In this work we study the production of $Z_b(10610)$ and $Z_b^{\prime }(10650)$ states in the processes $\overline{B}B\to \pi Z_b^{(\prime )}$, ${\overline{B}}^{*}B\to \pi Z_b^{(\prime )}$, and ${\overline{B}}^{*}{B}^{*}\to \pi Z_b^{(\prime )}$, making use of the heavy-meson effective theory, in which the effective Lagrangian is constructed taking as guiding principles chiral $SU(3{)}_L\times SU(3{)}_R$ and heavy quark symmetries. Assuming that $Z_b(10610)$ couples to the components $({\overline{B}}^0{B}^{*+}+B^{+}{\overline{B}}^{*0})$, while $Z_b^{\prime }(10650)$ only couples to the channel $(B^{*+}{\overline{B}}^{*0})$, the amplitudes and cross sections at leading order are determined. Also, a discussion about the region of validity of this framework has been done.

We study the Higgs boson mass and the muon anomalous magnetic moment (the muon $g-2$) in a supersymmetric standard model with vectorlike generations. The infrared physics of the model is governed by strong renormalization-group effects of the gauge couplings. That leads to sizable extra Yukawa couplings of Higgs doublets between the second and vectorlike generations in both quark and lepton sectors. It is found with this property that there exist wide parameter regions where the Higgs boson mass and the muon $g-2$ are simultaneously explained.

The hint for a possible resonance in the diphoton channel with mass of 750 GeV disappeared in the data presented at ICHEP’16 by ATLAS and CMS. However, the diphoton final state remains as one of the golden channels for new physics discoveries at the TeV scale in the LHC experiments. This motivates us to analyze model independently the implications of an $\mathcal{O}(\mathrm{TeV})$ bump in the $\gamma \gamma$ final state. By means of forward sum rules for $\gamma \gamma$ scattering, we show that a spin-zero resonance with mass of the order of the TeV and a sizable $\gamma \gamma$ partial width—-of the order of a few GeV—must be accompanied by higher-spin resonances with $J_R\ge 2$ with similar properties, as expected in strongly coupled extensions of the Standard Model or, alternatively, in higher-dimensional deconstructed duals. Furthermore, independently of whether the putative $\mathcal{O}(\mathrm{TeV})$ candidate is a scalar or a tensor, the large contribution to the forward sum rules in the referred scenario implies the presence of states in the spectrum with $J_R\ge 2$, these high-spin particles being a manifestation of new extra dimensions or composite states of a new strong sector.

We study light, thermal neutralino dark matter in the sub-GeV to $\sim 65\mathrm{GeV}$ mass range in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. We consider realizations of the limit of alignment without decoupling in the Higgs sector where the heavier $CP$-even Higgs impersonates the observed Higgs state at 125 GeV, while the lighter $CP$-even Higgs is the mediator of dark matter annihilation. We single out three distinct and novel possibilities for light dark matter: (i) a neutralino with mass around half the light Higgs mass, in the sub-GeV to $\sim 30\mathrm{GeV}$ mass range; (ii) a neutralino with a mass around half the pseudoscalar Higgs boson mass, in our examples around $(60–65)\mathrm{GeV}$; (iii) a very light neutralino with mass around the light Higgs mass, pair annihilating to Higgs pairs. We discuss the implications of all these possibilities for indirect and direct dark matter detection experiments, and we demonstrate that all scenarios will be tested by next generation direct detection experiments. We also emphasize that the unique Higgs phenomenology of this setup warrants a dedicated search program at the LHC.

The exclusive photoproduction of upsilon state $\mathrm{\Upsilon }(1S)$ and its radially excited states $\mathrm{\Upsilon }(2S,3S)$ is investigated in the context of ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC energies. Predictions are presented for their production in proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collision at the energies available at the LHC Run 2. The rapidity and transverse-momentum distributions are shown, and the robustness of the model is tested against the experimental results considering $\psi (1S,2S)$ and $\mathrm{\Upsilon }(1S)$ states. The theoretical framework considered in the analysis is the light-cone color dipole formalism, which includes consistently parton saturation effects and nuclear shadowing corrections.

We calculate the gluon Sivers function of the proton in the valence-$x$ region using a light-cone spectator model with the presence of the gluon degree of freedom. We obtain the values of the parameters by fitting the model resulting gluon density distribution to the known parametrization. We find that our results agree with the recent phenomenological extraction of the gluon Sivers function after considering the evolution effect. We also estimate the mean transverse momentum of the gluon in a transversely polarized proton and find that it is within the range implied by the Burkardt sum rule.

We present a detailed study of charged-current neutrino-nucleus reactions in a fully relativistic framework and comparisons with recent experiments spanning an energy range from hundreds of MeV up to 100 GeV within the superscaling approach, which is based on the analysis of electron-nucleus scattering data and has been recently improved with the inclusion of relativistic mean field theory effects. We also evaluate and discuss the impact of two-particle two-hole meson-exchange currents on neutrino-nucleus interactions through the analysis of two-particle two-hole axial and vector contributions to weak response functions in a fully relativistic Fermi gas. The results show a fairly good agreement with experimental data over the whole range of neutrino energies.

