arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Pier Paolo Giardino.
We compute the next-to-leading order QCD and electroweak corrections to $Z$ and $W$ pole observables using the dimension-6 Standard Model effective field theory and present numerical results that can easily be included in global fitting programs. Limits on SMEFT coefficient functions are presented at leading order and at next-to-leading order under several assumptions.
The virtual corrections to $gg\to HH$ and $gg\to ZH$ are analytically evaluated combining an expansion in the small transverse momentum of the final particles with an expansion valid at high energies. The two expansion methods describe complementary regions of the phase space and we merge their results, extending the range of validity of both expansions using Padé approximants. We show that this approach can reproduce the available numerical results retaining the exact top quark mass dependence with an accuracy well below the 1% level. Our results allow a fast and flexible evaluation of the virtual corrections of the considered processes. Furthermore, they are available in different renormalisation schemes of the top quark mass.
Electroweak precision observables (EWPO) measured at the W and Z poles provide stringent limits on possible beyond the Standard Model physics scenarios. In an effective field theory (EFT) framework, the next-to-leading order QCD and electroweak results for EWPO yield indirect limits on possible 4-fermion operators that do not contribute to the observables at tree level. Here we calculate the next-to-leading corrections to EWPO induced by flavor non-universal 4-fermion interactions and find that the extracted limits on EFT coefficients have a strong dependence on the flavor structure of the 4-fermion operators.
Drell Yan production is a sensitive probe of new physics and as such has been calculated to high order in both the electroweak and QCD sectors of the Standard Model, allowing for precision comparisons between theory and data. Here we extend these calculations to the Standard Model Effective field theory (SMEFT) and present the NLO QCD and electroweak contributions to the neutral Drell Yan process that are linear in the Wilson coefficients of the SMEFT theory.
We compute the next-to-leading virtual QCD corrections to the partonic cross section of the production of a Higgs boson in association with a $Z$ boson in gluon fusion. The calculation is based on the recently introduced method of evaluating the amplitude via an expansion in terms of a small transverse momentum. We generalize the method to the case of different masses in the final state and of a process not symmetric in the forward-backward direction exchange. Our analytic approach gives a very good approximation (better than percent) of the partonic cross section in the center of mass energy region up to $\sim 750 \,\textrm{GeV}$, where at the LHC $\sim 98\%$ of the total hadronic cross section is concentrated.
We set constraints on the trilinear Higgs boson self-coupling, $λ_3$, by combining the information coming from the $W$ mass and leptonic effective Weinberg angle, electroweak precision observables, with the single Higgs boson analyses targeting the $γγ,\, ZZ^*,\, WW^*, \,τ^+ τ^-$ and $\bar{b} b$ decay channels and the double Higgs boson analyses in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}, \, b\bar{b}b τ^+ τ^-$ and $b\bar{b}b γγ$ decay channels, performed by the ATLAS collaboration. With the assumption that the new physics affects only the Higgs potential, values outside the interval $ -1.8\, λ_3^{\rm SM} < λ_3 < 9.2 \, λ_3^{\rm SM}$ are excluded at $95\%$ confidence level. With respect to similar analyses that do not include the information coming from the electroweak precision observables our analysis shows a stronger constraint on both positive and negative values of $λ_3$.
The scalar singlet model extends the Standard Model with the addition of a new gauge singlet scalar. We re-examine the limits on the new scalar from oblique parameter fits and from a global fit to precision electroweak observables and present analytic expressions for our results. For the case when the new scalar is much heavier than the weak scale, we map the model onto the dimension-six Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) and review the allowed parameter space from unitarity considerations and from the requirement that the electroweak minimum be stable. A global fit to precision electroweak data, along with LHC observables, is used to constrain the parameters of the high scale singlet model and we determine the numerical effects of performing the matching at both tree level and 1-loop.
We consider a long range scalar force that mainly couples to dark matter and unstable Standard Model states, like the muon, with tiny strength. Probing this type of force would present a challenge to observations. We point out that the dependence of the induced background scalar field on dark matter number density can cause the mass of the unstable particles to have spatial and temporal variations. These variations, in turn, leave an imprint on the value of the fine structure constant $α$, through threshold corrections, that could be detected in astronomical and cosmological measurements. Our mechanism can accommodate the mild preference of the Planck data for such a deviation, $(α_{_{\rm CMB}}-α_{\rm present})/α_{\rm present} = (-3.6\pm 3.7)\times 10^{-3}$. In this case, the requisite parameters typically imply that violations of Equivalence Principle may be within reach of future experiments.
