arXiv subjects

Tim M. P. Tait

Publications and source records attributed to Tim M. P. Tait.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Direct Mass Limits for Chiral Fourth-Generation Quarks in All Mixing Scenarios

Present limits on chiral fourth-generation quark masses $m_{b'}$ and $m_{t'}$ are broadly generalized and strengthened by combining both $t'$ and $b'$ decays and considering the full range of $t'$ and $b'$ flavor-mixing scenarios (with the lighter generations). Various characteristic mass-splitting choices are considered. With $m_{t'} > m_{b'}$ we find that CDF limits on the $b'$ mass vary by no more than 10-20% with any choice of flavor-mixing, while for the $t'$ mass, we typically find stronger bounds, in some cases up to $m_{t'} > 430$ GeV. For $m_{b'} > m_{t'}$ we find $m_{b'} > 380 - 430$ GeV, depending on the flavor-mixing and the size of the $m_{t'} - m_{b'}$ mass splitting.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Higgs in Space!

We consider the possibility that the Higgs can be produced in dark matter annihilations, appearing as a line in the spectrum of gamma rays at an energy determined by the masses of the WIMP and the Higgs itself. We argue that this phenomenon occurs generally in models in which the the dark sector has large couplings to the most massive states of the SM and provide a simple example inspired by the Randall-Sundrum vision of dark matter, whose 4d dual corresponds to electroweak symmetry-breaking by strong dynamics which respect global symmetries that guarantee a stable WIMP. The dark matter is a Dirac fermion that couples to a Z' acting as a portal to the Standard Model through its strong coupling to top quarks. Annihilation into light standard model degrees of freedom is suppressed and generates a feeble continuum spectrum of gamma rays. Loops of top quarks mediate annihilation into gamma Z, gamma h, and gamma Z', providing a forest of lines in the spectrum. Such models can be probed by the Fermi/GLAST satellite and ground-based Air Cherenkov telescopes.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Explorations of the Top Quark Forward-Backward Asymmetry at the Tevatron

We consider the recent measurement of the top quark forward-backward asymmetry at the Fermilab Tevatron, which shows a discrepancy of slightly more than 2$σ$ compared to the SM prediction. We find that $t$-channel exchange of a color sextet or triplet scalar particle can explain the measurement, while leaving the cross section for $t \bar{t}$ production within measured uncertainties. Such particles have good discovery prospects by study of the kinematic structure of $t \bar{t}$+jets at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Manifestations of Top Compositeness at Colliders

We explore the possibility that the right-handed top quark is composite, identifying possible signatures of compositeness and how they might manifest themselves at the LHC and Tevatron. We perform a complete analysis of the dimension six modifications of the top coupling to gluons and find that cancellations among operators in the t\bar{t} rate allow for very low compositeness scales, but this can be drastically improved by looking at kinematic distributions. Turning to the LHC, we examine four top production from a dimension six four-top operator and estimate the LHC with 100 {\rm fb}^{-1} collected luminosity to be sensitive to compositeness scales as high as 5 TeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Extended MSSM Neutralinos as the Source of the PAMELA Positron Excess

We consider a scenario within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model extended by a singlet chiral superfield, in which neutralino dark matter annihilates to light singlet-like Higgs bosons, which proceed to decay to either electron-positron or muon-antimuon pairs. Unlike neutralino annihilations in the MSSM, this model can provide a good fit to the PAMELA cosmic ray positron fraction excess. Furthermore, the singlet-like scalar Higgs can induce a large Sommerfeld enhancement and provide an annihilation rate sufficient to accommodate the observed positron excess.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Seeking Sgluons

Scalar gluons -- or sgluons -- are color octet scalars without electroweak charges. They occur in supersymmetric models of Dirac gauginos as the scalar partners of the gluino and carry Standard-Model type R charge. This allows them to interact with ordinary matter and to be produced at the LHC, singly as well as in pairs. Sgluons dominantly decay into gluons, top pairs, and a top quark plus a light quark. A pair of sgluons decaying into like-sign tops would provide a striking signature at the LHC. In our discussion of this channel we especially focus on the proper treatment of QCD jets.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

