High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)

Abstract: The $A\to Z^{(*)}h$ decay signature has been highlighted as possibly being the first testable probe of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson discovered in 2012 ($h$) interacting with Higgs companion states, such as those existing in a 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM), chiefly, a CP-odd one ($A$). The production mechanism of the latter at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) takes place via $b\bar b$-annihilation and/or $gg$-fusion, depending on the 2HDM parameters, in turn dictated by the Yukawa structure of this Beyond the SM (BSM) scenario. Among the possible incarnations of the 2HDM, we test here the so-called Type-II, for a twofold reason. On the one hand, it intriguingly offers two very distinct parameter regions compliant with the SM-like Higgs measurements, i.e., where the so-called `SM limit' of the 2HDM can be achieved. On the other hand, in both configurations, the $AZh$ coupling is generally small, hence the signal is strongly polluted by backgrounds, so that the exploitation of Machine Learning (ML) techniques becomes extremely useful. Ours approach in this respect is a three-prong one. Firstly, we adjust ML models to analyze all possible High Energy Physics (HEP) data types, so as to maximize the amount of input information. Secondly, unlike most `black-box' ML approaches currently in use in the HEP community, we exploit a (linear) Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA) similarity metric to analyze the learned representations in the hidden layers, thereby enabling an interpretative element of our results. Thirdly, we emphasise that the proposed ML models are generic and can thus be adopted in other physics problems. Concerning the one at hand, by using such advanced ML implementations, we ultimately show that the sensitivity of LHC searches in the $l^+l^- b\bar b$ ($l=e,\mu$) final state can significantly be improved with respect to traditional cut-and-count analyses and/or, etc

Abstract: Electroweak loop corrections to the matrix elements for the spin-independent scattering of cold dark matter particles on nuclei are generally small, typically below the uncertainty in the local density of cold dark matter. However, as shown in this paper, there are instances in which the electroweak loop corrections are relatively large, and change significantly the spin-independent dark matter scattering rate. An important example occurs when the dark matter particle is a wino, e.g., in anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) and pure gravity mediation (PGM) models. We find that the one-loop electroweak corrections to the spin-independent wino LSP scattering cross section generally interfere constructively with the tree-level contribution for AMSB models with negative Higgsino mixing, $\mu < 0$, and in PGM-like models for both signs of $\mu$, lifting the cross section out of the neutrino fog and into a range that is potentially detectable in the next generation of direct searches for cold dark matter scattering.

Abstract: We present constraints on the left-handed dimension-6 interactions that contribute to semileptonic and leptonic decays of $K$, $D$, pions and to nuclear beta decay. We employ the flavour covariant description of the effective couplings, identify universal CP phases of New Physics and derive constraints from decay rates and CP-odd quantities. As a result, we can predict the maximal effects of such flavoured NP in $D$ decays from stringent $K$ decay constraints and vice-versa.

Abstract: The cumulants of baryon number fluctuations serve as a good probe for experimentally exploring the QCD phase diagram at finite density, giving rise to characteristic fluctuation patterns associated with a possible critical endpoint (CEP). We compute the higher-order baryon number susceptibilities at finite temperature and baryon chemical potential using a holographic QCD model to address the non-perturbative aspect of strongly coupled QCD matter. The model can accurately confront lattice QCD data on a quantitative level and the location of the CEP is found to fall within the range accessible to upcoming experimental measurements. The baryon number susceptibilities up to the twelfth order are computed, and the collision energy dependence of different ratios of these susceptibilities is examined along the chemical freeze-out line. The holographic results show quantitative agreement with experimental data and the functional renormalization group results in a large collision energy range, with all ratios exhibiting a peak structure around 5-10 GeV. The mismatching between our holographic results with experimental data for sufficiently low collision energy is possibly due to non-equilibrium effects and complex experimental environments. The future experiments with measurements in the low collision energy range $\sqrt{S_{NN}}\approx 1-10~\text{GeV}$ and reduced experimental uncertainty could reveal more non-monotonic behavior signals which can be used to locate the CEP.

