Abstract: In hidden sector models, dark matter does not directly couple to the particle content of the Standard Model, strongly suppressing rates at direct detection experiments, while still allowing for large signals from annihilation. In this paper, we conduct an extensive study of hidden sector dark matter, covering a wide range of dark matter spins, mediator spins, interaction diagrams, and annihilation final states, in each case determining whether the annihilations are s-wave (thus enabling efficient annihilation in the universe today). We then go on to consider a variety of portal interactions that allow the hidden sector annihilation products to decay into the Standard Model. We broadly classify constraints from relic density requirements and dwarf spheroidal galaxy observations. In the scenario that the hidden sector was in equilibrium with the Standard Model in the early universe, we place a lower bound on the portal coupling, as well as on the dark matter's elastic scattering cross section with nuclei. We apply our hidden sector results to the observed Galactic Center gamma-ray excess and the cosmic-ray antiproton excess. We find that both of these excesses can be simultaneously explained by a variety of hidden sector models, without any tension with constraints from observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies.

Abstract: Many scenarios of new physics predict the existence of neutrino nonstandard interactions, new vector contact interactions between neutrinos, and first generation fermions beyond the Standard Model. We obtain model-independent constraints on the Standard Model effective field theory at high energies from bounds on neutrino nonstandard interactions derived at low energies. Our analysis explores a large set of new physics scenarios and includes full one-loop running effects below and above the electroweak scale. Our results show that neutrino nonstandard interactions already push the scale of new physics beyond the TeV. We also conclude that bounds derived by other experimental probes, in particular by low-energy precision measurements and by charged lepton flavor violation searches, are generally more stringent. Our study constitutes a first step toward the systematization of phenomenological analyses to evaluate the impact of neutrino nonstandard interactions for new physics scenarios at high energies.

Abstract: Jet substructure quantities are measured using jets groomed with the soft-drop grooming procedure in dijet events from 32.9 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected with the ATLAS detector at root s = 13 TeV. These observables are sensitive to a wide range of QCD phenomena. Some observables, such as the jet mass and opening angle between the two subjets which pass the soft-drop condition, can be described by a high-order (resummed) series in the strong coupling constant alpha(s). Other observables, such as the momentum sharing between the two subjets, are nearly independent of alpha(s). These observables can be constructed using all interacting particles or using only charged particles reconstructed in the inner tracking detectors. Track-based versions of these observables are not collinear safe, but are measured more precisely, and universal nonperturbative functions can absorb the collinear singularities. The unfolded data are directly compared with QCD calculations and hadron-level Monte Carlo simulations. The measurements are performed in different pseudorapidity regions, which are then used to extract quark and gluon jet shapes using the predicted quark and gluon fractions in each region. All of the parton shower and analytical calculations provide an excellent description of the data in most regions of phase space.

Abstract: We present a realization of the idea that the Higgs boson is mainly a bound state of neutrinos induced by strong four-fermion interactions. The conflicts of this idea with the measured values of the top quark and Higgs boson masses are overcome by introducing, in addition to the right-handed neutrino, a new fermion singlet, which, at low energies, implements the inverse seesaw mechanism. The singlet fermions also develop a scalar bound state that mixes with the Higgs boson. This allows us to obtain a small Higgs boson mass even if the couplings are large, as required in composite scalar scenarios. The model gives the correct masses for the top quark and Higgs boson for compositeness scales below the Planck scale and masses of the new particles above the electroweak scale, so that we obtain naturally a low-scale seesaw scenario for neutrino masses. The theory contains additional scalar particles coupled to the neutral fermions, which could be tested in present and near future experiments.

Abstract: In this paper we consider two different nonlinear sigma-models minimally coupled to Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. We show that the resultant geometries represent minimal modifications with respect to those found in GR, though with important physical consequences. In particular, wormhole structures always arise, though this does not guarantee by itself the geodesic completeness of those space-times. In one of the models, quadratic in the canonical kinetic term, we identify a subset of solutions which are regular everywhere and are geodesically complete. We discuss characteristic features of these solutions and their dependence on the relationship between mass and global charge.