In the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT), top-partners (T_-) are produced in pairs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Each top-partner decays into a top quark (t) and the lightest T-odd gauge partner A_H. We demonstrate reconstruction of the ttbar system decaying hadronically, and measurement of the top-partner mass from the m_{T2} distribution. A top quark from a T_{-} decay is polarized, and we discuss the effect of this polarization on the decay distributions. Because the events consist of highly collinear jets which occasionally overlap each other, we compare distributions using different jet reconstruction algorithms (Snowmass cone, kt, Cambridge, SISCone). We find clustering algorithms are advantageous for studying top polarization effects.
Composite Higgs models with a fermionic UV completion can contain additional colored states beside the usual top-partners. We focus here on a model which contains in addition SU(3) color octet top partners as well as color singlet ones. The latter can in principle serve as a dark matter candidate. We consider a particular composite Higgs model which contains SU(3) color octet top partners besides the usually considered triplet representations. Moreover, color singlet top partners are present as well which can in principle serve as dark matter candidates. We investigate the LHC phenomenology of…
Vector-like top partner plays a central role in many new physics models which attempt to address the hierarchy problem. The top partner is conventionally assumed to decay to a quark and a SM boson. However, it is also possible that the top partner decays to a non-SM scalar and a top quark. Such an exotic decay channel can be the main decay channel of top partner, and thus provides new windows to search for top partner at the LHC. In this paper, with classical machine learning method Boosted Decision Tree (BDT), we perform a model independent study of the discovery potential of this new signatu…
The single vector-like top partner hadroproduction in association with top quark in the five and the six-flavour schemes at the LHC is investigated. The inclusive cross section and the differential distributions are evaluated for many benchmark scenarios at leading and next-to-leading orders, both for fixed-order and fixed-order matched to parton shower. The associated Higgs production with a top quark pair, where the final state arises from the decay of the vector-like top partner into a Higgs boson and a top quark, is examined.
Many scenarios of physics beyond the Standard Model that address the hierarchy problem also predict the existence of vector-like top quark partners, which are generally expected around the TeV scale. In this paper, we propose to search for a vector-like top quark partner with charge $2/3$ in a simplified model including only two free parameters, the coupling constant $g^{\ast}$ and top quark partner mass $m_T$. We investigate the observability of the top quark partner through the process $pp \to T(\to th)j\to t(\to b W^+\to b \ell^{+} ν_{\ell})h( \to WW^{\ast}\to \ell^{+}ν\ell^{-}\barν) j$, wh…
New vectorlike quarks are predicted in many new physics scenarios beyond the Standard Model~(SM) and could potentially be discovered at the LHC. Based on a simplified model including a singlet vectorlike top partner with charge $2/3$, we investigate the process $pp \to TT$ via a $t$-channel induced by the couplings between the top partner with the first-generation SM quarks. We calculate the production cross section and further study the observability of the heavy top partner in the channel $T\to Wq$ at the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) using final states with same-sign dileptons (electrons or …
Some new physics models, such as "beautiful mirrors" scenario, predict the existence of the bottom partner $B'$. Considering the constraints from the data for the $Z\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ branching ratio $R_{b}$ and the $FB$ asymmetry $A_{FB}^{b}$ on the relevant free parameters, we calculate the contributions of $B'$ to the cross section $σ(Zb)$ and the $Z$ polarization asymmetry $A_{Z}$ for $Zb$ production at the $LHC$. We find that the bottom partner $B'$ can generate significant corrections to $σ(Zb)$ and $A_{Z}$, which might be detected in near future.
