Fermion Mixings Research Articles

Radion as a harbinger of deca-TeV physics

Precision data generally require the threshold for physics beyond the Standard Model to be at the deca-TeV (10 TeV) scale or higher. This raises the question of whether there are interesting deca-TeV models for which the LHC may find direct clues. A possible scenario for such physics is a 5D warped model of fermion masses and mixing, with Kaluza-Klein masses ${m}_{\mathrm{KK}}\ensuremath{\sim}10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$, allowing it to avoid tension with stringent constraints, especially from flavor data. Discovery of a Standard-Model-like Higgs boson, for which there are some hints at $\ensuremath{\sim}125\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ at the LHC, would also require the Kaluza-Klein masses to be at or above 10 TeV. These warped models generically predict the appearance of a much lighter radion scalar. We find that, in viable warped models of flavor, a radion with a mass of a few hundred GeV and an inverse coupling of order ${m}_{\mathrm{KK}}\ensuremath{\sim}10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ could typically be accessible to the LHC experiments---with $\sqrt{s}=14\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ and $\ensuremath{\sim}100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of data. The above statements can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to 4D dual models, where conformal dynamics and a dilaton replace warping and the radion, respectively. Detection of such a light and narrow scalar could thus herald the proximity of a new physical threshold and motivate experiments that would directly probe the deca-TeV mass scale.

Singlet neighbors of the Higgs boson

The newly discovered resonance at 125 GeV has properties consistent with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs particle, although some production and/or decay channels currently exhibit O(1) deviations. We consider scenarios with a new scalar singlet field with couplings to electrically charged vector-like matter, focusing particularly on the case when the singlet mass lies within a narrow ~ few GeV window around the Higgs mass. Such a `singlet neighbor' presents novel mechanisms for modifying the observed properties of the Higgs boson. For instance, even a small amount of the Higgs-singlet mixing can lead to a significant enhancement of the apparent diphoton rate. Alternatively, the Higgs may decay into the nearby singlet, along with a very light, very soft mediator particle, in which case there can be O(1) enhancement to the apparent diphoton rate even for ~ TeV-scale charged vector-like matter. We also explore models in which vector-like fermions mix with the SM leptons, causing the simultaneous enhancement of diphoton and suppression of ditau Higgs branching ratios. Our scenario can be tested with the accumulating LHC data by probing for the diresonance structure of the 125 GeV diphoton signal, as well as the relative shift in the resonance location between the diphoton and four-lepton modes.

θ13and proton lifetime in a minimalSO(10)×S4model of flavor

In a recent paper, a minimal supersymmetric (SUSY) SO(10)xS_4 based unified model of flavor for quarks and leptons was proposed with two 10 and one 126 contributing to fermion masses. An important aspect of this model is that Yukawa couplings emerge dynamically from minimization of the flavon potential, thereby reducing the number of parameters considerably. We make a detailed numerical analysis of this model for fermion mixings including SUSY threshold effects at the TeV scale and type-I corrections to a type-II dominant seesaw for neutrino masses. This is a single-step breaking model with SUSY SO(10) broken at the Grand Unified Theory (GUT)-scale of 2x10^16 GeV to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The minimal model has only 11 parameters, and therefore, the charged fermion fits predict the masses (up to an overall scale) and mixings in the neutrino sector. We present correlations for the different predictions in the neutrino mixing parameters. The recent experimental "large" \theta_{13} value of \sim 9 degrees can be obtained by a simple extension of the minimal model. We also find that proton decay mode p -> K^+\bar{\nu}_\mu has a partial lifetime of \sim10^34 yrs, which is within reach of the next round of planned proton decay searches. The successful fit for fermion masses requires the Higgs mass to be below 129 GeV in this model. If the Higgs mass lies between 120-128 GeV, as suggested by the recent LHC data, we find a lower limit on the light stop mass of 755 (211) GeV for \mu>0 (<0).

