Abstract: We analyze the sensitivity of hadronic tau decays to nonstandard interactions within the model-independent framework of the standard model effective field theory. Both exclusive and inclusive decays are studied, using the latest lattice data and QCD dispersion relations. We show that there are enough theoretically clean channels to disentangle all the effective couplings contributing to these decays, with the tau -> pi pi nu(tau) channel representing an unexpected powerful new physics probe. We find that the ratios of nonstandard couplings to the Fermi constant are bound at the subpercent level. These bounds are complementary to the ones from electroweak precision observables and pp -> tau nu(tau) measurements at the LHC. The combination of tau decay and LHC data puts tighter constraints on lepton universality violation in the gauge boson-lepton vertex corrections.

Abstract: We analyze the phenomenological consequences of embedding a flavor symmetry based on the groups A(5) and CP in a supersymmetric framework. We concentrate on the leptonic sector, where two different residual symmetries are assumed to be conserved at leading order for charged and neutral leptons. All possible realizations to generate neutrino masses at tree level are investigated. Sizable flavor violating effects in the charged lepton sector are unavoidable due to the non-universality of soft-breaking terms determined by the symmetry. We derive testable predictions for the neutrino spectrum, lepton mixing and flavor changing processes with non-trivial relations among observables.

Abstract: We analyze heavy states from generic ultraviolet completions of the Standard Model in a model-independent way and investigate their implications on the low-energy couplings of the electroweak effective theory. We build a general effective Lagrangian, implementing the electroweak symmetry breaking SU(2)(L) circle times SU(2)(R) SU(2)(L+R) with a non-linear Nambu-Goldstone realization, which couples the known particles to the heavy states. We generalize the formalism developed in previous works [1, 2] to include colored resonances, both of bosonic and fermionic type. We study bosonic heavy states with J(P) = 0(+/-) and J(P) = 1(+/-), in singlet or triplet SU(2)(L+R) representations and in singlet or octet representations of SU(3)(C) , and fermionic resonances with that are electroweak doublets and QCD triplets or singlets. Integrating out the heavy scales, we determine the complete pattern of low-energy couplings at the lowest non-trivial order. Some specific types of (strongly- and weakly-coupled) ultraviolet completions are discussed to illustrate the generality of our approach and to make contact with current experimental searches.