arXiv subjects

Qaisar Shafi

Publications and source records attributed to Qaisar Shafi.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Muon g-2, Neutralino Dark Matter and Stau NLSP

We explore the implications of resolving the muon g-2 anomaly in a SU(4)_c x SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R model, where the soft supersymmetry breaking scalar and gaugino masses break the left-right (LR) symmetry. A 2 sigma resolution of the anomaly requires relatively light sleptons, chargino and LSP neutralino. The stau turns out to be the NLSP of mass <~ 400 GeV, and the sleptons from the first two families can be as heavy as about 800 GeV. The chargino is also required to be lighter than about 600 GeV to accommodate the muon g-2 solutions consistent with the dark matter relic density constraint. The dominant right-handed nature of the light slepton states suppress the sensitivity of possible signals which can be probed in Run3 experiments at the LHC. We also discuss the impact of accomodating the Higgs boson mass and the vacuum stability of the scalar potential for these solutions. The Higgsinos are heavier than about 4 TeV, and the LSP neutralino has the correct relic density if it is Bino-like. We identify stau-neutralino coannihilation as the dominant mechanism for realizing the desired dark matter relic density, with sneutrino-neutralino coannihiliation playing a minor role. These bino-like dark matter solutions can yield a spin-independent scattering cross-section on the order of 10^{-3} pb which hopefully, can be expected to be tested in the near future.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Monopoles, Exotic states and Muon $g-2$ in TeV scale Trinification

We study the low energy implications of a trinification model based on the gauge symmetry $G= SU(3)_c \times SU(3)_L \times SU(3)_R$, without imposing gauge coupling unification. A minimal model requires two Higgs multiplets that reside in the bi-fundamental representation of $G$, and this is shown to be adequate for accommodating the Standard Model (SM) fermion masses and generate, via loop corrections and seesaw mechanism, suitable masses for the heavy neutral leptons as well as the observed SM neutrinos. We estimate a lower bound of around 15 TeV for the masses of the new down-type quarks that are required by the $SU(3)_L \times SU(3)_R$ symmetry. We examine the resonant production at the LHC of the new gauge bosons, which leads to a lower bound of 16 TeV for the symmetry breaking scale of $G$. We also show how the muon $g-2$ anomaly can be resolved in the presence of these new gauge bosons and the heavy charged leptons present in the model. Finally, the model predicts the presence of a topologically stable monopole carrying three quanta $(6 π/e)$ of Dirac magnetic charge and mass $\gtrsim 160$ TeV. If new matter fields lying in the fundamental representations of G are included, the model predicts the presence of exotic leptons, mesons and baryons carrying fractional electric charges such as $\pm e/3$ and $\pm 2e/3$, fully compatible with the Dirac quantization condition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Sneutrino Tribrid Inflation, Metastable Cosmic Strings and Gravitational Waves

We present a successful realization of sneutrino tribrid inflation model based on a gauged $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). A single interaction term involving the $B-L$ Higgs field and the right-handed neutrinos serves multiple purposes. These include the generation of heavy Majorana masses for the right-handed neutrinos to provide an explanation for the tiny neutrino masses via the seesaw mechanism, a realistic scenario for reheating and non-thermal leptogenesis with a reheat temperature as low as $10^6$ GeV, and a successful realization of inflation with right-handed sneutrino as the inflaton. The matter parity which helps avoid rapid proton decay survives as a $Z_{2}$ subgroup of a $U(1)$ $R$-symmetry. Depending on the choice of model parameters yields the following predicted range of the tensor to scalar ratio, $3 \times 10^{-11}\lesssim r\lesssim 7\times 10^{-4}$ ($ 6 \times 10^{-7} \lesssim r \lesssim 0.01 $), and the running of the scalar spectral index, $-0.00022 \lesssim dn_s/d\ln k \lesssim -0.0026$ ($-0.00014 \lesssim dn_s/d\ln k \lesssim 0.005$), along with the $B-L$ breaking scale, $ 3 \times 10^{14}\lesssim M/ \text{GeV}\lesssim 5 \times 10^{15}$ ($ 6 \times 10^{15}\lesssim M/ \text{GeV}\lesssim 2 \times 10^{16}$), calculated at the central value of the scalar spectral index, $n_s =0.966$, reported by Planck 2018. The possibility of realizing metastable cosmic strings in a grand unified theory setup is briefly discussed. The metastable cosmic string network admits string tension values in the range $10^{-8} \lesssim Gμ_s \lesssim 10^{-6}$, and predicts a stochastic gravitational wave background lying within the 2-$σ$ bounds of the recent NANOGrav 12.5-yr data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Cosmic Strings, Inflation, and Gravity Waves