In the curvaton scenario, primordial curvature perturbations are produced by a second field that is subdominant during inflation. Depending on how the curvaton decays [possibly producing baryon number, lepton number, or cold dark matter (CDM)], mixtures of correlated isocurvature perturbations are produced, allowing the curvaton scenario to be tested using cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. Here, a full range of 27 curvaton-decay scenarios is compared with CMB data, placing limits on the curvaton fraction at decay, $r_D$, and the lepton asymmetry, ${\xi }_{\text{lep}}$. If baryon number is generated by curvaton decay and CDM before (or vice versa), these limits imply specific predictions for non-Gaussian signatures testable by future CMB experiments and upcoming large-scale-structure surveys.

At present, the best model for the evolution of the cosmos requires that dark matter make up approximately 25% of the energy content of the Universe. Most approaches to explain the microscopic nature of dark matter, to date, have assumed its composition to be of intrinsically weakly interacting particles; however, this need not be the case to have consistency with all extant observations. Given decades of inconclusive evidence to support any dark matter candidate, there is strong motivation to consider alternatives to the standard particle scenario. One such example is macro dark matter, a class of candidates (macros) that could interact strongly with the particles of the Standard Model, have large masses and physical sizes, and yet behave as dark matter. Macros that scatter completely inelastically could have altered the primordial production of the elements, and macro charge-dependent constraints have been obtained previously. Here we reconsider the phenomenology of inelastically interacting macros on the abundance of primordially produced ${}^4\mathrm{He}$ and revise previous constraints by also taking into account improved measurements of the primordial ${}^4\mathrm{He}$ abundance. The constraints derived here are limited in applicability to only leptophobic macros that have a surface potential $V(R_X)\gtrsim 0.5\mathrm{MeV}$. However, an important conclusion from our analysis is that even neutral macros would likely affect the abundance of the light elements. Therefore, constraints on that scenario are possible and are currently an open question.

The light-front Tamm-Dancoff method of finding the nonperturbative solutions in field theory is based on the Fock decomposition of the state vector, complemented by the sector-dependent nonperturbative renormalization scheme. We show in detail how to implement the renormalization procedure and to solve the simplest nontrivial example of the scalar Yukawa model in the two- and three-body Fock space truncations incorporating scalar “nucleon” and one or two scalar “pions”.

It has recently been shown that if the dark matter is in thermal equilibrium with a sector that is highly decoupled from the Standard Model, it can freeze out with an acceptable relic abundance, even if the dark matter is as heavy as $\sim 1–100\mathrm{PeV}$. In such scenarios, both the dark and visible sectors are populated after inflation, but with independent temperatures. The lightest particle in the dark sector will be generically long-lived and can come to dominate the energy density of the Universe. Upon decaying, these particles can significantly reheat the visible sector, diluting the abundance of dark matter and thus allowing for dark matter particles that are much heavier than conventional WIMPs. In this paper, we present a systematic and pedagogical treatment of the cosmological history in this class of models, emphasizing the simplest scenarios in which a dark matter candidate annihilates into hidden sector particles which then decay into visible matter through the vector, Higgs, or lepton portals. In each case, we find ample parameter space in which very heavy dark matter particles can provide an acceptable thermal relic abundance. We also discuss possible extensions of models featuring these dynamics.

MSSM4G models, in which the minimal supersymmetric standard model is extended to include vectorlike copies of standard model particles, are promising possibilities for weak-scale supersymmetry. In particular, two models, called QUE and QDEE, realize the major virtues of supersymmetry (naturalness consistent with the 125 GeV Higgs boson, gauge coupling unification, and thermal relic neutralino dark matter) without the need for fine-tuned relations between particle masses. We determine the implications of these models for dark matter and collider searches. The QUE and QDEE models revive the possibility of heavy bino dark matter with mass in the range 300–700 GeV, which is not usually considered. Dark matter direct detection cross sections are typically below current limits, but are naturally expected above the neutrino floor and may be seen at next-generation experiments. Indirect detection prospects are bright at the Cherenkov Telescope Array, provided the fourth-generation leptons have mass above 350 GeV or decay to taus. In a completely complementary way, discovery prospects at the LHC are dim if the fourth-generation leptons are heavy or decay to taus, but are bright for fourth-generation leptons with masses below 350 GeV that decay either to electrons or to muons. We conclude that the combined set of direct detection, CTA, and LHC experiments will discover or exclude these MSSM4G models in the coming few years, assuming the Milky Way has an Einasto dark matter profile.