LHC searches for fermionic top partners $T$ focus on three decay topologies: $T\to bW$, $T\to tZ$, and $T\to th$. However, top partners may carry new conserved quantum numbers that forbid these decays. The simplest possibility is a conserved parity, under which the top partner is odd and all SM states are even. In this case, decays of top partners may involve new particle-odd scalars, leading to signal topologies more commonly associated with supersymmetry, either with or without R-parity conservation. We study a simplified model in which this possibility is realized, and estimate the bounds o…
The Standard Model is a successful theory but lack of a mechanism for neutrino mass generation as well as a solution to the naturalness problem. In the models that are proposed to simultaneously solve the two problems, heavy Majorana neutrinos and top partners are usually predicted that can lead to a new decay mode of the top partner mediated by the heavy Majorana neutrinos: $T\to b\,W^{+}\to b\,\ell^{+}\ell^{+}q\bar{q'}$. In this paper, we will study the observability of such a new signature via the pair production process of top partner $pp \to T\bar{T} \to 2b+ \ell^\pm \ell^\pm+4j$ in a mod…
Most searches for top partners, $T$, are concerned with top partner pair production. However, as these bounds become increasingly stringent, the LHC energy will saturate and single top partner production will become more important. In this paper we study the novel signature of the top partner produced in association with the SM top, $pp\rightarrow T\overline{t}+t\overline{T}$, in a model where the Standard Model (SM) is extended by a vector-like $SU(2)_L$ singlet fermion top partner and a real, SM gauge singlet scalar, $S$. In this model, $pp\rightarrow T\overline{t}+t\overline{T}$ production …
In scenarios that stabilize the electroweak scale, the top quark is typically accompanied by partner particles. In this work, we demonstrate how extended stabilizing symmetries can yield scalar or fermionic top partners that transform as ordinary color triplets but carry exotic electric charges. We refer to these scenarios as "hypertwisted" since they involve modifications to hypercharge in the top sector. As proofs of principle, we construct two hypertwisted scenarios: a supersymmetric construction with spin-0 top partners, and a composite Higgs construction with spin-1/2 top partners. In bot…
The coannihilation mechanism is a well-motivated alternative to the simple thermal freeze-out mechanism, where the dark matter relic density can be obtained through the coannihilation with a partner particle of similar mass with dark matter. When the partner particle is neutral, the inelastic nature of dark matter can help it to escape the direct detection limits. In this work, we focus on the coannihilation scenario in which the annihilation cross section is dominated by the partner-partner pair annihilation. We pay special interest on the parameter space where the coannihilation partner is l…
Heavy partners of the top quark are a common prediction of many models in which a new strongly-coupled sector is responsible for the breaking of the EW symmetry. In this paper we investigate their experimental signature at the LHC, focusing on the particularly clean channel of same-sign dileptons. We show that, thank to a strong interaction with the top quark which allows them to be singly produced at a sizable rate, the top partners will be discovered at the LHC if their mass is below 1.5 TeV, higher masses being possible in particularly favorable (but plausible) situations. Being the partner…
Colored dark sectors where the dark matter particle is accompanied by colored partners have recently attracted theoretical and phenomenological interest. We explore the possibility that the dark sector consists of the dark matter particle and a color-octet partner, where the interaction with the Standard Model is governed by an effective operator involving gluons. The resulting interactions resemble the color analogues of electric and magnetic dipole moments. Although many phenomenological features of this kind of model only depend on the group representation of the partner under SU(3)$_c$, we…
Naturalness demands that the quadratic divergence of the one-loop top contribution to the Higgs mass be cancelled at a scale below 1 TeV. This can be achieved by introducing a fermionic (spin-1/2) top partner, as in, for example, Little Higgs models. In this paper, we study the phenomenology of a simple model realizing this mechanism. We present the current bounds on the model from precision electroweak fits, flavor physics, and direct searches at the LHC. The lower bound on the top partner mass from precision electroweak data is approximately 500 GeV, while the LHC bound with 5/fb of data at …
In the littlest Higgs Model with T-parity, we discuss the pair production of the T-odd top partner ($T_{-}$) which decays almost 100\% into the top quark and the lightest T-odd particle ($A_{H}$). Considering the current constraints, we investigate the observability of the T-odd top partner pair production through the process $pp\rightarrow T_{-}\bar{T}_{-}\rightarrow t\bar{t}A_{H}A_{H}$ in final states with two leptons at 14 TeV LHC. We analyze the signal significance and find that the lower limit on the T-odd top partner mass are about 1.04 TeV, 1.14 TeV, 1.23 TeV at $2σ$ confidence level at…
