arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. Skands.
The Supersymmetry Les Houches Accord (SLHA) provides a universal set of conventions for conveying spectral and decay information for supersymmetry analysis problems in high energy physics. Here, we propose extensions of the conventions of the first SLHA to include various generalisations: the minimal supersymmetric standard model with violation of CP, R-parity, and flavour, as well as the simplest next-to-minimal model.
An accord specifying a unique set of conventions for supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model together with generic file structures for 1) supersymmetric model specifications and input parameters, 2) electroweak scale supersymmetric mass and coupling spectra, and 3) decay tables is defined, to provide a universal interface between spectrum calculation programs, decay packages, and high energy physics event generators.
The Universal Extra Dimensions model has been implemented in the Pythia generator from version 6.4.18 onwards, in its minimal formulation with one inverse-TeV-sized extra dimension. The additional possibility of gravity-mediated decays, through a variable number of inverse-eV-sized extra dimensions into which only gravity extends, is also available. The implementation covers the lowest-lying Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitations of Standard Model particles, except for the excitations of the Higgs fields, with the mass spectrum calculated at one loop. 2 -> 2 tree-level production cross sections and KK number conserving 2-body decays are included. Mixing between iso-doublet and -singlet KK excitations is neglected thus far, and is expected to be negligible for all but the top sector.
The identity of the quark-squark-gluino Yukawa coupling with the corresponding quark-quark-gluon QCD coupling in supersymmetric theories can be examined experimentally at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Extending earlier investigations of like-sign di-lepton final states, we include jets in the analysis of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, adding squark-gluino and gluino-pair production to squark-pair production. Moreover we expand the method towards model-independent analyses which cover more general scenarios. In all cases, squark decays to light charginos and neutralinos persist to play a dominant role.
This collection of studies on new physics at the LHC constitutes the report of the supersymmetry working group at the Workshop `Physics at TeV Colliders', Les Houches, France, 2007. They cover the wide spectrum of phenomenology in the LHC era, from alternative models and signatures to the extraction of relevant observables, the study of the MSSM parameter space and finally to the interplay of LHC observations with additional data expected on a similar time scale. The special feature of this collection is that while not each of the studies is explicitely performed together by theoretical and experimental LHC physicists, all of them were inspired by and discussed in this particular environment.
We present a collection of signatures for physics beyond the standard model that need to be explored at the LHC. The signatures are organized according to the experimental objects that appear in the final state, and in particular the number of high pT leptons. Our report, which includes brief experimental and theoretical reviews as well as original results, summarizes the activities of the "New Physics'' working group for the "Physics at TeV Colliders" workshop (Les Houches, France, 11-29 June, 2007).
This review presents flavour related issues in the production and decays of heavy states at LHC, both from the experimental side and from the theoretical side. We review top quark physics and discuss flavour aspects of several extensions of the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, little Higgs model or models with extra dimensions. This includes discovery aspects as well as measurement of several properties of these heavy states. We also present public available computational tools related to this topic.
We propose to combine and slightly extend two existing "Les Houches Accords" to provide a simple generic interface between beyond-the-standard-model parton-level and event-level generators. All relevant information - particle content, quantum numbers of new states, masses, cross sections, parton-level events, etc - is collected in one single file, which adheres to the Les Houches Event File (LHEF) standard.
We present cross section predictions for squark and gluino production at the LHC, in association with up to two additional hard jets. These cross sections can be very large in comparison to the inclusive Born rates. Because hadron collider experiments utilize hard jets in the reconstruction of cascade decays or as a way to separate squark and gluino production, the understanding of these processes is crucial. We show to what degree hard jet radiation can be described by shower algorithms and point out how tuning these showers, for example to top quark pair production, could help reduce theoretical uncertainties for new physics searches at the LHC.
We review the theoretical motivations and experimental status of searches for stable massive particles (SMPs) which could be sufficiently long-lived as to be directly detected at collider experiments. The discovery of such particles would address a number of important questions in modern physics including the origin and composition of dark matter in the universe and the unification of the fundamental forces. This review describes the techniques used in SMP-searches at collider experiments and the limits so far obtained on the production of SMPs which possess various colour, electric and magnetic charge quantum numbers. We also describe theoretical scenarios which predict SMPs and the phenomenology needed to model their production at colliders and interactions with matter. In addition, the interplay between collider searches and open questions in cosmology is addressed.
