Generation Quarks Research Articles

Large nu hbox{-} overline{nu} oscillations from high-dimensional lepton number violating operator

It is usually believed that the observation of the neutrino-antineutrino ( nu hbox{-} overline{nu} ) oscillations is almost impossible since the oscillation probabilities are expected to be greatly suppressed by the square of tiny ratio of neutrino masses to energies. Such an argument is applicable to most models for neutrino mass generation based on the Weinberg operator, including the seesaw models. However, in the present paper, we shall give a counterexample to this argument, and show that large nu hbox{-} overline{nu} oscillation probabilities can be obtained in a class of models in which both neutrino masses and neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decays are induced by the high-dimensional lepton number violating operator {mathcal{O}}_7={overline{u}}_R{l}_R^c{overline{L}}_L{H}^{ast }{d}_R+mathrm{H}.mathrm{c}. with u and d representing the first two generations of quarks. In particular, we find that the predicted 0νββ decay rates have already placed interesting constraints on the {nu}_eleftrightarrow {overline{nu}}_e oscillation. Moreover, we provide an UV-complete model to realize this scenario, in which a dark matter candidate naturally appears due to the new U(1)d symmetry.

Effective field theory, electric dipole moments and electroweak baryogenesis

Negative searches for permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) heavily constrain models of baryogenesis utilising various higher dimensional charge and parity violating (CPV) operators. Using effective field theory, we create a model independent connection between these EDM constraints and the baryon asymmetry of the universe (BAU) produced during a strongly first order electroweak phase transition. The thermal aspects of the high scale physics driving the phase transition are paramaterised by the usual kink solution for the bubble wall profile. We find that operators involving derivatives of the Higgs field yield CPV contributions to the BAU containing derivatives of the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev), while non-derivative operators lack such contributions. Consequently, derivative operators cannot be eliminated in terms of non-derivative operators (via the equations of motion) if one is agnostic to the new physics that leads to the phase transition. Thus, we re-classify the independent dimension six operators, restricting ourselves to third generation quarks, gauge bosons and the Higgs. Finally, we calculate the BAU (as a function of the bubble wall width and the cutoff) for a derivative and a non-derivative operator, and relate it to the EDM constraints.

Search for single production of the heavy vectorlike T quark with T→th and h→γγ at the high-luminosity LHC

The vectorlike top partners $T$ are predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model (SM). In a simplified model including a single vectorlike $T$ quark with charge $2/3$, we investigate the process $pp \to Tj$ induced by the couplings between the top partner with the first and the third generation quarks at the LHC. We find that the mixing with the first generation can enhance the production cross section. We further study the observability of the single heavy top partner through the process $pp \to T(\to th)j\to t(\to b \ell \nu_{\ell})h( \to \gamma\gamma) j$ at the high-luminosity~(HL)-LHC~(a 14 TeV $pp$ collider with an integrated luminosity of 3 ab$^{-1}$). For three typical heavy $T$ quark masses $m_T=600,800$ and 1000 GeV, the $3\sigma$ exclusion limits, as well as the $5\sigma$ discovery reach in the parameter plane of the two variables $g^{\ast}-R_L$, are respectively obtained at the HL-LHC.

Phenomenology of enhanced light quark Yukawa couplings and the W\xb1h charge asymmetry

I propose the measurement of the W±h charge asymmetry as a consistency test for the Standard Model (SM) Higgs, which is sensitive to enhanced Yukawa couplings of the first and second generation quarks. I present a collider analysis for the charge asymmetry in the same-sign lepton final state, pp → W±h → (ℓ±ν) (ℓ±νjj), aimed at discovery significance for the SM W±h production mode in each charge channel with 300 fb−1 of 14 TeV LHC data. Using this decay mode, I estimate the statistical precision on the charge asymmetry should reach 0.4% with 3 ab−1 luminosity, enabling a strong consistency test of the SM Higgs hypothesis. I also discuss direct and indirect constraints on light quark Yukawa couplings from direct and indirect probes of the Higgs width as well as Tevatron and Large Hadron Collider Higgs data. While the main effect from enhanced light quark Yukawa couplings is a rapid increase in the total Higgs width, such effects could be mitigated in a global fit to Higgs couplings, leaving the W±h charge asymmetry as a novel signature to test directly the Higgs couplings to light quarks.

