David E. Kaplan

Asymmetric Dark Matter

We consider a simple class of models in which the relic density of dark matter is determined by the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. In these models a B-L asymmetry generated at high temperatures is transferred to the dark matter, which is charged under B-L. The interactions that transfer the asymmetry decouple at temperatures above the dark matter mass, freezing in a dark matter asymmetry of order the baryon asymmetry. This explains the observed relation between the baryon and dark matter densities for the dark matter mass in the range 5-15 GeV. The symmetric component of the dark matter can annihilate efficiently to light pseudoscalar Higgs particles a or via t-channel exchange of new scalar doublets. The first possibility allows for h{sup 0}{yields}aa decays, while the second predicts a light charged Higgs-like scalar decaying to {tau}{nu}. Direct detection can arise from Higgs exchange in the first model or a nonzero magnetic moment in the second. In supersymmetric models, the would-be lightest supersymmetric partner can decay into pairs of dark matter particles plus standard model particles, possibly with displaced vertices.

Top tagging: a method for identifying boosted hadronically decaying top quarks.

A method is introduced for distinguishing top jets (boosted, hadronically decaying top quarks) from light-quark and gluon jets using jet substructure. The procedure involves parsing the jet cluster to resolve its subjets and then imposing kinematic constraints. With this method, light-quark or gluon jets with p{T} approximately 1 TeV can be rejected with an efficiency of around 99% while retaining up to 40% of top jets. This reduces the dijet background to heavy tt[over ] resonances by a factor of approximately 10 000, thereby allowing resonance searches in tt[over ] to be extended into the all-hadronic channel. In addition, top tagging can be used in tt[over ] events when one of the top quarks decays semileptonically, in events with missing energy, and in studies of b-tagging efficiency at high p{T}.

The Little Higgs from a simple group

We present a model of electroweak symmetry breaking in which the Higgs boson is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. By embedding the standard models SU(2) × U(1) into an SU(4) × U(1) gauge group, one-loop quadratic divergences to the Higgs mass from gauge and top loops are canceled automatically with the minimal particle content. The potential contains a Higgs quartic coupling which does not introduce one-loop quadratic divergences. Our theory is weakly coupled at the electroweak scale, it has new weakly coupled particles at the TeV scale and a cutoff above 10 TeV, all without fine tuning. We discuss the spectrum of the model and estimate the constraints from electroweak precision measurements.

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.

Cosmological Relaxation of the Electroweak Scale

A new class of solutions to the electroweak hierarchy problem is presented that does not require either weak-scale dynamics or anthropics. Dynamical evolution during the early Universe drives the Higgs boson mass to a value much smaller than the cutoff. The simplest model has the particle content of the standard model plus a QCD axion and an inflation sector. The highest cutoff achieved in any technically natural model is 10^{8}  GeV.

Supersymmetry breaking, fermion masses and a small extra dimension.

We present a supersymmetric model in which the observed fermion masses and mixings are generated by localizing the three generations of matter and the two Higgs fields at different locations in a compact extra dimension. Supersymmetry is broken by the shining method and the breaking is communicated to standard model fields via gaugino mediation. Quark masses, CKM-mixing angles and the {mu} term are generated with all dimensionless couplings of {Omicron}(1). All dimensionful parameters are of order the five-dimensional Planck scale except for the size of the extra dimension which is of order the GUT scale. The superpartner spectrum is highly predictive and is found to have a neutralino LSP over a wide range of parameter space. The resulting phenomenology and interesting extensions of the model are briefly discussed.

Atomic dark matter

We propose that dark matter is dominantly comprised of atomic bound states. We build a simple model and map the parameter space that results in the early universe formation of hydrogen-like dark atoms. We find that atomic dark matter has interesting implications for cosmology as well as direct detection: Weak-scale dark atoms can accommodate hyperfine splittings of order 100 keV, consistent with the inelastic dark matter interpretation of the DAMA data while naturally evading direct detection bounds. Moreover, protohalo formation can be suppressed below Mproto ~ 103–106M⊙ for weak scale dark matter due to Ion-Radiation and Ion-Atom interactions in the dark sector.

Viable ultraviolet-insensitive supersymmetry breaking

It is known that one can add D-term contributions for U(1)Y and U(1)B−L to the anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking to make the superparticle spectrum phenomenologically viable. We point out that this can be done without spoiling its important virtue, namely the ultraviolet insensitivity. This framework can be derived from supersymmetry breaking and U(1)B−L breaking on hidden brane(s).

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 β1, 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.

Deconstructing gaugino mediation

Abstract We present a model of supersymmetry breaking which produces gaugino masses and negligible scalar masses at a high scale. The model is inspired by “deconstructing” or “latticizing” models in extra dimensions where supersymmetry breaking and visible matter are spatially separated. We find a simple four-dimensional model which only requires two lattice sites (or gauge groups) to reproduce the phenomenology.