Celis, A., Ilisie, V., & Pich, A. (2013). LHC constraints on two-Higgs doublet models. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 053–44pp.
Abstract: A new Higgs-like boson with mass around 126 GeV has recently been discovered at the LHC. The available data on this new particle is analyzed within the context of two-Higgs doublet models without tree-level flavour-changing neutral currents. Keeping the generic Yukawa structure of the Aligned Two-Higgs Doublet Model framework, we study the implications of the LHC data on the allowed scalar spectrum. We analyze both the CP-violating and CP-conserving cases, and a few particular limits with a reduced number of free parameters, such as the usual models based on discrete Z(2) symmetries.
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Jung, M., & Pich, A. (2014). Electric dipole moments in two-Higgs-doublet models. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 076–42pp.
Abstract: Electric dipole moments are extremely sensitive probes for additional sources of CP violation in new physics models. Specifically, they have been argued in the past to exclude new CP-violating phases in two-Higgs-doublet models. Since recently models including such phases have been discussed widely, we revisit the available constraints in the presence of mechanisms which are typically invoked to evade flavour-changing neutral currents. To that aim, we start by assessing the necessary calculations on the hadronic, nuclear and atomic/molecular level, deriving expressions with conservative error estimates. Their phenomenological analysis in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models yields strong constraints, in some cases weakened by a cancellation mechanism among contributions from neutral scalars. While the corresponding parameter combinations do not yet have to be unnaturally small, the constraints are likely to preclude large effects in other CP-violating observables. Nevertheless, the generically expected contributions to electric dipole moments in this class of models lie within the projected sensitivity of the next-generation experiments.
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Pich, A., Rosell, I., & Sanz-Cillero, J. J. (2014). Oblique S and T constraints on electroweak strongly-coupled models with a light Higgs. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 157–35pp.
Abstract: Using a general effective Lagrangian implementing the chiral symmetry breaking SU(2)(L) circle times SU(2)(R) -> SU(2)(L+R), we present a one-loop calculation of the oblique S and T parameters within electroweak strongly-coupled models with a light scalar. Imposing a proper ultraviolet behaviour, we determine S and T at next-to-leading order in terms of a few resonance parameters. The constraints from the global fit to electroweak precision data force the massive vector and axial-vector states to be heavy, with masses above the TeV scale, and suggest that the W+W- and and ZZ couplings of the Higgs-like scalar should be close to the Standard Model value. Our findings are generic, since they only rely on soft requirements on the short-distance properties of the underlying strongly-coupled theory, which are widely satisfied in more specific scenarios.
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Pich, A. (2014). Precision tau physics. Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys., 75, 41–85.
Abstract: Precise measurements of the lepton properties provide stringent tests of the Standard Model and accurate determinations of its parameters. We overview the present status of tau physics, highlighting the most recent developments, and discuss the prospects for future improvements. The leptonic decays of the tau lepton probe the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the W boson. The universality of the leptonic Z couplings has also been tested through Z -> l(+)l(-) decays. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low-energy effects of the strong interaction in very clean conditions. Accurate determinations of the QCD coupling and the Cabibbo mixing V-us have been obtained with tau data. The large mass of the tau opens the possibility to study many kinematically-allowed exclusive decay modes and extract relevant dynamical information. Violations of flavour and CP conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays. Related subjects such as μdecays, the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments, neutrino mixing and B-meson decays into tau leptons are briefly covered. Being one the fermions most strongly coupled to the scalar sector, the tau lepton is playing now a very important role at the LHC as a tool to test the Higgs properties and search for new physics at higher scales.
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Celis, A., Ilisie, V., & Pich, A. (2013). Towards a general analysis of LHC data within two-Higgs-doublet models. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 095–32pp.
Abstract: The data accumulated so far confirm the Higgs-like nature of the new boson discovered at the LHC. The Standard Model Higgs hypothesis is compatible with the collider results and no significant deviations from the Standard Model have been observed neither in the flavour sector nor in electroweak precision observables. We update the LHC and Tevatron constraints on CP-conserving two-Higgs-doublet models without tree-level flavour-changing neutral currents. While the relative sign between the top Yukawa and the gauge coupling of the 126 GeV Higgs is found be the same as in the SM, at 90% CL, there is a sign degeneracy in the determination of its bottom and tau Yukawa couplings. This results in several disjoint allowed regions in the parameter space. We show how generic sum rules governing the scalar couplings determine the properties of the additional Higgs bosons in the different allowed regions. The role of electroweak precision observables, low-energy flavour constraints and LHC searches for additional scalars to further restrict the available parameter space is also discussed.
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Brambilla, N. et al, & Pich, A. (2014). QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories: challenges and perspectives. Eur. Phys. J. C, 74(10), 2981–241pp.
Abstract: We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.
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Bevan, A. J. et al, Martinez-Vidal, F., Pich, A., Azzolini, V., Bernabeu, J., Lopez-March, N., et al. (2014). The Physics of the B Factories. Eur. Phys. J. C, 74(11), 3026–916pp.
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Ledwig, T., Nieves, J., Pich, A., Ruiz Arriola, E., & Ruiz de Elvira, J. (2014). Large-N-c naturalness in coupled-channel meson-meson scattering. Phys. Rev. D, 90(11), 114020–17pp.
Abstract: The analysis of hadronic interactions with effective field theory techniques is complicated by the appearance of a large number of low-energy constants, which are usually fitted to data. On the other hand, the large-N-c limit helps to impose natural short-distance constraints on these low-energy constants, providing a parameter reduction. A Bayesian interpretation of the expected 1/N-c accuracy allows for an easy and efficient implementation of these constraints, using an augmented chi(2). We apply this approach to the analysis of meson-meson scattering, in conjunction with chiral perturbation theory to one loop and coupled-channel unitarity, and show that it helps to largely reduce the many existing ambiguities and simultaneously provide an acceptable description of the available phase shifts.
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Abbas, G., Celis, A., Li, X. Q., Lu, J., & Pich, A. (2015). Flavour-changing top decays in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 005–26pp.
Abstract: We perform a complete one-loop computation of the two-body flavour-changing top decays t --> ch and t --> cV (V = gamma, Z), within the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model. We evaluate the impact of the model parameters on the associated branching ratios, taking into account constraints from flavour data and measurements of the Higgs properties. Assuming that the 125 GeV Higgs corresponds to the lightest CP-even scalar of the CP-conserving aligned two-Higgs-doublet model, we find that the rates for such flavour-changing top decays lie below the expected sensitivity of the future high-luminosity phase of the LHC. Measurements of the Higgs signal strength in the di-photon channel are found to play an important role in limiting the size of the t --> ch decay rate when the charged scalar of the model is light.
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Gonzalez-Alonso, M., Pich, A., & Rodriguez-Sanchez, A. (2016). Updated determination of chiral couplings and vacuum condensates from hadronic tau decay data. Phys. Rev. D, 94(1), 014017–14pp.
Abstract: We analyze the lowest spectral moments of the left-right two-point correlation function, using all known short-distance constraints and the recently updated ALEPH V – A spectral function from tau decays. This information is used to determine the low-energy couplings L-10 and C-87 of chiral perturbation theory and the lowest-dimensional contributions to the operator product expansion of the left-right correlator. A detailed statistical analysis is implemented to assess the theoretical uncertainties, including violations of quark-hadron duality.
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