The WIMP Forest: Indirect Detection of a Chiral Square

The spectrum of photons arising from WIMP annihilation carries a detailed imprint of the structure of the dark sector. In particular, loop-level annihilations into a photon and another boson can in principle lead to a series of lines (a WIMP forest) at energies up to the WIMP mass. A specific model which illustrates this feature nicely is a theory of two universal extra dimensions compactified on a chiral square. Aside from the continuum emission, which is a generic prediction of most dark matter candidates, we find a "forest" of prominent annihilation lines that, after convolution with the angular resolution of current experiments, leads to a distinctive (2-bump plus continuum) spectrum, which may be visible in the near future with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

WIMPonium

We explore the possibility that weakly interacting dark matter can form bound states - WIMPonium. Such states are expected in a wide class of models of particle dark matter, including some limits of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We examine the conditions under which we expect bound states to occur, and use analogues of NRQCD applied to heavy quarkonia to provide estimates for their properties, including couplings to the Standard Model. We further find that it may be possible to produce WIMPonium at the LHC, and explore the properties of the WIMP that can be inferred from measurements of the WIMPonium states.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Top Compositeness at the Tevatron and LHC

We explore the possibility that the right-handed top quark is composite. We examine the consequences that compositeness would have on $t \bar{t}$ production at the Tevatron, and derive a weak constraint on the scale of compositeness of order a few hundred GeV from the $t \bar{t}$ inclusive cross section. More detailed studies of differential properties of $t \bar{t}$ production could potentially improve this limit. We find that a composite top can result in an enhancement of the $t \bar{t} t \bar{t}$ production rate at the LHC (of as much as $10^3$ compared to the Standatd Model four top rate). We explore observables which allow us to extract the four top rate from the backgrounds, and show that the LHC can either discover or constrain top compositeness for wide ranges of parameter space.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Kaluza-Klein Gluons as a Diagnostic of Warped Models

We study the properties of $g^{1}$, the first excited state of the gluon in representative variants of the Randall Sundrum model with the Standard Model fields in the bulk. We find that measurements of the coupling to light quarks (from the inclusive cross-section for $pp\to g^{1} \to t\bar t$), the coupling to bottom quarks (from the rate of $pp\to g^{1} b$), as well as the overall width, can provide powerful discriminants between the models. In models with large brane kinetic terms, the $g^1$ resonance can even potentially be discovered decaying into dijets against the large QCD background. We also derive bounds based on existing Tevatron searches for resonant $t \bar{t}$ production and find that they require $M_{g^{1}} \gtrsim 950$ GeV. In addition we explore the pattern of interference between the $g^1$ signal and the non-resonant SM background, defining an asymmetry parameter for the invariant mass distribution. The interference probes the relative signs of the couplings of the $g^{1}$ to light quark pairs and to $t\bar t$, and thus provides an indication that the top is localized on the other side of the extra dimension from the light quarks, as is typical in the RS framework.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Four Generations and Higgs Physics

In the light of the LHC, we revisit the implications of a fourth generation of chiral matter. We identify a specific ensemble of particle masses and mixings that are in agreement with all current experimental bounds as well as minimize the contributions to electroweak precision observables. Higgs masses between 115-315 (115-750) GeV are allowed by electroweak precision data at the 68% and 95% CL. Within this parameter space, there are dramatic effects on Higgs phenomenology: production rates are enhanced, weak-boson-fusion channels are suppressed, angular distributions are modified, and Higgs pairs can we observed. We also identify exotic signals, such as Higgs decay to same-sign dileptons. Finally, we estimate the upper bound on the cutoff scale from vacuum stability and triviality.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Baryogenesis from an Earlier Phase Transition

We explore the possibility that the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe is the result of an earlier phase transition in which an extended gauge sector breaks down into the $SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$ of the Standard Model. Our proto-typical example is the Topflavor model, in which there is a separate $SU(2)_1$ for the third generation from the $SU(2)_2$ felt by the first two generations. We show that the breakdown of $SU(2)_1 \times SU(2)_2 \to SU(2)_L$ results in lepton number being asymmetrically distributed through-out the three families, and provided the SM electroweak phase transition is {\em not} strongly first order, results in a non-zero baryon number, which for parameter choices that can be explored at the LHC, may explain the observed baryon asymmetry.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

