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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2012). Search for the decay modes D-0 -> e(+) e(-), D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-), and D-0 -> e(+/-) μ-/+. Phys. Rev. D, 86(3), 032001–10pp.
Abstract: We present searches for the rare decay modes D-0 -> e(+) e(-), D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-), and D-0 -> e(+/-) mu(-/+) in continuum e(+) e(-) -> c (c) over bar events recorded by the BABAR detector in a data sample that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 468 fb(-1). These decays are highly Glashow-Iliopoulos-Maiani suppressed but may be enhanced in several extensions of the standard model. Our observed event yields are consistent with the expected backgrounds. An excess is seen in the D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-) channel, although the observed yield is consistent with an upward background fluctuation at the 5% level. Using the Feldman-Cousins method, we set the following 90% confidence level intervals on the branching fractions: B(D-0 -> e(+) e(-)) < 1.7 x 10(-7), B(D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-)) within [0.6,8.1] x 10(-7), and B(D-0 -> e(+/-) mu(-/+)) < 3.3 x 10(-7).
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Ilisie, V., & Pich, A. (2012). QCD exotics versus a standard model Higgs boson. Phys. Rev. D, 86(3), 033001–8pp.
Abstract: The present collider data put severe constraints on any type of new strongly interacting particle coupling to the Higgs boson. We analyze the phenomenological limits on exotic quarks belonging to nontriplet SU(3)(C) representations and their implications on Higgs searches. The discovery of the standard model Higgs, in the experimentally allowed mass range, would exclude the presence of exotic quarks coupling to it. Thus, such QCD particles could only exist provided that their masses do not originate in the SM Higgs mechanism.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., et al. (2012). Combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 86(3), 032003–31pp.
Abstract: A combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The data sets used correspond to integrated luminosities from 4.6 fb(-1) to 4.9 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions collected at root s = 7 TeV in 2011. The Higgs boson mass ranges of 111.4 GeV to 116.6 GeV, 119.4 GeV to 122.1 GeV, and 129.2 GeV to 541 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, while the range 120 GeV to 560 GeV is expected to be excluded in the absence of a signal. An excess of events is observed at Higgs boson mass hypotheses around 126 GeV with a local significance of 2.9 standard deviations (sigma). The global probability for the background to produce an excess at least as significant anywhere in the entire explored Higgs boson mass range of 110-600 GeV is estimated to be similar to 15%, corresponding to a significance of approximately 1 sigma.
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Racker, J., Pena, M., & Rius, N. (2012). Leptogenesis with small violation of B – L. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 07(7), 030–18pp.
Abstract: We analyze leptogenesis in the context of seesaw models with almost conserved lepton number, focusing on the L-conserving contribution to the flavoured CP asymmetries. We find that, contrary to previous claims, successful leptogenesis is feasible for masses of the lightest heavy neutrino as low as M-1 similar to 10(6) GeV, without resorting to the resonant enhancement of the CP asymmetry for strongly degenerate heavy neutrinos. This lower limit renders thermal leptogenesis compatible with the gravitino bound in supersymmetric scenarios.
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Blennow, M., Fernandez-Martinez, E., Mena, O., Redondo, J., & Serra, E. P. (2012). Asymmetric Dark Matter and Dark Radiation. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 07(7), 022–23pp.
Abstract: Asymmetric Dark Matter (ADM) models invoke a particle-antiparticle asymmetry, similar to the one observed in the Baryon sector, to account for the Dark Matter (DM) abundance. Both asymmetries are usually generated by the same mechanism and generally related, thus predicting DM masses around 5 GeV in order to obtain the correct density. The main challenge for successful models is to ensure efficient annihilation of the thermally produced symmetric component of such a light DM candidate without violating constraints from collider or direct searches. A common way to overcome this involves a light mediator, into which DM can efficiently annihilate and which subsequently decays into Standard Model particles. Here we explore the scenario where the light mediator decays instead into lighter degrees of freedom in the dark sector that act as radiation in the early Universe. While this assumption makes indirect DM searches challenging, it leads to signals of extra radiation at BBN and CMB. Under certain conditions, precise measurements of the number of relativistic species, such as those expected from the Planck satellite, can provide information on the structure of the dark sector. We also discuss the constraints of the interactions between DM and Dark Radiation from their imprint in the matter power spectrum.
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