Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Perez, A. D., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2021). Dark matter candidates in the NMSSM with RH neutrino superfields. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 067–35pp.
Abstract: R-parity conserving supersymmetric models with right-handed (RH) neutrinos are very appealing since they could naturally explain neutrino physics and also provide a good dark matter (DM) candidate such as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). In this work we consider the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) plus RH neutrino superfields, with effective Majorana masses dynamically generated at the electroweak scale (EW). We perform a scan of the relevant parameter space and study both possible DM candidates: RH sneutrino and neutralino. Especially for the case of RH sneutrino DM we analyse the intimate relation between both candidates to obtain the correct amount of relic density. Besides the well-known resonances, annihilations through scalar quartic couplings and coannihilation mechanisms with all kind of neutralinos, are crucial. Finally, we present the impact of current and future direct and indirect detection experiments on both DM candidates.
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Balazs, C. et al, Mamuzic, J., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2021). A comparison of optimisation algorithms for high-dimensional particle and astrophysics applications. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 108–46pp.
Abstract: Optimisation problems are ubiquitous in particle and astrophysics, and involve locating the optimum of a complicated function of many parameters that may be computationally expensive to evaluate. We describe a number of global optimisation algorithms that are not yet widely used in particle astrophysics, benchmark them against random sampling and existing techniques, and perform a detailed comparison of their performance on a range of test functions. These include four analytic test functions of varying dimensionality, and a realistic example derived from a recent global fit of weak-scale supersymmetry. Although the best algorithm to use depends on the function being investigated, we are able to present general conclusions about the relative merits of random sampling, Differential Evolution, Particle Swarm Optimisation, the Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy, Bayesian Optimisation, Grey Wolf Optimisation, and the PyGMO Artificial Bee Colony, Gaussian Particle Filter and Adaptive Memory Programming for Global Optimisation algorithms.
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van Beekveld, M., Caron, S., Hendriks, L., Jackson, P., Leinweber, A., Otten, S., et al. (2021). Combining outlier analysis algorithms to identify new physics at the LHC. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 024–33pp.
Abstract: The lack of evidence for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider so far has prompted the development of model-independent search techniques. In this study, we compare the anomaly scores of a variety of anomaly detection techniques: an isolation forest, a Gaussian mixture model, a static autoencoder, and a beta-variational autoencoder (VAE), where we define the reconstruction loss of the latter as a weighted combination of regression and classification terms. We apply these algorithms to the 4-vectors of simulated LHC data, but also investigate the performance when the non-VAE algorithms are applied to the latent space variables created by the VAE. In addition, we assess the performance when the anomaly scores of these algorithms are combined in various ways. Using supersymmetric benchmark points, we find that the logical AND combination of the anomaly scores yielded from algorithms trained in the latent space of the VAE is the most effective discriminator of all methods tested.
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Ellis, J., Gomez, M. E., Lola, S., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Shafi, Q. (2020). Confronting grand unification with lepton flavour violation, dark matter and LHC data. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 197–29pp.
Abstract: We explore possible signatures for charged lepton flavour violation (LFV), sparticle discovery at the LHC and dark matter (DM) searches in grand unified theories (GUTs) based on SU(5), flipped SU(5) (FSU(5)) and SU(4)(c) x SU(2)(L) x SU(2)(R) (4-2-2). We assume that soft supersymmetry-breaking terms preserve the group symmetry at some high input scale, and focus on the non-universal effects on different matter representations generated by gauge interactions at lower scales, as well as the charged LFV induced in Type-1 see-saw models of neutrino masses. We identify the different mechanisms that control the relic DM density in the various GUT models, and contrast their LFV and LHC signatures. The SU(5) and 4-2-2 models offer good detection prospects both at the LHC and in LFV searches, though with different LSP compositions, and the SU(5) and FSU(5) models offer LFV within the current reach. The 4-2-2 model allows chargino and gluino coannihilations with neutralinos, and the former offer good detection prospects for both the LHC and LFV, while gluino coannihilations lead to lower LFV rates. Our results indicate that LFV is a powerful tool that complements LHC and DM searches, providing significant insights into the sparticle spectra and neutrino mass parameters in different models.
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MoEDAL Collaboration(Acharya, B. et al), Bernabeu, J., Mamuzic, J., Mitsou, V. A., Papavassiliou, J., Ruiz de Austri, R., et al. (2021). First Search for Dyons with the Full MoEDAL Trapping Detector in 13 TeV pp Collisions. Phys. Rev. Lett., 126(7), 071801–7pp.
Abstract: The MoEDAL trapping detector consists of approximately 800 kg of aluminum volumes. It was exposed during run 2 of the LHC program to 6.46 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHCb interaction point. Evidence for dyons (particles with electric and magnetic charge) captured in the trapping detector was sought by passing the aluminum volumes comprising the detector through a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. The presence of a trapped dyon would be signaled by a persistent current induced in the SQUID magnetometer. On the basis of a Drell-Yan production model, we exclude dyons with a magnetic charge ranging up to five Dirac charges (5g(D)) and an electric charge up to 200 times the fundamental electric charge for mass limits in the range 870-3120 GeV and also monopoles with magnetic charge up to and including 5g(D) with mass limits in the range 870-2040 GeV.
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Felea, D., Mamuzic, J., Maselek, R., Mavromatos, N. E., Mitsou, V. A., Pinfold, J. L., et al. (2020). Prospects for discovering supersymmetric long-lived particles with MoEDAL. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(5), 431–12pp.
