Fermionic Top Partners Research Articles

Higgs squared

We present a novel construction for a Higgs-VEV sensitive (HVS) operator, which can be used as a trigger operator in cosmic selection models for the electroweak hierarchy problem. Our operator does not contain any degrees of freedom charged under the SM gauge symmetries, leading to reduced tuning in the resulting models. Our construction is based on the extension of a two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) with a softly broken approximate global D8 symmetry (the symmetry group of a square). A cosmic crunching model based on our extended Higgs sector has only a percent level tuning corresponding to the usual little hierarchy problem. In large regions of parameter space the 2HDM is naturally pushed towards the alignment limit. A complete model requires the introduction of fermionic top partners to ensure the approximate D8 symmetry in the fermion sector. We also show that the same extended Higgs sector can be used for a novel implementation of the seesaw mechanism of neutrino masses.

Anatomy of tthh physics at the HL-LHC

The $tthh$ production at colliders contain rich information on the nature of Higgs boson. In this article, we systematically studied its physics at High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), using exclusive channels with multiple ($\geq 5$) $b$-jets and one lepton ($5b1\ell$), multiple ($\geq 5$) $b$-jets and opposite-sign di-lepton ($5b2\ell$), same-sign di-lepton (SS2$\ell$), multiple leptons (multi-$\ell$), and di-tau resonance ($\tau\tau$). The scenarios analyzed include: (1) the $tthh$ production in Standard Model; (2) the $tthh$ production mediated by anomalous cubic Higgs self-coupling and $tthh$ contact interaction; (3) heavy Higgs ($H$) production with $tt H \to tthh$; and (4) pair production of fermionic top partners ($T$) with $T T \to tthh$. To address the complication of event topologies and the mess of combinatorial backgrounds, a tool of Boosted-Decision-Tree was applied in the analyses. The $5b1\ell$ and SS2$\ell$ analyses define the two most promising channels, resulting in slightly different sensitivities. For non-resonant $tthh$ production, a combination of these exclusive analyses allows for its measurment in the SM with a statistical significance $\sim 0.9\sigma$ (with $S/B > 1 \%$), and may assist partially breaking the sensitivity degeneracy w.r.t. the cubic Higgs self-coupling, a difficulty usually thought to exist in gluon fusion di-Higgs analysis at HL-LHC. These sensitivities were also projected to future hadron colliders at 27 TeV and 100 TeV. For resonant $tthh$ productions, the heavy Higgs boson in type II Two-Higgs-Doublet-Model could be efficiently searched for between the mass thresholds $2 m_h < m_H < 2 m_t$ and even beyond that, for relatively small $\tan\beta$, while the fermionic top partners in composite Higgs models could be probed for up to $\sim 1.5$ TeV and $\sim 1.7$ TeV, for Br$(T\to th)=25\%$ and $50\%$, respectively.

Exotic decays of top partners: Mind the search gap

Many standard model extensions, including composite Goldstone Higgs models, predict vector-like fermionic top-partners at the TeV scale. The intensive search programmes by ATLAS and CMS focus on decays into a 3rd generation quark and an electroweak boson (W,Z,h). However, underlying models of partial compositeness contain additional states that give rise to exotic top partner decays. We consider a well-motivated scenario in which a charge-2/3 top-partner decays into a pseudo-scalar, T→ta, with a→gg or bb¯ dominating below the tt¯ threshold. We show that the constraints on the top partner mass from QCD pair production are substantially weakened, still allowing a top partner mass as light as 400 GeV.

Continuum Partners

Traditional searches for fermionic top partners have focused on particles that can be described by Breit-Wigner resonances. We consider a natural model framework called “continuum naturalness” in which the top partners and gauge partners responsible for cutting off the Higgs potential are not particles but rather continuum states with a generic spectral density.

Monotop signature from a fermionic top partner

We investigate mono-top signatures arising from phenomenological models of fermionic top-partners, which are degenerate in mass and decay into a bosonic dark matter candidate, either spin-0 or spin-1. Such a model provides a mono-top signature as a smoking-gun, while conventional searches with $t\bar t$ + missing transverse momentum are limited. Two such scenarios: i) a phenomenological 3rd generation extra dimensional model with excited top and electroweak sectors, and ii) a model where only a top-partner and a dark matter particle are added to the SM, are studied in the degenerate mass regime. We find that in the case of extra dimension a number of different processes give rise to effectively the same mono-top final state, and a great gain can be obtained in the sensitivity for this channel. We show that the mono-top search can explore top-partner masses up to 630 GeV and 300 GeV for the 3rd generation extra dimensional model and the minimal fermionic top-partner model, respectively, at the high luminosity LHC.

