arXiv subjects

Zack Sullivan

Publications and source records attributed to Zack Sullivan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Constraints on UED from W' searches

We obtain contraints on three Universal Extra Dimensional models utilizing limits from the CMS Collaboration on W' production and decay into a single-top-quark final state. We find a weak constraint on the Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions model due to small Kaluza-Klein number violating terms. In contrast, the W' search puts a strong limit on the size of the Dirac mass term of the quarks in Split Universal Extra Dimension models. In Non-minimal Universal Extra Dimension models the W' search constrains the splitting between the boundary localized kinetic terms of the gauge bosons and the quarks. Each of these bounds can be translated into constraints on the mass splitting between the Kaluza-Klein excitations of the SU(2) charged quarks and the Klauza-Klein excitations of the W boson.

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arXiv2012

Model independent reach for W-prime bosons at the LHC

The semileptonic decay of single-top-quark production provides a strong probe for W-prime bosons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We propose an explicit search strategy for pp -> W-prime -> tb -> l nu b j for use at 7 TeV and 8 TeV collider energies, and integrated luminosities ranging from 5 to 20 fb^-1. Based on detector-simulated results, we predict that a lower bound can be placed on the mass of right-handed W-prime_R with standard model-like couplings of m_{W-prime_R} > 1800 GeV at sqrt{S}=7 TeV with 5 fb^-1, and of m_{W-prime_R} > 2000 GeV at 8 TeV with 20 fb^-1. For left-handed W-prime_L bosons we find a lower bound of 1750-1800 GeV at 7 TeV and 5 fb^-1 depending on the sign of the interference with standard model single-top-quark production. We present effective coupling g^prime dependent limits for accessible masses, and stress the importance of these limits for comparison with theoretical models.

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arXiv2012

Associated Higgs plus vector boson test of a fermiophobic Higgs boson

Production in association with an electroweak vector boson V is a distinctive mode of production for a Higgs boson H without tree-level couplings to fermions, known as a fermiophobic Higgs boson. We focus on HV associated production with H decay into a pair of photons, and V into a pair of jets, with the goal of distinguishing a fermiophobic Higgs boson from the standard model Higgs boson. Performing a simulation of the signal and pertinent QCD backgrounds, and using the same event selection cuts employed by the LHC ATLAS Collaboration, we argue that existing LHC data at 7 TeV with 4.9 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity may distinguish a fermiophobic Higgs boson from a standard model Higgs boson near 125 GeV at about 1.9 standard deviation signal significance (1.9 sigma) per experiment. At 8 TeV we show that associated production could yield 2.8 sigma significance per experiment with 10 fb^{-1} of data.

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arXiv2012

Top quark forward-backward asymmetry and W^prime bosons

The top quark forward-backward asymmetry measured at the Fermilab Tevatron collider deviates from the standard model prediction. A W^prime boson model is described, where the coupling W^prime-t-d is fixed by the tt_bar forward-backward asymmetry and total cross section at the Tevatron. We show that such a W^prime boson would be produced in association with a top quark at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), thus inducing additional tt_bar+j events. We use measurements of tt_bar+n-jet production from the LHC to constrain the allowed W^prime-t-d couplings as a function of W^prime boson mass. We find that this W^prime model is constrained at the 95% C.L. using 0.7 fb^{-1} of data from the LHC, and could be fully excluded with 5 fb^{-1} of data.

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arXiv2011

Higgs exclusion and the H -> WW^* -> l nu c j semi-leptonic channel at the Tevatron

We study the Higgs boson decay to W+W-, where one boson decays to leptons, and the other decays to c+jet at Tevatron. Given the current charm tagging acceptances, this channel can help improve and confirm the current combined Tevatron exclusion limit on a standard model-like Higgs boson. If charm acceptance can be improved to at least 24%, this channel could provide the second tightest limits on a Higgs boson mass between 140-190 GeV from a single channel measurement.

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arXiv2011

Reconciling the CDF Wjj and single-top-quark anomalies

We demonstrate that there is no evidence of any Wjj excess or deficit within CDF data if a data-derived background estimation that includes single-top-quark production is used instead of a Monte Carlo estimate. Instead, when coupled with the CDF measurement of single-top-quark production, a more interesting anomaly exists within CDF data: namely, there are too many W+0 b-tag and W+2 b-tag events, and too few W+1 b-tag events. As we previously predicted, there is no significant evidence of any of these anomalies in the D0 data set.