We investigate the sensitivity of the 14 TeV LHC to pair-produced top partners ($T$) decaying into the Standard Model top quark ($t$) plus either a gluon ($g$) or a photon ($γ$). The decays $T\rightarrow tg$ and $T\rightarrow tγ$ can be dominant when the mixing between the top partner and top quark are negligible. In this case, the conventional decays $T\rightarrow bW$, $T\rightarrow tZ$, and $T\rightarrow th$ are highly suppressed and can be neglected. We take a model-independent approach using effective operators for the $T$-$t$-$g$ and $T$-$t$-$γ$ interactions, considering both spin-$\frac{…
The new heavy vector-like top partner~($T$) is one of typical features of many new physics models beyond the standard model. In this paper we study the discovery potential of the LHC for the vector-like $T$-quark both in the leptonic $T\to bW$ and $T\to t_{\rm lep}Z_{\rm lep}$ (trilepton) channels at $\sqrt{s}= 14$ TeV in the single production mode. Our analysis is based on a simplified model including a $SU(2)_L$ singlet with charge $2/3$ with only two free parameters, namely the $TWb$ coupling parameter $g^{\ast}$ and the top partner mass $m_T$. The $2σ$ exclusion limits, $3σ$ evidence and t…
We first build a minimal model of vector-like quarks where the dominant Higgs boson production process at LHC -- the gluon fusion -- can be significantly suppressed, being motivated by the recent stringent constraints from the search for direct Higgs production over a wide Higgs mass range. Within this model, compatible with the present experimental constraints on direct Higgs searches, we demonstrate that the Higgs ($h$) production via a heavy vector-like top-partner ($t_2$) decay, $pp \to t_2 \bar t_2$, $t_2\to t h$, allows to discover a Higgs boson at the LHC and measure its mass, through t…
Single production of vector-like top partners is becoming a major focus of new searches, as the increasing mass limits on vector-like quarks obtained by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations are such that single production is becoming competitive with respect to pair production. Typically searches focus on decays containing leptons in the final state in order to have less background from the Standard Model processes. However the current centre of mass energies available in the latest LHC runs limit the searches to low masses. Fully hadronic final states may be an alternative option for discovery, a…
We consider the phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider of new heavy vector-like quarks which couple mainly to the third generation quarks via Yukawa interactions, with special emphasis on non-standard doublet representations which are less constrained from present data. We also discuss in detail the flavour limits at tree level and loop level and implications of a generalised CKM mixing matrix to these cases.
Extensions of the Standard Model which address the hierarchy problem and dark matter (DM) often contain top partners and additional resonances at the TeV scale. We explore the phenomenology of a simplified effective model with a vector resonance $Z'$, a fermionic vector-like coloured partner of the top quark $T'$ as well as a scalar DM candidate $ϕ$ and provide publicly available implementations in CalcHEP and MadGraph. We study the $pp \to Z' \to T'\overline{T'} \to t\bar{t}\,ϕϕ$ process at the LHC and find that it plays an important role in addition to the $T'\overline{T'}$ production via st…
Composite Higgs models provide a natural, non-supersymmetric solution to the hierarchy problem. In these models, one or more sets of heavy top-partners are typically introduced. Some of these new quarks can be relatively light, with a mass of a few hundred GeV, and could be observed with the early LHC collision data expected to be collected during 2010. We analyse in detail the collider signatures that these new quarks can produce. We show that final states with two (same-sign) or three leptons are the most promising discovery channels. They can yield a 5 sigma excess over the Standard Model e…
We study single production and detection at the LHC run II of exotic partners of the bottom quark. For masses larger than 1 TeV single production can dominate over pair production that is suppressed due to phase space. The presence of exotic partners of the bottom is motivated in models aiming to solve the $A_{FB}^b$ anomaly measured at LEP and SLC. Minimal models of this type with partial compositeness predict, as the lightest bottom partner, a new fermion V of electric charge -4/3, also called mirror. The relevant coupling for our study is a WVb vertex, which yields a signal that corresponds…
We study the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity at the LHC through pair productions of the T-odd top quark partner (T_-) which decays into the top quark and the lightest T-odd particle. We identify the region of parameters favored by the electroweak and cosmological considerations. The signal and background events are simulated with fast detector simulation to study the discovery potential at the LHC. We find that the hemisphere analysis recently proposed by the CMS collaboration is very useful to separate the signal from the t\bar{t} background. We discuss the observability of the top tagged …