Abstract: We report first study of transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) spectra for $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p$, and $\bar{p}$ in isobar, $^{96}_{44}$Ru+$^{96}_{44}$Ru and $^{96}_{40}$Zr+$^{96}_{40}$Zr, collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 200$ GeV using a multi-phase transport (AMPT) model. Particle yields ($dN/dy$), average transverse momenta ($\langle p_\mathrm{T} \rangle$), and particle ratios are reported in various collision systems with different parameterizations of the Woods-Saxon (WS) distribution. We observed a maximum difference of 5% in the particle yields in peripheral collisions when we included a quadrupole and octupole deformation and a nuclear size difference between the isobars. The $\pi^{-}$/$\pi^{+}$ ratio is smaller in Ru+Ru collisions compared to Zr+Zr collisions indicating an effect of isospin due to difference in number of protons and neutrons between the two nuclei. The $K^{-}$/$K^{+}$ ratio is same in both the systems indicating the dominance of the pair production mechanism in the kaon production. The $\bar{p}/p$ ratio is further smaller in Ru+Ru collisions than Zr+Zr collisions, indicating the effect of baryon stopping in addition to the isospin effect. A system size dependence is observed in $dN/dy$ and $\langle p_\mathrm{T} \rangle$ when we compare the results from isobar collisions with Au+Au and U+U collisions.

Abstract: We investigate effects of exact gluon kinematics on the parameters of the Golec-Biernat-W\"usthoff, and Bartels-Golec-Biernat-Kowalski saturation models. The resulting fits show some differences, particularly, in the normalization of the dipole cross section $\sigma_0$. The refitted models are used for the dijet production process in DIS to investigate effects of the Sudakov form factor at Electron Ion Collider energies.

Abstract: The parametrization of the oblique corrections through $S$, $T$, and $U$ -- later extended by $V$, $W$, and $X$ -- is a convenient way of comparing the predictions for various electroweak observables at the one-loop level between the Standard Model and its extensions. That parametrization assumes that the extensions under consideration have ${SU(2)\times U(1)}$ gauge symmetry \emph{and} the tree-level relation $m_W = m_Z \cos{\theta_W}$ between the Weinberg angle and the gauge-boson masses. In models where that relation does not hold at the Lagrangian level, the parameter $T$ is not ultraviolet-finite, making the parametrization inadequate. We present expressions that parametrize the difference of the various predictions of two models with $m_W \neq m_Z \cos{\theta_W}$ in terms of oblique parameters. The parameter $T$ does not play a role in those expressions. Conveniently, they may be reached, from the ones that were derived for models with tree-level $m_W = m_Z \cos{\theta_W}$, by performing a simple substitution for $T$. We also discuss the difficulties in using oblique parameters when comparing a model with $m_W \neq m_Z \cos{\theta_W}$ to the Standard Model. Finally, we compute the relevant five oblique parameters in the SM extended by scalars in both $Y=0$ and $Y=1$ triplets.

Abstract: The Neyman-Pearson strategy for hypothesis testing can be employed for goodness of fit if the alternative hypothesis $\rm H_1$ is generic enough not to introduce a significant bias while at the same time avoiding overfitting. A practical implementation of this idea (dubbed NPLM) has been developed in the context of high energy physics, targeting the detection in collider data of new physical effects not foreseen by the Standard Model. In this paper we initiate a comparison of this methodology with other approaches to goodness of fit, and in particular with classifier-based strategies that share strong similarities with NPLM. NPLM emerges from our comparison as more sensitive to small departures of the data from the expected distribution and not biased towards detecting specific types of anomalies while being blind to others. These features make it more suited for agnostic searches for new physics at collider experiments. Its deployment in other contexts should be investigated.