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arXiv2011

Charm tagging and the H -> W^+W^- -> l nu c j semi-leptonic channel

We introduce a method to discover the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) through its decay to W^+W^-, where one boson decays to leptons, and the other decays to c+jet. This mechanism is complementary to the decay into dileptons, but has the potential to measure the invariant mass peak of the Higgs boson, and to avoid large recently discovered QCD backgrounds from heavy flavor decays. In addition, this mechanism motivates the study and creation of a dedicated charm jet tagger at LHC experiments. Existing charm jet tagging, in the form of fakes to bottom jet tagging, provides sensitivity to a standard model Higgs boson that is comparable to WW fusion. A 50% charm tagging efficiency in the relevant kinematic range could allow an independent 5-sigma discovery of a 165 GeV Higgs boson in 7 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity at a 14 TeV machine, or exclusion with a 7 TeV collider.

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arXiv2011

Standard model explanation of a CDF dijet excess in Wjj

We demonstrate the recent observation of a peak in the dijet invariant mass of the Wjj signal observed by the CDF Collaboration can be explained as the same upward fluctuation observed by CDF in single-top-quark production. In general, both t-channel and s-channel single-top-quark production produce kinematically induced peaks in the dijet spectrum. Since CDF used a Monte Carlo simulation to subtract the single-top backgrounds instead of data, a peak in the dijet spectrum is expected. The D0 Collaboration has a small upward fluctuation in their published t-channel data; and hence we predict they would see at most a small peak in the dijet invariant mass spectrum of Wjj if they follow the same procedure as CDF.

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arXiv2010

Isolated leptons from heavy flavor decays: Theory and data

Events with isolated leptons play a prominent role in signatures of new physics phenomena at high energy collider physics facilities. In earlier publications, we examine the standard model contribution to isolated lepton production from bottom and charm mesons and baryons through their semileptonic decays (b, c -> l + X), showing that this source can overwhelm the effects of other standard model processes in some kinematic domains. In this paper, we show that we obtain good agreement with recent Tevatron collider data, both validating our simulations and showing that we underestimate the magnitude of the heavy-flavor contribution to the isolated lepton yields. We also show that the isolation requirement acts as a narrow bandpass filter on the momentum of the isolated lepton, and we illustrate the effect of this filter on the background to Higgs boson observation in the dilepton mode. We introduce and justify a new rule of thumb: isolated electrons and muons from heavy flavor decay are produced with roughly the same distributions as b and c quarks, but with 1/200 times the rates of b and c production, respectively.

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arXiv2009

Trilepton production at the CERN LHC: SUSY Signals and Standard Model Backgrounds

Events with isolated leptons and missing energy in the final state are known to be signatures of new physics phenomena at high energy collider physics facilities. Standard model (SM) sources of isolated trilepton final states include gauge boson pair production such as WZ and W gamma^{*}, and t-bar t production. Symbol gamma^* represents a virtual photon. Our new contribution is the demonstration that bottom and charm meson decays, b to l X and c to l X$, produce isolated lepton (l) events that can overwhelm the effects of other processes. We compute contributions from a wide range of SM heavy flavor processes. In all these cases, one or more of the final observed isolated leptons comes from a heavy flavor decay. We propose new cuts to control the heavy flavor backgrounds in the specific case of chargino plus neutralino pair production in supersymmetric models.

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arXiv2009

Top Quark Physics at the ILC: Methods and Meanings

The physics case for studying top-quark physics at the International Linear Collider is well established. This summary places in context the top-quark physics goals, examines the current state-of-the art in understanding of the top-quark mass, and identifies some areas in which the study of the top-quark mass enhances our understanding of new techniques.

