Excavation for new Physical Science Building [Randall Physics Laboratory]

Albert Kahn, architect. Built 1924. East University on site of old medical building which was razed in 1914. Also called New Physics and East Physics.

Excavation for new Physical Science Building [Randall Physics Laboratory]

Albert Kahn, architect. Built 1924. East University on site of old medical building which was razed in 1914. Also called New Physics and East Physics.

Physics interplay of the LHC and the ILC

Physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the International e(+)e(-) Linear Collider (ILC) will be complementary in many respects, as has been demonstrated at previous generations of hadron and lepton colliders. This report addresses the possible interplay between the LHC and ILC in testing the Standard Model and in discovering and determining the origin of new physics. Mutual benefits for the physics programme at both machines can occur both at the level of a combined interpretation of Hadron Collider and Linear Collider data and at the level of combined analyses of the data, where results obtained at one machine can directly influence the way analyses are carried out at the other machine. Topics under study comprise the physics of weak and strong electroweak symmetry breaking, supersymmetric models, new gauge theories, models with extra dimensions, and electroweak and QCD precision physics. The status of the work that has been carried out within the LHC/ILC Study Group so far is summarized in this report. Possible topics for future studies are outlined.

Baryon and lepton numbers in particle physics beyond the standard model

The works presented in this thesis explore a variety of extensions of the standard model of particle physics which are motivated by baryon number (B) and lepton number (L), or some combination thereof. In the standard model, both baryon number and lepton number are accidental global symmetries violated only by non-perturbative weak effects, though the combination B-L is exactly conserved. Although there is currently no evidence for considering these symmetries as fundamental, there are strong phenomenological bounds restricting the existence of new physics violating B or L. In particular, there are strict limits on the lifetime of the proton whose decay would violate baryon number by one unit and lepton number by an odd number of units.

The first paper included in this thesis explores some of the simplest possible extensions of the standard model in which baryon number is violated, but the proton does not decay as a result. The second paper extends this analysis to explore models in which baryon number is conserved, but lepton flavor violation is present. Special attention is given to the processes of μ to e conversion and μ → eγ which are bound by existing experimental limits and relevant to future experiments.

The final two papers explore extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) in which both baryon number and lepton number, or the combination B-L, are elevated to the status of being spontaneously broken local symmetries. These models have a rich phenomenology including new collider signatures, stable dark matter candidates, and alternatives to the discrete R-parity symmetry usually built into the MSSM in order to protect against baryon and lepton number violating processes.

Destruction-free parameter extraction for a physics-based circuit simulator IGCT model

This paper presents a practical destruction-free parameter extraction methodology for a new physics-based circuit simulator buffer-layer Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor (IGCT) model. Most key parameters needed for this model can be extracted by one simple clamped inductive-load switching experiment. To validate this extraction method, a clamped inductive load switching experiment was performed, and corresponding simulations were carried out by employing the IGCT model with parameters extracted through the presented methodology. Good agreement has been obtained between the experimental data and simulation results.

Torsion and gravitation: A new view

According to the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity, curvature and torsion are two equivalent ways of describing the same gravitational field. Though equivalent, they act differently: curvature yields a geometric description, in which the concept of gravitational force is absent whereas torsion acts as a true gravitational force, quite similar to the Lorentz force of electrodynamics. As a consequence, the right-hand side of a spinless-particle equation of motion (which would represent a gravitational force) is always zero in the geometric description, but not in the teleparallel case. This means that the gravitational coupling prescription can be minimal only in the geometric case. Relying on this property, a new gravitational coupling prescription in the presence of curvature and torsion is proposed. It is constructed in such a way to preserve the equivalence between curvature and torsion, and its basic property is to be equivalent to the usual coupling prescription of general relativity. According to this view, no new physics is connected with torsion, which is just an alternative to curvature in the description of gravitation. An application of this formulation to the equations of motion of both a spinless and a spinning particle is discussed.

CMS physics technical design report, volume II: Physics performance

CMS is a general purpose experiment, designed to study the physics of pp collisions at 14 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC). It currently involves more than 2000 physicists from more than 150 institutes and 37 countries. The LHC will provide extraordinary opportunities for particle physics based on its unprecedented collision energy and luminosity when it begins operation in 2007. The principal aim of this report is to present the strategy of CMS to explore the rich physics programme offered by the LHC. This volume demonstrates the physics capability of the CMS experiment. The prime goals of CMS are to explore physics at the TeV scale and to study the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking - through the discovery of the Higgs particle or otherwise. To carry out this task, CMS must be prepared to search for new particles, such as the Higgs boson or supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model particles, from the start- up of the LHC since new physics at the TeV scale may manifest itself with modest data samples of the order of a few fb(-1) or less. The analysis tools that have been developed are applied to study in great detail and with all the methodology of performing an analysis on CMS data specific benchmark processes upon which to gauge the performance of CMS. These processes cover several Higgs boson decay channels, the production and decay of new particles such as Z' and supersymmetric particles, B-s production and processes in heavy ion collisions. The simulation of these benchmark processes includes subtle effects such as possible detector miscalibration and misalignment. Besides these benchmark processes, the physics reach of CMS is studied for a large number of signatures arising in the Standard Model and also in theories beyond the Standard Model for integrated luminosities ranging from 1 fb(-1) to 30 fb(-1). The Standard Model processes include QCD, B-physics, diffraction, detailed studies of the top quark properties, and electroweak physics topics such as the W and Z(0) boson properties. The production and decay of the Higgs particle is studied for many observable decays, and the precision with which the Higgs boson properties can be derived is determined. About ten different supersymmetry benchmark points are analysed using full simulation. The CMS discovery reach is evaluated in the SUSY parameter space covering a large variety of decay signatures. Furthermore, the discovery reach for a plethora of alternative models for new physics is explored, notably extra dimensions, new vector boson high mass states, little Higgs models, technicolour and others. Methods to discriminate between models have been investigated. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 1, the Introduction, describes the context of this document. Chapters 2-6 describe examples of full analyses, with photons, electrons, muons, jets, missing E-T, B-mesons and tau's, and for quarkonia in heavy ion collisions. Chapters 7-15 describe the physics reach for Standard Model processes, Higgs discovery and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Radiative Omega(-)->Xi(-)gamma decay and physics beyond the standard model

