Michele Redi

What is the γγ resonance at 750 GeV

A bstractRun 2 LHC data show hints of a new resonance in the diphoton distribution at an invariant mass of 750 GeV. We analyse the data in terms of a new boson, extracting information on its properties and exploring theoretical interpretations. Scenarios covered include a narrow resonance and, as preliminary indications suggest, a wider resonance. If the width indications persist, the new particle is likely to belong to a strongly-interacting sector. We also show how compatibility between Run 1 and Run 2 data is improved by postulating the existence of an additional heavy particle, whose decays are possibly related to dark matter.

Black hole bound on the number of species and quantum gravity at CERN LHC

In theories with a large number N of particle species, black hole physics imposes an upper bound on the mass of the species equal to M-Planck/root N. This bound suggests a novel solution to the hierarchy problem in which there are N approximate to 10(32) gravitationally coupled species, for example 10(32) copies of the standard model. The black hole bound forces them to be at the weak scale, hence providing a stable hierarchy. We present various arguments, that in such theories the effective gravitational cutoff is reduced to Lambda(G)approximate to M-Planck/root N and a new description is needed around this scale. In particular, black holes smaller than Lambda(-1)(G) are already no longer semiclassical. The nature of the completion is model dependent. One natural possibility is that Lambda(G) is the quantum gravity scale. We provide evidence that within this type of scenarios, contrary to the standard intuition, micro-black-holes have a (slowly fading) memory of the species of origin. Consequently, the black holes produced at LHC will predominantly decay into the standard model particles, and negligibly into the other species.

Cascading gravity: Extending the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model to higher dimension

Claudia de Rham, Gia Dvali, Stefan Hofmann, Justin Khoury, Oriol Pujolàs, Michele Redi and Andrew J. Tolley Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline St. N., Waterloo, ON, N2L 2Y5, Canada Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton ON, L8S 4M1, Canada CERN, Theory Division, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 USA NORDITA, Roslagstullsbacken 23, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden and f Institut de Théorie des Phénomènes Physiques, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

Accidental composite dark matter

A bstractWe build models where Dark Matter candidates arise as composite states of a new confining gauge force, stable thanks to accidental symmetries. Restricting to renormalizable theories compatible with SU(5) unification, we find 13 models based on SU(N) gauge theories and 9 based on SO(N). We also describe other models that require non-renormalizable interactions. The two gauge groups lead to distinctive phenomenologies: SU(N) theories give complex DM, with potentially observable electric and magnetic dipole moments that lead to peculiar spin-independent cross sections; SO(N) theories give real DM, with challenging spin-dependent cross sections or inelastic scatterings. Models with Yukawa couplings also give rise to spin-independent direct detection mediated by the Higgs boson and to electric dipole moments for the electron. In some models DM has higher spin. Each model predicts a specific set of lighter composite scalars, possibly observable at colliders.

Gravitational backreaction of matter inhomogeneities

The non-linearity of Einsteins equations makes it possible for small scale matter inhomogeneities to affect the universe at cosmological distances. We study the size of such effects using a simple heuristic model that captures the most important backreaction effect due to non-relativistic matter, as well as several exact solutions describing inhomogeneous and anisotropic expanding universes. We find that the effects are O(H2l2/c2) or smaller, where H is the Hubble parameter and l the typical size scale of inhomogeneities. For virialized structures this is of order v2/c2, where v is the characteristic peculiar velocity.

Strong signatures of right-handed compositeness

A bstractRight-handed light quarks could be significantly composite, yet compatible with experimental searches at the LHC and precision tests on Standard Model couplings. In these scenarios, that are motivated by flavor physics, one expects large cross sections for the production of new resonances coupled to light quarks. We study experimental strong signatures of right-handed compositeness at the LHC, and constrain the parameter space of these models with recent results by ATLAS and CMS. We show that the LHC sensitivity could be significantly improved if dedicated searches were performed, in particular in multijet signals.

Di-photon resonance and Dark Matter as heavy pions

A bstractWe analyse confining gauge theories where the 750 GeV di-photon resonance is a composite techni-pion that undergoes anomalous decays into SM vectors. These scenarios naturally contain accidentally stable techni-pions Dark Matter candidates. The di-photon resonance can acquire a larger width by decaying into Dark Matter through the CP-violating θ-term of the new gauge theory reproducing the cosmological Dark Matter density as a thermal relic.

Leptons in Composite MFV

A bstractWe study the lepton sector of composite Higgs models with partial compositeness. The standard anarchic scenario is in conflict with the absence of observable charged lepton flavor violation. This tension can be completely solved in MFV scenarios that require either left-handed or right-handed SM leptons to be equally composite. Constraints on this scenario are weak and the composite lepton partners could be as light as few hundreds GeVs with interesting LHC signatures. The contribution to the muon (g − 2) in theories where the Higgs is a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson is also discussed.

The Half-composite Two Higgs Doublet Model and the Relaxion

A bstractWe study a new confining gauge theory with fermions in a vectorial representation under the SM gauge group that allows for Yukawa interactions with the Higgs. If the fermion masses are smaller than the confinement scale this realizes a type I two Higgs doublet model where a composite Higgs mixes with the elementary Higgs. This class of models interpolates between an elementary and a composite Higgs and has interesting phenomenology with potentially observable effects in collider physics, EDMs and SM couplings but very weak bounds from indirect searches. The very same framework can be used to realize the cosmological relaxation of the electro-weak scale recently discussed in the literature.

Cosmic D-strings as axionic D-term strings

In this work we derive nonsingular BPS string solutions from an action that captures the essential features of a D-brane-anti-D-brane system compactified to four dimensions. The model we consider is a supersymmetric Abelian Higgs model with a D-term potential coupled to an axion-dilaton multiplet. The strings in question are axionic D-term strings which we identify with the D-strings of type II string theory. In this picture the Higgs field represents the open string tachyon of the D-D pair and the axion is dual to a Ramond-Ramond form. The crucial term allowing the existence of nonsingular BPS strings is the Fayet-Iliopoulos term, which is related to the tensions of the D-string and of the parent branes. Despite the presence of the axion, the strings are BPS and carry finite energy, due to the fact that the space gets very slowly decompactified away from the core, screening the long range axion field (or equivalently the theory approaches an infinitely weak 4D coupling). Within our 4D effective action we also identify another class of BPS string solutions (s-strings) which have no ten-dimensional analog, and can only exist after compactification.