Effects of nonminimal universal extra dimension on B→Xsγ

We estimate contributions from Kaluza-Klein excitations of third generation quarks and gauge bosons to the branching ratio of $B\rightarrow X_s\gamma$ decay process in 5-Dimensional Universal Extra Dimensional scenario with non-vanishing boundary localised terms. This model is conventionally known as non-minimal Universal Extra Dimensional model. We have derived the lower limit on the size of the extra dimension by comparing our theoretical estimation of the branching ratio which includes next-to-next-to leading order QCD corrections with its experimentally measured value. Coefficients of the boundary localised terms have also been constrained. 95 \% C.L. lower limit on inverse of radius of compactification ($R^{-1}$) can be as large as 670 GeV for some choice of the value of coefficients of boundary localised terms.

Interpreting 750 GeV diphoton excess with R-parity violating supersymmetry

We propose a supersymmetric explanation of the diphoton excess in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with the leptonic R-parity violation. In our model, sneutrino serves as the 750 GeV resonance and produced through quark–antiquark annihilation. With introducing appropriate trilinear soft parameters, we show that the diphoton branching ratio is significantly enhanced compared with the conventional MSSM. For current dijet and W-pair LHC constraints, we can successfully fit the observed diphoton signal rate in sizeable parameter regions, the resulting parameter space strongly favor the masses of light smuon and stau within the range from 375–500 GeV, which depends on the choice of electroweakino masses and soft trilinear terms. While after taking into account the compatibility of diphoton excess between the 8 TeV and 13 TeV LHC, only the coupling involved with the second generation quarks is survived. In this case, the corresponding parameter space favors a narrow mass range of smuon and stau with [Formula: see text]. Even if the 750 GeV diphoton excesses were not confirmed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments, we point out that our proposal can still be used to explain the current and future tentative diphoton excesses.

Supersymmetric models on magnetized orbifolds with flux-induced Fayet-Iliopoulos terms

We study supersymmetric (SUSY) models derived from the ten-dimensional SUSY Yang- Mills theory compactified on magnetized orbifolds, with nonvanishing Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms induced by magnetic fluxes in extra dimensions. Allowing the presence of FI-terms relaxes a constraint on flux configurations in SUSY model building based on magnetized backgrounds. In this case, charged fields develop their vacuum expectation values (VEVs) to cancel the FI-terms in the D-flat directions of fluxed gauge symmetries, which break the gauge symmetries and lead to a SUSY vacuum. Based on this idea, we propose a new class of SUSY magnetized orbifold models with three generations of quarks and leptons. Especially, we construct a model where the right-handed sneutrinos develop their VEVs which restore the supersymmetry but yield lepton number violating terms below the compactification scale, and show their phenomenological consequences.

What if the masses of the first two quark families are not generated by the standard model Higgs boson?

We point out that, in the context of the SM, $|V^2_{13}| + | V^2_{23}|$ is expected to be large, of order one. The fact that $|V^2_{13}| + |V^2_{23}| \approx 1.6 \times 10^{-3}$ motivates the introduction of a symmetry S which leads to $V_{CKM} ={1\>\!\!\!\mathrm{I}} $, with only the third generation of quarks acquiring mass. We consider two scenarios for generating the mass of the first two quark generations and full quark mixing. One consists of the introduction of a second Higgs doublet which is neutral under S. The second scenario consists of assuming New Physics at a high energy scale , contributing to the masses of light quark generations, in an effective field theory approach. This last scenario leads to couplings of the Higgs particle to $s\overline s$ and $c \overline c$ which are significantly enhanced with respect to those of the SM. In both schemes, one has scalar-mediated flavour- changing neutral currents which are naturally suppressed. Flavour violating top decays are predicted in the second scenario at the level $ \mbox{Br} (t \rightarrow h c ) \geq 5\times 10^{-5}$.

