Recently two hints for new physics have emerged: The B_s mixing phase phi_s and the rate of D_s -> (mu,tau) nu exposing a discrepancy of \sim 3 sigma and 3.8 sigma deviation from the Standard Model respectively. Moreover the difference of the CP asymmetries in B -> K pi between the charged and neutral modes is at the 5.3 sigma level which is somewhat larger than expected. New physics in phi_s or A_CP(B -> K pi) would be in contradiction with the minimal flavour violation hypothesis. The latter has recently attracted attention because of the absence of deviation in CP and flavour violation in the quark sector.
We present a summary of heavy-flavour physics at the the time of the DIS2019 conference. This summary is based upon the relevant plenary and parallel talks presented at the workshop. The summary is divided into four broad areas: (1) spectroscopy, (2) the production of b and c quarks in collisions, (3) top quark production and properties, and (4) b and c quark decay.
The contributions to the parallel session on heavy-flavour production are summarized. In more than 30 presentations, new theoretical developments and new experimental results from the Tevatron, HERA, LEP, the B factories, and neutrino-nucleon scattering were reported.
We summarize the presentations of the Heavy Flavours working group for the 2011 DIS Workshop. This session contained presentations on theoretical methods and experimental measurements of heavy quark production, and the impact on recent experimental results from HERA, RHIC, Tevatron, and LHC.
The talks presented in the working group ``Heavy flavours'' of the DIS-2009 workshop are summarised. New and recently updated results from theory, proton antiproton and heavy ion colliders, as well from HERA and $e^+e^-$ colliders are discussed.
This Thesis presents my personal contributions to two distinct fields, namely the recent experimental anomalies in B-meson decays, and the longstanding quest for a theoretical explanation of lepton masses and mixings, under a unifying umbrella: Flavour Physics. The modern view of the Standard Model as an effective theory is motivated, and the dual role of flavour, as a probe of New Physics effects on one side, and as a piece of the puzzle itself on the other, is emphasized. By jointly discussing two physics cases of different nature, I attempt to offer a broader perspective on the current stat…
I summarize the theory talks given in the Heavy Flavours Working Group. In particular, I discuss heavy-flavour parton distribution functions, threshold resummation for heavy-quark production, progress in fragmentation functions, quarkonium production, heavy-meson hadroproduction.
The LHCb collaboration has recently presented their result on R_K = BR(B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-)/ BR(B+ -> K+ e+ e-) for the dilepton invariant mass bin m_{ll}^2 = 1-6 GeV^2 (l = mu, e). The measurement shows an intriguing 2.6 sigma deviation from the Standard Model (SM) prediction. In view of this, we study model independent New Physics (NP) explanations of R_K consistent with other measurements involving b -> s l l transition, relaxing the assumption of lepton universality. We perform a Bayesian statistical fit to the NP Wilson Coefficients and compare the Bayes Factors of the different hypotheses i…
We review the recent highlights of theoretical flavour physics, based on the theory summary talk given at FPCP2017. Over the past years, a number of intriguing anomalies have emerged in flavour violating $K$ and $B$ meson decays, constituting some of the most promising hints for the presence of physics beyond the Standard Model. We discuss the theory status of these anomalies and outline possible future directions to test the underlying New Physics.
We review theoretical and phenomenological aspects of heavy flavour production as discussed in the heavy flavour working group of the DIS 2012. Recent theoretical progress includes approximate NNLO calculations for heavy quark structure functions in deep inelastic scattering, the extension of the ACOT heavy flavour scheme to jet production, and advances in top physics where the highlight is clearly the first complete NNLO QCD prediction for top pair production in the $q \bar{q}$ annihilation channel. Furthermore, state of the art phenomenological predictions for open charm and bottom, charmoni…
Studies presented in the heavy flavours working group are summarized. Very recent results of measurements at the HERA, LHC, Tevatron, STAR, PHENIX, and BaBar experiments are reviewed and new developments in theory and phenomenology are discussed. In particular, aspects of the impact of heavy flavours on global QCD analyses to determine the structure of the proton, and analyses in physics beyond the Standard Model are considered.
Leptoquarks are prime candidates for explaining the intriguing hints for lepton flavour universality violation. In particular, the $SU(2)_L$ doublet of scalar leptoquarks $S_2$ is capable of providing an explanation for the tensions between the measurements and the Standard Model predictions in $(g-2)_μ$, $b\to s\ell^+ \ell^-$ and $b\to cτν$ processes, as well as in non-resonant di-electron production. However, in the minimal setup with a single leptoquark generation, a common explanation for all these issues is not possible as this would lead to unacceptably large charged lepton flavour viola…
We provide a short summary of three-flavour neutrino oscillation parameters as determined from a global fit to 2008 data, and we comment on possible hints in favour of a non-zero value of the mixing angle theta_{13} found in arXiv:0806.2649. We do confirm a hint from solar + KamLAND data at about 1.5 sigma, which can be understood from the recent SNO CC/NC measurment. However, we show that a claimed hint from atmospheric data is much less robust. It depends on details of event rate calculations and treatment of theoretical uncertainties. We could identify two data points showing an 'excess' (a…
The recent results by the Fermilab Lattice and MILC collaborations on the hadronic matrix elements entering $B_{d,s}-\bar B_{d,s}$ mixing show a significant tension of the measured values of the mass differences $ΔM_{d,s}$ with their SM predictions. We review the implications of these results in the context of Constrained Minimal Flavour Violation models. In these models, the CKM elements $γ$ and $|V_{ub}|/|V_{cb}|$ can be determined from $B_{d,s}-\bar B_{d,s}$ mixing observables, yielding a prediction for $γ$ below its tree-level value. Determining subsequently $|V_{cb}|$ from the measured va…
The recent theory developments and latest experimental results on heavy-flavour production in Deep Inelastic Scattering and at hadron colliders are summarized. Models of heavy quarkonia production, non-perturbative corrections to fragmentation, theory of heavy-hadron production in heavy-ion collisions, and interpretation of new exotic hadrons are discussed. Progress in event generators development is reported. Most recent experimental results from HERA and e+e- colliders as well as from proton-(anti)proton and heavy ion experiments are presented and the role of charm and beauty quarks in the a…
Flavour-changing neutral currents are extremely rare processes in the standard model that can be sensitive to various new physics effects. The summary of the latest experimental results from the LHC experiments is given. Preliminary results of sensitivity studies for future colliders are also discussed.
