No Arabic abstract
We show how any flavour conserving $Z$ model can be made flavour violating and non-universal by introducing mass mixing of quarks and leptons with a fourth family of vector-like fermions with non-universal $Z$ couplings. After developing a general formalism, we focus on two concrete examples, namely a fermiophobic model, and an $SO(10)$ GUT model, and show how they can account for the anomalous $B$ decay ratios $R_K$ and $R_{K^*}$. A similar analysis could be performed for $B-L$ models, $E_6$ models, composite models, and so on.
We further investigate the case where new physics in the form of a massive $Z^prime$ particle explains apparent measurements of lepton flavour non-universality in $B rightarrow K^{(ast)} l^+ l^-$ decays. Hadron collider sensitivities for direct production of such $Z^prime$s have been previously studied in the narrow width limit for a $mu^+ mu^-$ final state. Here, we extend the analysis to sizeable decay widths and improve the sensitivity estimate for the narrow width case. We estimate the sensitivities of the high luminosity 14 TeV Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), a high energy 27 TeV LHC (HE-LHC), as well as a potential 100 TeV future circular collider (FCC). The HL-LHC has sensitivity to narrow $Z^prime$ resonances consistent with the anomalies. In one of our simplified models the FCC could probe 23 TeV $Z^prime$ particles with widths of up to 0.35 of their mass at 95% confidence level (CL). In another model, the HL-LHC and HE-LHC cover sizeable portions of parameter space, but the whole of perturbative parameter space can be covered by the FCC.
The flavorful $Z^prime$ model with its couplings restricted to the left-handed second generation leptons and third generation quarks can potentially resolve the observed anomalies in $R_K$ and $R_{K^*}$. After examining the current limits on this model from various low-energy processes, we probe this scenario at 14 TeV high-luminosity run of the LHC using two complementary channels: one governed by the coupling of $Z$ to $b$-quarks and the other to muons. We also discuss the implications of the latest LHC high mass resonance searches in the dimuon channel on the model parameter space of our interest.
We study UV-complete Froggatt-Nielsen-like models for the generation of mass and mixing hierarchies, assuming that the integrated heavy fields are chiral with respect to an abelian Froggatt-Nielsen symmetry. It modifies the mixed anomalies with respect to the Standard Model gauge group, which opens up the possibility to gauge the Froggatt-Nielsen symmetry without the need to introduce additional spectator fermions, while keeping mass matrices usually associated to anomalous flavour symmetries. We give specific examples where this happens, and we study the flavourful axion which arises from an accidental Peccei-Quinn symmetry in some of those models. Such an axion is typically more coupled to matter than in models with spectator fermions.
We identify a single six-dimensional effective operator $O_{ellell}$ that can account for the Cabibbo angle anomaly naturally, without any tension with the electroweak precision observables. The renormalization group running of $O_{ell ell}$ yields the required new couplings of $W$ and $Z$ bosons in exactly the right proportion. When generated as a result of a $Z$ model, the non-universal leptonic coupling needed for this operator can also contribute to the lepton flavor universality violating $R_{K^{(*)}}$ anomaly, generating the preferred relation $C_9=-C_{10}$ between the Wilson coefficients. We find the region in parameter space of $Z$ mass and couplings that offer a simultaneous solution to both these anomalies, and argue that $O_{ell ell}$ is a unique single operator that can offer such a resolution. Our arguments may also be extended to multi-operator scenarios like $U_1$ vector leptoquark, which is known to address multiple anomalies that violate the lepton flavor universality.
The LHCb measurements of the $mu / e$ ratio in $B to K ell ell$ decays $(R_{K^{}})$ indicate a deficit with respect to the Standard Model prediction, supporting earlier hints of lepton universality violation observed in the $R_{K^{(*)}}$ ratio. Possible explanations of these $B$-physics anomalies include heavy $Z$ bosons or leptoquarks mediating $b to s mu^+ mu^- $. We note that a muon collider can directly measure this process via $mu^+ mu^- to b bar s$ and can shed light on the lepton non-universality scenario. Investigating currently discussed center-of-mass energies $sqrt{s} = 3$, 6 and 10 TeV, we show that the parameter space of $Z$ and $S_3$ leptoquark solutions to the $R_{K^{(*)}}$ anomalies can be mostly covered. Effective operators explaining the anomalies can be probed with the muon collider setup $sqrt{s} = 6~{rm TeV}$ and integrated luminosity $L = 4~{rm ab^{-1}}$.