Abstract: We present a study on the possibility of searching for long-lived supersymmetric partners with the MoEDAL experiment at the LHC. MoEDAL is sensitive to highly ionising objects such as magnetic monopoles or massive (meta)stable electrically charged particles. We focus on prospects of directly detecting long-lived sleptons in a phenomenologically realistic model which involves an intermediate neutral long-lived particle in the decay chain. This scenario is not yet excluded by the current data from ATLAS or CMS, and is compatible with astrophysical constraints. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we compare the sensitivities of MoEDAL versus ATLAS in scenarios where MoEDAL could provide discovery reach complementary to ATLAS and CMS, thanks to looser selection criteria combined with the virtual absence of background. It is also interesting to point out that, in such scenarios, in which charged staus are the main long-lived candidates, the relevant mass range for MoEDAL is compatible with a potential role of Supersymmetry in providing an explanation for the anomalous events observed by the ANITA detector.
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Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A., Casas, J. A., Quilis, J., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2020). Multilepton dark matter signals. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 069–24pp.
Abstract: The signatures of dark matter at the LHC commonly involve, in simplified scenarios, the production of a single particle plus large missing energy, from the undetected dark matter. However, in Z ' -portal scenarios anomaly cancellation requires the presence of extra dark leptons in the dark sector. We investigate the signatures of the minimal scenarios of this kind, which involve cascade decays of the extra Z ' boson into the dark leptons, identifying a four-lepton signal as the most promising one. We estimate the sensitivity to this signal at the LHC, the high-luminosity LHC upgrade, a possible high-energy upgrade, as well as a future circular collider. For Z ' couplings compatible with current dijet constraints the multilepton signals can reach the 5 sigma level already at Run 2 of the LHC. At future colliders, couplings two orders of magnitude smaller than the electroweak coupling can be probed with 5 sigma sensitivity.
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Kpatcha, E., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Munoz, C., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2020). Impact of Higgs physics on the parameter space of the μnu SSM. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(4), 336–43pp.
Abstract: Given the increasing number of experimental data, together with the precise measurement of the properties of the Higgs boson at the LHC, the parameter space of supersymmetric models starts to be constrained. We carry out a detailed analysis of this issue in the framework of the μnu SSM. In this model, three families of right-handed neutrino superfields are present in order to solve the μproblem and simultaneously reproduce neutrino physics. The new couplings and sneutrino vacuum expectation values in the μnu SSM induce new mixing of states, and, in particular, the three right sneutrinos can be substantially mixed with the neutral Higgses. After diagonalization, the masses of the corresponding three singlet-like eigenstates can be smaller or larger than the mass of the Higgs, or even degenerated with it. We analyze whether these situations are still compatible with the experimental results. To address it we scan the parameter space of the Higgs sector of the model. In particular, we sample the μnu SSM using a powerful likelihood data-driven method, paying special attention to satisfy the constraints coming from Higgs sector measurements/limits (using HiggsBounds and HiggsSignals), as well as a class of flavor observables such as B and μdecays, while muon g-2 is briefly discussed. We find that large regions of the parameter space of the μnu SSM are viable, containing an interesting phenomenology that could be probed at the LHC.
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Kpatcha, E., Lara, I., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Muñoz, C., Nagata, N., Otono, H., et al. (2019). Sampling the μnu SSM for displaced decays of the tau left sneutrino LSP at the LHC. Eur. Phys. J. C, 79(11), 934–18pp.
Abstract: Within the framework of the μnu SSM, a displaced dilepton signal is expected at the LHC from the decay of a tau left sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) with a mass in the range 45-100 GeV. We compare the predictions of this scenario with the ATLAS search for long-lived particles using displaced lepton pairs in pp collisions, considering an optimization of the trigger requirements by means of a high level trigger that exploits tracker information. The analysis is carried out in the general case of three families of right-handed neutrino superfields, where all the neutrinos get contributions to their masses at tree level. To analyze the parameter space, we sample the μnu SSM for a tau left sneutrino LSP with proper decay length c tau>0.1mm using a likelihood data-driven method, and paying special attention to reproduce the current experimental data on neutrino and Higgs physics, as well as flavor observables. The sneutrino is special in the μnu SSM since its couplings have to be chosen so that the neutrino oscillation data are reproduced. We find that important regions of the parameter space can be probed at the LHC run 3.
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van Beekveld, M., Caron, S., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2020). The current status of fine-tuning in supersymmetry. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 147–41pp.
Abstract: In this paper, we minimize and compare two different fine-tuning measures in four high-scale supersymmetric models that are embedded in the MSSM. In addition, we determine the impact of current and future dark matter direct detection and collider experiments on the fine-tuning. We then compare the low-scale electroweak measure with the high-scale Barbieri-Giudice measure. We find that they reduce to the same value when the higgsino parameter drives the degree of fine-tuning. We also find spectra where the high-scale measure turns out to be lower than the low-scale measure. Depending on the high-scale model and fine-tuning definition, we find a minimal fine-tuning of 3-38 (corresponding to O(10-1)%) for the low-scale measure, and 63-571 (corresponding to O(1-0.1)%) for the high-scale measure. We stress that it is too early to conclude on the fate of supersymmetry, based only on the fine-tuning paradigm.
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