This is the "TeV4LHC" report of the "Physics Landscapes" Working Group, focused on facilitating the start-up of physics explorations at the LHC by using the experience gained at the Tevatron. We present experimental and theoretical results that can be employed to probe various scenarios for physics beyond the Standard Model.
The experiments at Run 2 of the Tevatron have each accumulated over 1 inverse femtobarn of high-transverse momentum data. Such a dataset allows for the first precision (i.e. comparisons between theory and experiment at the few percent level) tests of QCD at a hadron collider. While the Large Hadron Collider has been designed as a discovery machine, basic QCD analyses will still need to be performed to understand the working environment. The Tevatron-for-LHC workshop was conceived as a communication link to pass on the expertise of the Tevatron and to test new analysis ideas coming from the LHC community. The TeV4LHC QCD Working Group focussed on important aspects of QCD at hadron colliders: jet definitions, extraction and use of Parton Distribution Functions, the underlying event, Monte Carlo tunes, and diffractive physics. This report summarizes some of the results achieved during this workshop.
A standard file format is proposed to store process and event information, primarily output from parton-level event generators for further use by general-purpose ones. The information content is identical with what was already defined by the Les Houches Accord five years ago, but then in terms of Fortran commonblocks. This information is embedded in a minimal XML-style structure, for clarity and to simplify parsing.
We study an MSSM model with bilinear R-parity violation which is capable of explaining neutrino data while leading to testable predictions for ratios of LSP decay rates. Further, we estimate the precision with which such a measurement could be carried out at the LHC.
This report reviews the properties of Higgs bosons in the Standard Model (SM) and its various extensions. We give an extensive overview about the potential of the ILC operated at centre-of-mass energies up to 1 TeV (including the gamma gamma option) for the determination of the Higgs boson properties. This comprises the measurement of the Higgs boson mass, its couplings to SM fermions and gauge bosons, and the determination of the spin and the CP quantum numbers of the Higgs. The extensions of the SM that are analyzed in more detail are heavy SM-like Higgs bosons, heavy Higgs bosons in the framework of Supersymmetry (SUSY) and further exotic scenarios. We review recent theoretical developments in the field of Higgs boson physics. The important question what the ILC can contribute to Higgs boson physics after the LHC, the LHC/ILC interplay and synergy is discussed. The impact of Higgs boson physics on cosmology in several SUSY frameworks is analyzed. The impact of the accelerator and dector performance on the precision of measurements are discussed in detail. We propose a strategy to optimize future analyses. Open questions arising for the various topics are listed, further topics of study and corresponding roadmaps are suggested.
The work contained herein constitutes a report of the "Beyond the Standard Model'' working group for the Workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France, 2-20 May, 2005. We present reviews of current topics as well as original research carried out for the workshop. Supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric models are studied, as well as computational tools designed in order to facilitate their phenomenology.
We propose a sophisticated framework for high-energy hadronic collisions, wherein different QCD physics processes are interleaved in a common sequence of falling transverse-momentum values. Thereby phase-space competition is introduced between multiple parton-parton interactions and initial-state radiation. As a first step we develop new transverse-momentum-ordered showers for initial- and final-state radiation, which should be of use also beyond the scope of the current article. These showers are then applied in the context of multiple interactions, and a few tests of the new model are presented. The article concludes with an outlook on further aspects, such as the possibility of a shower branching giving partons participating in two different interactions.
Recent experimental data have established some of the basic features of multiple interactions in hadron-hadron collisions. The emphasis is therefore now shifting, to one of exploring more detailed aspects. Starting from a brief review of the current situation, a next-generation model is developed, wherein a detailed account is given of correlated flavour, colour, longitudinal and transverse momentum distributions, encompassing both the partons initiating perturbative interactions and the partons left in the beam remnants. Some of the main features are illustrated for the Tevatron and the LHC.