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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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Boubekeur, L., Choi, K. Y., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Vives, O. (2010). The degenerate gravitino scenario. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 005–26pp.
Abstract: In this work, we explore the “degenerate gravitino” scenario where the mass difference between the gravitino and the lightest MSSM particle is much smaller than the gravitino mass itself. In this case, the energy released in the decay of the next to lightest sypersymmetric particle (NLSP) is reduced. Consequently the cosmological and astrophysical constraints on the gravitino abundance, and hence on the reheating temperature, become softer than in the usual case. On the other hand, such small mass splittings generically imply a much longer lifetime for the NLSP. We find that, in the constrained MSSM (CMSSM), for neutralino LSP or NLSP, reheating temperatures compatible with thermal leptogenesis are reached for small splittings of order 10(-2) GeV. While for stau NLSP, temperatures of T-RH similar or equal to 4 x 10(9) GeV can be obtained even for splittings of order of tens of GeVs. This “degenerate gravitino” scenario offers a possible way out to the gravitino problem for thermal leptogenesis in supersymmetric theories.
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Cabrera, M. E., Casas, J. A., Mitsou, V. A., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Terron, J. (2012). Histogram comparison tools for the search of new physics at LHC. Application to the CMSSM. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 133–27pp.
Abstract: We propose a rigorous and effective way to compare experimental and theoretical histograms, incorporating the different sources of statistical and systematic uncertainties. This is a useful tool to extract as much information as possible from the comparison between experimental data with theoretical simulations, optimizing the chances of identifying New Physics at the LHC. We illustrate this by showing how a search in the CMSSM parameter space, using Bayesian techniques, can effectively find the correct values of the CMSSM parameters by comparing histograms of events with multijets + missing transverse momentum displayed in the effective-mass variable. The procedure is in fact very efficient to identify the true supersymmetric model, in the case supersymmetry is really there and accessible to the LHC.
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Strege, C., Bertone, G., Feroz, F., Fornasa, M., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Trotta, R. (2013). Global fits of the cMSSM and NUHM including the LHC Higgs discovery and new XENON100 constraints. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 013–40pp.
Abstract: We present global fits of the constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (cMSSM) and the Non-Universal Higgs Model (NUHM), including the most recent CMS constraint on the Higgs boson mass, 5.8 fb(-1) integrated luminosity null Supersymmetry searches by ATLAS, the new LHCb measurement of B R ((B) over bar (s) -> mu(+) mu(-)) and the 7-year WMAP dark matter relic abundance determination. We include the latest dark matter constraints from the XENON100 experiment, marginalising over astrophysical and particle physics uncertainties. We present Bayesian posterior and profile likelihood maps of the highest resolution available today, obtained from up to 350M points. We find that the new constraint on the Higgs boson mass has a dramatic impact, ruling out large regions of previously favoured cMSSM and NUHM parameter space. In the cMSSM, light sparticles and predominantly gaugino-like dark matter with a mass of a few hundred GeV are favoured. The NUHM exhibits a strong preference for heavier sparticle masses and a Higgsino-like neutralino with a mass of 1 TeV. The future ton-scale XENON1T direct detection experiment will probe large portions of the currently favoured cMSSM and NUHM parameter space. The LHC operating at 14 TeV collision energy will explore the favoured regions in the cMSSM, while most of the regions favoured in the NUHM will remain inaccessible. Our best-fit points achieve a satisfactory quality-of-fit, with p-values ranging from 0.21 to 0.35, so that none of the two models studied can be presently excluded at any meaningful significance level.
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van Beekveld, M., Beenakker, W., Caron, S., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2016). The case for 100 GeV bino dark matter: a dedicated LHC tri-lepton search. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 154–26pp.
Abstract: Global fit studies performed in the pMSSM and the photon excess signal originating from the Galactic Center seem to suggest compressed electroweak supersymmetric spectra with a similar to 100 GeV bino-like dark matter particle. We find that these scenarios are not probed by traditional electroweak supersymmetry searches at the LHC. We propose to extend the ATLAS and CMS electroweak supersymmetry searches with an improved strategy for bino-like dark matter, focusing on chargino plus next-to-lightest neutralino production, with a subsequent decay into a tri-lepton final state. We explore the sensitivity for pMSSM scenarios with Delta m = m(NLSP) – m(LSF) similar to(5 – 50) GeV in the root s = 14 TeV run of the LHC. Counterintuitively, we find that the requirement of low missing transverse energy increases the sensitivity compared to the current ATLAS and CMS searches. With 300 fb(-1) of data we expect the LHC experiments to be able to discover these supersymmetric spectra with mass gaps down to Am 9 GeV for DM masses between 40 and 140 GeV. We stress the importance of a dedicated search strategy that targets precisely these favored pMSSM spectra.
