ionic/electronic coupled device is of great importance for enhancing our understanding of the brain and solving sensory processing and complex recognition tasks. Here, we provide a proof-of-principle artificial neuron with multiple presynaptic inputs and one modulatory terminal based on a proton-coupled oxide-based electric-double-layer transistor. Regulation of dendritic integration was realized by tuning the voltage applied on the modulatory terminal. Additionally, neuronal gain control (arithmetic) in the scheme of temporal-correlated coding and rate coding are also mimicked. Our results provide a new-concept approach for building brain-inspired neuromorphic systems.