We investigate the impact of Coleman-Weinberg inflation on the stochastic gravity wave background spectrum emitted by intermediate scale cosmic strings. The string network is partially inflated and re-enters the horizon at later times after the end of inflation, such that the short string loops are not produced. This leads to a significant modification of the gravity wave spectrum that we explore in detail. We find that Coleman-Weinberg inflation can help to satisfy the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) bound for dimensionless string tension values in the range $Gμ> 1.1\times 10^{-10}$. We also identify the modified gravity wave spectra which, in the case of inflation, are compatible with the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) data. We then discuss the formation of monopoles and strings at the same breaking scale and the compatibility of the Monopole, Astrophysics and Cosmic Ray Observatory (MACRO) bound with the PPTA bound, and also with the NANOGrav data. Finally, an example of a realistic non-supersymmetric $E_6$ model incorporating successful Coleman-Weinberg inflation is presented in which monopoles and strings both survive inflation and are present at an observable level.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Realistic Inflation in No-Scale $U(1)_R$ Symmetric Flipped $SU(5)$

We have realized non-minimal Higgs inflation and standard hybrid inflation in the supersymmetric flipped $SU(5)$ model with $U(1)_R$ symmetry using the no-scale form of the Kähler potential. In non-minimal Higgs inflation the waterfall Higgs field plays the role of inflaton, and in standard hybrid inflation the gauge singlet field $S$ is employed as an inflaton. The predictions of both models are in good agreement with the Planck 2018 data. For numerical calculations we have fixed the gauge symmetry breaking scale, $M$, around $2\times 10^{16}$ GeV. In both models the inflaton field values are constrained below $m_P$. The tensor to scalar ratio $r$ in non-minimal inflation is of the order of $10^{-3}$ and for standard hybrid inflation $r$ is tiny, of order $10^{-15} - 10^{-4}$. The scalar spectral index in both cases lie within the Planck 1-$σ$ bounds, and the running of the scalar spectral index lies in the range, $-dn_s/d\ln k \sim 6\times 10^{-4}$ for non-minimal model and $10^{-9} - 10^{-3}$ for the standard hybrid model. A realistic scenario of reheating and non-thermal leptogenesis is employed with reheat temperature $T_r \sim 10^9$ GeV for non-minimal model and $10^{6} - 10^{10}$~GeV for standard hybrid model. The $R$-symmetry plays a vital role in forbidding rapid proton decay, but at the same time it also suppresses terms responsible for generating right handed neutrino masses. A realistic scenario of right handed neutrino masses is obtained by considering effective $R$ symmetry breaking at the nonrenormalizable level with adequate suppression of rapid proton decay.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Pseudo-Goldstone Dark Matter in $SO(10)$

We propose a pseudo-Goldstone boson dark matter (pGDM) particle in $SO(10)$ grand unified theory (GUT). Due to its Goldstone nature, this pGDM evades the direct DM detection experiments which, otherwise, severely constrain the parameter space of DM models. In $SO(10)$, the pGDM is embedded as a linear combination of the Standard Model (SM) singlet scalars in ${\bf 16_H}$ and ${\bf 126_H}$ representations. We consider two scenarios for the intermediate route of $SO(10)$ symmetry breaking (SB) to the SM: $SU(5) \times U(1)_X$ and Pati-Salam the $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$ (4-2-2) gauge groups. The vacuum expectation value of ${\bf 126_H}$, which triggers the breaking of $U(1)_X$ and 4-2-2 symmetry in the two scenarios, respectively, determines the pGDM lifetime whose astrophysical lower bound provides one of the most stringent constraints. For the 4-2-2 route to $SO(10)$, the successful SM gauge coupling unification requires the 4-2-2 breaking scale to be ${\cal O} (10^{11})$ GeV, and most of the parameter space is excluded. For the $SU(5) \times U(1)_X$ route, on the other hand, the $U(1)_X$ breaking scale can be significantly higher, and a wide range of the parameter space is allowed. Furthermore, the proton lifetime in the $SU(5)$ case is predicted to be $4.53 \times 10^{34}$ years, which lies well within the sensitivity reach of the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment. We also examine the constraints on the model parameter space from the Large Hadron Collider and the indirect DM search by Fermi-LAT and MAGIC experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