Invariants, alignment and the pattern of fermion masses and mixing

We show that the main features of the pattern of fermion masses and mixing can be expressed in terms of simple relations among weak-basis invariants. In the quark sector, we identify the weak-basis invariants which signal the observed alignment of the up and down quark mass matrices in flavour space. In the lepton sector, we indicate how a set of conditions on weak-basis invariants can lead to the observed pattern of leptonic mixing, including the recent measurement of Ue3 by the Daya Bay Collaboration. We also show the usefulness of these invariants in the study of specific ansätze for the flavour structure of fermion mass matrices.

Hiding a heavy Higgs boson at the 7 TeV LHC

Abstract A heavy Standard Model Higgs boson is not only disfavored by electroweak precision observables but is also excluded by direct searches at the 7 TeV LHC for a wide range of masses. Here, we examine scenarios where a heavy Higgs boson can be made consistent with both the indirect constraints and the direct null searches by adding only one new particle beyond the Standard Model. This new particle should be a weak multiplet in order to have additional contributions to the oblique parameters. If it is a color singlet, we find that a heavy Higgs with an intermediate mass of 200–300 GeV can decay into the new states, suppressing the branching ratios for the standard model modes, and thus hiding a heavy Higgs at the LHC. If the new particle is also charged under QCD, the Higgs production cross section from gluon fusion can be reduced significantly due to the new colored particle one-loop contribution. Current collider constraints on the new particles allow for viable parameter space to exist in order to hide a heavy Higgs boson. We categorize the general signatures of these new particles, identify favored regions of their parameter space and point out that discovering or excluding them at the LHC can provide important in- direct information for a heavy Higgs. Finally, for a very heavy Higgs boson, beyond the search limit at the 7 TeV LHC, we discuss three additional scenarios where models would be consistent with electroweak precision tests: including an additional vector-like fermion mixing with the top quark, adding another U(1) gauge boson and modifying triple-gauge boson couplings.

Explicit SU(12) family and flavor unification model with natural fermion masses and mixings

We present an SU(12) unification model with three light chiral families, avoiding any external flavor symmetries. The hierarchy of quark and lepton masses and mixings is explained by higher dimensional Yukawa interactions involving Higgs bosons that contain SU(5) singlet fields with vacuum expectation values about 50 times smaller than the SU(12) unification scale. The presented model has been analyzed in detail and found to be in very good agreement with the observed quark and lepton masses and mixings.

Supersymmetry in the shadow of photini

Additional neutral gauge fermions -- "photini" -- arise in string compactifications as superpartners of U(1) gauge fields. Unlike their vector counterparts, the photini can acquire weak-scale masses from soft SUSY breaking and lead to observable signatures at the LHC through mass mixing with the bino. In this work we investigate the collider consequences of adding photini to the neutralino sector of the MSSM. Relatively large mixing of one or more photini with the bino can lead to prompt decays of the lightest ordinary supersymmetric particle; these extra cascades transfer most of the energy of SUSY decay chains into Standard Model particles, diminishing the power of missing energy as an experimental handle for signal discrimination. We demonstrate that the missing energy in SUSY events with photini is reduced dramatically for supersymmetric spectra with MSSM neutralinos near the weak scale, and study the effects on limits set by the leading hadronic SUSY searches at ATLAS and CMS. We find that in the presence of even one light photino the limits on squark masses from hadronic searches can be reduced by 400 GeV, with comparable (though more modest) reduction of gluino mass limits. We also consider potential discovery channels such as dilepton and multilepton searches, which remain sensitive to SUSY spectra with photini and can provide an unexpected route to the discovery of supersymmetry. Although presented in the context of photini, our results apply in general to theories in which additional light neutral fermions mix with MSSM gauginos.

S 3 as a flavour symmetry for quarks and leptons after the Daya Bay result on θ 13

We present a model based on the flavour group S3 X Z3 X Z6 to explain the main features of fermion masses and mixing. In particular, in the neutrino sector the breaking of the S3 symmetry is responsible for a naturally small r=\Delta m^2_sol/\Delta m^2_atm and suitable next-to-leading order corrections bring \theta 13 at the level of ~ 0.13, fully compatible with the recent Daya Bay result. In the quark sector, the model accommodates the different mass hierarchies in the up and down quark sectors as well as the Cabibbo angle and Vcb (or Vub, depending on the charge assignment of the right-handed b-quark) in the correct range.