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Bertone, G., Calore, F., Caron, S., Ruiz de Austri, R., Kim, J. S., Trotta, R., et al. (2016). Global analysis of the pMSSM in light of the Fermi GeV excess: prospects for the LHC Run-II and astroparticle experiments. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 037–20pp.
Abstract: We present a new global fit of the 19-dimensional phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (pMSSM-19) that complies with all the latest experimental results from dark matter indirect, direct and accelerator dark matter searches. We show that the model provides a satisfactory explanation of the excess of gamma rays from the Galactic centre observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, assuming that it is produced by the annihilation of neutralinos in the Milky Way halo. We identify two regions that pass all the constraints: the first corresponds to neutralinos with a mass similar to 80 – 100 GeV annihilating into WW with a branching ratio of 95%; the second to heavier neutralinos, with mass similar to 180 – 200 GeV annihilating into (l) over barl with a branching ratio of 87%. We show that neutralinos compatible with the Galactic centre GeV excess will soon be within the reach of LHC run-II – notably through searches for charginos and neutralinos, squarks and light smuons – and of Xenon1T, thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity to spin-dependent cross-section off neutrons.
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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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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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Kim, J. S., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Perez, A. D., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2023). Right-handed sneutrino and gravitino multicomponent dark matter in light of neutrino detectors. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 050–32pp.
Abstract: We investigate the possibility that right-handed (RH) sneutrinos and gravitinos can coexist and explain the dark matter (DM) problem. We compare extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and the next-to-MSSM (NMSSM) adding RH neutrinos superfields, with special emphasis on the latter. If the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and the RH sneutrino the next-to-LSP (NLSP), the heavier particle decays to the former plus left-handed (LH) neutrinos through the mixing between the scalar partners of the LH and RH neutrinos. However, the interaction is suppressed by the Planck mass, and if the LH-RH sneutrino mixing parameter is small, << O(10-2), a long-lived RH sneutrino NLSP is possible even surpassing the age of the Universe. As a byproduct, the NLSP to LSP decay produces monochromatic neutrinos in the ballpark of current and planned neutrino telescopes like Super-Kamiokande, IceCube and Antares that we use to set constraints and show prospects of detection. In the NMSSM+RHN, assuming a gluino mass parameter M3 = 3 TeV we found the following lower limits for the gravitino mass m3/2 >= 1-600 GeV and the reheating temperature TR >= 105-3 x 107 GeV, for m nu similar to R similar to 10-800 GeV. If we take M3 = 10 TeV, then the limits on TR are relaxed by one order of magnitude.
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Jueid, A., Kip, J., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Skands, P. (2023). Impact of QCD uncertainties on antiproton spectra from dark-matter annihilation. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 068–15pp.
Abstract: Dark-matter particles that annihilate or decay can undergo complex sequences of processes, including strong and electromagnetic radiation, hadronisation, and hadron de-cays, before particles that are stable on astrophysical time scales are produced. Antiprotons produced in this way may leave footprints in experiments such as AMS-02. Several groups have reported an excess of events in the antiproton flux in the rigidity range of 10-20 GV. However, the theoretical modeling of baryon production is not straightforward and relies in part on phenomenological models in Monte Carlo event generators. In this work, we assess the impact of QCD uncertainties on the spectra of antiprotons from dark-matter annihila-tion. As a proof-of-principle, we show that for a two-parameter model that depends only on the thermally-averaged annihilation cross section ((o -v)) and the dark-matter mass (Mx), QCD uncertainties can affect the best-fit mass by up to ti 14% (with large uncertainties for large DM masses), depending on the choice of Mx and the annihilation channel (bb over bar or W+W-), and (o -v) by up to ti 10%. For comparison, changes to the underlying diffusion parameters are found to be within 1%-5%, and the results are also quite resilient to the choice of cosmic-ray propagation model. These findings indicate that QCD uncertainties need to be included in future DM analyses. To facilitate full-fledged analyses, we provide the spectra in tabulated form including QCD uncertainties and code snippets to perform mass interpolations and quick DM fits. The code can be found in this GitHub [1] repository.
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