arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Vernon Barger.
We show that S-dual inflationary potentials solve the unlikeliness problem manifested in Planck data and explain the excess B-mode power observed by the BICEP2 experiment as arising from primordial tensor fluctuations.
Naturalness arguments applied to supersymmetric theories imply a spectrum containing four light higgsinos \tz_{1,2} and \tw_1^+- with masses ~ 100-300 GeV (the closer to M_Z the more natural). The compressed mass spectrum and associated low energy release from \tw_1 and \tz_2 three-body decay makes higgsinos difficult to detect at LHC14, while the other sparticles might be heavy, and possibly even beyond LHC14 reach. In contrast, the International Linear e^+e^- Collider (ILC) with \sqrt{s}>2m(higgsino) would be a {\it higgsino factory} in addition to a Higgs boson factory and would serve as a discovery machine for natural SUSY! In this case, both chargino and neutralino production %which give rise to distinct event topologies, occur at comparable rates, and lead to observable signals above SM backgrounds. We examine two benchmark cases, one just beyond the LHC8 reach with \tw_1(\tz_2)-\tz_1 mass gap of 15 (21) GeV, and a second more difficult case beyond even the LHC14 reach, where the mass gap is just 10 GeV, close to its minimum in models with no worse than 3% fine-tuning. The signal is characterized by low visible energy events together with MET in the one or two jets +1\ell channel from chargino production, and in the opposite sign, same-flavour, acoplanar dilepton channel from \tz_1\tz_2 production. For both cases, we find that the signal is observable above backgrounds from the usual 2-> 2 SM events and from γγcollisions with just a few fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity. We also show that with an integrated luminosity of 100~fb^{-1}, it should be possible to extract \tw_1, \tz_2 and \tz_1 masses to percent level. These measurements would point to higgsinos as the origin of new physics and strongly suggest a link to a natural origin for W, Z and h masses.
Recent null results from LHC8 SUSY searches along with the discovery of a SM-like Higgs boson with mass m(h) ~ 125.5 GeV indicates sparticle masses in the TeV range, causing tension with conventional measures of electroweak fine-tuning. We propose a simple Fine-tuning Rule which should be followed under any credible evaluation of fine-tuning. We believe that overestimates of electroweak fine-tuning by conventional measures all arise from violations of this rule. We show that to gain accord with the Fine-tuning Rule, then both Higgs mass and the traditional Δ_{BG} fine-tuning measures reduce to the model-independent electroweak fine-tuning measure Δ_{EW}. This occurs by combining dependent contributions to m(Z) or m(h) into independent units. Then, using Δ_{EW}, we evaluate EW fine-tuning for a variety of SUSY models including mSUGRA, NUHM1, NUHM2, mGMSB, mAMSB, hyper-charged AMSB and nine cases of mixed moduli-anomaly (mirage) mediated SUSY breaking models (MMAMSB) whilst respecting LHC Higgs mass and B-decay constraints (we do not impose LHC8 sparticle mass constraints due to the possibility of compressed spectra within many of these models). We find mSUGRA, mGMSB, mAMSB and MMAMSB models all to be highly fine-tuned. The NUHM1 model is moderately fine-tuned while NUHM2 which allows for radiatively-driven naturalness (RNS) allows for fine-tuning at a meager 10% level in the case where m(higgsinos) ~ 100-200 GeV and the TeV-scale top squarks are well-mixed. Models with RNS may or may not be detect at LHC14. A \sqrt{s} ~ 500 GeV e^+e^- collider will be required to make a definitive search for the requisite light higgsinos.
The announcement by the IceCube Collaboration of the observation of 28 cosmic neutrino candidates has been greeted with a great deal of justified excitement. The data reported so far depart by 4.3σfrom the expected atmospheric neutrino background, which raises the obvious question: "Where in the Cosmos are these neutrinos coming from?" We review the many possibilities which have been explored in the literature to address this question, including origins at either Galactic or extragalactic celestial objects. For completeness, we also briefly discuss new physics processes which may either explain or be constrained by IceCube data.
