No Arabic abstract
Discovery of a Higgs boson and precise measurements of its properties open a new window to test physics beyond the standard model. Models with Universal Extra Dimensions are not exception. Kaluza-Klein excitations of the standard model particles contribute to the production and decay of the Higgs boson. In particular, the parameters associated with third generation quarks are constrained by Higgs data, which are relatively insensitive to other searches often involving light quarks and leptons. We investigate implications of the 126 GeV Higgs in Next-to-Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions, and show that boundary terms and bulk masses allow a lower compactification scale as compared to in Minimal Universal Extra Dimensions.
In theories with Universal Extra-Dimensions (UED), the gamma_1 particle, first excited state of the hypercharge gauge boson, provides an excellent Dark Matter (DM) candidate. Here we use a modified version of the SuperBayeS code to perform a Bayesian analysis of the minimal UED scenario, in order to assess its detectability at accelerators and with DM experiments. We derive in particular the most probable range of mass and scattering cross sections off nucleons, keeping into account cosmological and electroweak precision constraints. The consequences for the detectability of the gamma_1 with direct and indirect experiments are dramatic. The spin-independent cross section probability distribution peaks at ~ 10^{-11} pb, i.e. below the sensitivity of ton-scale experiments. The spin-dependent cross-section drives the predicted neutrino flux from the center of the Sun below the reach of present and upcoming experiments. The only strategy that remains open appears to be direct detection with ton-scale experiments sensitive to spin-dependent cross-sections. On the other hand, the LHC with 1 1/fb of data should be able to probe the current best-fit UED parameters.
We discuss prospects of the $Z$ search at the LHC in non-minimal Universal Extra Dimensions with tree-level brane-local terms in five dimensions. In this scenario, we find two major differences from the usual $Z$ physics: (i) two $Z$ candidates close-by in mass exist; (ii) the effective couplings to the SM fermions could be very large due to drastic overlapping of their profiles along the extra dimension. To evaluate the actual situation precisely, we reconsider the important issues of resonant processes, i.e., treatment of resonant propagators and including interference effects.
We examine the extent to which it is possible to realize the NMSSM ideal Higgs models espoused in several papers by Gunion et al in the context of partially universal GUT scale boundary conditions. To this end we use the powerful methodology of nested sampling. We pay particular attention to whether ideal-Higgs-like points not only pass LEP constraints but are also acceptable in terms of the numerous constraints now available, including those from the Tevatron and $B$-factory data, $(g-2)_mu$ and the relic density $Omega h^2$. In general for this particular methodology and range of parameters chosen, very few points corresponding to said previous studies were found, and those that were found were at best $2sigma$ away from the preferred relic density value. Instead, there exist a class of points, which combine a mostly singlet-like Higgs with a mostly singlino-like neutralino coannihilating with the lightest stau, that are able to effectively pass all implemented constraints in the region $80<m_h<100$. It seems that the spin-independent direct detection cross section acts as a key discriminator between ideal Higgs points and the hard to detect singlino-like points.
We study the physics of Kaluza-Klein (KK) top quarks in the framework of a non-minimal Universal Extra Dimension (nmUED) with an orbifolded (S1/Z2) flat extra spatial dimension in the presence of brane-localized terms (BLTs). In general, BLTs affect the masses and the couplings of the KK excitations in a non-trivial way including those for the KK top quarks. On top of that, BLTs also influence the mixing of the top quark chiral states at each KK level and trigger mixings among excitations from different levels with identical KK parity (even or odd). The latter phenomenon of mixing of KK levels is not present in the popular UED scenario known as the minimal UED (mUED) at the tree level. Of particular interest are the mixings among the KK top quarks from level `0 and level `2 (driven by the mass of the Standard Model (SM) top quark). These open up new production modes in the form of single production of a KK top quark and the possibility of its direct decays to Standard Model (SM) particles leading to rather characteristic signals at the colliders. Experimental constraints and the restrictions they impose on the nmUED parameter space are discussed. The scenario is implemented in MadGraph 5 by including the quark, lepton, the gauge-boson and the Higgs sectors up to the second KK level. A few benchmark scenarios are chosen for preliminary studies of the decay patterns of the KK top quarks and their production rates at the LHC in various different modes. Recast of existing experimental analyzes in scenarios having similar states is found to be not so straightforward for the KK top quarks of the nmUED scenario under consideration.
In the context of a warped extra-dimension with Standard Model fields in the bulk, we obtain the general flavor structure of the Higgs couplings to fermions. These couplings will be generically misaligned with respect to the fermion mass matrix, producing large and potentially dangerous flavor changing neutral currents (FCNCs). As recently pointed out in [arXiv:0906.1542], a similar effect is expected from the point of view of a composite Higgs sector, which corresponds to a 4D theory dual to the 5D setup by the AdS-CFT correspondence. We also point out that the effect is independent of the geographical nature of the Higgs (bulk or brane localized), and specifically that it does not go away as the Higgs is pushed towards the IR boundary. The FCNCs mediated by a light enough Higgs (specially their contribution to $epsilon_K$) could become of comparable size as the ones coming from the exchange of Kaluza-Klein (KK) gluons. Moreover, both sources of flavor violation are complementary since they have inverse dependence on the 5D Yukawa couplings, such that we cannot decouple the flavor violation effects by increasing or decreasing these couplings. We also find that for KK scales of a few TeV, the Higgs couplings to third generation fermions could experience suppressions of up to 40% while the rest of diagonal couplings would suffer much milder corrections. Potential LHC signatures like the Higgs flavor violating decays $htomutau$ or $hto tc$, or the exotic top decay channel $tto c h$, are finally addressed.