We present an evaluation of the two master integrals for the crossed vertex diagram with a closed loop of top quarks that allows for an easy numerical implementation. The differential equations obeyed by the master integrals are used to generate power series expansions centered around all the singular points. The different series are then matched numerically with high accuracy in intermediate points. The expansions allow a fast and precise numerical calculation of the two master integrals in all the regions of the phase space. A numerical routine that implements these expansions is presented.
Higgs decays to gauge boson pairs are a crucial ingredient in the study of Higgs properties, with the decay $H\rightarrowγγ$ being particularly sensitive to new physics effects. Assuming all potential new physics occurs at energies much above the weak scale, deviations from Standard Model predictions can be parameterized in terms of the coefficients of an effective field theory (SMEFT). When experimental limits on the SMEFT coefficients reach an accuracy of a few percent, predictions must be done beyond the lowest order in the SMEFT in order to match theory and experimental accuracy. This paper completes a program of computing the one-loop electroweak SMEFT corrections to $H\rightarrow VV^\prime$, $V=W^\pm,Z,γ$. The calculation of the real contribution to $H\rightarrow W^+W^-γ$ is performed by mapping two-loop amplitudes to the $3-$ body phase space.
We propose a new method to calculate analytically higher-order perturbative corrections and we apply it to the calculation of the two-loop virtual corrections to Higgs pair production through gluon fusion. The method is based on the expansion of the amplitudes in terms of a small Higgs transverse momentum. This approach gives a very good approximation (better than per-mille) of the partonic cross section in the center of mass energy region $\sqrt{\hat{s}} \lesssim 750$ GeV, where $\sim95\%$ of the total hadronic cross section is concentrated. The presented method is general and can be applied in a straightforward way to the computation of virtual higher-order corrections to other $2\to2$ processes, representing an improvement with respect to calculations based on heavy mass expansions.
We entertain the possibility that neutrino masses and dark matter (DM) originate from a common composite dark sector. A minimal effective theory can be constructed based on a dark $SU(3)_D$ interaction with three flavors of massless dark quarks; electroweak symmetry breaking gives masses to the dark quarks. By assigning a $\mathbb Z_2$ charge to one flavor, a stable "dark kaon" can provide a good thermal relic DM candidate. We find that "dark neutrons" may be identified as right handed Dirac neutrinos. Some level of "neutron-anti-neutron" oscillation in the dark sector can then result in non-zero Majorana masses for light Standard Model neutrinos. A simple ultraviolet completion is presented, involving additional heavy $SU(3)_D$-charged particles with electroweak and lepton Yukawa couplings. At our benchmark point, there are "dark pions" that are much lighter than the Higgs and we expect spectacular collider signals arising from the UV framework. This includes the decay of the Higgs boson to $ττ\ell \ell^{\prime}$, where $\ell$($\ell'$) can be any lepton, with displaced vertices. We discuss the observational signatures of this UV framework in dark matter searches and primordial gravitational wave experiments; the latter signature is potentially correlated with the $H \to ττ\ell \ell^{\prime}$ decay.
The exo-Higgs model can accommodate a successful baryogenesis mechanism that closely mirrors electroweak baryogenesis in the Standard Model, but avoids its shortcomings. We extend the exo-Higgs model by the addition of a singlet complex scalar $χ$. In our model, $χ$ can be a viable asymmetric dark matter (ADM) candidate. We predict the mass of the ADM particle to be $m_χ\approx1.3\, \textrm{GeV}$. The leptophilic couplings of $χ$ can provide for efficient annihilation of the ADM pairs. We also discuss the LHC signals of our scenario, and in particular the production and decays of exo-leptons which would lead to "lepton pair plus missing energy" final states. Our model typically predicts potentially detectable gravitational waves originating from the assumed strong first order phase transition at a temperature of $\sim$ TeV. If the model is further extended to include new heavy vector-like fermions, {\it e.g.} from an ultraviolet extension, $χ$ couplings could explain the $\sim 3.5σ$ muon $g-2$ anomaly.
