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Rikard Enberg

Publications and source records attributed to Rikard Enberg.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Electroweak production of Higgs boson pairs in 2HDMs

One of the main features of a Two-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) is the presence of two additional neutral Higgs states, besides the one mimicking the ~125 GeV state observed at the LHC. The three Higgs bosons of a 2HDM can be produced at the LHC either singly via gluon fusion or in pairs with each other. When analyzing their pair production, the emphasis is laid on gluon-initiated processes, and the electroweak (EW) production is generally not treated on the same footing, assuming its contribution to be highly subleading. We show here that when the sum of the masses of the lightest scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons in the Type-I 2HDM is smaller than the Z-boson mass, their EW pair production can dominate over QCD pair production by orders of magnitude.

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Hard color singlet BFKL exchange and gaps between jets at the LHC

We explore the perturbative QCD dynamics of hard parton-parton scattering through the exchange of a color singlet two-gluon ladder as described by the BFKL equation, resulting in a rapidity gap between two high transverse momentum jets. Implementing this in a complete Monte Carlo event simulation that also accounts for additional QCD processes at softer scales provides dynamical modeling of gap survival probabilities, which makes possible a detailed comparison with data on such jet-gap-jet events. New data from CMS at the LHC extend the dynamic range of the previous Tevatron data, and can be reproduced reasonably well provided that the Soft Color Interaction model is modified based on the idea of reduced resolution power of softer gluon exchanges. This indicates the need for further theoretical developments in connection with other color exchange processes related to rapidity gaps in the hadronic final state.

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Heavy photophilic scalar at the LHC from a varying electromagnetic coupling

We investigate the phenomenology of a heavy scalar $ϕ$ of the type involved in Bekenstein's framework for varying electromagnetic coupling theories, with the difference that the scalar in our model has a large mass. The model has only two free parameters, the mass $M_ϕ$ of the scalar and the scale $Λ$ of new physics. The scalar is dominantly produced through photon-photon fusion at the LHC and leads to a diphoton final state. It can also be produced by quark-antiquark fusion in association with a photon or a fermion pair. Its dominating decay is to diphotons, but it also has a large three-body branching to a fermion pair and a photon, which can provide an interesting search channel with a dilepton-photon resonance. We derive exclusion limits on the $M_ϕ-Λ$ plane from the latest 13 TeV LHC diphoton resonance search data. For a benchmark mass of $M_ϕ\sim 1$ TeV, we find a lower limit on $Λ$ of 18 TeV. We discuss the more complex possibility of varying couplings in the full electroweak theory and comment on the possibility that the new physics is related to extra dimensions or string theory.

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Electroweak production of light scalar-pseudoscalar pairs from extended Higgs sectors

In models with extended Higgs sectors, it is possible that the Higgs boson discovered at the LHC is not the lightest one. We show that in a realistic model (the Type I 2-Higgs Doublet Model), when the sum of the masses of a light scalar and a pseudoscalar ($h$ and $A$) is smaller than the $Z$ boson mass, the Electroweak (EW) production of an $hA$ pair can dominate over QCD production by orders of magnitude, a fact not previously highlighted. This is because in the $gg$-initiated process, $hA$ production via a resonant $Z$ in the $s$-channel is prohibited according to the Landau-Yang theorem, which is not the case for the $q\bar{q}$-initiated process. We explore the parameter space of the model to highlight regions giving such $hA$ solutions while being consistent with all constraints from collider searches, $b$-physics and EW precision data. We also single out a few benchmark points to discuss their salient features, including the $hA$ search channels that can be exploited at Run II of the LHC.

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Prompt atmospheric neutrino flux from the various QCD models

We evaluate the prompt atmospheric neutrino flux using the different QCD models for heavy quark production including the $b$ quark contribution. We include the nuclear correction and find it reduces the fluxes by $10 \% - 50\%$ according to the models. Our heavy quark results are compared with experimental data from RHIC, LHC and LHCb.