The SUSY flavor, CP, gravitino and proton-decay problems are all solved to varying degrees by a decoupling solution wherein first/second generation matter scalars would exist in the multi-TeV regime. Recent models of natural SUSY presumably allow for a co-existence of naturalness with the decoupling solution. We show that: if sfermions are heavier than $\sim 10$ TeV, then a small first/second generation contribution to electroweak fine-tuning (EWFT) requires a rather high degree of intra-generational degeneracy of either 1. (separately) squarks and sleptons, 2. (separately) left- and right-type sfermions, 3. members of SU(5) multiplets, or 4. all members of a single generation as in SO(10). These (partial) degeneracy patterns required by naturalness hint at the necessity of an organizing principle, and highlight the limitations of models such as the pMSSM in the case of decoupled first/second generation scalars.
We study the neutrino oscillation physics performance of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) in various configurations. In particular, we compare the case of a surface detector at the far site augmented by a near detector, to that with the far site detector placed deep underground but no near detector. In the latter case, information from atmospheric neutrino events is also utilized. For values of θ_{13} favored by reactor experiments and a 100 kt-yr exposure, we find roughly equivalent sensitivities to the neutrino mass hierarchy, the octant of θ_{23}, and to CP violation. We also find that as the exposure is increased, the near detector helps increase the sensitivity to CP violation substantially more than atmospheric neutrinos.
We simulate the measurement of the triscalar Higgs coupling at LHC(8,14) via pair production of h(125 GeV). We find that the most promising hh final state is bb gamma gamma. We account for deviations of the triscalar coupling from its SM value and study the effects of this coupling on the hh cross-section and distributions with cut-based and multivariate methods. Our fit to the hh production matrix element at LHC(14) with 3 ab^-1 yields a 40% uncertainty on this coupling in the SM and a range of 25-80% uncertainties for non-SM values.
In this Report we discuss the four complementary searches for the identity of dark matter: direct detection experiments that look for dark matter interacting in the lab, indirect detection experiments that connect lab signals to dark matter in our own and other galaxies, collider experiments that elucidate the particle properties of dark matter, and astrophysical probes sensitive to non-gravitational interactions of dark matter. The complementarity among the different dark matter searches is discussed qualitatively and illustrated quantitatively in several theoretical scenarios. Our primary conclusion is that the diversity of possible dark matter candidates requires a balanced program based on all four of those approaches.
We interpret the PeV shower events observed by the IceCube collaboration as an s-channel enhancement of neutrino-quark scattering by a leptoquark that couples to the tau-flavor and light quarks. With a leptoquark mass of ~ 0.6 TeV and a steep 1/E^{2.3} neutrino flux, charged-current scattering gives shower events at ~ 1 PeV and neutral-current scattering gives shower events at ~ 0.5 PeV. This mechanism is also consistent with the paucity of muon-track events above 100 TeV.
The lack of evidence for superparticles at the CERN LHC, along with the rather high value of the Higgs mass, has sharpened the perception that supersymmetric model parameter space is highly electroweak fine-tuned (EWFT). We compare three measures of fine-tuning in SUSY models. 1. \Del_HS measures a terms containing large log contributions to m_Z that are inevitable in models defined at scales much higher than the electroweak scale. 2. \Del_BG measures variation in m_Z against variation of model parameters and allows for correlations among high scale parameters which are not included in \Del_HS. 3. The model-independent \Del_EW measures how naturally a model can generate the measured value of m_Z=91.2 GeV in terms of weak scale parameters alone. We hypothesize an overarching Ultimate Theory (UTH) wherein the high scale soft terms are all correlated. The UTH might be contained within the more general effective SUSY theories popular in the literature. For \Del_HS, EWFT can be overestimated by neglecting additional non-independent terms which lead to large cancellations. For \Del_BG, EWFT can be overestimated by applying the measure to the effective theories instead of to the UTH. The measure \Del_EW allows for the possibility of parameter correlations which should be present in the UTH and, since it is model-independent, provides the same value of EWFT for the effective theories as should occur for the UTH. We find that the well-known mSUGRA/CMSSM model is fine-tuned under all three measures so that it is unlikely to contain the UTH. The non-universal Higgs model NUHM2 appears fine-tuned with \Del_HS,BG > 10^3. But since \Del_EW can be as small as 7 (corresponding to 14% fine-tuning), it may contain the UTH for parameter ranges which allow for low true EWFT.
