Liem, S., Bertone, G., Calore, F., Ruiz de Austri, R., Tait, T. M. P., Trotta, R., et al. (2016). Effective field theory of dark matter: a global analysis. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 077–22pp.
Abstract: We present global fits of an effective field theory description of real, and complex scalar dark matter candidates. We simultaneously take into account all possible dimension 6 operators consisting of dark matter bilinears and gauge invariant combinations of quark and gluon fields. We derive constraints on the free model parameters for both the real (five parameters) and complex (seven) scalar dark matter models obtained by combining Planck data on the cosmic microwave background, direct detection limits from LUX, and indirect detection limits from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We find that for real scalars indirect dark matter searches disfavour a dark matter particle mass below 100 GeV. For the complex scalar dark matter particle current data have a limited impact due to the presence of operators that lead to p-wave annihilation, and also do not contribute to the spin-independent scattering cross-section. Although current data are not informative enough to strongly constrain the theory parameter space, we demonstrate the power of our formalism to reconstruct the theoretical parameters compatible with an actual dark matter detection, by assuming that the excess of gamma rays observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope towards the Galactic centre is entirely due to dark matter annihilations. Please note that the excess can very well be due to astrophysical sources such as millisecond pulsars. We find that scalar dark matter interacting via effective field theory operators can in principle explain the Galactic centre excess, but that such interpretation is in strong tension with the non-detection of gamma rays from dwarf galaxies in the real scalar case. In the complex scalar case there is enough freedom to relieve the tension.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). Measurements of the S-wave fraction in B-0 -> K+ pi(-) mu(+) mu(-) decays and the B-0 -> K*(892)(0) mu(+) mu(-) differential branching fraction. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 047–30pp.
Abstract: A measurement of the differential branching fraction of the decay B-0 -> K* (892)(0) mu(+)mu(-) is presented together with a determination of the S-wave fraction of the K+ pi(-) system in the decay B-0 -> K+ pi-mu(+)mu(-). The analysis is based on pp-collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) collected with the LHCb experiment. The measurements are made in bins of the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system, q(2). Precise theoretical predictions for the differential branching fraction of B-0 -> K* (892)(0) mu(+) mu(-) decays are available for the q(2) region 1.1 < q(2) < 6.0 GeV2/c(4). In this q(2) region, for the K+pi(-) invariant mass range 796 < m(K pi) < 996MeV/c(2), the S-wave fraction of the K+pi(-) system in B-0 -> K+pi(-)mu(+)mu(-) decays is found to be F-S – 0.101 +/- 0.017(stat) +/- 0: 009(syst), and the differential branching fraction of B-0 -> K* (892)(0) mu(+)mu(-) decays is determined to be dB/dq(2) = (0.392(-0.019)(+ 0.020)(stat) +/- 0.010(syst) +/- 0.027(norm)) x 10(-7) c(4)/GeV2. The differential branching fraction measurements presented are the most precise to date and are found to be in agreement with Standard Model predictions.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2016). Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced by vector-boson fusion and decaying to bottom quarks in root s=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 112–37pp.
Abstract: A search with the ATLAS detector is presented for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced by vector-boson fusion and decaying to a pair of bottom quarks, using 20.2 fb(-1) of LHC proton-proton collision data at root s – 8 TeV. The signal is searched for as a resonance in the invariant mass distribution of a pair of jets containing b-hadrons in vector-boson-fusion candidate events. The yield is measured to be -0.8 +/- 2.3 times the Standard Model cross-section for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV. The upper limit on the cross-section times the branching ratio is found to be 4.4 times the Standard Model cross-section at the 95% confidence level, consistent with the expected limit value of 5.4 (5.7) in the background-only (Standard Model production) hypothesis.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2016). Measurement of fiducial differential cross sections of gluon-fusion production of Higgs bosons decaying to WW (au)-> e nu μnu with the ATLAS detector at TeV. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 104–63pp.
Abstract: This paper describes a measurement of fiducial and differential cross sections of gluon-fusion Higgs boson production in the H -> W W (au)-> e nu μnu channel, using 20.3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data. The data were produced at a centre-of-mass energy of TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2012. Cross sections are measured from the observed H -> W W (au)-> e nu μnu signal yield in categories distinguished by the number of associated jets. The total cross section is measured in a fiducial region defined by the kinematic properties of the charged leptons and neutrinos. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of the number of jets, the Higgs boson transverse momentum, the dilepton rapidity, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The jet-veto efficiency, or fraction of events with no jets above a given transverse momentum threshold, is also reported. All measurements are compared to QCD predictions from Monte Carlo generators and fixed-order calculations, and are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.
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Fuentes-Martin, J., Portoles, J., & Ruiz-Femenia, P. (2016). Integrating out heavy particles with functional methods: a simplified framework. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 156–26pp.
Abstract: We present a systematic procedure to obtain the one-loop low-energy effective Lagrangian resulting from integrating out the heavy fields of a given ultraviolet theory. We show that the matching coefficients are determined entirely by the hard region of the functional determinant involving the heavy fields. This represents an important simplification with respect the conventional matching approach, where the full and effective theory contributions have to be computed separately and a cancellation of the infrared divergent parts has to take place. We illustrate the method with a descriptive toy model and with an extension of the Standard Model with a heavy real scalar triplet. A comparison with other schemes that have been put forward recently is also provided.