Chiral heavy fermions in a two Higgs doublet model: 750 GeV resonance or not

We revisit models where a heavy chiral 4th generation doublet of fermions is embedded in a class of two Higgs doublets models (2HDM) with a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry, which couples the "heavy" scalar doublet only to the 4th generation fermions and the "light" one to the Standard Model (SM) fermions - the so-called 4G2HDM introduced by us several years ago. We study the constraints imposed on the 4G2HDM from direct searches of heavy fermions, from precision electroweak data (PEWD) and from the measured production and decay signals of the 125 GeV scalar, which in the 4G2HDM corresponds to the lightest CP-even scalar h. We then show that the recently reported excess in the $\gamma\gamma$ spectrum around 750 GeV can be accommodated by the heavy CP-even scalar of the 4G2HDM, H, resulting in a unique choice of parameter space: negligible mixing (sin\alpha ~ O(0.001)) between the two CP-even scalars h,H and heavy 4th generation quark and lepton masses m_t',m_b' < 400 GeV and $m_{\nu'},m_{\tau'}$ > 900 GeV, respectively. Whether or not the 750 GeV \gamma \gamma resonance is confirmed, interesting phenomenology emerges in q' - Higgs systems (q'=t',b'), that can be searched for at the LHC. For example, the heavy scalar states of the model, S=H,A,H^+, may have BR(S -> q'q') ~ O(1), giving rise to observable q'q' signals on resonance, followed by the flavor changing q' decays t'->uh (u=u,c) and/or b'->dh (d=d,s,b). This leads to distinct high jet-multiplicity signatures, with or without charged leptons, of the form q'q' -> (nj + mb + lW)_S (j and b being light and b-quark jets, respectively), with n+m+l =6-8 and unique kinematic features. It is also shown that the 4G2HDM can easily accommodate the interesting recent indications of a percent-level branching ratio in the lepton-flavor-violating (LFV) decay $h \to \tau \mu$ of the 125 GeV Higgs, if confirmed.

Implications of a electroweak triplet scalar leptoquark on the ultra-high energy neutrino events at IceCube

We study the production of scalar leptoquarks at IceCube, in particular, a particle transforming as a triplet under the weak interaction. The existence of electroweak-triplet scalars is highly motivated by models of grand unification and also within radiative seesaw models for neutrino mass generation. In our framework, we extend the Standard Model by a single colored electroweak-triplet scalar leptoquark and analyze its implications on the excess of ultra-high energy neutrino events observed by the IceCube collaboration. We consider only couplings between the leptoquark to first generation leptons and quarks and carry out a statistical analysis to determine the parameters that best describe the IceCube data as well as set $95\%$ CL upper bounds. We analyze whether this study is still consistent with most up-to-date LHC data and various low energy observables.

Studying the Fourth Generation Quark Contributions to the Double Charm Decays B ( s ) → D ( s ) ( ∗ ) D s ( ∗ ) $B_{(s)} \to D_{(s)}^{(*)} D_{s}^{(*)}$

Almost all branching ratios and longitudinal polarization fractions of the double charm decays $B_{(s)} \to D_{(s)}^{(*)} D_{s}^{(*)}$ have been measured, and the experimental central value of $f_{L}({B^{0}_{s}}\to D^{*+}_{s}D^{*-}_{s})$ is quite small comparing to its Standard Model prediction. We study the fourth generation quark contributions to the double charm decays $B_{(s)} \to D_{(s)}^{(*)} D_{s}^{(*)}$ . We find that the loop diagrams involving the fourth generation quark t′ have great effects on all branching ratios and CP asymmetries, which are very sensitive to the fourth generation parameter $\lambda ^{s}_{t^{\prime }}$ and $\phi _{t^{\prime }}$ . Nevertheless, the experimental measurements of all branching ratios can not give effective constraints on relevant new physics parameters. In addition, they have no obvious effect on the relevant polarization fractions. These results could be used to search for the fourth heavy quark t′ via its indirect manifestations in loop diagrams.