The discovery at the LHC of a scalar particle with properties that are so far consistent with the SM Higgs boson is one of the most important advances in the history of particle physics. The challenge of future collider experiments is to determine whether its couplings will show deviations from the SM Higgs, as this would indicate new physics at the TeV scale, and also to probe the flavor structure of the Yukawa couplings. As a benchmark alternative to the SM Higgs, we consider a generic two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) and analyze the precision to which the LHC14, an ILC250, 500, 1000 GeV and a 125 GeV Muon Collider (MC) can determine the gauge and Yukawa couplings. We allow for correlations among the couplings. We include the impact of a Higgs total width measurement, indirectly at the LHC and ILC and by a direct scan at the MC. We also discuss pattern relations among the couplings that can test for singlet or doublet Higgs extensions of 2HDMs.
Imposing electroweak scale naturalness constraints (low Δ_{EW}) on SUSY models leads to mass spectra characterized by light higgsinos ~100-300 GeV, highly mixed top-squarks and gluinos at the 1-5 TeV scale and allows for m_h ~125 GeV. First and second generation squarks can easily live at the 5-20 TeV scale, thus providing at least a partial solution to the SUSY flavor/CP problems. For such models at the LHC, gluino pair production is followed by cascade decays to t- and b-quark rich final states along with multileptons. The reach of LHC14 with 300 fb^{-1} is computed to be around m_{\tg} 1.8 TeV. However, the small magnitude of the μ-parameter-- a necessary condition for naturalness-- leads to a unique hadronically quite same-sign diboson (W^\pm W^\pm) signature from wino pair production. In low Δ_{EW} models with unified gaugino masses, this signature yields a somewhat higher reach up to m_{\tg} 2.1 TeV. The smallness of |μ| implies that the ILC should be a higgsino factory in addition to a Higgs factory, and a complete search for SUSY naturalness seems possible for \sqrt{s} 600 GeV. Since a thermal under-abundance of higgsino-like WIMP dark matter (DM) is expected, there is ample room for an axion DM contribution. A thorough search for higgsino-like WIMPs can be made by next generation WIMP detectors, such as those with ton-scale noble liquid targets.
The historic LHC discovery of the 125 GeV particle with properties that closely resemble the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson verifies our understanding of electroweak symmetry breaking, but solidifies the need for a resolution to the hierarchy problem. Many extensions of the SM that address the hierarchy problem contain a non-minimal Higgs sector. Therefore, as a benchmark alternative to the SM Higgs mechanism, we study a general 2 Higgs doublet model (2HDM-G) framework for evaluating future sensitivity to Higgs couplings. We study how well it can be distinguished from the SM Higgs boson by future measurements at LHC14, ILC (250, 500,1000 GeV) and a Muon Collider (125 GeV). Additionally, our study bears on singlet Higgs extensions of two Higgs doublet models through predicted coupling relationships.
We examine the discovery reach of LHC14 for supersymmetry for integrated luminosity ranging from 0.3 to 3 ab^{-1}. In models with gaugino mass unification and M_1,\ M_2<< |μ| (as for mSUGRA/CMSSM), we find a reach of LHC14 with 3 ab^{-1} for gluino pair production extends to m_{\tg} 2.3 TeV while the reach via \tw_1\tz_2 \to W h +ETmiss extends to m_{\tg}\sim 2.6 TeV.