Charged composite scalar dark matter

We consider a composite model where both the Higgs and a complex scalar χ, which is the dark matter (DM) candidate, arise as light pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGBs) from a strongly coupled sector with TeV scale confinement. The global symmetry structure is SO(7)/SO(6), and the DM is charged under an exact U(1)DM ⊂ SO(6) that ensures its stability. Depending on whether the χ shift symmetry is respected or broken by the coupling of the top quark to the strong sector, the DM can be much lighter than the Higgs or have a weak-scale mass. Here we focus primarily on the latter possibility. We introduce the lowest-lying composite resonances and impose calculability of the scalar potential via generalized Weinberg sum rules. Compared to previous analyses of pNGB DM, the computation of the relic density is improved by fully accounting for the effects of the fermionic top partners. This plays a crucial role in relaxing the tension with the current DM direct detection constraints. The spectrum of resonances contains exotic top partners charged under the U(1)DM, whose LHC phenomenology is analyzed. We identify a region of parameters with f = 1.4 TeV and 200 GeV ≲ mχ ≲ 400 GeV that satisfies all existing bounds. This DM candidate will be tested by XENON1T in the near future.

Testing naturalness at 100 TeV

Solutions to the electroweak hierarchy problem typically introduce a new symmetry to stabilize the quadratic ultraviolet sensitivity in the self-energy of the Higgs boson. The new symmetry is either broken softly or collectively, as for example in supersymmetric and little Higgs theories. At low energies such theories contain naturalness partners of the Standard Model fields which are responsible for canceling the quadratic divergence in the squared Higgs mass. Post the discovery of any partner-like particles, we propose to test the aforementioned cancellation by measuring relevant Higgs couplings. Using the fermionic top partners in little Higgs theories as an illustration, we construct a simplified model for naturalness and initiate a study on testing naturalness. After electroweak symmetry breaking, naturalness in the top sector requires aT = − λt2 at leading order, where λt and aT are the Higgs couplings to a pair of top quarks and top partners, respectively. Using a multivariate method of Boosted Decision Tree to tag boosted particles in the Standard Model, we show that, with a luminosity of 30 ab−1 at a 100 TeV pp-collider, naturalness could be tested with a precision of 10% for a top partner mass up to 2.5 TeV.

Reappraisal of dark matter co-annihilating with a top or bottom partner

We revisit the calculation of relic density of dark matter particles co-annihilating with a top or bottom partner, by properly including the QCD bound-states (onia) effects of the colored partners, as well as the relevant electroweak processes which become important in the low mass region. We carefully set up the complete framework that incorporates the relevant contributions and investigate their effects on the cosmologically preferred mass spectrum, which turn out to be comparable in size to those coming from the Sommerfeld enhancement. We apply the calculation to three scenarios: bino-stop and bino-sbottom co-annihilations in supersymmetry, and a vector dark matter co-annihilating with a fermionic top partner. In addition, we confront our analysis of the relic abundance with recent direct detection experiments and collider searches at the LHC, which have important implications in the bino-stop and bino-sbottom scenarios. In particular, in the bino-stop case recent LHC limits have excluded regions of parameter with a direct detection rate that is above the neutrino floor.

Colorful Twisted Top Partners and Partnerium at the LHC

In scenarios that stabilize the electroweak scale, the top quark is typically accompanied by partner particles. In this work, we demonstrate how extended stabilizing symmetries can yield scalar or fermionic top partners that transform as ordinary color triplets but carry exotic electric charges. We refer to these scenarios as “hypertwisted” since they involve modifications to hypercharge in the top sector. As proofs of principle, we construct two hypertwisted scenarios: a supersymmetric construction with spin-0 top partners, and a composite Higgs construction with spin-1/2 top partners. In both cases, the top partners are still phenomenologically compatible with the mass range motivated by weak-scale naturalness. The phenomenology of hypertwisted scenarios is diverse, since the lifetimes and decay modes of the top partners are model dependent. The novel coupling structure opens up search channels that do not typically arise in top-partner scenarios, such as pair production of top-plus-jet resonances. Furthermore, hypertwisted top partners are typically sufficiently long lived to form “top-partnerium” bound states that decay predominantly via annihilation, motivating searches for rare narrow resonances with diboson decay modes.