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Prompt atmospheric neutrino flux

We evaluate the prompt atmospheric neutrino flux including nuclear correction and $B$ hadron contribution in the different frameworks: NLO perturbative QCD and dipole models. The nuclear effect is larger in the prompt neutrino flux than in the total charm production cross section, and it reduces the fluxes by $10\% - 30\%$ depending on the model. We also investigate the uncertainty using the QCD scales allowed by the charm cross section data from RHIC and LHC experiments.

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Prompt atmospheric neutrino fluxes: perturbative QCD models and nuclear effects

We evaluate the prompt atmospheric neutrino flux at high energies using three different frameworks for calculating the heavy quark production cross section in QCD: NLO perturbative QCD, $k_T$ factorization including low-$x$ resummation, and the dipole model including parton saturation. We use QCD parameters, the value for the charm quark mass and the range for the factorization and renormalization scales that provide the best description of the total charm cross section measured at fixed target experiments, at RHIC and at LHC. Using these parameters we calculate differential cross sections for charm and bottom production and compare with the latest data on forward charm meson production from LHCb at $7$ TeV and at $13$ TeV, finding good agreement with the data. In addition, we investigate the role of nuclear shadowing by including nuclear parton distribution functions (PDF) for the target air nucleus using two different nuclear PDF schemes. Depending on the scheme used, we find the reduction of the flux due to nuclear effects varies from $10\%$ to $50 \%$ at the highest energies. Finally, we compare our results with the IceCube limit on the prompt neutrino flux, which is already providing valuable information about some of the QCD models.

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Constraining minimal anomaly free $\mathrm{U}(1)$ extensions of the Standard Model

We consider a class of minimal anomaly free $\mathrm{U}(1)$ extensions of the Standard Model with three generations of right-handed neutrinos and a complex scalar. Using electroweak precision constraints, new 13 TeV LHC data, and considering theoretical limitations such as perturbativity, we show that it is possible to constrain a wide class of models. By classifying these models with a single parameter, $κ$, we can put a model independent upper bound on the new $\mathrm{U}(1)$ gauge coupling $g_z$. We find that the new dilepton data puts strong bounds on the parameters, especially in the mass region $M_{Z'}\lesssim 3~ \mathrm{TeV}$.

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The 750 GeV excess from photon-photon and quark-quark processes

The observed excess in the diphoton mass spectrum around 750 GeV at the 13 TeV LHC possibly indicates the presence of a photonphilic resonance. We show that the excess can be explained by a scalar of the type involved in Bekenstein's framework for varying electromagnetic coupling theories. The scalar, in our model, couples dominantly to photons and is mainly produced by the quark-quark fusion at the LHC. In addition, it can also be produced in photon-photon fusion. Our model has only two free parameters, the mass of the scalar and the scale of the new physics, which are fixed by the LHC excess to 750 GeV and 1.5 - 2 TeV, respectively. The scalar has a large three-body decay to a fermion pair and a photon, which provides an interesting search channel with a dilepton-photon resonance around 750 GeV.

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Prospects for higgsino-singlino dark matter detection at IceCube and PINGU

We study neutralino dark matter (DM) with large singlino fractions in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). We perform a detailed analysis of the parameter space regions of the model that give rise to such singlino-dominated neutralinos while satisfying the constraints from Higgs boson searches at the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), as well as from b-physics experiments. We find that this DM can yield a thermal relic density consistent with the Planck measurement in mass regions where the lightest neutralino of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) generally cannot. This is particularly true for lighter DM masses, either less than 10 GeV or between 60-100 GeV, and for heavier DM masses, between 500-1000 GeV. We then analyse the prospects for indirect detection of such DM at the IceCube neutrino telescope, assuming the complete 86-string configuration including DeepCore. We also consider the added sensitivity to low-mass DM with the proposed PINGU extension. We find that IceCube is sensitive to some regions of the NMSSM parameter space containing singlino-dominated DM and that a subset of such model points are already ruled out by the IceCube one-year data. IceCube will also be sensitive to some parameter space regions that will not be probed by the upcoming ton-scale direct detection experiments. Moreover, we find that PINGU will be sensitive to DM in the 10 GeV range.

