Cabrera, M. E., Casas, J. A., Delgado, A., Robles, S., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2016). Naturalness of MSSM dark matter. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 058–30pp.
Abstract: There exists a vast literature examining the electroweak (EW) fine-tuning problem in supersymmetric scenarios, but little concerned with the dark matter (DM) one, which should be combined with the former. In this paper, we study this problem in an, as much as possible, exhaustive and rigorous way. We have considered the MSSM framework, assuming that the LSP is the lightest neutralino, chi(0)(1), and exploring the various possibilities for the mass and composition of chi(0)(1), as well as different mechanisms for annihilation of the DM particles in the early Universe (well-tempered neutralinos, funnels and co-annihilation scenarios). We also present a discussion about the statistical meaning of the fine-tuning and how it should be computed for the DM abundance, and combined with the EW fine-tuning. The results are very robust and model-independent and favour some scenarios (like the h-funnel when M-chi 10 is not too close to m(h)/2) with respect to others (such as the pure wino case). These features should be taken into account when one explores “natural SUSY” scenarios and their possible signatures at the LHC and in DM detection experiments.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). Measurement of the CKM angle gamma using B (0) -> DK (*0) with D -> K-S(0) pi (+) pi (-) decays. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 137–30pp.
Abstract: A model-dependent amplitude analysis of the decay B (0) -> D(K (S) (0) pi (+) pi (-))K (au 0) is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), recorded at and 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment. The CP violation observables x (+/-) and y (+/-), sensitive to the CKM angle gamma, are measured to be x- = 0.15 +/- 0.14 +/- 0.03 +/- 0.01; y- = 0.25 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.01; x+ = 0.05 +/- 0.24 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.01; y+ = 0.65(-0.23)(+0.24) +/- 0.08 +/- 0.01; where the first uncertainties are statistical, the second systematic and the third arise from the uncertainty on the D -> K (S) (0) pi (+) pi (-) amplitude model. These are the most precise measurements of these observables. They correspond to gamma = (80 (- 22) (+ 21) )A degrees and , where is the magnitude of the ratio of the suppressed and favoured B (0) -> DK (+) pi (-) decay amplitudes, in a K pi mass region of +/- 50 MeV around the K (*)(892)(0) mass and for an absolute value of the cosine of the K (*0) decay angle larger than 0.4.
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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 angular coefficients in Z-boson events using electron and muon pairs from data taken at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 159–101pp.
Abstract: The angular distributions of Drell-Yan charged lepton pairs in the vicinity of the Z-boson mass peak probe the underlying QCD dynamics of Z-boson production. This paper presents a measurement of the complete set of angular coefficients Lambda(0-7) describing these distributions in the Z-boson Collins-Soper frame. The data analysed correspond to 20.3 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 8TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC. The measurements are compared to the most precise fixed-order calculations currently available (O (alpha(2)(s))) and with theoretical predictions embedded in Monte Carlo generators. The measurements are precise enough to probe QCD corrections beyond the formal accuracy of these calculations and to provide discrimination between different parton-shower models. A signi fi cant deviation from the O (alpha(2)(s)) predictions is observed for A(0)-A(2). Evidence is found for non-zero A(5,6, 7), consistent with expectations.
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Lopez-Honorez, L., Mena, O., Moline, A., Palomares-Ruiz, S., & Vincent, A. C. (2016). The 21 cm signal and the interplay between dark matter annihilations and astrophysical processes. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 08(8), 004–40pp.
Abstract: Future dedicated radio interferometers, including HERA and SKA, are very promising tools that aim to study the epoch of reionization and beyond via measurements of the 21 cm signal from neutral hydrogen. Dark matter (DM) annihilations into charged particles change the thermal history of the Universe and, as a consequence, affect the 21 cm signal. Accurately predicting the effect of DM strongly relies on the modeling of annihilations inside halos. In this work, we use up-to-date computations of the energy deposition rates by the products from DM annihilations, a proper treatment of the contribution from DM annihilations in halos, as well as values of the annihilation cross section allowed by the most recent cosmological measurements from the Planck satellite. Given current uncertainties on the description of the astrophysical processes driving the epochs of reionization, X-ray heating and Lyman-alpha pumping, we find that disentangling DM signatures from purely astrophysical effects, related to early-time star formation processes or late-time galaxy X-ray emissions, will be a challenging task. We conclude that only annihilations of DM particles with masses of similar to 100 MeV, could leave an unambiguous imprint on the 21 cm signal and, in particular, on the 21cm power spectrum. This is in contrast to previous, more optimistic results in the literature, which have claimed that strong signatures might also be present even for much higher DM masses. Additional measurements of the 21cm signal at different cosmic epochs will be crucial in order to break the strong parameter degeneracies between DM annihilations and astrophysical effects and undoubtedly single out a DM imprint for masses different from similar to 100 MeV.
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Moline, A., Schewtschenko, J. A., Palomares-Ruiz, S., Boehm, C., & Baugh, C. M. (2016). Isotropic extragalactic flux from dark matter annihilations: lessons from interacting dark matter scenarios. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 08(8), 069–23pp.
Abstract: The extragalactic gamma-ray and neutrino emission may have a contribution from dark matter (DM) annihilations. In the case of discrepancies between observations and standard predictions, one could infer the DM pair annihilation cross section into cosmic rays by studying the shape of the energy spectrum. So far all analyses of the extragalactic DM signal have assumed the standard cosmological model (ACDM) as the underlying theory. However, there are alternative DM scenarios where the number of low-mass objects is significantly suppressed. Therefore the characteristics of the gamma-ray and neutrino emission in these models may differ from ACDM as a result. Here we show that the extragalactic isotropic signal in these alternative models has a similar energy dependence to that in ACDM, but the overall normalisation is reduced. The similarities between the energy spectra combined with the flux suppression could lead one to misinterpret possible evidence for models beyond ACDM as being due to CDM particles annihilating with a much weaker cross section than expected.
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