LHC vector resonance searches in the toverline{t}Z final state

LHC searches for BSM resonances in l+l−, jj, toverline{t} , γγ and VV final states have so far not resulted in discovery of new physics. Current results set lower limits on mass scales of new physics resonances well into the mathcal{O}(1) TeV range, assuming that the new resonance decays dominantly to a pair of Standard Model particles. While the SM pair searches are a vital probe of possible new physics, it is important to re-examine the scope of new physics scenarios probed with such final states. Scenarios where new resonances decay dominantly to final states other than SM pairs, even though well theoretically motivated, lie beyond the scope of SM pair searches. In this paper we argue that LHC searches for (vector) resonances beyond two particle final states would be useful complementary probes of new physics scenarios. As an example, we consider a class of composite Higgs models, and identify specific model parameter points where the color singlet, electrically neutral vector resonance ρ0 decays dominantly not to a pair of SM particles, but to a fermionic top partner Tf1 and a top quark, with Tf1 → tZ. We show that dominant decays of ρ0 → Tf1t in the context of Composite Higgs models are possible even when the decay channel to a pair of Tf1 is kinematically open. Our analysis deals with scenarios where both mρ and {m}_T{{}_{{}_f}}_{{}_1} are of mathcal{O}(1) TeV, leading to highly boosted toverline{t}Z final state topologies. We show that the particular composite Higgs scenario we consider is discoverable at the LHC13 with as little as 30 fb−1, while being allowed by other existing experimental constraints.

Di-boson signatures as standard candles for partial compositeness

Composite Higgs Models are often constructed including fermionic top partners with a mass around the TeV scale, with the top partners playing the role of stabilizing the Higgs potential and enforcing partial compositeness for the top quark. A class of models of this kind can be formulated in terms of fermionic strongly coupled gauge theories. A common feature they all share is the presence of specific additional scalar resonances, namely two neutral singlets and a colored octet, described by a simple effective Lagrangian. We study the phenomenology of these scalars, both in a model independent and model dependent way, including the bounds from all the available searches in the relevant channels with di-boson and di-top final states. We develop a generic framework which can be used to constrain any model containing pseudo-scalar singlets or octets. Using it, we find that such signatures provide strong bounds on the compositeness scale complementary to the traditional EWPT and Higgs couplings deviations. In many cases a relatively light scalar can be on the verge of discovery as a first sign of new physics.

Extending the analysis of electroweak precision constraints in composite Higgs models

In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the Electroweak Precision Observables (EWPO) in composite Higgs models based on the coset SO(5)/SO(4). In our study we include both the fermionic top partners and the spin-1 resonances and consider their possible interplay as well. In order to achieve calculability we use the assumptions of i) partial Ultra Violet Completion (PUVC) following [1] and, ii) absence of sizable effects from physics above the cut-off. Apart from the EWPO, we also take into account the constraints from the top quark, Z and the Higgs boson masses whenever they can be predicted in terms of the model parameters. After presenting our analytic results (often, in certain limits) and discussing their symmetry properties, we also perform detailed fits of the model parameters following the Bayesian approach. We show the posterior probability distributions of the parameters in various scenarios and provide with analytic understanding whenever possible. We find that in certain cases the EWPO allow the compositeness scale to lie well below 1 TeV. Moreover, fermionic top partners of mass around 1 TeV and spin-1 resonances of mass around 2–3 TeV are consistent with the precision data.

Scalar versus fermionic top partner interpretations of t t ¯ + E T miss $$ t\overline{t}+{E}_T^{\mathrm{miss}} $$ searches at the LHC

We assess how different ATLAS and CMS searches for supersymmetry in the $t\bar t + E_T^{\rm miss}$ final state at Run 1 of the LHC constrain scenarios with a fermionic top partner and a dark matter candidate. We find that the efficiencies of these searches in all-hadronic, 1-lepton and 2-lepton channels are quite similar for scalar and fermionic top partners. Therefore, in general, efficiency maps for stop-neutralino simplified models can also be applied to fermionic top-partner models, provided the narrow width approximation holds in the latter. Owing to the much higher production cross-sections of heavy top quarks as compared to stops, masses up to $m_T\approx 850$ GeV can be excluded from the Run 1 stop searches. Since the simplified-model results published by ATLAS and CMS do not extend to such high masses, we provide our own efficiency maps obtained with CheckMATE and MadAnalysis 5 for these searches. Finally, we also discuss how generic gluino/squark searches in multi-jet final states constrain heavy top partner production.