We propose a new method for measuring the top-quark width based on the on-/off-shell ratio of $b$-charge asymmetry in $pp\to Wbj$ production at the LHC. The charge asymmetry removes virtually all backgrounds and related uncertainties, while remaining systematic and theoretical uncertainties can be taken under control by the ratio of cross sections. Limited only by statistical error, in an optimistic scenario, we find that our approach leads to good precision at high integrated luminosity, at a few hundred MeV assuming 300-3000 fb$^{-1}$ at the LHC. The approach directly probes the total width, in such a way that model-dependence can be minimized. It is complementary to existing cross section measurements which always leave a degeneracy between the total rate and the branching ratio, and provides valuable information about the properties of the top quark. The proposal opens up new opportunities for precision top measurements using a $b$-charge identification algorithm.
We present the constraints on the trilinear Higgs self coupling that arise from loop effects in the $W$ boson mass and the effective sine predictions. We compute the contributions to these precision observables of two-loop diagrams featuring an anomalous trilinear Higgs self coupling. We explicitly show that the same anomalous contributions are found if the analysis of $m_{ \scriptscriptstyle W}$ and $\mbox{$\sin^2 θ^{\rm lep}_{\rm eff}$}$ is performed in a theory in which the scalar potential in the Standard Model Lagrangian is modified by an (in)finite tower of $(Φ^\dagger Φ)^n$ terms with $Φ$ the Higgs doublet. We find that the bounds on the trilinear Higgs self coupling from precision observables are competitive with those coming from Higgs pair production.
We entertain the possibility that primordialblack holes of mass $\sim (10^{26}$--$10^{29})$~g, with Schwarzschild radii of $\mathcal{O}{\text{cm}}$, constitute $\sim 10\%$ or more of cosmic dark matter, as allowed by various constraints. These black holes would typically originate from cosmological eras corresponding to temperatures $\mathcal{O}{10-100}$~GeV, and may be associated with first order phase transitions in the visible or hidden sectors. In case these small primordial black holes get captured in orbits around neutron stars or astrophysical black holes in our galactic neighborhood, gravitational waves from the resulting "David and Goliath (D\&G)" binaries could be detectable at Advanced LIGO or Advanced Virgo for hours or more, possibly over distances of $\mathcal{O}{10}$~Mpc encompassing the Local Supercluster of galaxies. The proposed Einstein Telescope would further expand the reach for these signals. A positive signal could be further corroborated by the discovery of new particles in the $\mathcal{O}{10-100}$~GeV mass range, and potentially also the detection of long wavelength gravitational waves originating from the first order phase transition era.
We propose a method to determine the trilinear Higgs self coupling that is alternative to the direct measurement of Higgs pair production total cross sections and differential distributions. The method relies on the effects that electroweak loops featuring an anomalous trilinear coupling would imprint on single Higgs production at the LHC. We first calculate these contributions to all the phenomenologically relevant Higgs production ($gg{\rm F}$, VBF, $WH$, $ZH$, $t\bar tH$) and decay ($γγ$, $WW^{*}/ZZ^{*}\to 4f$, $b\bar b$, $ττ$) modes at the LHC and then estimate the sensitivity to the trilinear coupling via a one-parameter fit to the single Higgs measurements at the LHC 8 TeV. We find that the bounds on the self coupling are already competitive with those from Higgs pair production and will be further improved in the current and next LHC runs.
We propose that the diphoton excess at 750 GeV reported by ATLAS and CMS is due to the decay of an ${\it exo-Higgs}$ scalar $η$ associated with the breaking of a new $SU(2)_e$ symmetry, dubbed ${\it exo-spin}$. New fermions, ${\it exo-quarks}$ and ${\it exo-leptons}$, get TeV-scale masses through Yukawa couplings with $η$ and generate its couplings to gluons and photons at 1-loop. The matter content of our model yields a $B-L$ anomaly under $SU(2)_e$, whose breaking we assume entails a first order phase transition. A non-trivial $B-L$ asymmetry may therefore be generated in the early universe, potentially providing a baryogenesis mechanism through the Standard Model (SM) sphaleron processes. The spontaneous breaking of $SU(2)_e$ can in principle directly lead to electroweak symmetry breaking, thereby accounting for the proximity of the mass scales of the SM Higgs and the exo-Higgs. Our model can be distinguished from those comprising a singlet scalar and vector fermions by the discovery of TeV scale exo-vector bosons, corresponding to the broken $SU(2)_e$ generators, at the LHC.