$SU(5) \times U(1)_X$ Axion Model with Observable Proton Decay

We propose a $SU(5) \times U(1)_X \times U(1)_{PQ}$ model, where $U(1)_X$ is the generalization of the $B-L$ (baryon minus lepton number) gauge symmetry and $U(1)_{PQ}$ is the global Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry. There are four fermions families in $\bf{\overline 5} + \bf{10}$ representations of $SU(5)$, a mirror family in $\bf{5}+\bf{\overline {10}}$ representations, and three $SU(5)$ singlet Majorana fermions. The $U(1)_X$ related anomalies all cancel in the presence of the Majorana neutrinos. The $SU(5)$ symmetry is broken at $M_{GUT} \simeq (6-9)\times 10^{15}$ GeV and the proton lifetime $τ_p$ is estimated to be well within the expected sensitivity of the future Hyper-Kamiokande experiment, $τ_p \lesssim 1.3 \times 10^{35}$ years. The $SU(5)$ breaking also triggers the breaking of the PQ symmetry, resulting in axion dark matter (DM), with the axion decay constant $f_a$ of order $M_{GUT}$ or somewhat larger. The CASPEr experiment can search for such an axion DM candidate. The Hubble parameter during inflation must be low, $H_{inf} \lesssim 10^9 $ GeV, in order to successfully resolve the axion domain wall, axion DM isocurvature and $SU(5)$ monopole problems. With the identification of the $U(1)_X$ breaking Higgs field with the inflaton field, we implement inflection-point inflation, which is capable of realizing the desired value for $H_{inf}$. The vectorlike fermions in the model are essential for achieving successful unification of the SM gauge couplings as well as the phenomenological viability of both axion DM and inflation scenario.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Dirac plus Nambu Monopoles in the Standard Model

We show how in the standard electroweak model three $SU(2)_L$ Nambu monopoles, each carrying electromagnetic (EM) and Z- magnetic fluxes, can merge (through Z-strings) with a single $U(1)_Y$ Dirac monopole to yield a composite monopole that only carries EM magnetic flux. Compatibility with the Dirac quantization condition requires this composite monopole to carry six quanta ($12 π/e$) of magnetic charge, independent of the electroweak mixing angle $θ_w$. The Dirac monopole is not regular at the origin and the energy of the composite monopole is therefore divergent. We discuss how this problem is cured by embedding $U(1)_Y$ in a grand unified group such as $SU(5)$. A second composite configuration with only one Nambu monopole and a colored $U(1)_Y$ Dirac monopole that has minimal EM charge of $4π/e$ is also described. Finally, there exists a configuration with an EM charge of $8π/e$ as well as screened color magnetic charge.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Sparticle Spectroscopy at LHC-Run3 and LSP Dark Matter in light of Muon g-2

Inspired by the latest measurement of muon g-2 by the Fermilab Experiment, we revisit a class of supersymmetric models in which non-universality at M_GUT allows us to realize relatively light sleptons in the few hundred GeV range. These sleptons provide additional contributions to muon g-2 that can be arranged to reconcile theory and experiment. The solutions compatible with the muon g-2 resolution typically predict light sleptons, charginos and neutralinos. We show how these solutions can be probed during LHC-Run3. A direct impact on the chargino mass is observed such that the chargino can be probed up to about 800 GeV during the Run3 experiments. Despite such a direct impact, it is still possible to realize lighter chargino masses which can escape detection due to the chirality mixture of the lighter slepton states. The colored squarks as well as the gluino turn out to be heavier than about 3-4 TeV if the LSP neutralino satisfies the Planck bound on the dark matter relic abundance. We highlight a variety of benchmark points and, in particular, coannihilation scenarios with dark matter candidates that will be tested in the ongoing and planned direct and indirect detection experiments. By relaxing the requirement that the LSP neutralino saturates the relic dark matter abundance, we are able to find solutions with gluino and squark masses in a range that may be accessible at LHC-Run3.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Electroweak monopoles and magnetic dumbbells in grand unified theories

We use the $SU(5)$ model to show the presence in grand unified theories of an electroweak monopole and a magnetic dumbbell ("meson") made up of a monopole-antimonopole pair connected by a $Z$-magnetic flux tube. The monopole is associated with the spontaneous breaking of the weak $SU(2)_L$ gauge symmetry by the induced vacuum expectation value of a heavy scalar $SU(2)_L$ triplet with zero weak hypercharge contained in the adjoint Higgs 24-plet. This monopole carries a Coulomb magnetic charge of $(3/4) (2π/e)$ as well as $Z$-magnetic charge, where $2π/e$ denotes the unit Dirac magnetic charge. Its total magnetic charge is $\sqrt{3/8}(4π/e)$, which is in agreement with the Dirac quantization condition. The monopole weighs about 700 GeV, but because of the attached $Z$-magnetic tube it exists, together with the antimonopole, in a magnetic dumbbell configuration whose mass is expected to lie in the TeV range. The presence of these topological structures in $SU(5)$ and $SO(10)$ and in their supersymmetric extensions provides an exciting new avenue for testing these theories in high-energy colliders.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Triply Charged Monopole and Magnetic Quarks