Vector-like quarks (VLQs) that are partners of the heavy top and bottom quarks are predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model (SM). We explore the possibility that these states could explain not only the longstanding anomaly in the forward-backward asymmetry in $b$-quark production at LEP, $A_{\rm FB}^b $, but also the more recent $\sim 2σ$ deviation of the cross section for the associated Higgs production with top quark pairs at the LHC, $σ(pp\to t\bar t H)$. Introducing three illustrative models for VLQs with different representations under the SM gauge group, we show that the two an…
We study the implications of a large degree of compositeness for the light generation quarks in composite pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone-boson Higgs models. We focus in particular on viable scenarios where the right-handed up-type quarks have a sizable mixing with the strong dynamics. For concreteness we assume the latter to be characterized by an SO(5)/SO(4) symmetry with fermionic resonances in the SO(4) singlet and fourplet representations. Singlet partners dominantly decay to a Higgs boson and jets. As no dedicated searches are currently looking for these final states, singlet partners can still b…
We investigate indirect constraints on the top partner within the minimal fermionic top partner model. By performing a global fit of the latest Higgs data, $B_s \to μ^+μ^-$ measurements and the electroweak precision observables we find that the top partner with the mass up to 830 GeV is excluded at $2σ$ level. Our bound on the top partner mass is much stronger than the bounds obtained from the direct searches at the LHC. Under the current constraints the fine-tuning measure is less than 9% and the branching ratio of $T \to tZ$ is bounded between 14% and 25%. We also find that precise measureme…
Top partners from a new strong sector can be discovered soon, at the 8 TeV LHC, by analyzing their single production, which exhibits a large enhancement in the cross section compared to the analogous productions of bottom partners and exotic quarks. We analyze the subsequent decay of the top partners into a 125 GeV Higgs. This channel proves to be very promising for both the discovery of top partners and a test of the Higgs sector. For a reference value $λ_{\tilde{T}}=3$ of the Higgs coupling to the top partner, we could have a discovery (observation) at the 8 TeV LHC, with 30 fb$^{-1}$, for t…
The radial excitation of the global symmetry-breaking vacuum in composite Higgs models, called the "global Higgs", has been recently a focus of investigation. In this paper we study the prospects for detecting this composite scalar at the 13 TeV LHC. We compute the global Higgs production rates and estimate the discovery potential of a global Higgs decaying into top quark pairs and into Higgs and electroweak gauge bosons with subsequent hadronic decays. The global Higgs may also decay into fermion resonances such as top partners, providing a new window into compositeness. We show that top part…
A natural, non-supersymmetric solution to the hierarchy problem generically requires fermionic partners of the top quark with masses not much heavier than 500 GeV. We study the pair production and detection at the LHC of the top partners with electric charge Q=5/3 (T_{5/3}) and Q=-1/3 (B), that are predicted in models where the Higgs is a pseudo-Goldstone boson. The exotic T_{5/3} fermion, in particular, is the distinct prediction of a LR custodial parity invariance of the electroweak symmetry breaking sector. Both kinds of new fermions decay to Wt, leading to a t\bar{t}WW final state. We focu…
Anomalously light fermionic partners of the top quark often appear in explicit constructions, such as the 5d holographic models, where the Higgs is a light composite pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson and its potential is generated radiatively by top quark loops. We show that this is due to a structural correlation among the mass of the partners and the one of the Higgs boson. Because of this correlation, the presence of light partners could be essential to obtain a realistic Higgs mass. We quantitatively confirm this generic prediction, which applies to a broad class of composite Higgs models, by s…
If one takes naturalness seriously and also assumes a weakly coupled extension of the Standard Model (SM) then there are predictions for phenomenology that can be inferred in a model independent framework. The first such prediction is that there must be some colored particle with mass O(TeV) that cancels the top loop contribution to the quadratic divergence of the Higgs mass. In this paper we begin a model independent analysis of the phenomenology of this "top partner," t'. We make one additional assumption that it is odd under a parity which is responsible for the stability of a WIMP dark mat…
We present indications of possible substructures from weak interactions, by inspecting LEP and LHC date and inferring threshold effects due to the production of pairs of composite heavy gauge bosons W+-, Z and their hypothetical partners with different spin. Thus, we find possible evidence of scalar or pseudoscalar partners of the W+- and the Z, viz. at 53 and 57 GeV, respectively. Additionally, data may indicate excited states of the Z at 210 and 240 GeV.
