Florian Goertz

Indirect Constraints on the Scalar Di-Photon Resonance at the LHC

A bstractMotivated by the tantalizing excesses recently reported in the di-photon invariant mass spectrum at the LHC, we scrutinize some implications of scalar di-photon resonances in high energy proton-proton collisions. In particular, indications of a large width impose several challenges for model building. We show how calculability and unitarity considerations severely limit possible perturbative realizations of such a signal and propose a simple criterion that can be adapted to any renormalizable model. Furthermore, we discuss correlations between a di-photon excess and precision observables, including the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of quarks and leptons, neutral meson oscillations and radiative flavor changing neutral current mediated decays of heavy leptons and hadrons. We find that existing searches and measurements significantly constrain the possibilities for a scalar resonance decaying into final states involving Standard Model fermions. We propose future search strategies which could elucidate some remaining currently unconstrained decay channels and discuss possible correlations between the di-photon excess and several recently reported flavor anomalies, showing that the latter can be addressed in a new incarnation of a gauged U(1)′ model, with the di-photon resonance being the physical remnant of the U(1)′-breaking field.

Higgs boson pair production in the D=6 extension of the SM

A bstractWe derive the constraints that can be imposed on the dimension-6 effective theory extension of the Standard Model, using gluon fusion-initiated Higgs boson pair production at the LHC. We use a realistic analysis focussing on the hh→bb¯τ+τ−

A naturally light Higgs without light top partners

hh\to \left(b\overline{b}\right)\left({\tau}^{+}{\tau}^{-}\right)

Probing the Charm Quark Yukawa Coupling in Higgs+Charm Production.

final state, including initial-state radiation and non-perturbative effects. We include the statistical uncertainties on the signal rates as well as conservative estimates of the theoretical uncertainties. We first consider a theory containing only modifications of the trilinear coupling, through a c6λ H6/v2 Lagrangian term, and then examine the full parameter space of the effective theory, incorporating current bounds obtained through single Higgs boson measurements. We also consider an alternative scenario, where we vary a smaller sub-set of parameters. Allowing, finally, the values of the other coefficients to vary within projected experimental ranges, we find that the currently unbounded parameter, c6, could be constrained to lie within |c6| ≲ 0.6 at 1σ confidence, at the end of the high-luminosity run of the LHC (14 TeV) in the full model, and to −0.6 ≲ c6 ≲ 0.5 in the alternative model. This study constitutes a first step towards the inclusion of multi-Higgs boson production in a full fit to the dimension-6 effective field theory framework.

Precision Drell-Yan Measurements at the LHC and Implications for the Diphoton Excess

A bstractWe discuss the conditions for an effective field theory (EFT) to give an adequate low-energy description of an underlying physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). Starting from the EFT where the SM is extended by dimension-6 operators, experimental data can be used without further assumptions to measure (or set limits on) the EFT parameters. The interpretation of these results requires instead a set of broad assumptions (e.g. power counting rules) on the UV dynamics. This allows one to establish, in a bottom-up approach, the validity range of the EFT description, and to assess the error associated with the truncation of the EFT series. We give a practical prescription on how experimental results could be reported, so that they admit a maximally broad range of theoretical interpretations. Namely, the experimental constraints on dimension-6 operators should be reported as functions of the kinematic variables that set the relevant energy scale of the studied process. This is especially important for hadron collider experiments where collisions probe a wide range of energy scales.

Indirect handle on the down-quark Yukawa coupling.

A bstractWe demonstrate that the inclusion of a realistic lepton sector can relax significantly the upper bound on top partner masses in minimal composite Higgs models, induced by the lightness of the Higgs boson. To that extend, we present a comprehensive survey of the impact of different realizations of the fermion sectors on the Higgs potential, with a special emphasis on the role of the leptons. The non-negligible compositeness of the τR in a general class of models that address the flavor structure of the lepton sector and the smallness of the corresponding FCNCs, can have a significant effect on the potential. We find that, with the τR in the symmetric representation of SO(5), an increase in the maximally allowed mass of the lightest top partner of ≳ 1 TeV is possible for minimal quark setups like the MCHM5,10, without increasing the tuning. A light Higgs boson mH ∼ (100−200) GeV is a natural prediction of such models, which thus provide a new setup that can evade ultralight top partners without ad-hoc tuning in the Higgs mass. Moreover, we advocate a more minimal realization of the lepton sector than generally used in the literature, which still can avoid light partners due to its contributions to the Higgs mass in a different and very natural way, triggered by the seesaw mechanism. This allows to construct the most economical SO(5)/SO(4) composite Higgs models possible. Using both a transparent 4D approach, as well as presenting numerical results in the 5D holographic description, we demonstrate that, including leptons, minimality and naturalness do not imply light partners. Leptonic effects, not considered before, could hence be crucial for the viability of composite models.

Randall-Sundrum corrections to the width difference and CP-violating phase in B{sub s}{sup 0}-meson decays

A bstractNew physics theories often depend on a large number of free parameters. The phenomenology they predict for fundamental physics processes is in some cases drastically affected by the precise value of those free parameters, while in other cases is left basically invariant at the level of detail experimentally accessible. When designing a strategy for the analysis of experimental data in the search for a signal predicted by a new physics model, it appears advantageous to categorize the parameter space describing the model according to the corresponding kinematical features of the final state. A multi-dimensional test statistic can be used to gauge the degree of similarity in the kinematics predicted by different models; a clustering algorithm using that metric may allow the division of the space into homogeneous regions, each of which can be successfully represented by a benchmark point. Searches targeting those benchmarks are then guaranteed to be sensitive to a large area of the parameter space.In this document we show a practical implementation of the above strategy for the study of non-resonant production of Higgs boson pairs in the context of extensions of the standard model with anomalous couplings of the Higgs bosons. A non-standard value of those couplings may significantly enhance the Higgs boson pair-production cross section, such that the process could be detectable with the data that the LHC will collect in Run 2.

Electroweak Symmetry Breaking without the

We propose a new method for determining the coupling of the Higgs boson to charm quarks, via Higgs production in association with a charm-tagged jet: pp→hc. As a first estimate, we find that at the LHC with 3000 fb^{-1}, it should be possible to derive a constraint of order one, relative to the standard model (SM) value of the charm Yukawa coupling. As a by-product of this analysis, we present an estimate of the exclusive pp→hD^{(*)} electroweak cross section. Within the SM, the latter turns out to be not accessible at the LHC even in the high-luminosity phase.