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Perturbative charm production and the prompt atmospheric neutrino flux in light of RHIC and LHC

We re-evaluate the prompt atmospheric neutrino flux, using the measured charm cross sections at RHIC and the Large Hadron Collider to constrain perturbative QCD parameters such as the factorization and renormalization scales, as well as modern parton distribution functions and recent estimates of the cosmic-ray spectra. We find that our result for the prompt neutrino flux is lower than previous perturbative QCD estimates and, consequently, alters the signal-to-background statistics of the recent IceCube measurements at high energies.

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$H^\pm$ in the $W^\pm h$ channel at the LHC Run 2

We analyse the discovery prospects of the charged Higgs boson, $H^\pm$, via its decay in the $W^\pm h$ channel in the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) as well as several 2-Higgs Doublet Models (2HDMs). $h$, the lightest scalar Higgs boson in these models, is identified with the recently discovered $\sim 125$ GeV state, $H_\text{obs}$, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We find that, while it provides an important input in the kinematic selection of signal events, the measured $H_\text{obs}$ mass renders this channel inaccessible in the MSSM. In the 2HDMs though, through a dedicated signal-to-background analysis for the $pp\to t(\bar{b})H^-\to \ell^\pmν_\ell jj bb\bar{b}(\bar{b})$+h.c process, we establish that some parameter space regions will be testable at the LHC with $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV.

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Higgs phenomenology in the Stealth Doublet Model

We analyze a model for the Higgs sector with two scalar doublets and a $Z_2$ symmetry that is manifest in the Yukawa sector but broken in the potential. Thus, one of the doublets breaks the electroweak symmetry and has tree-level Yukawa couplings to fermions, whereas the other doublet has no vacuum expectation value and no tree-level couplings to fermions. Since the $Z_2$ parity is broken the two doublets can mix, which leads to a distinct and novel phenomenology. This Stealth Doublet Model can be seen as a generalization of the Inert Doublet Model with a broken $Z_2$ symmetry. We outline the model and present constraints from theory, electroweak precision tests and collider searches, including the recent observation of a Higgs boson at the LHC. The charged scalar $H^\pm$ and the CP-odd scalar $A$ couple to fermions at one-loop level. We compute the decays of $H^\pm$ and $A$ and in particular the one-loop decays $A \to f \bar{f}$, $H^\pm \to f \bar{f}^\prime $, $H^\pm \to W^\pm Z $ and $H^\pm \to W^\pm γ$. We also describe how to calculate and renormalize such processes in our model. We find that if one of $H^\pm$ or $A$ is the lightest scalar, $H^\pm \to W^\pm γ$ or $ A \to b \bar{b} $ are typically their respective dominating decay channels. Otherwise, the dominating decays of $H^\pm$ and $A$ are into a scalar and a vector. Due to the absence of tree-level fermion couplings for $H^\pm$ and $A$, we consider pair production and associated production with vector bosons and scalars at the LHC. If the parameter space of the model that favors $H^\pm \to W^\pm γ$ is realized in Nature, we estimate that there could be a considerable amount of such events in the present LHC data.

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Charged Higgs boson in the $W^\pm$ Higgs channel at the Large Hadron Collider

In light of the recent discovery of a neutral Higgs boson, $H_{\rm obs}$, with a mass near 125 GeV, we reassess the LHC discovery potential of a charged Higgs boson, $H^\pm$, in the $W^\pm H_{\rm obs}$ decay channel. This decay channel can be particularly important for a $H^\pm$ heavier than the top quark, when it is produced through the $pp \rightarrow tH^\pm$ process. The knowledge of the mass of $H_{\rm obs}$ provides an additional handle in the kinematic selection when reconstructing a Breit-Wigner resonance in the $H_{\rm obs} \rightarrow b\bar{b}$ decay channel. We consider some extensions of the Standard Model Higgs sector, with and without supersymmetry, and perform a dedicated signal-to-background analysis to test the scope of this channel for the LHC running at the design energy (14 TeV), for 300/fb (standard) and 3000/fb (high) integrated luminosities. We find that, while this channel does not show much promise for a supersymmetric $H^\pm$ state, significant portions of the parameter spaces of several two-Higgs doublet models are testable.

