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Botella, F. J., Branco, G. C., Rebelo, M. N., & Silva-Marcos, J. I. (2016). What if the masses of the first two quark families are not generated by the standard model Higgs boson? Phys. Rev. D, 94(11), 115031–6pp.
Abstract: We point out that in the standard model there is meaningful quark mixing even in the extreme chiral (EC) limit, where only the third generation of quarks acquires mass. This mixing is in general expected to be of order 1 and the fact that |V-13|(2) + |V-23|(2) approximate to 1.6 x 10(-3) implies a novel fine-tuning problem in the SM which we point out for the first time. We propose a possible way of avoiding this fine-tuning by introducing a symmetry S which leads to V-CKM = 1, 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 based on the assumption that the masses of the first two quark families are not generated by the standard Higgs. 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 (s) over bar and c (c) over tilde which are significantly enhanced with respect to those of the SM. In both schemes, one has scalar-mediated flavor-changing neutral currents which are naturally suppressed. Flavor-violating top decays are predicted in the second scenario at the level Br(t -> hc) >= 5 x 10(-5).
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Botella, F. J., Cornet-Gomez, F., & Nebot, M. (2020). Electron and muon g-2 anomalies in general flavor conserving two-Higgs-doublet models. Phys. Rev. D, 102(3), 035023–19pp.
Abstract: In general two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs) without scalar flavor changing neutral couplings (SFCNC) in the lepton sector, the electron, muon, and tau interactions can be decoupled in a robust framework, stable under renormalization group evolution. In this framework, the breaking of lepton flavor universality (LFU) goes beyond the mass proportionality, opening the possibility to accommodate in a simple manner a different behavior among charged leptons. We analyze simultaneously the electron and muon (g – 2) anomalies in the context of these general flavor conserving models in the leptonic sector (gtlFC). We consider two different models, I-gtlFC and II-gelFC, in which the quark Yukawa couplings coincide, respectively, with the ones in type I and in type II 2HDMs. We find two types of solutions that fully reproduce both (g – 2) anomalies, and which are compatible with experimental constraints from LEP and LHC, from LFU, from flavor and electroweak physics, and with theoretical constraints in the scalar sector. In the first type of solution, all the new scalars have masses in the 1-2.5 TeV range, the vacuum expectation values (vevs) of both doublets are quite similar in magnitude, and both anomalies are dominated by two loop Barr-Zee contributions. This solution appears in both models. There is a second type of solution, where one loop contributions are dominant in the muon anomaly, all new scalars have masses below 1 TeV, and the ratio of vevs is in the range 10-100. The second neutral scalar H is the lighter among the new scalars, with a mass in the 210-390 GeV range while the pseudoscalar A is the heavier, with a mass in the range 400-900 GeV. The new charged scalar H-+/- is almost degenerate either with the scalar or with the pseudoscalar. This second type of solution only appears in the I-gelFC model. Both solutions require the soft breaking of the Z(2) symmetry of the Higgs potential.
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Botella, F. J., Cornet-Gomez, F., & Nebot, M. (2018). Flavor conservation in two-Higgs-doublet models. Phys. Rev. D, 98(3), 035046–25pp.
Abstract: In extensions of the Standard Model with two Higgs doublets, flavor-changing Yukawa couplings of the neutral scalars may be present at tree level. In this work, we consider the most general scenario in which those flavor-changing couplings are absent. We revise the conditions that the Yukawa coupling matrices must obey for such general flavour conservation (gFC) and study the one-loop renormalization group evolution of such conditions in both the quark and lepton sectors. We show that gFC in the leptonic sector is one-loop stable under the renormalization group evolution, and in the quark sector, we present some new Cabibbo-like solution also one-loop stable under renormalization group evolution. At a phenomenological level, we obtain the regions for the different gFC parameters that are allowed by the existing experimental constraints related to the 125 GeV Higgs.
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Boubekeur, L., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., & Ramirez, H. (2014). Current status of modified gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 90(10), 103512–10pp.
Abstract: We revisit the cosmological viability of the Hu-Sawicki modified gravity scenario. The impact of such a modification on the different cosmological observables, including gravitational waves, is carefully described. The most recent cosmological data, as well as constraints on the relationship between the clustering parameter sigma(8) and the current matter mass-energy density Omega(m) from cluster number counts and weak lensing tomography, are considered in our numerical calculations. The strongest bound we find is vertical bar f(R0)vertical bar < 3.7 x 10(-6) at 95% C.L. Forthcoming cluster surveys covering 10 000 deg(2) in the sky, with galaxy surface densities of O(10) arcmin(-2) could improve the precision in the sigma(8)-Omega(m) relationship, tightening the above constraint.
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Boubekeur, L., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., & Ramirez, H. (2015). Phenomenological approaches of inflation and their equivalence. Phys. Rev. D, 91(8), 083006–8pp.