We study methods of extracting new physics signals in final states with a top-quark pair plus large missing energy at the LHC. We consider two typical examples of such new physics: pair production of a fermionic top partner (a $T'$ in Little Higgs models for example) and of a scalar top partner (a $\tilde{t}$ in SUSY). With a commonly-adopted discrete symmetry under which non Standard Model particles are odd, the top partner is assumed to decay predominantly to a top quark plus a massive neutral stable particle $A^0$. We focus on the case in which one of the top quarks decays leptonically and …
Theories of physics beyond the Standard Model that address the hierarchy problem generally involve top partners, new particles that cancel the quadratic divergences associated with the Yukawa coupling of the Higgs to the top quark. With extensions of the Standard Model that involve new colored particles coming under strain from collider searches, scenarios in which the top partners carry no charge under the strong interactions have become increasingly compelling. Although elusive for direct searches, these theories predict modified couplings of the Higgs boson to the Standard Model particles. …
The vectorlike top partners $T$ are predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model (SM). In a simplified model including a single vectorlike $T$ quark with charge $2/3$, we investigate the process $pp \to Tj$ induced by the couplings between the top partner with the first and the third generation quarks at the LHC. We find that the mixing with the first generation can enhance the production cross section. We further study the observability of the single heavy top partner through the process $pp \to T(\to th)j\to t(\to b \ell ν_{\ell})h( \to γγ) j$ at the high-luminosity~(HL)-LHC~(a 14 TeV …
Gluinos are expected to be one of the most massive sparticles (supersymmetric partners of usual particles) which constitute the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The gluinos are the partners of the gluons and they are color octet fermions, due this fact they can not mix with the other particles. Therefore in several scenarios, given at SPS convention, they are the most massive particles and their nature is a Majorana fermion. Therefore their production is only feasible at a very energetic machine such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Being the fermion partners of the gluons, the…
We propose a model-independent and general framework to study the LHC phenomenology of top partners, i.e. Vector-Like quarks including particles with different electro-magnetic charge. We consider Vector-Like quarks embedded in general representations of the weak SU(2)L, coupling to all Standard Model quarks via Yukawa mixing focusing on the case of a single multiplet. We show that, with very minimal and quite general assumptions, top partners may be studied in terms of few parameters in an effective Lagrangian description with a clear and simple connection with experimental observables. We al…
We consider a particular composite Higgs model which contains SU(3) color octet top partners besides the usually considered triplet representations. Moreover, color singlet top partners are present as well which can in principle serve as dark matter candidates. We investigate the LHC phenomenology of these unusual top partners. Some of these states could be confused with gluinos predicted in supersymmetric models at first glance.