Relating large [formula omitted] to the ratio of neutrino mass-squared differences

The non-zero and sizable value of Ue3 puts pressure on flavor symmetry models which predict an initially vanishing value. Hence, the tradition of relating fermion mixing matrix elements with fermion mass ratios might need to be resurrected. We note that the recently observed non-vanishing value of Ue3 can be related numerically to the ratio of solar and atmospheric mass-squared differences. The most straightforward realization of this can be achieved with a combination of texture zeros and a vanishing neutrino mass. We analyze the implications of some of these possibilities and construct explicit flavor symmetry models that predict these features.

S3flavor symmetry in 3-3-1 models

We propose two 3-3-1 models (with either neutral fermions or right-handed neutrinos) based on S_3 flavor symmetry responsible for fermion masses and mixings. The models can be distinguished upon the new charge embedding (\mathcal{L}) relevant to lepton number. The neutrino small masses can be given via a cooperation of type I and type II seesaw mechanisms. The latest data on neutrino oscillation can be fitted provided that the flavor symmetry is broken via two different directions S_3 \rightarrow Z_2 and S_3 \rightarrow Z_3 (or equivalently in the sequel S_3 \rightarrow Z_2 \rightarrow Identity), in which the second direction is due to a scalar triplet and another antisextet as small perturbation. In addition, breaking of either lepton parity in the model with neutral fermions or lepton number in the model with right-handed neutrinos must be happened due to the \mathcal{L}-violating scalar potential. The TeV seesaw scale can be naturally recognized in the former model. The degenerate masses of fermion pairs (\mu, \tau), (c, t) and (s, b) are respectively separated due to the S_3 \rightarrow Z_3 breaking.

Symmetryless dark matter

It is appealing to stabilize dark matter by the same discrete symmetry that is used to explain the structure of quark and lepton mass matrices. However, to generate the observed fermion mixing patterns, any flavor symmetry must necessarily be broken, rendering dark matter unstable. We study singlet, doublet and triplet SU(2) multiplets of both scalar and fermion dark matter candidates and enumerate the conditions under which no d < 6 dark matter decay operators are generated even in the case if the flavor symmetry is broken to nothing. We show that the VEVs of flavon scalars transforming as higher multiplets (e.g. triplets) of the flavor group must be at the electroweak scale. The most economical way for that is to use SM Higgs boson(s) as flavons. Such models can be tested by the LHC experiments. This scenario requires the existence of additional Froggatt-Nielsen scalars that generate hierarchies in Yukawa couplings. We study the conditions under which large and small flavor breaking parameters can coexist without destabilizing the dark matter.

Proton stability from a fourth family

The possibility to violate baryon or lepton number without introducing any new flavor structures, beyond those needed to account for the known fermion masses and mixings, is analyzed. With four generations, but only three colors, this minimality requirement is shown to lead to baryon number conservation, up to negligible dimension-18 operators. In a supersymmetric context, this same minimality principle allows only superpotential terms with an even number of flavored superfields, hence effectively enforces R-parity both within the MSSM and in a GUT context.

A renormalizable supersymmetric SU(5) model

In the Supersymmetric SU(5) Model of Unification with the Missing Partner Mechanism, we present a renormalizable model using the Georgi-Jarlsog mechanism to describe the fermion masses and mixing. At the meantime the proton decay rates are also suppressed to satisfy the experimental data.

FLAVOR VIOLATION IN A MINIMAL SO(10)×A4 SUSY GUT

Flavor violating processes in the quark and lepton sectors are investigated within a realistic supersymmetric SO(10)×A4 grand unification model. By employing exotic heavy fermion fields, this model successfully describes various features of the fermion masses and mixings including large neutrino mixings accompanied by small quark mixings. In this model the flavor violation is induced at GUT scale, at which A4 flavor symmetry is broken, as a consequence of the large mixings of the light fermion fields with these exotic heavy fields. The stringent experimental constraint from μ→eγ decay rate necessitates a high degree of degeneracy of the supersymmetry breaking soft scalar masses of the exotic heavy fields and supersymmetric scalar partners of the light fermion fields. The choice of slepton masses of order 1 TeV is found to be consistent with the constraints from branching ratio of μ→eγ and with all other flavor changing neutral current processes being sufficiently suppressed.