We describe the internal composition of a topologically stable monopole carrying a magnetic charge of $6π/e$ that arises from the spontaneous breaking of the trinification symmetry $SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L\times SU(3)_R$ ($G$). Since this monopole carries no color magnetic charge, a charge of $6π/e$ is required by the Dirac quantization condition. The breaking of $G$ to the Standard Model occurs in a number of steps and yields the desired topologically stable monopole ("magnetic baryon"), consisting of three confined monopoles. The confined monopoles ("magnetic quarks") each carry a combination of Coulomb magnetic flux and magnetic flux tubes, and therefore they do not exist as isolated states. We also display a more elaborate configuration ("fang necklace") composed of these magnetic quarks. In contrast to the $SU(5)$ monopole which is superheavy and carries a magnetic charge of $2π/e$ as well as color magnetic charge, the trinification monopole may have mass in the TeV range, in which case it may be accessible at the LHC and its planned upgrades.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Primordial Monopoles and Strings, Inflation, and Gravity Waves

We consider magnetic monopoles and strings that appear in non-supersymmetric $SO(10)$ and $E_6$ grand unified models paying attention to gauge coupling unification and proton decay in a variety of symmetry breaking schemes. The dimensionless string tension parameter $Gμ$ spans the range $10^{-6}-10^{-30}$, where $G$ is Newton's constant and $μ$ is the string tension. We show how intermediate scale monopoles with mass $\sim 10^{13}-10^{14}$ GeV and flux $\lesssim 2.8\times 10^{-16}$ ${\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}\mathrm{sr}^{-1}}$, and cosmic strings with $Gμ\sim 10^{-11}-10^{-10}$ survive inflation and are present in the universe at an observable level. We estimate the gravity wave spectrum emitted from cosmic strings taking into account inflation driven by a Coleman-Weinberg potential. The tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ lies between $0.06$ and $0.003$ depending on the details of the inflationary scenario.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Pseudo-Goldstone Dark Matter in gauged $B-L$ extended Standard Model

Gauging the global $B-L$ (Baryon number minus Lepton number) symmetry in the Standard Model (SM) is well-motivated since anomaly cancellations require the introduction of three right-handed neutrinos (RHNs) which play an essential role in naturally generating tiny SM neutrino masses through the seesaw mechanism. In the context of the $B-L$ extended SM, we propose a pseudo-Goldstone boson dark matter (DM) scenario in which the imaginary component of a complex $B-L$ Higgs field serves as the DM in the universe. The DM relic density is determined by the SM Higgs boson mediated process, but its elastic scattering with nucleons through the exchange of Higgs bosons is highly suppressed due to its pseudo-Goldstone boson nature. The model is therefore free from the constraints arising from direct DM detection experiments. We identify regions of the model parameter space for reproducing the observed DM density compatible with the constraints from the Large Hadron Collider and the indirect DM searches by Fermi-LAT and MAGIC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Shifted $μ$-hybrid inflation, gravitino dark matter, and observable gravity waves

We investigate supersymmetric hybrid inflation in a realistic model based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. The minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) $μ$ term arises, following Dvali, Lazarides, and Shafi, from the coupling of the MSSM electroweak doublets to a gauge singlet superfield which plays an essential role in inflation. The primordial monopoles are inflated away by arranging that the $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$ symmetry is broken along the inflationary trajectory. The interplay between the (above) $μ$ coupling, the gravitino mass, and the reheating following inflation is discussed in detail. We explore regions of the parameter space that yield gravitino dark matter and observable gravity waves with the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \sim 10^{-4}-10^{-3}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Dark Matter $Z^\prime$ and XENON1T Excess from $U(1)_X$ Extended Standard Model