Higgs boson mass constraint and theCPeven-CPodd Higgs boson mixing in an MSSM extension

One loop contributions to the CP even-CP odd Higgs boson mixings arising from contributions due to exchange of a vectorlike multiplet are computed under the Higgs boson mass constraint. The vectorlike multiplet consists of a fourth generation of quarks and a mirror generation. This sector brings in new CP phases which can be large consistent with EDM constraints. In this work we compute the contributions from the exchange of quarks and mirror quarks $t_{4L}, t_{4R}, T_{L}, T_{R}$, and their scalar partners, the squarks and the mirror squarks. The effect of their contributions to the Higgs boson masses and mixings are computed and analyzed. The possibility of measuring the effects of mixing of CP even and CP odd Higgs in experiment is discussed. It is shown that the branching ratios of the Higgs bosons into fermion pairs are sensitive to new physics and specifically to CP phases.

On aspects of holographic thermal QCD at finite coupling

In the context of string theoretic dual of thermal QCD-like theories at finite gauge/string coupling of [1] (as part of the ‘MQGP’ limit of [2]), we obtain the QCD deconfinement temperature compatible with lattice results for the right number of light flavors Nf=3, and the correct mass scale of the light (first generation) quarks. The type IIB background of [1] is also shown to be thermodynamically stable. Further, we show that the temperature dependence of DC electrical conductivity mimics a one-dimensional Luttinger liquid, and the requirement of the Einstein relation (ratio of electrical conductivity and charge susceptibility equal to the diffusion constant) to be satisfied requires a specific dependence of the Ouyang embedding parameter on the horizon radius. These results arise due to the non-Kählerity and non-conformality of the type IIB background. On the geometrical side we quantify the former (non-Kählerity) by evaluating the SU(3)/G2-structure torsion classes of the local type IIA mirror/M-theory uplift. Analogous to what was shown for the type IIB background in [5], we first show that the type IIA delocalized SYZ mirror (after fine tuning) can also be approximately supersymmetric. We then work out the G2-structure torsion classes of the local M-theory uplift of the mirror type IIA metric – in the large-N limit at finite coupling, G2 structure approaches G2 holonomy.

Determining the quantum numbers of simplified models intt¯Xproduction at the LHC

Simplified models provide an avenue for characterising and exploring New Physics for large classes of UV theories. In this article we study the ability of the LHC to probe the spin and parity quantum numbers of a new light resonance $X$ which couples predominantly to the third generation quarks in a variety of simplified models through the $t\bar t X$ channel. After evaluating the LHC discovery potential for $X$, we suggest several kinematic variables sensitive to the spin and CP properties of the new resonance. We show how an analysis exploiting differential distributions in the semi-leptonic channel can discriminate among various possibilities. We find that the potential to discriminate a scalar from a pseudoscalar or (axial) vector to be particularly promising.

Higgs phenomenology in the minimalSU(3)L×U(1)Xmodel

We investigate the phenomenology of a model based on the $SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$ gauge theory, the so-called 331 model. In particular, we focus on the Higgs sector of the model which is composed of three $SU(3)_L$ triplet Higgs fields, and this corresponds to the minimal form to realize phenomenologically acceptable scenario. After the spontaneous symmetry breaking $SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X\to SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$, our Higgs sector effectively becomes that with two $SU(2)_L$ doublet scalar fields, in which the first and the second generation quarks couple to the different Higgs doublet from that couples to the third generation quarks. This structure causes the flavour changing neutral current mediated by Higgs bosons at the tree level. By taking an alignment limit of the mass matrix for the CP-even Higgs bosons, which is naturally realized in the case with the breaking scale of $SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$ to be much larger than that of $SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$, we can avoid current constraints from flavour experiments such as the $B^0$-$\bar{B}^0$ mixing even for the Higgs bosons masses being ${\cal O}(100)$ GeV. In this allowed parameter space, we clarify that a characteristic deviation in quark Yukawa couplings of the standard model-like Higgs boson is predicted, which has a different pattern from that seen in two Higgs doublet models with a softly-broken $Z_2$ symmetry. We also find that the flavour violating decay modes of the extra Higgs boson, e.g., $H/A \to tc$ and $H^\pm \to ts$ can be dominant, and they yield the important signature to distinguish our model from the two Higgs doublet models.