Abstract: In this work, we analyze two possible alternative and model-independent approaches to describe the inflationary period. The first one assumes a general equation of state during inflation due to Mukhanov, while the second one is based on the slow-roll hierarchy suggested by Hoffman and Turner. We find that, remarkably, the two approaches are equivalent from the observational viewpoint, as they single out the same areas in the parameter space, and agree with the inflationary attractors where successful inflation occurs. Rephrased in terms of the familiar picture of a slowly rolling, canonically normalized scalar field, the resulting inflaton excursions in these two approaches are almost identical. Furthermore, once the Galactic dust polarization data from Planck are included in the numerical fits, inflaton excursions can safely take sub-Planckian values.
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Boubekeur, L., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., & Ramirez, H. (2015). Do current data prefer a nonminimally coupled inflaton? Phys. Rev. D, 91(10), 103004–6pp.
Abstract: We examine the impact of a nonminimal coupling of the inflaton to the Ricci scalar, 1/2 xi R phi(2), on the inflationary predictions. Such a nonminimal coupling is expected to be present in the inflaton Lagrangian on fairly general grounds. As a case study, we focus on the simplest inflationary model governed by the potential V proportional to phi(2), using the latest combined 2015 analysis of Planck and the BICEP2/Keck Array. We find that the presence of a coupling xi is favored at a significance of 99% C.L., assuming that nature has chosen the potential V proportional to phi(2) to generate the primordial perturbations and a number of e-foldings N = 60. Within the context of the same scenario, we find that the value of xi is different from zero at the 2 sigma level. When considering the cross-correlation polarization spectra from the BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck, a value of r = 0.038(-0.030)(+0.039) is predicted in this particular nonminimally coupled scenario. Future cosmological observations may therefore test these values of r and verify or falsify the nonminimally coupled model explored here.
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Boubekeur, L., Dodelson, S., & Vives, O. (2012). Cold positrons from decaying dark matter. Phys. Rev. D, 86(10), 103520–14pp.
Abstract: Many models of dark matter contain more than one new particle beyond those in the Standard Model. Often, heavier particles decay into the lightest dark matter particle as the Universe evolves. Here, we explore the possibilities which arise if one of the products in a (heavy particle) -> (dark matter) decay is a positron, and the lifetime is shorter than the age of the Universe. The positrons cool down by scattering off the cosmic microwave background and eventually annihilate when they fall into Galactic potential wells. The resulting 511 keV flux not only places constraints on this class of models, but might even be consistent with that observed by the INTEGRAL satellite.
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Boucenna, M. S., Morisi, S., Peinado, E., Valle, J. W. F., & Shimizu, Y. (2012). Predictive discrete dark matter model and neutrino oscillations. Phys. Rev. D, 86(7), 073008–5pp.
Abstract: Dark matter stability can be achieved through a partial breaking of a flavor symmetry. In this framework we propose a type-II seesaw model where left-handed matter transforms nontrivially under the flavor group Delta(54), providing correlations between neutrino oscillation parameters, consistent with the recent Daya-Bay and RENO reactor angle measurements, as well as lower bounds for neutrinoless double beta decay. The dark matter phenomenology is provided by a Higgs-portal.
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Boucenna, M. S., & Profumo, S. (2011). Direct and indirect singlet scalar dark matter detection in the lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model. Phys. Rev. D, 84(5), 055011–7pp.
Abstract: A recent study of gamma-ray data from the Galactic center motivates the investigation of light (similar to 7-10 GeV) particle dark matter models featuring tau-lepton pairs as dominant annihilation final state. The lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model provides a natural framework where light, singlet scalar dark matter can pair-annihilate dominantly into tau leptons. We calculate the nucleon-dark matter cross section for singlet scalar dark matter within the lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model framework, and compare with recent results from direct detection experiments. We study how direct dark matter searches can be used to constrain the dark matter interpretation of gamma-ray observations, for different dominant annihilation final states. We show that models exist with the correct thermal relic abundance that could fit the claimed gamma-ray excess from the Galactic center region and have direct detection cross sections of the order of what is needed to interpret recent anomalous events reported by direct detection experiments.
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Boucenna, M. S., Morisi, S., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2012). Bilarge neutrino mixing and the Cabibbo angle. Phys. Rev. D, 86(5), 051301–4pp.
Abstract: Recent measurements of the neutrino mixing angles cast doubt on the validity of the so-far popular 2 tribimaximal mixing Ansatz. We propose a parametrization for the neutrino mixing matrix where the reactor angle seeds the large solar and atmospheric mixing angles, equal to each other in first approximation. We suggest such a bilarge mixing pattern as a model-building standard, realized when the leading order value of theta(13) equals the Cabibbo angle lambda(C).
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