Odd top partners at the LHC

LHC searches for fermionic top partners $T$ focus on three decay topologies: $T\to bW$, $T\to tZ$, and $T\to th$. However, top partners may carry new conserved quantum numbers that forbid these decays. The simplest possibility is a conserved parity, under which the top partner is odd and all SM states are even. In this case, decays of top partners may involve new particle-odd scalars, leading to signal topologies more commonly associated with supersymmetry, either with or without R-parity conservation. We study a simplified model in which this possibility is realized, and estimate the bounds on the top partner mass in this model implied by LHC searches for supersymmetry. We find that the bounds can be significantly weaker than in the conventional top partner decay scenario. For example, if the new parity is exact, a 500 GeV top partner is allowed as long as the lightest parity-odd scalar mass is between 325 and 500 GeV. The lower allowed top partner mass reduces the need for fine-tuning in the Higgs mass parameter, compared to the conventional decay scenario. We also present an explicit model, the Oddest Little Higgs, which exhibits this phenomenology.

Search strategies for TeV scale fermionic top partners with charge 2/3

Searches for fermionic top partners at the TeV scale will bring forward a new final state kinematic regime and event topologies, where Run I search strategies will inevitably fail. We propose concrete search strategies for singly produced charge 2/3 fermionic top partners ($T'$) adequate for LHC Run II. Our analysis spans over all of the $T'$ decay modes ($i.e.$ $tZ$, $th$ and $Wb$) where we present detailed discussion of the search performances, signal efficiencies and backgrounds rates. Our LHC Run II search proposals utilize signatures with large missing energy and leptons, as well as jet substructure observables for tagging of boosted heavy SM states, customized $b$-tagging tactics and forward jet tagging. We analyze the prospects for discovery and exclusion of $T'$ models within the framework of partially composite quarks at the LHC Run II. Our results show that the LHC Run II has good prospects for observing $T'$ models which predict single production cross section of $\sigma_{T'} \sim 70 -140 \, (30 -65)$ fb for $M_{T'} = 1\, (1.5)$~TeV respectively with 100 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, depending on the branching ratios of the $T'$. Similarly, we find that cross sections of $\sigma_{T'} \sim 27 -60\, (13 - 24)$ fb for $M_{T'} = 1\, (1.5)$ TeV respectively can be excluded with the same amount of data. Our results are minimally model dependent and can be applied to most $T'$ models where $\Gamma_{T'} \ll M_{T'}$.

Quark flavour observables in the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity after LHC Run 1.

The Littlest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT) belongs to the simplest new physics scenarios with new sources of flavour and CP violation. The latter originate in the interactions of ordinary quarks and leptons with heavy mirror quarks and leptons that are mediated by new heavy gauge bosons. Also a heavy fermionic top partner is present in this model which communicates with the SM fermions by means of standard W^pm and Z^0 gauge bosons. We present a new analysis of quark flavour observables in the LHT model in view of the oncoming flavour precision era. We use all available information on the CKM parameters, lattice QCD input and experimental data on quark flavour observables and corresponding theoretical calculations, taking into account new lower bounds on the symmetry breaking scale and the mirror quark masses from the LHC. We investigate by how much the branching ratios for a number of rare K and B decays are still allowed to depart from their SM values. This includes K^+rightarrow pi ^+nu bar{nu }, K_{L}rightarrow pi ^0nu bar{nu }, K_Lrightarrow mu ^+mu ^-, Brightarrow X_sgamma , B_{s,d}rightarrow mu ^+mu ^-, Brightarrow K^{(*)}ell ^+ell ^-, Brightarrow K^{(*)}nu bar{nu }, and varepsilon '/varepsilon . Taking into account the constraints from Delta F=2 processes, significant departures from the SM predictions for K^+rightarrow pi ^+nu bar{nu } and K_{L}rightarrow pi ^0nu bar{nu } are possible, while the effects in B decays are much smaller. In particular, the LHT model favours mathcal {B}(B_{s}rightarrow mu ^+mu ^-) ge mathcal {B}(B_{s}rightarrow mu ^+mu ^-)_mathrm{SM}, which is not supported by the data, and the present anomalies in Brightarrow K^{(*)}ell ^+ell ^- decays cannot be explained in this model. With the recent lattice and large N input the imposition of the varepsilon '/varepsilon constraint implies a significant suppression of the branching ratio for K_{L}rightarrow pi ^0nu bar{nu } with respect to its SM value while allowing only for small modifications of K^+rightarrow pi ^+nu bar{nu }. Finally, we investigate how the LHT physics could be distinguished from other models by means of indirect measurements and discuss the consequences for quark flavour observables of not finding any LHT state in the coming years.