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arXiv2008

Trilepton production at the CERN LHC: Standard model sources and beyond

Events with three or more isolated leptons in the final state are known to be signatures of new physics phenomena at high energy collider physics facilities. Standard model sources of isolated trilepton final states include gauge boson pair production such as $WZ$ and $Wγ^*$, and $t\bar{t}$ production. We demonstrate that leptons from heavy flavor decays, such as $b \to lX$ and $c \to lX$, provide sources of trileptons that can be orders-of-magnitude larger after cuts than other standard model backgrounds to new physics processes. We explain the physical reason heavy flavor backgrounds survive isolation cuts. We propose new cuts to control the backgrounds in the specific case of chargino plus neutralino pair production in supersymmetric models. After these cuts are imposed, we show that it should be possible to find at least a 4 sigma excess for supersymmetry parameter space point LM9 with 30 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity.

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arXiv2006

Higgs Boson Decay into a Pair of Leptons

The decay of a Higgs boson into a pair of W bosons h --> W^+W^-, is a dominant mode for Higgs boson masses above 135 GeV. At hadron colliders, searches for this decay focus on channels in which both W bosons decay leptonically into charged leptons, h --> W^+ W^- --> l^+ l^- plus missing energy. We show that semileptonic decays of heavy flavors are an important background to this signal. Lepton isolation provides too little suppression of heavy flavor contributions, and an additional 4 to 8 orders-of-magnitude suppression must come from physics cuts. An increase of the cut on the the minimum transverse momentum of non-leading leptons in multilepton events is one effective way to achieve the needed suppression, without appreciable loss of the Higgs boson signal.

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arXiv2006

Missing heavy flavor backgrounds to Higgs boson production

We investigate characteristics of the signal and backgrounds for Higgs boson decay into WW at the Fermilab Tevatron and CERN Large Hadron Collider. In the the lepton-pair-plus-missing-energy final state, we show that the background receives an important contribution from semileptonic decays of heavy flavors. Lepton isolation cuts provide too little suppression of these heavy flavor contributions, and an additional 4 to 8 orders-of-magnitude suppression must come from physics cuts. We demonstrate that an increase of the minimum transverse momentum of nonleading leptons in multilepton events is one effective way to achieve the needed suppression, without appreciable loss of the Higgs boson signal. Such a cut would impact the efficiency of searches for supersymmetry as well. We emphasize the importance of direct measurement of the lepton background from heavy flavor production.

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arXiv2005

Angular correlations in single-top-quark and Wjj production at next-to-leading order

I demonstrate that the correlated angular distributions of final-state particles in both single-top-quark production and the dominant Wjj backgrounds can be reliably predicted. Using these fully-correlated angular distributions, I propose a set of cuts that can improve the single-top-quark discovery significance by 25%, and the signal to background ratio by a factor of 3 with very little theoretical uncertainty. Up to a subtlety in t-channel single-top-quark production, leading-order matrix elements are shown to be sufficient to reproduce the next-to-leading order correlated distributions.

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arXiv2005

Understanding Light: Why we need a terascale photon collider

We do not understand light. I argue that a terascale photon collider is necessary to determine the structure of the photon at 100 GeV. Uncertainties in photon parton distribution functions lead to cross section predictions that vary by a factor of 5. This limits our ability to predict how well we can perform precision measurements, e.g., extracting the width of Higgs into two photons. These uncertainties will only be resolved by measuring the gluonic structure of the photon in situ.

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arXiv2005

Fast Evaluation of CTEQ Parton Distributions in Monte Carlos

A few changes to the routines that calculate CTEQ parton distribution functions allow modern compilers to optimize the evaluations, while having no quantitative effect on the results. Overall computation time is reduced by a factor of 4-5 in matrix-element calculations, and by 1.3-2.5 in showering Monte Carlo event generators. Similar improvements in performance may be expected in any calculations relying heavily on interpolation or multiple calls to functions.

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arXiv2004

Understanding single-top-quark production and jets at hadron colliders

I present an analysis of fully differential single-top-quark production plus jets at next-to-leading order. I describe the effects of jet definitions, top-quark mass, and higher orders on the shapes and normalizations of the kinematic distributions, and quantify all theoretical uncertainties. I explain how to interpret next-to-leading-order jet calculations, and compare them to showering event generators. Using the program ZTOP, I show that HERWIG and PYTHIA significantly underestimate both s-channel and t-channel single-top-quark production, and propose a scheme to match the relevant samples to the next-to-leading-order predictions.

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