arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Riccardo Barbieri.
As a way to recall and honour Guido Altarelli I contribute to the discussion on the prospect for the future of Particle Physics. I do this because I am sure that Guido would have liked the discussion, even though I am not equally sure that he would have agreed on all the opinions I express here.
We consider two copies of the Standard Model, interchanged by an exact parity symmetry, P. The observed fermion mass hierarchy is described by suppression factors $ε^{n_i}$ for charged fermion $i$, as can arise in Froggatt-Nielsen and extra-dimensional theories of flavor. The corresponding flavor factors in the mirror sector are $ε'^{n_i}$, so that spontaneous breaking of the parity P arises from a single parameter $ε'/ε$, yielding a tightly constrained version of Minimal Mirror Twin Higgs, introduced in our previous paper. Models are studied for simple values of $n_i$, including in particular one with SU(5)-compatibility, that describe the observed fermion mass hierarchy. The entire mirror quark and charged lepton spectrum is broadly predicted in terms of $ε'/ε$, as are the mirror QCD scale and the decoupling temperature between the two sectors. Helium-, hydrogen- and neutron-like mirror dark matter candidates are constrained by self-scattering and relic ionization. In each case, the allowed parameter space can be fully probed by proposed direct detection experiments. Correlated predictions are made as well for the Higgs signal strength and the amount of dark radiation.
In a Mirror Twin World with a maximally symmetric Higgs sector the little hierarchy of the Standard Model can be significantly mitigated, perhaps displacing the cutoff scale above the LHC reach. We show that consistency with observations requires that the Z2 parity exchanging the Standard Model with its mirror be broken in the Yukawa couplings. A minimal such effective field theory, with this sole Z2 breaking, can generate the Z2 breaking in the Higgs sector necessary for the Twin Higgs mechanism. The theory has constrained and correlated signals in Higgs decays, direct Dark Matter Detection and Dark Radiation, all within reach of foreseen experiments, over a region of parameter space where the fine-tuning for the electroweak scale is 10-50%. For dark matter, both mirror neutrons and a variety of self-interacting mirror atoms are considered. Neutrino mass signals and the effects of a possible additional Z2 breaking from the vacuum expectation values of B-L breaking fields are also discussed.
The collection of a few anomalies in semileptonic $B$-decays, especially in $b\rightarrow c τ\barν$, invites to speculate about the emergence of some striking new phenomena, perhaps interpretable in terms of a weakly broken $U(2)^n$ flavor symmetry and of leptoquark mediators. Here we aim at a partial UV completion of this interpretation by generalizing the minimal composite Higgs model to include a composite vector leptoquark as well.
We consider the NMSSM extended to include one vector-like family of quarks and leptons. If (some of) these vector-like matter particles, as the Higgs doublets, have Yukawa couplings to the singlet S that exceed unity at about the same scale $Λ\lesssim 10^3$ TeV, this gives the order 40 % enhancement of the tree level Higgs boson mass required in the MSSM to reach 125 GeV. It is conceivable that the Yukawa couplings to the singlet S, although naively blowing up close to $Λ$, will not spoil gauge coupling unification. In such a case the unified coupling $α_X$ could be interestingly led to a value not far from unity, thus providing a possible explanation for the number of generations. The characteristic signal is an enhanced resonant production of neutral spin zero particles at LHC, that could even explain the putative diphoton resonance hinted by the recent LHC data at 750 GeV.
The collection of a few anomalies in semileptonic $B$-decays invites to speculate about the emergence of some strikingly new phenomena. Here we offer a possible interpretation of these anomalies in the context of a weakly broken $U(2)^5$ flavour symmetry and lepto-quark mediators.
Based on an explicit model, we propose and discuss the generic features of a possible implementation of the Twin Higgs program in the context of composite Higgs models. We find that the Twin Higgs quadratic divergence cancellation argument can be uplifted to a genuine protection of the Higgs potential, based on symmetries and selection rules, but only under certain conditions which are not fulfilled in some of the existing models. We also find that a viable scenario, not plagued by a massless Twin Photon, can be obtained by not gauging the Twin Hypercharge and taking this as the only source of Twin Symmetry breaking at a very high scale.
Minimal Flavour Violation in its strong or weak versions, based on $U(3)^3$ and $U(2)^3$ respectively, allows suitable extensions of the Standard Model at the TeV scale to comply with current flavour constraints in the quark sector. Here we discuss considerations analogous to MFV in the context of $SU(5)$-unification, showing the new effects/constraints that arise both in the quark as in the lepton sector, where quantitative statements can be made controlled by the CKM matrix elements. The case of supersymmetry is examined in detail as a particularly motivated example. Third generation sleptons and neutralinos in the few hundred GeV range are shown to be compatible with current constraints.