We propose a new search strategy for heavy top partners at the early stages of the LHC run-II, based on lepton-jet final states. Our results show that final states containing a boosted massive jet and a hard lepton, in addition to a top quark and possibly a forward jet, offer a new window to both detecting and measuring top partners of mass $\sim 2$ TeV. Our resulting signal significance is comparable or superior to the same sign di-lepton channels for top partner masses heavier than roughly 1 TeV. Unlike the di-lepton channel, the selection criteria we propose are sensitive both to $5/3$ and …
We assess how different ATLAS and CMS searches for supersymmetry in the $t\bar t + E_T^{\rm miss}$ final state at Run 1 of the LHC constrain scenarios with a fermionic top partner and a dark matter candidate. We find that the efficiencies of these searches in all-hadronic, 1-lepton and 2-lepton channels are quite similar for scalar and fermionic top partners. Therefore, in general, efficiency maps for stop-neutralino simplified models can also be applied to fermionic top-partner models, provided the narrow width approximation holds in the latter. Owing to the much higher production cross-secti…
Theories which provide a dynamical explanation for the large top-quark mass often include TeV-scale vector-like top-quark and bottom-quark partner states which can be potentially discovered at the LHC. These states are currently probed through model-independent searches for pair-production via gluon fusion, as well as through model-dependent complementary electroweak single production. In this paper we study the potential to extend those searches for the partners of the third-generation Standard Model quarks on the basis of their expected chromomagnetic interactions. We discuss how current sea…
The top partner as a hallmark of the Littlest Higgs model with $T$-parity (LHT model) has been extensively searched for during the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Run-1. With the increasing mass limits on the top partner, the single production of the top partner will be dominant over the pair production. Under the constraints from the Higgs data, the electroweak precision observables and $R_b$, we find that the mass of $T$-even top partner ($T_+$) has to be heavier than 730 GeV. Then, we investigate the observability of the single $T$-even top partner production through the process $pp \to T_+ j$ …
Six top signatures provide a novel probe of new physics. We discuss production of six top quarks as the decay products of a pair of top partners in the setting of a composite Higgs model, and argue that the six top signal may generically provide one of the first final states to show a discrepancy. We construct an analysis based on quantities such as $H_T$ and the numbers of jets which are tagged as boosted tops, $W$s, or containing $b$-tags, and show that the LHC with 3~ab$^{-1}$ can discover top partners with masses up to around 2.5 TeV in the six top signature.
Vector-like quarks are introduced in various new physics models beyond the standard model (SM) at the TeV scale. We especially consider the case that the quark is singlet (triplet) under the SU(2)$_L$ (SU(3)$_c$) gauge group and couples only to the third generation quarks of the SM. The vector-like quark of this kind is often called a top partner. The top partoner $t_p$ decays into $bW, tZ$ and $th$. In the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, the top partner has been searched in the final states of $bW$ and $tZ$, while the search based on the decay mode $t_p\to th$ has not been started yet. However,…
In this paper we study the discovery potential of the LHC run II for heavy vector-like top quarks in the decay channel to a top and a $Z$ boson. Despite the usually smaller branching ratio compared to charged-current decays, this channel is rather clean and allows for a complete mass reconstruction of the heavy top. The latter is achieved in the leptonic decay channel of the $Z$ boson and in the fully hadronic top channel using boosted jet and jet substructure techniques. To be as model-independent as possible, a simplified model approach with only two free parameters has been applied. The res…
In composite Higgs models (CHMs), electroweak precision data generically push colourless composite vector resonances to a regime where they dominantly decay into pairs of light top partners. This greatly attenuates their traces in canonical collider searches, tailored for narrow resonances promptly decaying into Standard Model final states. By reinterpreting the CMS same-sign dilepton (SS2$\ell$) analysis at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), originally designed to search for top partners with electric charge $5/3$, we demonstrate its significant coverage over this kinematical regime. We also sh…
Chiral partners of strange doubly heavy baryons: Mass relations and decay predictions after the 2026 LHCb discoveries
Institute of Theoretical Physics and Mark Kac Center for Complex Systems Research, Jagiellonian University（雅盖隆大学理论物理研究所与马克·卡克复杂系统研究中心）；Center for Nuclear Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University（石溪大学物理与天文学系核心理论中心）
We present a novel framework capable of addressing the dark matter problem through freeze-in and freeze-out mechanisms, separately or together, depending on the region of the parameter space considered. In the dark matter dynamics, the model features an interplay of thermal production along with sizeable contribution through feeble decay of associated dark fermionic partner, which finally freezes out to the right relic density for a wide range of masses and couplings. Apart from the fermionic dark matter candidate, the model introduces two charged partners, one fermionic and another scalar, wh…