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Search for Charged Higgs bosons via decays to $W^\pm$ and a 125 GeV Higgs at the Large Hadron Collider

The recent observation of a 125 GeV neutral Higgs boson ($H_{\rm obs}$) provides additional input for charged Higgs boson searches in the $H^\pm \to W^\pm H_{\rm obs}$ decay channel at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We reassess the discovery potential in this channel, which is important for $H^\pm$ heavier than the top quark mass. When $H_{\rm obs}$ decays to a $b\bar{b}$ pair, knowledge of the Higgs mass aids in the kinematic selection of signal events. We perform a signal-to-background analysis to demonstrate the LHC prospects for charged Higgs discovery in the resulting channel $pp\to t(\bar{b})H^-\to \ell^\pmν_\ell jj bb\bar{b}(\bar{b})$+h.c. for standard (300 fb$^{-1}$) and high (3000 fb$^{-1}$) luminosities at design energy, $\sqrt{s}=14 {\rm TeV}$. We find that regions of the parameter space of several two-Higgs doublet models, consistent with constraints from LHC Higgs searches and $b$-physics observables, are testable in this channel.

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Higgs properties in a broken Inert Doublet Model

We consider a model for the Higgs sector with two scalar doublets and a broken $Z_2$ symmetry, the Stealth Doublet Model, where the $Z_2$ symmetry is manifest in the Yukawa sector but broken by the scalar potential. This model can be seen as a generalization of the Inert Doublet Model. One of the doublets is the Higgs doublet that participates in electroweak symmetry breaking and couples to fermions. The other doublet does not couple to fermions at tree level and does not acquire a vacuum expectation value. The broken $Z_2$ symmetry leads to interesting phenomenology such as mixing between the two doublets and charged and CP-odd scalars that can be light and have unusual decay channels. We present theoretical and experimental constraints on the model and consider the recent observation of a Higgs boson at the LHC. The data on the $H\toγγ$ channel can be naturally accommodated in the model, with either the lightest or the heaviest CP-even scalar playing the role of the observed particle.

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Charm decay in slow-jet supernovae as the origin of the IceCube ultra-high energy neutrino events

We investigate whether the recent ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrino events detected at the IceCube neutrino observatory could come from the decay of charmed mesons produced within the mildly relativistic jets of supernova-like astrophysical sources. We demonstrate that the $5.7σ$ excess of neutrinos observed by IceCube in the energy range 30 TeV--2 PeV can be explained by a diffuse flux of neutrinos produced in such slow-jet supernovae, using the values of astrophysical and QCD parameters within the theoretical uncertainties associated with neutrino production from charmed meson decay in astrophysical sources. We discuss the theoretical uncertainties inherent in the evaluation of charm production in high energy hadronic collisions, as well as the astrophysical uncertainties associated with slow-jet supernova sources. The proton flux within the source, and therefore also the produced neutrino flux, is cut off at around a few PeV, when proton cooling processes become dominant over proton acceleration. This directly explains the sudden drop in event rates at energies above a few PeV. We incorporate the effect of energy dependence in the spectrum-weighted charm production cross-section and show that this has a very significant effect on the shape, magnitude and cut-off energies for the neutrino flux.

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Neutrinos from charm production in the atmosphere

Atmospheric neutrinos are produced in interactions of cosmic rays with Earth's atmosphere. At very high energy, the contribution from semi-leptonic decays of charmed hadrons, known as the prompt neutrino flux, dominates over the conventional flux from pion and kaon decays. This is due to the very short lifetime of the charmed hadrons, which therefore do not lose energy before they decay. The calculation of this process is difficult because the Bjorken-x at which the parton distribution functions are evaluated is very small. This is a region where QCD is not well understood, and large logarithms must be resummed. Available parton distribution functions are not known at such small x and extrapolations must be made. Theoretically, the fast rise of the structure functions for small x ultimately leads to parton saturation. This contribution describes the "ERS" calculation of the prompt neutrino flux, which includes parton saturation effects in the QCD production cross section of charm quarks. The ERS flux calculation is used by e.g. the IceCube collaboration as a standard benchmark background. We are now updating this calculation to take into account the recent LHC data on the charm cross section, as well as recent theoretical developments in QCD. Some of the issues involved in this calculation are described.

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