Anson Hook

Jet Substructure at the Tevatron and LHC: New results, new tools, new benchmarks

In this paper, we review recent theoretical progress and the latest experimental results in jet substructure from the Tevatron and the LHC. We review the status of and outlook for calculation and simulation tools for studying jet substructure. Following up on the report of the Boost 2010 workshop, we present a new set of benchmark comparisons of substructure techniques, focusing on the set of variables and grooming methods that are collectively known as ‘top taggers’. To facilitate further exploration, we have attempted to collect, harmonize and publish software implementations of these techniques.

Boosted objects and jet substructure at the LHC: Report of BOOST2012, held at IFIC Valencia, 23rd-27th of July 2012

This report of the BOOST2012 workshop presents the results of four working groups that studied key aspects of jet substructure. We discuss the potential of first-principle QCD calculations to yield a precise description of the substructure of jets and study the accuracy of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo tools. Limitations of the experiments’ ability to resolve substructure are evaluated, with a focus on the impact of additional (pile-up) proton proton collisions on jet substructure performance in future LHC operating scenarios. A final section summarizes the lessons learnt from jet substructure analyses in searches for new physics in the production of boosted top quarks.

Boosted objects and jet substructure at the LHC. Report of BOOST2012, held at IFIC Valencia, 23rd–27th of July 2012 - eScholarship

This report of the BOOST2012 workshop presents the results of four working groups that studied key aspects of jet substructure. We discuss the potential of first-principle QCD calculations to yield a precise description of the substructure of jets and study the accuracy of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo tools. Limitations of the experiments’ ability to resolve substructure are evaluated, with a focus on the impact of additional (pile-up) proton proton collisions on jet substructure performance in future LHC operating scenarios. A final section summarizes the lessons learnt from jet substructure analyses in searches for new physics in the production of boosted top quarks.

Probable or Improbable Universe? Correlating Electroweak Vacuum Instability with the Scale of Inflation

A bstractMeasurements of the Higgs boson and top quark masses indicate that the Standard Model Higgs potential becomes unstable around ΛI ∼ 1011 GeV. This instability is cosmologically relevant since quantum fluctuations during inflation can easily destabilize the electroweak vacuum if the Hubble parameter during inflation is larger than ΛI (as preferred by the recent BICEP2 measurement). We perform a careful study of the evolution of the Higgs field during inflation, obtaining different results from those currently in the literature. We consider both tunneling via a Coleman-de Luccia or Hawking-Moss instanton, valid when the scale of inflation is below the instability scale, as well as a statistical treatment via the Fokker-Planck equation appropriate in the opposite regime. We show that a better understanding of the post-inflation evolution of the unstable AdS vacuum regions is crucial for determining the eventual fate of the universe. If these AdS regions devour all of space, a universe like ours is indeed extremely unlikely without new physics to stabilize the Higgs potential; however, if these regions crunch, our universe survives, but inflation must last a few e-folds longer to compensate for the lost AdS regions. Lastly, we examine the effects of generic Planck-suppressed corrections to the Higgs potential, which can be sufficient to stabilize the electroweak vacuum during inflation.

Model Independent Bounds on Kinetic Mixing

New Abelian vector bosons can kinetically mix with the hypercharge gauge boson of the Standard Model. This letter computes the model independent limits on vector bosons with masses from 1 GeV to 1 TeV. The limits arise from the numerous e{sup +}e{sup -} experiments that have been performed in this energy range and bound the kinetic mixing by {epsilon} {approx}< 0.03 for most of the mass range studied, regardless of any additional interactions that the new vector boson may have.

Jet Dipolarity: Top Tagging with Color Flow

A bstractA new jet observable, dipolarity, is introduced that can distinguish whether a pair of subjets arises from a color singlet source. This observable is incorporated into the HEPTopTagger and is shown to improve discrimination between top jets and QCD jets for moderate to high pT .

Solving the Hierarchy Problem at Reheating with a Large Number of Degrees of Freedom

We present a new solution to the electroweak hierarchy problem. We introduce N copies of the standard model with varying values of the Higgs mass parameter. This generically yields a sector whose weak scale is parametrically removed from the cutoff by a factor of 1/sqrt[N]. Ensuring that reheating deposits a majority of the total energy density into this lightest sector requires a modification of the standard cosmological history, providing a powerful probe of the mechanism. Current and near-future experiments can explore much of the natural parameter space. Furthermore, supersymmetric completions that preserve grand unification predict superpartners with mass below m_{W}M_{pl}/M_{GUT}∼10  TeV.

Relaxation from particle production

A bstractWe consider using particle production as a friction force by which to implement a “Relaxion” solution to the electroweak hierarchy problem. Using this approach, we are able to avoid superplanckian field excursions and avoid any conflict with the strong CP problem. The relaxation mechanism can work before, during or after inflation allowing for inflationary dynamics to play an important role or to be completely decoupled.

Learning how to count: a high multiplicity search for the LHC

A bstractWe introduce a search technique that is sensitive to a broad class of signals with large final state multiplicities. Events are clustered into large radius jets and jet substructure techniques are used to count the number of subjets within each jet. The search consists of a cut on the total number of subjets in the event as well as the summed jet mass and missing energy. Two different techniques for counting subjets are described and expected sensitivities are presented for eight benchmark signals. These signals exhibit diverse phenomenology, including 2-step cascade decays, direct three body decays, and multi-top final states. We find improved sensitivity to these signals as compared to previous high multiplicity searches as well as a reduced reliance on missing energy requirements. One benefit of this approach is that it allows for natural data driven estimates of the QCD background.

Unbroken SU(2) at a 100 TeV collider

A bstractA future 100 TeV pp collider will explore energies much higher than the scale of electroweak (EW) symmetry breaking. In this paper we study some of the phenomenological consequences of this fact, concentrating on enhanced bremsstrahlung of EW gauge bosons. We survey a handful of possible new physics experimental searches one can pursue at a 100 TeV collider using this phenomenon. The most dramatic effect is the non-negligible radiation of EW gauge bosons from neutrinos, making them partly visible objects. The presence of collinear EW radiation allows for the full reconstruction of neutrinos under certain circumstances. We also show that the presence of EW radiation allows one to distinguish the SU(2) quantum numbers of various new physics particles. We consider examples of two completely different new physics paradigms, additional gauge groups and SUSY, where the bremsstrahlung radiation of W and Z from W′s, Z′s or stops allows one to determine the couplings and the mixing angles of the new particles (respectively). Finally, we show how the emission of W s and Zs from high pT Higgs bosons can be used to test the couplings of new physics to the Higgs boson.