Abstract: Motivated by the novel method discussed in arXiv:2106.11785 to differentiate the effects of Dirac and Majorana neutrinos in four-body decays, we propose to analyse radiative leptonic lepton-decays ($\ell\to\ell'\nu\bar{\nu}\gamma$), as an independent alternative process to study the possible Majorana nature of neutrinos. Following arXiv:2106.11785, the back-to-back kinematic scenario (for the $\ell'- \gamma$ and $\nu-\bar{\nu}$ systems, respectively) supposedly avoids the constraint imposed by the "practical Dirac-Majorana confusion theorem", as one does not need to fully integrate over neutrino and antineutrino momenta. Our results show that, in this special kinematic configuration, the difference between Dirac and Majorana cases vanishes once the inaccessible neutrino angle is integrated out, which seems to be incompatible with the proposal in arXiv:2106.11785. We work on that and conclude that the discrepancy comes from the kinematic treatment, specifically from the angular integration and clarify these issues with consistency tests. All this applies in absence of non-standard interactions, which can enhance generally the sensitivity to the neutrino nature.

Abstract: We discuss the effect of QED corrections in the evolution of polarized parton distributions. We solve the corresponding evolution equations exactly to ${\cal O}(\alpha )$ and ${\cal O}(\alpha_s^2)$ in Mellin $N$-space, extending the available techniques for pure QCD evolution. To accomplish this, we introduce, for the first time, the Altarelli-Parisi polarized kernels at LO in QED. Furthermore, we perform a phenomenological analysis of the QED effects on polarized parton distributions (pPDFs), proposing different scenarios for the polarized photon density. Finally, we quantify the impact of the corresponding QED contributions to the polarized structure function $g_1$. We show that the relative corrections to both the pPDFs and the $g_1$ structure function are approximately at the few percent level, which is the order of magnitude expected considering the value of $\alpha$.

Abstract: Rotations of axion fields in the early universe can produce dark matter and the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. We point out that the rotation can generate an observable amount of a stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background. It can be doubly enhanced in a class of models in which the equation of state of the rotations rapidly changes from a non-relativistic matter-like one to a kination-like one by 1) the so-called Poltergeist mechanism and 2) slower redshift of GWs compared to the axion kination fluid. In supersymmetric UV completion, future GW observations can probe the supersymmetry-breaking scale up to $10^7\,$GeV even if the axion does not directly couple to the Standard Model fields.

Abstract: Post-inflationary evolution and (re)heating of the viable inflationary model, the $R^2$ one, is made more realistic by including the leptogenesis scenario into it. For this purpose, right-handed Majorana neutrinos with a large mass are added to the matter sector of the Standard Model to explain the neutrino oscillation experiments and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. We have found parameters that characterize this model: non-minimal coupling of the Higgs field $\xi$ and the mass of the right-handed Majorana neutrino $M_{N_\alpha}$. We have analyzed the effect of these parameters on the reheating process and the resultant physical quantities: spectral indices and baryon asymmetry.

Abstract: In this review we discuss and extend the study of the inclusive production of vector quarkonia, $J/\psi$ and $\Upsilon$, emitted with large transverse momenta and rapidities at the LHC. We adopt the novel ZCW19$^+$ determination to depict the quarkonium production mechanism at the next-to-leading level of perturbative QCD. This approach is based on the nonrelativistic QCD formalism well adapted to describe the production of a quarkonium state from the collinear fragmentation of a gluon or a constituent heavy quark at the lowest energy scale. We rely upon the NLL/NLO$^+$ hybrid high-energy and collinear factorization for differential cross sections, where the standard collinear formalism is enhanced by the BFKL resummation of next-to-leading energy logarithms arising in the $t$-channel. We employ the JETHAD method to analyze the behavior of rapidity distributions for double inclusive vector-quarkonium and inclusive vector-quarkonium plus jet emissions. We discovered that the natural stability of the high-energy series, previously observed in observables sensitive to the emission of hadrons with heavy flavor detected in the rapidity acceptance of LHC barrel calorimeters, becomes even more manifest when these particles are tagged in forward regions covered by endcaps. Our findings brace the important message that vector quarkonia at the LHC via the hybrid factorization offer a unique chance to perform precision studies of high-energy QCD, as well as an intriguing opportunity to shed light on the quarkonium production puzzle.