Abstract: We consider a simple extension of the electroweak theory, incorporating one SU(2)(L) doublet of colour-octet scalars with Yukawa couplings satisfying the principle of minimal flavour violation. Using the HEPfit package, we perform a global fit to the available data, including all relevant theoretical constraints, and extract the current bounds on the model parameters. Coloured scalars with masses below 1.05 TeV are already excluded, provided they are not fermiophobic. The mass splittings among the different (charged and CP-even and CP-odd neutral) scalars are restricted to be smaller than 20 GeV. Moreover, for scalar masses smaller than 1.5 TeV, the Yukawa coupling of the coloured scalar multiplet to the top quark cannot exceed the one of the SM Higgs doublet by more than 80%. These conclusions are quite generic and apply in more general frameworks (without fine tunings). The theoretical requirements of perturbative unitarity and vacuum stability enforce relevant constraints on the quartic scalar potential parameters that are not yet experimentally tested.

Abstract: We study the case of a pseudo-scalar dark matter candidate which emerges from a complex scalar singlet, charged under a global U(1) symmetry, which is broken both explicitly and spontaneously. The pseudo-scalar is naturally stabilized by the presence of a remnant discrete symmetry: dark CP. We study and compare the phenomenology of several simplified models with only one explicit symmetry breaking term. We find that several regions of the parameter space are able to reproduce the observed dark matter abundance while respecting direct detection and invisible Higgs decay limits: in the resonances of the two scalars, featuring the known as forbidden or secluded dark matter, and through non-resonant Higgs-mediated annihilations. In some cases, combining different measurements would allow one to distinguish the breaking pattern of the symmetry. Moreover, this setup admits a light DM candidate at the sub-GeV scale. We also discuss the situation where more than one symmetry breaking term is present. In that case, the dark CP symmetry may be spontaneously broken, thus spoiling the stability of the dark matter candidate. Requiring that this does not happen imposes a constraint on the allowed parameter space. Finally, we consider an effective field theory approach valid in the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson limit and when the U(1) breaking scale is much larger than the electroweak scale.

Abstract: A new paradigm for data-driven, model-agnostic new physics searches at colliders is emerging, and aims to leverage recent breakthroughs in anomaly detection and machine learning. In order to develop and benchmark new anomaly detection methods within this framework, it is essential to have standard datasets. To this end, we have created the LHC Olympics 2020, a community challenge accompanied by a set of simulated collider events. Participants in these Olympics have developed their methods using an R&D dataset and then tested them on black boxes: datasets with an unknown anomaly (or not). Methods made use of modern machine learning tools and were based on unsupervised learning (autoencoders, generative adversarial networks, normalizing flows), weakly supervised learning, and semi-supervised learning. This paper will review the LHC Olympics 2020 challenge, including an overview of the competition, a description of methods deployed in the competition, lessons learned from the experience, and implications for data analyses with future datasets as well as future colliders.

Abstract: A unified treatment of CP physics for quarks and leptons in the framed Standard Model (FSM) is extended to include the predicted hidden sector giving as consequences: (i) that an earlier part estimate of the Jarlskog invariant J' for leptons is turned into a prediction for its actual value, i.e. J' similar to -0.012 (delta(CP)' similar to 1.11 pi), which is of the right order of magnitude, of the right sign, and in the range of values favoured by the present experiment, (ii) some novel twists to the effects of CP-violation on the material content of the universe.

Abstract: The Large Hadron-Electron Collider (LHeC) is designed to move the field of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) to the energy and intensity frontier of particle physics. Exploiting energy-recovery technology, it collides a novel, intense electron beam with a proton or ion beam from the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). The accelerator and interaction region are designed for concurrent electron-proton and proton-proton operations. This report represents an update to the LHeC's conceptual design report (CDR), published in 2012. It comprises new results on the parton structure of the proton and heavier nuclei, QCD dynamics, and electroweak and top-quark physics. It is shown how the LHeC will open a new chapter of nuclear particle physics by extending the accessible kinematic range of lepton-nucleus scattering by several orders of magnitude. Due to its enhanced luminosity and large energy and the cleanliness of the final hadronic states, the LHeC has a strong Higgs physics programme and its own discovery potential for new physics. Building on the 2012 CDR, this report contains a detailed updated design for the energy-recovery electron linac (ERL), including a new lattice, magnet and superconducting radio-frequency technology, and further components. Challenges of energy recovery are described, and the lower-energy, high-current, three-turn ERL facility, PERLE at Orsay, is presented, which uses the LHeC characteristics serving as a development facility for the design and operation of the LHeC. An updated detector design is presented corresponding to the acceptance, resolution, and calibration goals that arise from the Higgs and parton-density-function physics programmes. This paper also presents novel results for the Future Circular Collider in electron-hadron (FCC-eh) mode, which utilises the same ERL technology to further extend the reach of DIS to even higher centre-of-mass energies.