We investigate the impact of new physics beyond the Standard Model to the s --> d gamma process, which is responsible for the short-distance contribution to the radiative decay Omega-( )--> Xi(-) gamma. We study three representative extensions of the Standard Model, namely a one-family technicolor model, a two Higgs doublet model and a model containing scalar leptoquarks. When constraints arising from the observed b --> s gamma transition and the upper limit on D-0-(D) over bar(0) mixing are taken into account, we find no significant contributions of new physics to the s --> d gamma process.

New CP violation in neutrino oscillations

Measurements of CP-violating observables in neutrino oscillation experiments have been studied in the literature as a way to determine the CP-violating phase in the mixing matrix for leptons. Here we show that such observables also probe new neutrino interactions in the production or detection processes. Genuine CP violation and fake CP violation due to matter effects are sensitive to the imaginary and real parts of new couplings. The dependence of the CP asymmetry on the source-detector distance is different from the standard one and, in particular, enhanced at short distances. We estimate that future neutrino factories will be able to probe in this way new interactions that are up to four orders of magnitude weaker than the weak interactions. We discuss the possible implications for models of new physics. ©2001 The American Physical Society.

Search for a non-standard-model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of new light bosons in four-muon final states

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for physics beyond the standard model in final states with a lepton and missing transverse energy in proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

New likelihoods for shape analysis

We introduce a new kind of likelihood function based on the sequence of moments of the data distribution. Both binned and unbinned data samples are discussed, and the multivariate case is also derived. Building on this approach we lay out the formalism of shape analysis for signal searches. In addition to moment-based likelihoods, standard likelihoods and approximate statistical tests are provided. Enough material is included to make the paper self-contained from the perspective of shape analysis. We argue that the moment-based likelihoods can advantageously replace unbinned standard likelihoods for the search of nonlocal signals, by avoiding the step of fitting Monte Carlo generated distributions. This benefit increases with the number of variables simultaneously analyzed. The moment-based signal search is exemplified and tested in various 1D toy models mimicking typical high-energy signal-background configurations. Moment-based techniques should be particularly appropriate for the searches for effective operators at the LHC.

Search for physics beyond the standard model in dilepton mass spectra in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Radiative Omega(-)->Xi(-)gamma decay and physics beyond the standard model

We investigate the impact of new physics beyond the standard model to the s → dγ process, which is responsible for the short-distance contribution to the radiative decay Ω-Ξ-γ. We study three representative extensions of the standard model: namely, a one-family technicolor model, a two-Higgs-doublet model, and a model containing scalar leptoquarks. When constraints arising from the observed b→sγ transition and the upper limit on D0-D̄0 mixing are taken into account, we find no significant contributions of new physics to the s→dy process.

Warped extra dimensions: flavor, precision tests and Higgs physics

In this thesis, the phenomenology of the Randall-Sundrum setup is investigated. In this context models with and without an enlarged SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R x U(1)_X x P_{LR} gauge symmetry, which removes corrections to the T parameter and to the Z b_L \bar b_L coupling, are compared with each other. The Kaluza-Klein decomposition is formulated within the mass basis, which allows for a clear understanding of various model-specific features. A complete discussion of tree-level flavor-changing effects is presented. Exact expressions for five dimensional propagators are derived, including Yukawa interactions that mediate flavor-off-diagonal transitions. The symmetry that reduces the corrections to the left-handed Z b \bar b coupling is analyzed in detail. In the literature, Randall-Sundrum models have been used to address the measured anomaly in the t \bar t forward-backward asymmetry. However, it will be shown that this is not possible within a natural approach to flavor. The rare decays t \to cZ and t \to ch are investigated, where in particular the latter could be observed at the LHC. A calculation of \Gamma_{12}^{B_s} in the presence of new physics is presented. It is shown that the Randall-Sundrum setup allows for an improved agreement with measurements of A_{SL}^s, S_{\psi\phi}, and \Delta\Gamma_s. For the first time, a complete one-loop calculation of all relevant Higgs-boson production and decay channels in the custodial Randall-Sundrum setup is performed, revealing a sensitivity to large new-physics scales at the LHC.