Supersymmetric models with low electroweak fine-tuning contain light higgsinos with mass not too far from m_h\simeq 125 GeV, while other sparticles can be much heavier. In the R-parity conserving MSSM, the lightest neutralino is then a higgsino-like WIMP (albeit with non-negligible gaugino components), with thermal relic density well below measured values. This leaves room for axions (or other, perhaps not as well motivated, stable particles) to function as co-dark matter particles. The local WIMP abundance is then expected to be below standard estimates, and direct and indirect detection rates must be accordingly rescaled. We calculate rescaled direct and indirect higgsino-like WIMP detection rates in SUSY models that fulfil the electroweak naturalness condition. In spite of the rescaling, we find that ton-scale noble liquid detectors can probe the entire higgsino-like WIMP parameter space, so that these experiments should either discover WIMPs or exclude the concept of electroweak naturalness in R-parity conserving natural SUSY models. Prospects for spin-dependent or indirect detection are more limited due in part to the rescaling effect.
We show that the electroweak fine-tuning parameter Δ_{\rm EW} derived from the well-known electroweak symmetry breaking condition written in terms of weak scale parameters leads to {\it a bound on fine-tuning in the MSSM} and explain its utility for phenomenological analyses. We argue that a small magnitude of the mu parameter, and the concomitant presence of light higgsinos, is the most basic consequence of naturalness in SUSY models, and list the resulting implications of this for experiments at the LHC and at future e^+e^- colliders.
Recently, two measures of electroweak finetuning (EWFT) have been introduced for SUSY models: Δ_{EW} compares the Z mass to each separate weak scale contribution to m_Z while Δ_{HS} compares the Z mass to high scale input parameters and their consequent renormalizaton group evolution (1/Δis the % of fine tuning). While the paradigm mSUGRA/CMSSM model has been shown to be highly finetuned under both parameters (Δ_{EW}> 10^2 and Δ_{HS}> 10^3), the two-parameter non-universal Higgs model (NUHM2) in the context of radiatively-driven natural SUSY (RNS) enjoys Δ_{EW} as low as 10, while Δ_{HS} remains > 10^3. We investigate finetuning in the 19-free-parameter SUGRA model (SUGRA19). We find that with 19 free parameters, the lowest Δ_{EW} points are comparable to what can be achieved in NUHM2 with just 6 free parameters. However, in SUGRA19, Δ_{HS} can now also reach as low as 5-10. The conditions which lead to low Δ_{HS} include m_{H_u} m_Z at the high scale, with non-universal gaugino masses M_{1,2}>> M_3 also at m_{GUT}. The low Δ_{HS} models are severely constrained by b\to sγbranching fraction. In both cases of low Δ_{EW} and Δ_{HS}, the superpotential μparameter should be \sim 100-300 GeV. While SUSY models with low EWFT may or may not be discoverable at LHC, the predicted light higgsinos must show up at a linear e^+e^- collider with \sqrt{s}> 2|μ|.
Supersymmetric models which fulfill the conditions of electroweak naturalness generally contain light higgsinos with mass not too far from m_h ~125 GeV, while other sparticles can be much heavier. In R-parity conserving models, the lightest neutralino is then a higgsino-like WIMP (albeit with non-negligible gaugino components), with thermal relic density well below measured values. This leaves room for axions to function as co-dark matter particles. The local WIMP abundance is then expected to be below standard estimates, and direct and indirect detection rates must be accordingly rescaled. We calculate rescaled direct and indirect higgsino-like WIMP detection rates in SUSY models that fulfil the electroweak naturalness condition. In spite of the rescaling, we find that ton-scale noble liquid detectors can probe the entire higgsino-like WIMP parameter space, so that these experiments should either discover WIMPs or exclude the concept of electroweak naturalness in R-parity conserving natural SUSY models. Prospects for spin-dependent or indirect detection are more limited due in part to the rescaling effect.