Fermion masses and mixing with tri-bimaximal in SO(10) with type-I seesaw

We study a class of models for tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing in SO(10) grand unified SUSY framework. Neutrino masses arise from both type-I and type-II seesaw mechanisms. We use dimension five operators in order to not spoil tri-bimaximal mixing by means of type-I contribution in the neutrino sector. We show that it is possible to fit all fermion masses and mixings including also the recent T2K result as deviation from the tri-bimaximal.

Geometrical spontaneousCPviolation

Spontaneous $CP$-violating phases that do not depend on the parameters of the Higgs sector---the so-called calculable phases---are investigated. The simplest realization is in models with 3 Higgs doublets, in which the scalar potential is invariant under non-Abelian symmetries. The non-Abelian discrete group $\mathsf{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\mathsf{5}\mathsf{4})$ is shown to lead to the known structure of calculable phases obtained with $\mathsf{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(\mathsf{2}\mathsf{7})$. We investigate the possibility of accommodating the observed fermion masses and mixings.

The supersymmetric flavour problem in 5D GUTs and its consequences for LHC phenomenology

We study supersymmetric models with a GUT-sized extra dimension, where both the Higgs fields and the SUSY breaking hidden sector are localized on a 4D brane. Exponential wave function profiles of the matter fields give rise to hierarchical structures in the Yukawa couplings and soft terms. Such structures can naturally explain hierarchical fermion masses and mixings, while at the same time alleviating the supersymmetric flavour problem. We discuss two sources of supersymmetry breaking, radion mediation and brane fields, and perform a detailed numerical analysis, thoroughly taking into account the proliferation of unknown O(1) coefficients that occurs in this class of models. It turns out that additional assumptions on supersymmetry breaking are necessary to evade the stringent experimental bounds on lepton flavour violation. The favourable regions of parameter space are then examined with regards to their LHC phenomenology. They generically feature heavy gluinos and squarks beyond current bounds. Lepton flavour violation in SUSY cascade decays can give interesting signatures.

AN INFRARED ORIGIN OF LEPTONIC MIXING AND ITS TEST AT DEEPCORE

Fermion mixing is generally believed to be a low-energy manifestation of an underlying theory whose energy scale is much larger than the electroweak scale. In this paper we investigate the possibility that the parameters describing lepton mixing actually arise from the low-energy behavior of the neutrino interacting fields. In particular, we conjecture that the measured value of the mixing angles for a given process depends on the number of unobservable flavor states at the energy of the process. We provide a covariant implementation of such conjecture, draw its consequences in a two-neutrino family approximation and compare these findings with current experimental data. Finally we show that this infrared origin of mixing will be manifest at the Ice Cube DeepCore array, which measures atmospheric oscillations at energies much larger than the tau lepton mass; it will hence be experimentally tested in a short time scale.

Lifting slepton masses with a non-universal, non-anomalous [formula omitted] in Anomaly Mediated SUSY Breaking

We extend the Minimum Supersymmetry Standard Model by a non-anomalous family (NAF) U(1)NAF′ gauge symmetry. All gauge anomalies are cancelled with no additional exotics other than the three right-handed neutrinos. The FI D-terms associated with the U(1)NAF′ symmetry lead to additional positive contributions to slepton squared masses. In a RG invariant way, this thus solves the tachyonic slepton mass problem in Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking. In addition, the U(1)NAF′ symmetry naturally gives rise to the fermion mass hierarchy and mixing angles, and determines the mass spectrum of the sparticles.

Two-Higgs leptonic minimal flavour violation

We construct extensions of the Standard Model with two Higgs doublets, where there are flavour changing neutral currents both in the quark and leptonic sectors, with their strength fixed by the fermion mixing matrices $V_{CKM}$ and $V_{PMNS}$. These models are an extension to the leptonic sector of the class of models previously considered by Branco, Grimus and Lavoura, for the quark sector. We consider both the cases of Dirac and Majorana neutrinos and identify the minimal discrete symmetry required in order to implement the models in a natural way.