A Fat Higgs with a Fat Top

A new variant of the supersymmetric Fat Higgs model is presented in which the MSSM Higgses as well as the top quark are composite. The underlying theory is an s-confining SU(3) gauge theory with the MSSM gauge groups realized as gauged sub-groups of the chiral flavor symmetries. This motivates the large Yukawas necessary for the large top mass and SM-like Higgs of mass>>M_Z in a natural way as the residual of the strong dynamics responsible for the composites. This removes fine-tuning associated with these couplings present in the original Fat Higgs and New Fat Higgs models, respectively.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Measuring the W-t-b Interaction at the ILC

The large top quark mass suggests that the top plays a pivotal role in Electroweak symmetry-breaking dynamics and, as a result, may have modified couplings to Electroweak bosons. Hadron colliders can provide measurements of these couplings at the ~10% level, and one of the early expected triumphs of the International Linear Collider is to reduce these uncertainties to the per cent level. In this article, we propose the first direct measurement of the Standard Model W-t-b coupling at the ILC, from measurements of t tbar-like signals below the t tbar production threshold. We estimate that the ILC with 100 fb^{-1} can measure a combination of the coupling and top width to high precision, and when combined with a direct measurement of the top width from the above-threshold scan, results in a model-independent measurement of the W-t-b interaction of the order of ~ 3%.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Warped Fermions and Precision Tests

We analyze the behavior of Standard Model matter propagating in a slice of AdS_5 in the presence of infrared-brane kinetic terms. Brane kinetic terms are naturally generated through radiative corrections and can also be present at tree level. The effect of the brane kinetic terms is to expell the heavy KK modes from the infrared-brane, and hence to reduce their coupling to the localized Higgs field. In a previous work we showed that sizable gauge kinetic terms can allow KK mode masses as low as a few TeV, compatible with present precision measurements. We study here the effect of fermion brane kinetic terms and show that they ameliorate the behavior of the theory for third generation fermions localized away from the infrared brane, reduce the contribution of the third generation quarks to the oblique correction parameters and mantain a good fit to the precision electroweak data for values of the KK masses of the order of the weak scale.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Z-prime Gauge Bosons at the Tevatron

We study the discovery potential of the Tevatron for a Z-prime gauge boson. We introduce a parametrization of the Z-prime signal which provides a convenient bridge between collider searches and specific Z-prime models. The cross section for p pbar -> Z-prime X -> l^+ l^- X depends primarily on the Z-prime mass and the Z-prime decay branching fraction into leptons times the average square coupling to up and down quarks. If the quark and lepton masses are generated as in the standard model, then the Z-prime bosons accessible at the Tevatron must couple to fermions proportionally to a linear combination of baryon and lepton numbers in order to avoid the limits on Z--Z-prime mixing. More generally, we present several families of U(1) extensions of the standard model that include as special cases many of the Z-prime models discussed in the literature. Typically, the CDF and D0 experiments are expected to probe Z-prime-fermion couplings down to 0.1 for Z-prime masses in the 500--800 GeV range, which in various models would substantially improve the limits set by the LEP experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Running into New Territory in SUSY Parameter Space

The LEP-II bound on the light Higgs mass rules out the vast majority of parameter space left to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with weak-scale soft-masses. This suggests the importance of exploring extensions of the MSSM with non-minimal Higgs physics. In this article, we explore a theory with an additional singlet superfield and an extended gauge sector. The theory has a number of novel features compared to both the MSSM and Next-to-MSSM, including easily realizing a light CP-even Higgs mass consistent with LEP-II limits, tan(beta) < 1, and a lightest Higgs which is charged. These features are achieved while remaining consistent with perturbative unification and without large stop-masses. Discovery modes at the Tevatron and LHC are discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

The Higgs Mass Bound in Gauge Extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

The minimal supersymmetric standard model, and extensions, have stringent upper bounds on the mass of the lightest Higgs boson if perturbativity up to the Planck scale is assumed. We argue that these bounds are softened tremendously if the Higgs is charged under an asymptotically free gauge group. We present a model with an additional SU(2) gauge group which easily produces Higgs masses above 200 GeV while avoiding electroweak constraints. If one allows some fine-tuning of the high-scale value of the gauge coupling, Higgs masses greater than 350 GeV are achieved. Unification of couplings is predicted to similar accuracy as in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with only small deviations at the two-loop level.

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