arXiv subjects

Rakhi Mahbubani

Publications and source records attributed to Rakhi Mahbubani.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Prospects for top-prime quark discovery at the Tevatron

We show that a top-prime quark as heavy as 600 GeV can be discovered at the Tevatron, provided it is resonantly pair-produced via a vector color octet. If the top-prime originates from a vectorlike quark, then the production of a single top-prime in association with a top may also be observable, even through its decay into a Higgs boson and a top. A color octet with mass of about 1 TeV, which decays into a top-prime pair, may account for the CDF excess of semileptonic (Wj)(Wj) events.

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arXiv2009

Massive color-octet bosons and pairs of resonances at hadron colliders

We analyze collider signatures of massive color-octet bosons whose couplings to quarks are suppressed. Gauge invariance forces the octets to couple at tree level only in pairs to gluons, with a strength set by the QCD gauge coupling. For a spin-1 octet, the cross section for pair production at hadron colliders is larger than that for a quark of equal mass. The octet decays into two jets, leading to a 4-jet signature with two pairs of jets forming resonances of the same mass. For a spin-0 octet the cross section is smaller, and the dominant decay is into b\bar{b}, or t\bar{t} if kinematically allowed. We estimate that discovery of spin-1 octets is possible for masses up to 330 GeV at the Tevatron, and 1 TeV at the LHC with 1 fb^{-1}, while the reach is somewhat lower for spin-0 octets.

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arXiv2008

Top Quark Pair plus Large Missing Energy at the LHC

We study methods of extracting new physics signals in final states with a top-quark pair plus large missing energy at the LHC. We consider two typical examples of such new physics: pair production of a fermionic top partner (a $T'$ in Little Higgs models for example) and of a scalar top partner (a $\tilde{t}$ in SUSY). With a commonly-adopted discrete symmetry under which non Standard Model particles are odd, the top partner is assumed to decay predominantly to a top quark plus a massive neutral stable particle $A^0$. We focus on the case in which one of the top quarks decays leptonically and the other decays hadronically, $pp \to {\tt} A^0A^0 X \to bj_1j_2 \bar b\ell^- \barνA^0A^0 X + c.c.$, where the $A^0$s escape detection. We identify a key parameter for the signal observation: the mass splitting between the top partner and the missing particle. We reconstruct a transverse mass for the lepton-missing transverse energy system to separate the real $W$ background from the signal and propose a definition for the reconstructed top quark mass that allows it to take unphysical values as an indication of new physics. We perform a scan over the two masses to map out the discovery reach at the LHC in this channel. We also comment on the possibility of distinguishing between scalar and fermionic top partners using collider signatures.

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arXiv2007

Spinless photon dark matter from two universal extra dimensions

We explore the properties of dark matter in theories with two universal extra dimensions, where the lightest Kaluza-Klein state is a spin-0 neutral particle, representing a six-dimensional photon polarized along the extra dimensions. Annihilation of this 'spinless photon' proceeds predominantly through Higgs boson exchange, and is largely independent of other Kaluza-Klein particles. The measured relic abundance sets an upper limit on the spinless photon mass of 500 GeV, which decreases to almost 200 GeV if the Higgs boson is light. The phenomenology of this dark matter candidate is strikingly different from Kaluza-Klein dark matter in theories with one universal extra dimension. Elastic scattering of the spinless photon with quarks is helicity suppressed, making its direct detection challenging, although possible at upcoming experiments. The prospects for indirect detection with gamma rays and antimatter are similar to those of neutralinos. The rates predicted at neutrino telescopes are below the sensitivity of next-generation experiments.

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arXiv2007

Leptons and photons at the LHC: cascades through spinless adjoints

We study the hadron collider phenomenology of (1,0) Kaluza-Klein modes along two universal extra dimensions compactified on the chiral square. Cascade decays of spinless adjoints proceed through tree-level 3-body decays involving leptons as well as one-loop 2-body decays involving photons. As a result, spectacular events with as many as six charged leptons, or one photon plus four charged leptons are expected to be observed at the LHC. Unusual events with relatively large branching fractions include three leptons of same charge plus one lepton of opposite charge, or one photon plus two leptons of same charge. We estimate the current limit from the Tevatron on the compactification scale, set by searches for trilepton events, to be around 270 GeV.

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arXiv2006

The Minimal Model for Dark Matter and Unification

Gauge coupling unification and the success of TeV-scale weakly interacting dark matter are usually taken as evidence of low energy supersymmetry (SUSY). However, if we assume that the tuning of the higgs can be explained in some unnatural way, from environmental considerations for example, SUSY is no longer a necessary component of any Beyond the Standard Model theory. In this paper we study the minimal model with a dark matter candidate and gauge coupling unification. This consists of the SM plus fermions with the quantum numbers of SUSY higgsinos, and a singlet. It predicts thermal dark matter with a mass that can range from 100 GeV to around 2 TeV and generically gives rise to an electric dipole moment that is just beyond current experimental limits, with a large portion of its allowed parameter space accessible to next generation EDM and direct detection experiments. We study precision unification in this model by embedding it in a 5-D orbifold GUT where certain large threshold corrections are calculable, achieving gauge coupling and b-tau unification, and predicting a rate of proton decay just beyond current limits.

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arXiv2005

The New Fat Higgs: Slimmer and More Attractive

In this paper we increase the MSSM tree level higgs mass bound to a value that is naturally larger than the LEP-II search constraint by adding to the superpotential a $λS H_{u}H_{d}$ term, as in the NMSSM, and UV completing with new strong dynamics {\it before} $λ$ becomes non-perturbative. Unlike other models of this type the higgs fields remain elementary, alleviating the supersymmetric fine-tuning problem while maintaining unification in a natural way.

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arXiv2004

Bounds on the Higgs Mass in Variations of Split Supersymmetry

We investigate the limits on the higgs mass in variations of Split Supersymmetry, where the boundary value of the Higgs quartic coupling at the SUSY breaking scale ($m_s$) is allowed to deviate from its value in the minimal model of Arkani-Hamed and Dimopoulos. We show that it is possible for $λ(m_s)$ to be negative and use vacuum stability to put a lower bound on this coupling, and hence on the mass of the physical higgs. We also use the requirement of perturbativity of all couplings up to the cutoff to determine an upper limit for the higgs mass in models which are further modified by additional matter content. For $m_s\geq 10^6$ GeV we find 110 GeV $\lesssim m_h\lesssim 280$ GeV if the new matter is not coupled to any Standard Model field; and 110 GeV $\lesssim m_h\lesssim 400$ GeV if it has Yukawa couplings to the higgs.

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arXiv2004

Precision Electroweak Observables in the Minimal Moose Little Higgs Model

Little Higgs theories, in which the Higgs particle is realized as the pseudo-Goldstone boson of an approximate global chiral symmetry have generated much interest as possible alternatives to weak scale supersymmetry. In this paper we analyze precision electroweak observables in the Minimal Moose model and find that in order to be consistent with current experimental bounds, the gauge structure of this theory needs to be modified. We then look for viable regions of parameter space in the modified theory by calculating the various contributions to the S and T parameters.

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