arXiv subjects

Stephen M. West

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen M. West.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Heavy Dark Matter Through the Higgs Portal

Motivated by Higgs Portal and Hidden Valley models, heavy particle dark matter that communicates with the supersymmetric Standard Model via pure Higgs sector interactions is considered. We show that a thermal relic abundance consistent with the measured density of dark matter is possible for masses up to $\sim 30\tev$. For dark matter masses above $\sim 1\tev$, non-perturbative Sommerfeld corrections to the annihilation rate are large, and have the potential to greatly affect indirect detection signals. For large dark matter masses, the Higgs-dark-matter-sector couplings are large and we show how such models may be given a UV completion within the context of so-called "Fat-Higgs" models. Higgs Portal dark matter provides an example of an attractive alternative to conventional MSSM neutralino dark matter that may evade discovery at the LHC, while still being within the reach of current and upcoming indirect detection experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Anomaly Holography

We consider, in the effective field theory context, anomalies of gauge field theories on a slice of a five-dimensional, Anti-de Sitter geometry and their four-dimensional, holographic duals. A consistent effective field theory description can always be found, notwithstanding the presence of the anomalies and without modifying the degrees of freedom of the theory. If anomalies do not vanish, the d=4 theory contains additional pseudoscalar states, which are either present in the low-energy theory as physical, light states, or are eaten by (would-be massless) gauge bosons. We show that the pseudoscalars ensure that global anomalies of the four-dimensional dual satisfy the 't Hooft matching condition and comment on the relevance for warped models of electroweak symmetry breaking.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Non-Perturbative Flat Direction Decay

We argue that supersymmetric flat direction vacuum expectation values can decay non-perturbatively via preheating. Considering a toy U(1) gauge theory, we explicitly calculate the scalar potential, in the unitary gauge, for excitations around several flat directions. We show that the mass matrix for the excitations has non-diagonal entries which vary with the phase of the flat direction vacuum expectation value. Furthermore, this mass matrix has zero eigenvalues whose eigenstates change with time. We show that these light degrees of freedom are produced copiously in the non-perturbative decay of the flat direction vacuum expectation value.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Improved Higgs Naturalness with Supersymmetry

We present a supersymmetric model of electroweak symmetry-breaking exhibiting improved naturalness, wherein the stop mass can be pushed beyond the reach of the Large Hadron Collider without unnatural fine tuning. This implies that supersymmetry may still solve the hierarchy problem, even if it eludes detection at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Mixed Sneutrino Dark Matter and the Ratio Omega(b)/Omega(dm)

It is known that the cosmological baryon density ($Ω_{\rm{b}}$) and dark matter density ($Ω_{\rm{dm}}$) have strikingly similar values. However, in most theories of the early Universe, each density is explained by separate dynamics and consequently there is no compelling reason for this observation. In this note, I briefly review a model in which the dark matter species possesses a particle-antiparticle asymmetry. This asymmetry determines both the baryon asymmetry and strongly affects the dark matter density, thus naturally linking $Ω_{\rm{b}}$ and $Ω_{\rm{dm}}$. In these models it is shown that sneutrinos can play the role of such dark matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Improved Higgs Naturalness With or Without Supersymmetry

Many models of electroweak symmetry-breaking with an extended Higgs sector exhibit improved naturalness, wherein the new physics scale, at which quadratic divergences of Higgs mass parameters due to top quark loops are cut off, can be pushed beyond the reach of the Large Hadron Collider without unnatural fine tuning. Such models include examples where the new physics is supersymmetry, implying that supersymmetry may still solve the hierarchy problem, even if it eludes detection at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Asymmetric Sneutrino Dark Matter

It is known that the cosmological baryon density (Omega(b)) and dark matter density (Omega(dm)) have strikingly similar values. However, in most theories of the early Universe, each density is explained by separate dynamics and consequently there is no compelling reason for this observation. In this note, I briefly review a model in which the dark matter possesses a particle-antiparticle asymmetry. This asymmetry determines both the baryon asymmetry and strongly affects the dark matter density, thus naturally linking Omega(b) and Omega(dm). In these models it is shown that sneutrinos can play the role of such dark matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Asymmetric Sneutrino Dark Matter and the Omega(b)/Omega(DM) Puzzle

The inferred values of the cosmological baryon and dark matter densities are strikingly similar, but in most theories of the early universe there is no true explanation of this fact; in particular, the baryon asymmetry and thus density depends upon unknown, and {\it a priori} unknown and possibly small, CP-violating phases which are independent of all parameters determining the dark matter density. We consider models of dark matter possessing a particle-antiparticle asymmetry where this asymmetry determines both the baryon asymmetry and strongly effects the dark matter density, thus naturally linking $Ω_{\rm{b}}$ and $Ω_{\rm{dm}}$. We show that sneutrinos can play the role of such dark matter in a previously studied variant of the MSSM in which the light neutrino masses result from higher-dimensional supersymmetry-breaking terms.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Naturally Degenerate Right Handed Neutrinos

In the context of supersymmetric theories, a weakly broken gauged SO(3) flavour symmetry is used to produce two highly degenerate right handed (RH) neutrinos. It is then shown that this SO(3) flavour symmetry is compatible with all fermion masses and mixings if it is supplemented with a further SU(3) flavour symmetry. A specific Susy breaking model is used to generate the light neutrino masses as well as a natural model of TeV scale resonant leptogenesis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

TeV scale resonant leptogenesis from supersymmetry breaking

We propose a model of TeV-scale resonant leptogenesis based upon recent models of the generation of light neutrino masses from supersymmetry-breaking effects with TeV-scale right-handed (rhd) neutrinos, $N_i$. The model leads to naturally large cosmological lepton asymmetries via the resonant behaviour of the one-loop self-energy contribution to $N_i$ decay. Our model addresses the primary problems of previous phenomenological studies of low-energy leptogenesis: a rational for TeV-scale rhd neutrinos with small Yukawa couplings so that the out-of equilibrium condition for $N_i$ decay is satisfied; the origin of the tiny, but non-zero mass splitting required between at least two $N_i$ masses; and the necessary non-trivial breaking of flavour symmetries in the rhd neutrino sector. The low mass-scale of the rhd neutrinos and their superpartners, and the TeV-scale $A$-terms automatically contained within the model offer opportunities for partial direct experimental tests of this leptogenesis mechanism at future colliders.

hep-ph↗