No Arabic abstract
In a supersymmetric (SUSY) theory, the IR-contributions to the Higgs mass are calculable below the mediation scale $Lambda_{text{UV}}$ in terms of the IR field content and parameters. However, logarithmic sensitivity to physics at $Lambda_{text{UV}}$ remains. In this work we present a first example of a framework, dictated by symmetries, to supersoften these logarithms from the matter sector. The result is a model with finite, IR-calculable corrections to the Higgs mass. This requires the introduction of new fields -- the `lumberjacks -- whose role is to screen the UV-sensitive logs. These models have considerably reduced fine-tuning, by more than an order of magnitude for high scale supersymmetry. This impacts interpretations of the natural parameter space, suggesting it may be premature to declare a naturalness crisis for high-scale SUSY.
We consider the regions of the MSSM parameter space where the top squarks become light and even may be the LSP. This happens when the triple scalar coupling A becomes very big compared to m_0. We show that in this case the requirement that the LSP is neutral imposes noticeable constraint on the parameter space excluding low m_0 and m_{1/2} similar to constraint from the Higgs mass limit. In some cases these constraints overlap. This picture takes place in a wide region of tanbeta. In a narrow band close to the border line the stops are long-lived particles and decay into quarks and neutralino (chargino). The cross-section of their production at LHC via gluon fusion mechanism in this region may reach a few pb.
We compute the wall velocity in the MSSM. We therefore generalize the SM equations of motion for bubble walls moving through a hot plasma at the electroweak phase transition and calculate the friction terms which describe the viscosity of the plasma. We give the general expressions and apply them to a simple model where stops, tops and W bosons contribute to the friction. In a wide range of parameters including those which fulfil the requirements of baryogenesis we find a wall velocity of order v = 0.05-0.1 much below the SM value.
We examine the neutralino relic density in the presence of a light top squark, such as the one required for the realization of the electroweak baryogenesis mechanism, within the minimal supersymmetric standard model. We show that there are three clearly distinguishable regions of parameter space, where the relic density is consistent with WMAP and other cosmological data. These regions are characterized by annihilation cross sections mediated by either light Higgs bosons, Z bosons, or by the co-annihilation with the lightest stop. Tevatron collider experiments can test the presence of the light stop in most of the parameter space. In the co-annihilation region, however, the mass difference between the light stop and the lightest neutralino varies between 15 and 30 GeV, presenting an interesting challenge for stop searches at hadron colliders. We present the prospects for direct detection of dark matter, which provides a complementary way of testing this scenario. We also derive the required structure of the high energy soft supersymmetry breaking mass parameters where the neutralino is a dark matter candidate and the stop spectrum is consistent with electroweak baryogenesis and the present bounds on the lightest Higgs mass.
We discuss the phenomenology of third generation sfermions paying particular attention to the implications of the Yukawa couplings and to the left-right mixing. Analytical formulae are given for the sfermion mixing, the production cross sections at e+e- colliders, and for all possible two body decay widths that can occur at tree level. In case of the light stop stop we give in addition the analytical formulae for the most important three body decay widths. We give detailed numerical discussion of the various production cross sections at LEP2 and a future e+e- Linear Collider. We discuss the various decay channels paying particular attention on the decays into Higgs and vector bosons, and on the three body decays of the light stop.
The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently announced the discovery of a Higgs-like resonance with mass close to 125 GeV. Overall, the data is consistent with a Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs boson. Such a particle may arise in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM with average stop masses of the order of the TeV scale and a sizable stop mixing parameter. In this article we discuss properties of the SM-like Higgs production and decay rates induced by the possible presence of light staus and light stops. Light staus can affect the decay rate of the Higgs into di-photons and, in the case of sizable left-right mixing, induce an enhancement in this production channel up to $sim$ 50% of the Standard Model rate. Light stops may induce sizable modifications of the Higgs gluon fusion production rate and correlated modifications to the Higgs diphoton decay. Departures from SM values of the bottom-quark and tau-lepton couplings to the Higgs can be obtained due to Higgs mixing effects triggered by light third generation scalar superpartners. We describe the phenomenological implications of light staus on searches for light stops and non-standard Higgs bosons. Finally, we discuss the current status of the search for light staus produced in association with sneutrinos, in final states containing a $W$ gauge boson and a pair of $tau$s.