Heterotic String Compactification and New Vector Bundles

We propose a construction of Kähler and non-Kähler Calabi–Yau manifolds by branched double covers of twistor spaces. In this construction we use the twistor spaces of four-manifolds with self-dual conformal structures, with the examples of connected sum of n $${\mathbb{P}^{2}}$$ s. We also construct K3-fibered Calabi–Yau manifolds from the branched double covers of the blow-ups of the twistor spaces. These manifolds can be used in heterotic string compactifications to four dimensions. We also construct stable and polystable vector bundles. Some classes of these vector bundles can give rise to supersymmetric grand unified models with three generations of quarks and leptons in four dimensions.

Some new symmetric relations of quark masses and prediction of fourth-generation quark masses

In this study, we discover a mass space defined by generalized Koide relations, named here as k-relations, and achieve some new symmetric relations. These relations can be further used to predict the fourth-generation quark masses in terms of dilation magnitude and angular rotation ratios in the general mass space. Thus far, no theory has been proposed that can constrain the number of generations of quarks; this theory naturally limits the number of generations of quarks.

High-xstructure function of the virtually free neutron

The pole extrapolation method is applied to the semi-inclusive inelastic electron scattering off the deuteron with tagged spectator protons to extract the high-x structure function of the neutron. This approach is based on the extrapolation of the measured cross sections at different momenta of the spectator proton to the non-physical pole of the bound neutron in the deuteron. The advantage of the method is in the possibility of suppression of the nuclear effects in a maximally model-independent way. The neutron structure functions obtained in this way demonstrate a surprising x dependence at $x\ge 0.6$ and $1.6 \leq Q^2 \leq 3.38$ GeV$^2$, indicating a possible rise of the neutron to proton structure function ratio. If the observed rise is valid in the true deep inelastic region then it may indicate new dynamics in the generation of high-x quarks in the nucleon. One such mechanism we discuss is the possible dominance of short-range isosinglet quark-quark correlations that can enhance the d-quark distribution in the proton.

Gauge coupling unification inSO(32) heterotic string theory with magnetic fluxes

We study $SO(32)$ heterotic string theory on torus with magnetic fluxes. Non-vanishing fluxes can lead to non-universal gauge kinetic functions for $SU(3) \times SU(2) \times U(1)_Y$ which is the important features of $SO(32)$ heterotic string theory in contrast to the $E_8\times E_8$ theory. It is found that the experimental values of gauge couplings are realized with ${\cal O}(1)$ values of moduli fields based on the realistic models with the $SU(3) \times SU(2) \times U(1)_Y$ gauge symmetry and three chiral generations of quarks and leptons without chiral exotics.

Gluino meets flavored naturalness

We study constraints from LHC run I on squark and gluino masses in the presence of squark flavor violation. Inspired by the concept of `flavored naturalness', we focus on the impact of a non-zero stop-scharm mixing and mass splitting in the right-handed sector. To this end, we recast four searches of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, dedicated either to third generation squarks, to gluino and squarks of the first two generations, or to charm-squarks. In the absence of extra structure, the mass of the gluino provides an additional source of fine tuning and is therefore important to consider within models of flavored naturalness that allow for relatively light squark states. When combining the searches, the resulting constraints in the plane of the lightest squark and gluino masses are rather stable with respect to the presence of flavor-violation, and do not allow for gluino masses of less than 1.2 TeV and squarks lighter than about 550 GeV. While these constraints are stringent, interesting models with sizable stop-scharm mixing and a relatively light squark state are still viable and could be observed in the near future.