Smoking guns for on-shell new physics at the LHC

Area of Science:

• High Energy Physics
• Particle Physics
• Collider Physics

Background:

• The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics describes fundamental particles and forces.
• The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Higgs boson production rate is a key SM prediction.
• Deviations from SM predictions may indicate new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM).

Purpose of the Study:

• Derive upper limits on LHC Higgs boson production rates using Tevatron data.
• Establish new methods to probe for light BSM particles.
• Investigate the model independence of the R(T) ratio as a BSM probe.

Main Methods:

• Utilize Tevatron experimental bounds to set limits on LHC Higgs production.
• Define and analyze R(T), the ratio of partially integrated Higgs transverse momentum distribution to the inclusive rate.
• Examine the perturbative expansion of R(T) for reduced renormalization scale dependence.
• Employ a model with colored scalars to test the model independence of R(T).

Main Results:

• Established upper limits on the LHC Higgs boson production rate.
• Demonstrated that R(T) serves as a sensitive probe for light BSM particles.
• Showed R(T) is insensitive to heavy virtual effects and approximately model independent.
• Observed reduced renormalization scale dependence in R(T) due to Wilson coefficient cancellation.

Conclusions:

• A violation of derived Tevatron-based limits would strongly indicate the presence of light BSM particles.
• R(T) provides a robust and model-independent method to detect light BSM particles near their mass shell.
• The R(T) ratio is a valuable tool for exploring new physics at the LHC.