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MoEDAL Collaboration(Acharya, B. et al), Bernabeu, J., Garcia, C., King, M., Mitsou, V. A., Vento, V., et al. (2016). Search for magnetic monopoles with the MoEDAL prototype trapping detector in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 067–25pp.
Abstract: The MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for magnetic monopoles and other highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy collisions at the LHC. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Interaction Point 8 on the LHC ring, relies on two dedicated direct detection techniques. The first technique is based on stacks of nuclear-track detectors with surface area similar to 18 m(2), sensitive to particle ionisation exceeding a high threshold. These detectors are analysed offline by optical scanning microscopes. The second technique is based on the trapping of charged particles in an array of roughly 800 kg of aluminium samples. These samples are monitored offline for the presence of trapped magnetic charge at a remote superconducting magnetometer facility. We present here the results of a search for magnetic monopoles using a 160 kg prototype MoEDAL trapping detector exposed to 8TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, for an integrated luminosity of 0.75 fb(-1). No magnetic charge exceeding 0.5g(D) (where g(D) is the Dirac magnetic charge) is measured in any of the exposed samples, allowing limits to be placed on monopole production in the mass range 100 GeV <= m <= 3500 GeV. Model-independent cross-section limits are presented in fiducial regions of monopole energy and direction for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 6g(D), and model-dependent cross-section limits are obtained for Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 and spin-0 monopoles for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 4g(D). Under the assumption of Drell-Yan cross sections, mass limits are derived for vertical bar g vertical bar = 2g(D) and vertical bar g vertical bar = 3g(D) for the first time at the LHC, surpassing the results from previous collider experiments.
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NEXT Collaboration(Martin-Albo, J. et al), Muñoz Vidal, J., Ferrario, P., Nebot-Guinot, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2016). Sensitivity of NEXT-100 to neutrinoless double beta decay. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 159–30pp.
Abstract: NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta (0v beta beta) decay of Xe-136. The detector possesses two features of great value for 0v beta beta searches: energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at the Q value of Xe-136 and track reconstruction for the discrimination of signal and background events. This combination results in excellent sensitivity, as discussed in this paper. Material-screening measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo detector simulation predict a background rate for NEXT-100 of at most 4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) yr(-1). Accordingly, the detector will reach a sensitivity to the 0v beta beta-decay half-life of 2.8 x 10(25) years (90% CL) for an exposure of 100 kg.year, or 6.0 x 10(25) years after a run of 3 effective years.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2016). Dark matter interpretations of ATLAS searches for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in root s=8 TeV proton-proton collisions. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 175–44pp.
Abstract: A selection of searches by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC for the electroweak production of SUSY particles are used to study their impact on the constraints on dark matter candidates. The searches use 20 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV. A likelihood-driven scan of a five-dimensional effective model focusing on the gaugino-higgsino and Higgs sector of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric Standard Model is performed. This scan uses data from direct dark matter detection experiments, the relic dark matter density and precision flavour physics results. Further constraints from the ATLAS Higgs mass measurement and SUSY searches at LEP are also applied. A subset of models selected from this scan are used to assess the impact of the selected ATLAS searches in this five-dimensional parameter space. These ATLAS searches substantially impact those models for which the mass m((chi) over tilde (0)(1)) of the lightest neutralino is less than 65 GeV, excluding 86% of such models. The searches have limited impact on models with larger m((chi) over tilde (0)(1)) due to either heavy electroweakinos or compressed mass spectra where the mass splittings between the produced particles and the lightest supersymmetric particle is small.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions B(B-c(+) -> J/psi K+)/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)). J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 153–15pp.
Abstract: The ratio of branching fractions R-K/pi = B (B-c(+) -> J/psi K+)/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)) is measured with pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7TeV and 8TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). It is found to be R-K/pi = 0.079 +/- 0.007 +/- 0.003, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This measurement is consistent with the previous LHCb result, while the uncertainties are significantly reduced.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2016). Measurement of the double-differential high-mass Drell-Yan cross section in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 009–61pp.
Abstract: This paper presents a measurement of the double-differential cross section for the Drell-Yan Z/gamma* -> l(+)l(-) and photon-induced gamma gamma -> l(+)l(-) processes where l is an electron or muon. The measurement is performed for invariant masses of the lepton pairs, m(ll), between 116 GeV and 1500 GeV using a sample of 20.3 fb(-1) of pp collisions data at centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012. The data are presented double differentially in invariant mass and absolute dilepton rapidity as well as in invariant mass and absolute pseudorapidity separation of the lepton pair. The single-differential cross section as a function of m(ll) is also reported. The electron and muon channel measurements are combined and a total experimental precision of better than 1% is achieved at low m(ll). A comparison to next-to-next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions using several recent parton distribution functions and including next-to-leading order electroweak effects indicates the potential of the data to constrain parton distribution functions. In particular, a large impact of the data on the photon PDF is demonstrated.
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