We investigate the experimentally accessible kinematic distributions of the $\overline{B}\to D^{(*)}{\tau }^{-}(\to {\ell }^{-}{\overline{\nu }}_{\ell }{\nu }_{\tau }){\overline{\nu }}_{\tau }$ decays. Specifically, we study the decay rates as functions of the $B\to D^{(*)}$ transferred squared momentum, the energy of the final charged lepton and the angle of its 3-momentum with respect to the 3-momentum of the recoiling $D^{(*)}$. The angular distribution allows to introduce new observables, like a forward-backward asymmetry, which are complementary to the total rates. We present analytic formulas for the observable threefold 5-body differential decay rates, study the predictions in the Standard Model and investigate the effects in different new-physics scenarios that we characterize using an effective field theory framework.

We present a quark-diquark model for the nucleons where the light front wave functions are constructed from the soft-wall AdS/QCD prediction. The model is consistent with the quark counting rule and Drell-Yan-West relation. The scale evolution of unpolarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) of protons is simulated by making the parameters in the PDF scale dependent. The evolution of the PDFs are reproduced for a wide range of evolution scale. Helicity and transversity distributions for the proton predicted in this model agree with phenomenological fits. The axial and tensor charges are also shown to agree with the experimental data. The model can be used to evaluate distributions like generalized parton distributions, transverse momentum dependent distributions, etc., and their scale evolutions.

Correlations between light neutrino observables are arguably the strongest predictions of lepton flavor models based on (discrete) symmetries, except for the very few cases which unambiguously predict the full set of leptonic mixing angles. A subclass of these correlations is neutrino mass sum rules, which connect the three (complex) light neutrino mass eigenvalues among each other. This connection constrains both the light neutrino mass scale and the Majorana phases, so that mass sum rules generically lead to a nonzero value of the lightest neutrino mass and to distinct predictions for the effective mass probed in neutrinoless double beta decay. However, in nearly all cases known, the neutrino mass sum rules are not exact and receive corrections from various sources. We introduce a formalism to handle these corrections perturbatively in a model-independent manner, which overcomes issues present in earlier approaches. Our ansatz allows us to quantify the modification of the predictions derived from neutrino mass sum rules. We show that, in most cases, the predictions are fairly stable: while small quantitative changes can appear, they are generally rather mild. We therefore establish the predictivity of neutrino mass sum rules on a level far more general than previously known.

This short paper is devoted to the canonical analysis of the Hořava-Lifshitz gravity with mixed derivative terms that was proposed in Phys. Rev. D 94, 084014 (2016). We determine the algebra of constraints and we show that there is one additional scalar degree of freedom with respect to the nonprojectable Hořava-Lifshitz gravity.

The conventional slow-roll approximation is broken in the so-called “ultra slow-roll” models of inflation, for which the inflaton potential is exactly (or extremely) flat. The interesting nature of (canonical) ultra slow-roll inflation is that the curvature perturbation grows on superhorizon scales, but has a scale-invariant power spectrum. We study the ultra slow-roll inflationary dynamics in the presence of noncanonical kinetic terms of the scalar field, namely ultra slow-roll $G$ inflation. We compute the evolution of the curvature perturbation and show that the primordial power spectrum follows a broken power law with an oscillation feature. It is demonstrated that this could explain the lack of large-scale power in the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. We also point out that the violation of the null energy condition is prohibited in ultra slow-roll $G$ inflation, and hence a blue tensor tilt is impossible as long as inflation is driven by the potential. This statement is, however, not true if the energy density is dominated by the kinetic energy of the scalar field.

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are believed to be one of the main source candidates for the high-energy (TeV–PeV) cosmic neutrino flux recently discovered by the IceCube neutrino observatory. Nevertheless, several correlation studies between AGN and the cosmic neutrinos detected by IceCube show no significance. Therefore, in this article we consider a specific subclass of AGN for which an increased neutrino production is expected. This subclass contains AGN for which their high-energy jet is pointing toward Earth. Furthermore, we impose the condition that the jet is obscured by gas or dust surrounding the AGN. A method is presented to determine the total column density of the obscuring medium, which is probed by determining the relative x-ray attenuation with respect to the radio flux as obtained from the AGN spectrum. The total column density allows us to probe the interaction of the jet with the surrounding matter, which leads to additional neutrino production. Finally, starting from two different source catalogs, this method is applied to specify a sample of low redshift radio galaxies for which an increased neutrino production is expected.

The Higgs naturalness problem is solved if the growth of Einstein’s gravitational interaction is softened at an energy $\lesssim 10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}$ (softened gravity). We work here within an explicit realization where the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian is extended to include terms quadratic in the curvature and a nonminimal coupling with the Higgs. We show that this solution is preserved by adding three right-handed neutrinos with masses below the electroweak scale, accounting for neutrino oscillations, dark matter and the baryon asymmetry. The smallness of the right-handed neutrino masses (compared to the Planck scale) and the QCD $\theta$-term are also shown to be natural. We prove that a possible gravitational source of $CP$ violation cannot spoil the model, thanks to the presence of right-handed neutrinos. Inflation is approximately described by the Starobinsky model in this context and can occur even if we live in a metastable vacuum.