Search for vectorlike charge2/3 Tquarks in proton-proton collisions at(s)=8 TeV

A search for fermionic top quark partners T of charge 2/3 is presented. The search is carried out in proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns collected at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The T quarks are assumed to be produced strongly in pairs and can decay into tH, tZ, and bW. The search is performed in five exclusive channels: a single-lepton channel, a multilepton channel, two all-hadronic channels optimized either for the bW or the tH decay, and one channel in which the Higgs boson decays into two photons. The results are found to be compatible with the standard model expectations in all the investigated final states. A statistical combination of these results is performed and lower limits on the T quark mass are set. Depending on the branching fractions, lower mass limits between 720 and 920 GeV at 95% confidence level are found. These are among the strongest limits on vector-like T quarks obtained to date.

Neutrino masses from neutral top partners

We present theories of `Natural Neutrinos' in which neutral fermionic top partner fields are simultaneously the right-handed neutrinos (RHN), linking seemingly disparate aspects of the Standard Model structure: a) The RHN top partners are responsible for the observed small neutrino masses, b) They help ameliorate the tuning in the weak scale and address the little hierarchy problem, and c) The factor of $3$ arising from $N_c$ in the top-loop Higgs mass corrections is countered by a factor $3$ from the number of vector-like generations of RHN. The RHN top partners may arise in pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone-Boson (pNGB) Higgs models such as the Twin Higgs, as well as more general Composite, Little, and Orbifold Higgs scenarios, and three simple example models are presented. This framework firmly predicts a TeV-scale seesaw, as the RHN masses are bounded to be below the TeV scale by naturalness. The generation of light neutrino masses relies on a collective breaking of lepton number, allowing for comparatively large neutrino Yukawa couplings and a rich associated phenomenology. The structure of the neutrino mass mechanism realizes in certain limits the Inverse or Linear classes of seesaw. Natural Neutrino models are testable at a variety of current and future experiments, particularly in tests of lepton universality, searches for lepton flavor violation, and precision electroweak and Higgs coupling measurements possible at high energy $e^+ e^-$ and hadron colliders.

Discovering heavy new physics in boostedZchannels:Z→l+l−vsZ→νν¯

We propose a strategy for new physics searches in channels which contain a boosted $Z$ boson in the final state. Our proposal exploits the previously overlooked advantages of boosted $Z\rightarrow \nu \bar{\nu}$ topologies, where collimated neutrinos result in signals with large missing energy. We illustrate the advantage of this channel in a case study of singly produced TeV scale charge 2/3 fermionic top partners ($T'$) which decay to $t+Z$. A comparison with the di-leptonic channel reveals that signals with missing energy offer superior probes of new physics at TeV scales, despite the large $t\bar{t}$ backgrounds. The effect can be attributed to a factor of $\sim 3$ enhancement in the signal cross section, coming from the branching ratio of $Z\rightarrow \nu \bar{\nu}$. We exploit the unique event topology of singly produced top partners to suppress the $t\bar{t}$ background, as well as further improve on the existing proposals to detect $T'$ in the boosted di-lepton channel. Our conclusions on advantages of $Z\rightarrow \nu \bar{\nu}$ can be extended to most physics searches which utilize a boosted $Z$ boson in the final state.

Constraining top partner and naturalness at the LHC and TLEP

We investigate indirect constraints on the top partner within the minimal fermionic top partner model. By performing a global fit of the latest Higgs data, Bs→μ+μ− measurements and the electroweak precision observables we find that the top partner with the mass up to 830 GeV is excluded at 2σ level. Our bound on the top partner mass is much stronger than the bounds obtained from the direct searches at the LHC. Under the current constraints the fine-tuning measure is less than 9% and the branching ratio of T→tZ is bounded between 14% and 25%. We also find that precise measurements of Higgs couplings at 240 GeV TLEP will constrain the top partner mass in multi-TeV region.