Light top partners are the prime sign of naturalness in composite Higgs models. We explore here the possibility of non-standard top partner phenomenology. We show that even in the simplest extension of the minimal composite Higgs model, featuring an extra singlet pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, the branching ratios of the top partners into standard channels can be significantly altered, with no substantial change in the generated Higgs potential. Together with the variety of possible final states from the decay of the pseudo-scalar singlet, this motivates more extensive analyses in the search fo…
Top-partners -- vector-like quarks which mix predominantly with the top quark -- are simple extensions of the standard model present in many theories of new physics such as little Higgs models, topcolor models, and extra dimensions. Through renormalizable mixing with the top quark, these top-partners inherit couplings to the Higgs boson. Higgs bosons produced from the decay of top-partners are often highly boosted and ideal candidates for analyses based on jet substructure. Using substructure methods, we show that light Higgs bosons decaying to b b-bar can be discovered at the 14 TeV LHC with …
In composite Higgs models, the generation of quark masses requires the standard model-like quarks to be partially or fully composite states which are accompanied by composite quark partners. The composite quark partners decay into a standard model-like quark and an electroweak gauge boson or Higgs boson, which can be searched for at the LHC. In this article, we study the phenomenological implications of composite quarks in the minimal composite Higgs model based on the coset $SO(5)/SO(4)$. We focus on light quark partners which are embedded in the $SO(4)$ singlet representation. In this case, …
In our recent paper, we have investigated the potential for the LHC to discover vector-like quark partner states singly produced via their chromomagnetic moment interactions. These production mechanisms extend traditional searches which rely on pair-production of top-quark partner states or on the single production of these states through electroweak interactions, in the sense of providing greatly increased reach in parameter space regions where traditional searches are insensitive. In this study we determine the potential of both the 14 TeV high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) and a 100 TeV proton-pr…
In composite Higgs models with partial compositeness, the small value of the observed Higgs mass implies the existence of light fermionic resonances, the top partners, whose quantum numbers are determined by the symmetry (and symmetry breaking) structure of the theory. Here we study light top partners with electric charge 8/3, which are predicted, for instance, in some of the most natural composite Higgs realizations. We recast data from two same sign lepton searches and from searches for microscopic blackholes into a bound on its mass, M8/3 > 940 GeV. Furthermore, we compare potential reach o…
In the framework of the littlest Higgs Model with T-parity, we discuss the top partner production at future $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider. We calculate the cross sections of the top partner production processes and associated production processes of Higgs and top partner under current constraints. Then, we investigate the observability of the T-odd top partner pair production through the process $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow T_{-}\bar{T}_{-}\rightarrow t\bar{t}A_{H}A_{H}$ in the $t\bar{t}$ di-lepton channel for two T-odd top partner mass $m_{T_{-}}$=603(708) GeV at $\sqrt{s}$=1.5 TeV. We analyze the signal s…
In composite Higgs models light fermionic top partners often play an important role in obtaining a 126 GeV Higgs mass. The presence of these top partners implies that coloured vector mesons, or massive gluon partners, most likely exist. Since the coupling between the top partners and gluon partners can be large there are then sizeable two-loop contributions to the composite Higgs mass. We compute the radiative correction to the Higgs mass from a gluon partner in the minimal composite Higgs model and show that the Higgs mass is in fact reduced. This allows the top partner masses to be increased…
We investigate CP-violating effects induced by light top partners in composite Higgs theories. We find that sizable contributions to the dipole moments of the light SM quarks and leptons are generically generated at the two-loop level through Barr-Zee-type diagrams. The present constraints on the electron and neutron electric dipole moments translate into bounds on top partner masses of order few TeV and are competitive with the reach of LHC direct searches. Interestingly, we find that CP-violation effects are sensitive to the same operators that control top partner single production. Near-fut…
We demonstrate that in supersymmetry (SUSY) with relatively light top superpartners, h -> bb can be a very promising channel to discover the SM-like Higgs resonance at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), although in general contexts it is thought to be challenging because of its huge QCD background. In this scenario, the SM-like Higgs boson is mainly produced via cascade decays initiated by pair-produced stop or sbottom squarks. The good sensitivity to h -> bb owes a great deal to the application of multiple (>= 4) b-jet tagging in removing the QCD background, and color-flow variables for reconst…