A gauged $U(1)_X$ symmetry appended to the Standard Model (SM) is particularly well-motivated since it can account for the light neutrino masses by the seesaw mechanism, explain the origin of baryon asymmetry of the universe via leptogenesis, and help implement successful cosmological inflation with the $U(1)_X$ breaking Higgs field as the inflaton. In this framework, we propose a light dark matter (DM) scenario in which the $U(1)_X$ gauge boson $Z^\prime$ behaves as a DM particle in the universe. We discuss how this scenario with $Z^\prime$ mass of a few keV and a $U(1)_X$ gauge coupling $g_X \simeq 10^{-16}$ can nicely fit the excess in the electronic recoil energy spectrum recently reported by the XENON1T collaboration. In order to reproduce the observed DM relic density in the presence of such a tiny gauge coupling, we propose an extension of the model to a two-component DM scenario. The $Z^\prime$ DM density can be comparable to the observed DM density by the freeze-in mechanism through the coupling of $Z^\prime$ boson to a partner Higgs-portal scalar DM with a large $U(1)_X$ charge.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Observable Proton Decay in Flipped SU(5)

We explore proton decay in a class of realistic supersymmetric flipped $SU(5)$ models supplemented by a $U(1)_R$ symmetry which plays an essential role in implementing hybrid inflation. Two distinct neutrino mass models, based on inverse seesaw and type I seesaw, are identified, with the latter arising from the breaking of $U(1)_R$ by nonrenormalizable superpotential terms. Depending on the neutrino mass model an appropriate set of intermediate scale color triplets from the Higgs superfields play a key role in proton decay channels that include $p \rightarrow (e^{+},μ^+)\, π^0$, $p \rightarrow ( e^+,μ^{+})\, K^0 $, $p \rightarrow \overlineν\, π^{+}$, and $p \rightarrow \overlineν\, K^+ $. We identify regions of the parameter space that yield proton lifetime estimates which are testable at Hyper-Kamiokande and other next generation experiments. We discuss how gauge coupling unification in the presence of intermediate scale particles is realized, and a $Z_4$ symmetry is utilized to show how such intermediate scales can arise in flipped $SU(5)$. Finally, we compare our predictions for proton decay with previous work based on $SU(5)$ and flipped $SU(5)$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Proton Decay in Supersymmetric $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$

We discuss proton decay in a recently proposed model of supersymmetric hybrid inflation based on the gauge symmetry $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$. A $U(1)\, R$ symmetry plays an essential role in realizing inflation as well as in eliminating some undesirable baryon number violating operators. Proton decay is primarily mediated by a variety of color triplets from chiral superfields, and it lies in the observable range for a range of intermediate scale masses for the triplets. The decay modes include $p \rightarrow e^{+}(μ^+) + π^0$, $p \rightarrow \barν + π^{+}$, $p \rightarrow K^0 + e^+(μ^{+})$, and $p \rightarrow K^+ + \barν$, with a lifetime estimate of order $10^{34}-10^{36}$ yrs and accessible at Hyper-Kamiokande and future upgrades. The unification at the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) scale $M_{\rm GUT}$ ($\sim 10^{16}$ GeV) of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) gauge couplings is briefly discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Sparticle Spectroscopy and Dark Matter in a $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of MSSM

We consider a class of SUSY models in which the MSSM gauge group is supplemented with a gauged $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry and a global $U(1)_{R}$ symmetry. This extension introduces only electrically neutral states, and the new SUSY partners effectively double the number of states in the neutralino sector that now includes a blino (from $B-L$) and singlino from a gauge singlet superfield. If the DM density is saturated by a LSP neutralino, the model yields quite a rich phenomenology depending on the DM composition. The LSP relic density constraint provides a lower bound on the stop and gluino masses of about 3 TeV and 4 TeV respectively, which is testable in the near future collider experiments such as HL-LHC. The chargino mass lies between 0.24 TeV and about 2.0 TeV, which can be tested based on the allowed decay channels. We also find $m_{\tildeτ_{1}}\gtrsim 500$ GeV, and $m_{\tilde{e}},m_{\tildeμ},m_{\tildeν^{S,P}} \gtrsim 1$ TeV. We identify chargino-neutralino coannihilation processes in the mass region $0.24 \,{\rm TeV} \lesssim m_{\tildeχ_{1}^{0}}\approx m_{\tildeχ_{1}^{\pm}}\lesssim 1.5$ TeV, and also coannihilation processes involving stau, selectron, smuon and sneutrinos for masses around 1 TeV. In addition, $A_{2}$ resonance solutions are found around 1 TeV, and $H_{2}$ and $H_{3}$ resonance solutions are also shown around 0.5 TeV and 1 TeV . Some of the $A_{2}$ resonance solutions with $\tanβ\gtrsim 20$ may be tested by the $A/H\rightarrow τ^{+}τ^{-}$ LHC searches. While the relic density constraint excludes the bino-like DM, it is still possible to realize higgsino, singlino and blino-like DM for various mass scales. We show that all these solutions will be tested in future direct detection experiments such as LUX-Zeplin and Xenon-nT.

hep-ph↗