The test of the electroweak corrections has played a major role in providing evidence for the gauge and the Higgs sectors of the Standard Model. At the same time the consideration of the electroweak corrections has given significant indirect information on the masses of the top and the Higgs boson before their discoveries and important orientation/constraints on the searches for new physics, still highly valuable in the present situation.The progression of these contributions is reviewed.
Is the weak scale natural? This ever pending question makes the search for new particle production a highly motivated primary goal of the next LHC phase. These searches may or may not be successful. While waiting for a needed higher energy collider to extend the direct exploration, the search for signs of new physics might be confined to indirect tests for quite some time. In a few fully calculable models, weakly or semi-strongly interacting, we compare the significance to measure the Higgs couplings versus the electroweak observables.
Based on flavour symmetries only, there are two ways to give rise to an effective description of flavour physics in the quark sector close to the CKM picture: one is based on $U(3)_q\times U(3)_u\times U(3)_d$ (or equivalent) and the other on $U(2)_q\times U(2)_u\times U(2)_d$ (or equivalent). In this context we analyze the current status of flavour physics measurements and we compare their impact, in the specific case of supersymmetry, with the direct searches of new particles at the LHC, present or foreseen.
Now that one has been found, the search for signs of more scalars is a primary task of current and future experiments. In the motivated hypothesis that the extra Higgs bosons of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) be the lightest new particles around, we outline a possible overall strategy to search for signs of the CP-even states. This work complements Ref. arXiv:1304.3670.
I summarize the status of the ElectroWeak Interactions after the first phase of the Large Hadron Collider and I give an outlook on its possible developments.
The Next to Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with a Higgs-singlet coupling λ close to unity, moderate tan β and stop masses below 1 TeV minimizes the fine tuning of the electroweak scale, making possible that the lightest new particles, except perhaps for the LSP, be part of the extended Higgs system. We show how the measurements of the couplings of the 126 GeV Higgs boson constrain the region of the physical parameters of a generic NMSSM most relevant to this context. In the same region of parameter space we determine the cross section for the production of a heavier CP-even scalar together with its total width and its most relevant branching ratios. For comparison we show the same analysis for the MSSM. We also comment on how a coupling λ ~ 1 can be compatible with gauge coupling unification.
I describe some of the highlights of ICHEP2012 with an eye to the current status of particle physics.
A composite Higgs boson of 125 GeV mass, only mildly fine-tuned, requires top partners with a semi-perturbative coupling and a mass not greater than about a TeV. We analyze the strong constraints on such picture arising from flavour and electroweak precision tests in models of partial compositeness. We consider different representations for the composite fermions and compare the case of an anarchic flavour structure to models with a U(3)^3 and U(2)^3 flavour symmetry. Although non trivially, some models emerge that look capable of accommodating a 125 GeV Higgs boson with top partners in an interesting mass range for discovery at the LHC as well as associated flavour signals.
We consider the approximate U(2)^3 flavour symmetry exhibited by the quark sector of the Standard Model and all its possible breaking terms appearing in the quark Yukawa couplings. Taking an Effective Field Theory point of view, we determine the current bounds on these parameters, assumed to control the breaking of flavour in a generic extension of the Standard Model at a reference scale Lambda. In particular, a significant bound from epsilon'/epsilon is derived, which is relevant to Minimal Flavour Violation as well. In the up-quark sector, the recently observed CP violation in D -> pi+ pi-, K+ K- decays might be accounted for in this generic framework, consistently with any other constraint.
The quark sector of the Standard Model exhibits an approximate U(2)^3 flavour symmetry. This symmetry, broken in specific directions dictated by minimality, can explain the success of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa picture of flavour mixing and CP violation, confirmed by the data so far, while allowing for observable deviations from it, as expected in most models of ElectroWeak Symmetry Breaking. Building on previous work in the specific context of supersymmetry, we analyze the expected effects and we quantify the current bounds in a general Effective Field Theory framework. As a further relevant example we then show how the U(2)^3 symmetry and its breaking can be implemented in a generic composite Higgs model and we make a first analysis of its peculiar consequences. We also discuss how some partial extension of U(2)^3 to the lepton sector can arise, both in general and in composite Higgs models. An optimistic though conceivable interpretation of the considerations developed in this paper gives reasons to think that new physics searches in the flavour sector may be about to explore an interesting realm of phenomena.