A Search for Exotic Higgs Decays

A Search for Exotic Higgs Decays
Author: Jackson Burzynski
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2023-05-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031304667

The absence of new physics at the TeV scale observed thus far at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) motivates an increasing focus on searches for weakly-coupled new particles and exotic signatures. In particular, particles with macroscopic mean proper lifetimes, known as long-lived particles (LLPs), are of significant interest due to their ability to elude the majority of searches which rely on the assumption that Beyond Standard Model particles decay close to the primary interaction point. Many models which aim to solve various issues with the Standard Model (SM) introduce new particles with lifetimes that are either unconstrained, or even shown to prefer the macroscopic regime. These theories often point to the Higgs boson as a possible portal to new physics, with exotic Higgs decays being the primary phenomenological consequence and means of discovery. It is well motivated both from theory and experimental constraints to consider the scenario in which the particles produced in these exotic decays have macroscopic proper lifetimes and give rise to unique detector signatures. This work describes a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to two long-lived, neutral, spin-0 particles which subsequently decay to pairs of b quarks, giving the striking signature of displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS inner detector. Several other ATLAS searches have probed this decay topology previously, excluding branching ratios of the Higgs boson to LLPs of more than 10% for proper lifetimes greater than 100mm. These searches relied on dedicated triggers designed to select events with LLPs decaying in the ATLAS calorimeter or muon spectrometer. The lack of an equivalent trigger for LLP decays in the ATLAS inner detector has been a limiting factor in probing LLP lifetimes less than 100mm. To circumvent the difficulty of triggering on LLP decays, the search presented in this thesis exploits the ZH associated production mode, relying on leptonic trigger signatures to select interesting events. This is the first search for Higgs boson decays into LLPs to exploit this analysis methodology and additionally makes use of several novel methods for both background rejection and background estimation. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs . Depending on the mass of the LLP, branching ratios greater than 10% are excluded for lifetimes as small as 4mm and as large as 100mm, probing an important gap in the ATLAS exotic Higgs decay programme. In comparison to the previous searches for Higgs decays to LLPs, these are among the most stringent limits placed on this scenario, and for LLPs with masses below 40 GeV these results represent the strongest existing constraints on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs in this lifetime regime.

Search for Exotic Higgs Boson Decays to Merged Diphotons

Search for Exotic Higgs Boson Decays to Merged Diphotons
Author: Michael Andrews
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2023-03-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031250915

This book describes the first application at CMS of deep learning algorithms trained directly on low-level, “raw” detector data, or so-called end-to-end physics reconstruction. Growing interest in searches for exotic new physics in the CMS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN has highlighted the need for a new generation of particle reconstruction algorithms. For many exotic physics searches, sensitivity is constrained not by the ability to extract information from particle-level data but by inefficiencies in the reconstruction of the particle-level quantities themselves. The technique achieves a breakthrough in the reconstruction of highly merged photon pairs that are completely unresolved in the CMS detector. This newfound ability is used to perform the first direct search for exotic Higgs boson decays to a pair of hypothetical light scalar particles H→aa, each subsequently decaying to a pair of highly merged photons a→yy, an analysis once thought impossible to perform. The book concludes with an outlook on potential new exotic searches made accessible by this new reconstruction paradigm.

Hadron '89

Hadron '89
Author: F. Binon
Publisher: Atlantica Séguier Frontières
Total Pages: 812
Release: 1989
Genre: Hadron interactions
ISBN: 9782863320747

Particles And Cosmology - Proceedings Of The International School

Particles And Cosmology - Proceedings Of The International School
Author: Kh S Nirov
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 334
Release: 1994-09-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9814550582

This volume includes general reviews of recent developments in particle physics, cosmology, solar neutrinos, selected topics in astroparticle theory, new methods and projects in underground physics (such as gallium-germanium solar neutrino detector SAGE, Underground Scintillation Telescope, and EAS array “Carpet”), dark matter and double beta decay searches.

Discovery Of The Higgs Boson

Discovery Of The Higgs Boson
Author: Aleandro Nisati
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 470
Release: 2016-08-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 981442546X

The recent observation of the Higgs boson has been hailed as the scientific discovery of the century and led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. This book describes the detailed science behind the decades-long search for this elusive particle at the Large Electron Positron Collider at CERN and at the Tevatron at Fermilab and its subsequent discovery and characterization at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Written by physicists who played leading roles in this epic search and discovery, this book is an authoritative and pedagogical exposition of the portrait of the Higgs boson that has emerged from a large number of experimental measurements. As the first of its kind, this book should be of interest to graduate students and researchers in particle physics.

Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium Particles, Strings and Cosmology

Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium Particles, Strings and Cosmology
Author: Kingman Cheung
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 588
Release: 2000
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9789810243883

The PASCOS (International Symposium on Particles, Strings and Cosmology) series brings together the leading experts and most active young researchers in the closely related fields of elementary particle physics, string theory and cosmology/astrophysics. These areas of research have become increasingly intertwined in recent years, each having direct impact on the others. In particular, there has been a dramatic expansion of ideas from particle theory and string theory that have vast impact on cosmology, especially our picture of the early universe and its evolution. Correspondingly, the proliferation of data regarding the early universe, and its increasing precision, has begun to strongly constrain the theoretical models. Meanwhile, observations of neutrino oscillations and cosmic ray excesses, and limits on new physics from colliders and other particle experiments, as well as the resulting restrictions on theoretical and phenomenological modeling, are becoming ever stronger. During PASCOS99, it became clear that the long-awaited era of convergence of these fields is truly at hand.The proceedings of PASCOS 99 reflect the accelerating overlap and convergence of the fields of elementary particles physics, string theory and cosmology/astrophysics. Plenary reviews by leading figures in these fields provide perspectives on these interrelationships and up-to-the-minute summaries of recent progress in the various areas. Parallel talk summaries focus on many of the topics within each field of greatest current interest and activity. Both the plenary and parallel writeups are designed to be descriptive in nature and avoid being overly technical. As a result, the volume can serve as a useful reference for students and professionals in all three fields. Careful referencing allows further pursuit of a given topic. Overall, the proceedings are unique in that they not only bring together in a single volume comprehensive overview of the great progress being made in all three of these very exciting fields, but also provide a snapshot of how particles, strings and cosmology are increasingly impacting one another.

Linear Collider Physics in the New Millennium

Linear Collider Physics in the New Millennium
Author: Keisuke Fujii
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2005
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9812389083

The high energy electron-positron linear collider is expected to provide crucial clues to many of the fundamental questions of our time: What is the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking? Does a Standard Model Higgs boson exist, or does nature take the route of supersymmetry, technicolor or extra dimensions, or none of the foregoing? This invaluable book is a collection of articles written by experts on many of the most important topics which the linear collider will focus on. It is aimed primarily at graduate students but will undoubtedly be useful also to any active researcher on the physics of the next generation linear collider.

The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider
Author: Don Lincoln
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2014-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1421413515

Lincoln, a senior scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and adjunct professor of physics at Notre Dame, gives readers an insider's view of the Hadron Collider from its conception, through its early discoveries and difficulties, to its greatest triumph, the discovery of the Higgs boson.

Non-accelerator Particle Physics: Proceedings Of The International Conference

Non-accelerator Particle Physics: Proceedings Of The International Conference
Author: R Cowsik
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 591
Release: 1995-08-31
Genre:
ISBN: 9814550663

This international conference focussed on several exciting frontier areas of particle physics at energy scales not realizable in terrestrial accelerators and their significance in the fields of astrophysics and cosmology. The topics discussed included physics beyond the standard model, violations of discrete symmetries, neutrino physics, neutrino astronomy, experimental detection of dark matter, gravitation and feebler new forces, cosmic rays, etc. Some of the highlights are the latest results from the Kamiokande neutrino detector and status reports on experimental facilities under commission to detect solar and atmospheric neutrinos, WIMP's and dark matter candidates.

Particle Physics At The Year Of Light - Proceedings Of The Seventeenth Lomonosov Conference On Elementary Particle Physics

Particle Physics At The Year Of Light - Proceedings Of The Seventeenth Lomonosov Conference On Elementary Particle Physics
Author: Alexander I Studenikin
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 595
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9813224576

The volume of these proceedings is devoted to a wide variety of items, both in theory and experiment, of particle physics such as electroweak theory, fundamental symmetries, tests of the standard model and beyond, neutrino and astroparticle physics, hadron physics, gravitation and cosmology, physics at the present and future accelerator.