The SUSY flavor problem in 5D GUTs

In 5D SUSY GUTs, wave-function localization permits to reproduce flavour hierarchy. As this mechanism also acts on SUSY breaking parameters, it can potentially solve the SUSY flavour problem. We carry out an analysis of the Holographic Grand Unification framework, where we take properly into account effects of matrix anarchy. In this contribution, we focus on brane-localized SUSY breaking and its consequences.Comment: Prepared for the proceedings of the Moriond 2011 EW session. 4 pages, 7 figure

Anomalous gauge interactions in photon collisions at the LHC and the FCC

The forward proton detectors recently installed and operating at the LHC open the possibility to observe photon collisions with high precision, providing a novel window on physics beyond the Standard Model. We review recent simulations and theoretical developments about the measurement of anomalous ${\gamma}{\gamma}{\gamma}{\gamma}$ and $Z{\gamma}{\gamma}{\gamma}$ interactions. The searches for these anomalous gauge interactions are expected to set bounds on a wide range of particles including generic electroweak particles, neutral particles with dimension-5 coupling to gauge bosons, polarizable dark particles, and are typically complementary from new physics searches in other channels.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, invited talk at PHOTON 2017, draws from 1411.6629, 1609.01762, 1703.10600. v2: references adde

Effective theory for neutral resonances and a statistical dissection of the ATLAS diboson excess

We classify the complete set of dimension-5 operators relevant for the resonant production of a singlet of spin 0 or 2 linearly coupled to the Standard Model (SM). We compute the decay width of such states as a function of the effective couplings, and provide the matching to various well-motivated New Physics scenarios. We then investigate the possibility that one of these neutral resonances be at the origin of the excess in diboson production recently reported by the ATLAS collaboration. We perform a shape analysis of the excess under full consideration of the systematic uncertainties to extract the width $\Gamma_{\rm tot}$ of the hypothetical resonance, finding it to be in the range 26 GeV $<\Gamma_{\rm tot}<$ 144 GeV at 95\% C.L. We then point out that the three overlapping selections $WW$, $WZ$, $ZZ$ reported by ATLAS follow a joint trivariate Poisson distribution, which opens the possibility of a thorough likelihood analysis of the event rates. The background systematic uncertainties are also included in our analysis. We show that the data do not require $W\!Z$ production and could thus in principle be explained by neutral resonances. We then use both the information on the width and the cross section, which prove to be highly complementary, to test the effective Lagrangians of singlet resonances. Regarding specific models, we find that neither scalars coupled via the Higgs-portal nor the Randall-Sundrum (RS) radion can explain the ATLAS anomaly. The RS graviton with all matter on the infrared (IR) brane can in principle fit the observed excess, while the RS model with matter propagating in the bulk requires the presence of IR brane kinetic terms for the gauge fields.Comment: 31 page

Quantum Forces from Dark Matter and Where to Find Them

We observe that sub-GeV Dark Matter (DM) induces Casimir-Polder forces between nucleons, that can be accessed by experiments from nuclear to molecular scales. We calculate the nucleon-nucleon potentials arising in the DM effective theory and note that their main features are fixed by dimensional analysis and the optical theorem. Molecular spectroscopy and neutron scattering turn out be DM search experiments, and are found to be complementary to nucleon-based DM direct detection. Existing data set limits on DM with mass up to $\sim 3-50$ MeV and with effective interaction up to the $O(10-100)$ MeV scale, constraining a region typically difficult to reach for other experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. v3: Minor changes, references added, supplemental material extended. Matches journal versio

Anomalous gauge couplings from composite Higgs and warped extra dimensions

We examine trilinear and quartic anomalous gauge couplings (AGCs) generated in composite Higgs models and models with warped extra dimensions. We first revisit the SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y effective Lagrangian and derive the charged and two-photon neutral AGCs. We derive the general perturbative contributions to the pure field-strength operators from spin 0, 1/2, 1 resonances by means of the heat kernel method. In the composite Higgs framework, we derive the pattern of expected deviations from typical SO(N) embeddings of the light composite top partner. We then study a generic warped extra dimension framework with AdS_5 background, recasting in few parameters the features of models relevant for AGCs. We also present a detailed study of the latest bounds from electroweak and Higgs precision observables, with and without brane kinetic terms. For vanishing brane kinetic terms, we find that the S and T parameters exclude KK gauge modes of the RS custodial [non-custodial] scenario below 7.7 [14.7] TeV, for a brane Higgs and below 6.6 [8.1] TeV for a Pseudo Nambu-Goldstone Higgs, at 95% CL. These constraints can be relaxed in presence of brane kinetic terms. The leading AGCs are probing the KK gravitons and the KK modes of bulk gauge fields in parts of the parameter space. In these scenarios, the future CMS and ATLAS forward proton detectors could be sensitive to the effect of KK gravitons in the multi-TeV mass range.Comment: 37 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Minor typos fixed, some comments and references added. Matches JHEP versio

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 non-local 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.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

Prospects for new physics searches at the LHC in the forward proton mode

The installation of forward proton detectors at the LHC will provide the possibility to observe central exclusive processes, opening a novel window on physics beyond the Standard Model. We review recent developments on the discovery potential from central exclusive light-by-light scattering. The search for this process is expected to provide bounds on a wide range of particles, and turns out to be complementary from new physics searches in inclusive channels.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Invited talk at EDS Blois 2015: The 16th conference on Elastic and Diffractive Scattering. This manuscript draws heavily from arXiv:1503.0521

Sharpening the shape analysis for higher-dimensional operator searches

When the Standard Model is interpreted as the renormalizable sector of a low-energy effective theory, the effects of new physics are encoded into a set of higher dimensional operators. These operators potentially deform the shapes of Standard Model differential distributions of final states observable at colliders. We describe a simple and systematic method to obtain optimal estimations of these deformations when using numerical tools, like Monte Carlo simulations. A crucial aspect of this method is minimization of the estimation uncertainty: we demonstrate how the operator coefficients have to be set in the simulations in order to get optimal results. The uncertainty on the interference term turns out to be the most difficult to control and grows very quickly when the interference is suppressed. We exemplify our method by computing the deformations induced by the ${\cal O}_{3W}$ operator in $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC, and by deriving a bound on ${\cal O}_{3W}$ using $8$ TeV CMS data.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. v2: Minor corrections, references added, matches journal versio

Measuring the diphoton coupling of a 750 GeV resonance

A slight excess has been observed in the first data of photon-photon events at the 13 TeV LHC, that might be interpreted has a hint of physics beyond the Standard Model. We show that a completely model-independent measurement of the photon-photon coupling of a putative 750 GeV resonance will be possible using the forward proton detectors scheduled at ATLAS and CMS.Comment: v2: version published in PR

Relating LHC event rates to supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories containing SU(5)SU(5)

We elaborate on a recently found $SU(5)$ relation confined to the up-(s)quark flavour space, that remains immune to large quantum corrections up to the TeV scale. We investigate the possibilities opened by this new window on the GUT scale in order to find TeV-scale $SU(5)$ tests realizable at the LHC. We present a variety of tests, which appear as relations among observables involving flavour violation or chirality flips and rely on the techniques of top polarimetry, charm-tagging, or Higgs detection from cascade decays. We discuss the cases of natural Supersymmetry and top-charm Supersymmetry as example cases. We find that $O(10)$ to $O(100)$ events are needed to obtain 50\% of relative precision at 3$\sigma$ significance for all proposed tests.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics 2015 (EPS-HEP 2015), Vienna, Austria, 22nd to 29th of July 201