A recent CMS analysis has reported the observation of an excess in the invariant mass distribution of the opposite-sign same-flavour lepton pair, which can be interpreted as a kinematic edge due to new physics. Using collider simulation tools, we recast relevant LHC search results reported by ATLAS and CMS collaborations in order to determine constraints on supersymmetric models that could produce the observed features. In particular, we focus on models involving cascade decays of light-flavour squarks and sbottoms. We find no favourable supersymmetry scenario within our exploration that could…
The conference included about 90 talks covering a plethora of different sectors, like Higgs physics, electroweak physics, top physics, BSM physics, soft QCD, jets, PDFs, heavy ions, heavy flavours, spectroscopy, etc. A few experimental results are here highlighted.
The main highlights discussed at TAU2012 are briefly summarized. Besides the standard topics on lepton physics covered also at previous conferences (universality, QCD tests, V_{us} determination from tau decay, g-2, neutrino oscillations, lepton-flavour violation), the tau lepton is playing now a very important role in searches for new physics phenomena.
Motivated by the first evidence of the B -> tau nu transition reported by Belle and by the precise DeltaM_{B_s} measurement by CDF, we analyse these and other low-energy observables in the framework of the MSSM at large tan(beta). We show that for heavy squarks and A terms (M_squarks, A_U > 1 TeV) such scenario has several interesting virtues. It naturally describes: i) a suppression of BR(B->tau nu) of (10-40)%, ii) a sizable enhancement of (g-2)_mu, iii) a heavy SM-like Higgs (m_h ~ 120 GeV), iv) small non-standard effects in DeltaM_{B_s} and BR(B -> X_s gamma) (in agreement with present obs…
These notes represent a summary of three lectures on flavour and CP violation, given at the CERNs European School of High Energy Physics in 2014. They cover flavour physics within the standard model, phenomenology of CP violation in meson mixing and decays, as well as constraints of flavour observableson physics beyond the standard model. In preparing the lectures (and consequently this summary) I drew heavily from several existing excellent and exhaustive sets of lecture notes and reviews on flavour physics and CP violation [1]. The reader is encouraged to consult those as well as the origina…
High-quality results have been produced with the first Large Hadron Collider run on high-pT, heavy flavour and heavy ion physics. These results, as well as the most recent data analyses from Tevatron, have been presented and discussed at the LHCP2014 conference. A selection of some of them is summarised in this paper, with care to those that stimulated interesting discussions during this event.
A large amount of new results have been presented at TAU2006. The highlights of the workshop, the present status of a few selected topics on lepton physics (universality, QCD tests, V_{us} determination from tau decay, g-2, neutrino oscillations, lepton-flavour violation) and the prospects for future improvements are briefly summarized.
Rare decays were essential in the discovery of the CKM mechanism of flavour and CP violation and are highly sensitive probes of physics beyond the Standard Model. In this summary the current status and future prospects of experimental measurements and the Standard Model theory predictions of various rare B, D and K decay observables are discussed. The specific new physics sensitivities of each mode are also briefly reviewed.
Rare flavour changing neutral current decays of strange, charm and beauty hadrons have been instrumental in building up a picture of flavour in the Standard Model. Increasingly precise measurements of these decays allow to search for deviations from predictions of the Standard Model that would be associated to contributions from new particles that might arise in extensions of the Standard Model. In this summary, an overview of recent experimental results and theoretical predictions is given. The new physics sensitivity and prospects for the different observables is also addressed.
The LHCb measurement of the $μ/e$ ratio $R_{K^*}$ indicates a deficit with respect to the Standard Model prediction, supporting earlier hints of lepton universality violation observed in the $R_K$ ratio. We show that the $R_K$ and $R_{K^*}$ ratios alone constrain the chiralities of the states contributing to these anomalies, and we find deviations from the Standard Model at the $4σ$ level. This conclusion is further corroborated by hints in the theoretically challenging $b\to sμ^+μ^-$ distributions. Theoretical interpretations in terms of $Z'$, lepto-quarks, loop mediators, and composite dynam…
The singly charged $SU(2)_L$ singlet scalar, with its necessarily flavour violating couplings to leptons, lends itself particularly well for an explanation of the Cabibbo Angle Anomaly and of hints for lepton flavour universality violation in $τ\to μ\bar νν$. In a setup addressing both anomalies, we predict loop-induced effects in $τ\to eγ$ and in $τ\to eμμ$. A recast of ATLAS selectron and smuon searches allows us to derive a coupling-independent lower limit of $\approx 200$ GeV on the mass of the singly charged singlet scalar. At a future $e^+e^-$ collider, dark matter mono-photon searches c…
Several experiments observed deviations from the Standard Model (SM) in the flavour sector: LHCb found a $4-5\,σ$ discrepancy compared to the SM in $b\to sμ^+μ^-$ transitions (recently supported by an Belle analysis) and CMS reported a non-zero measurement of $h\toμτ$ with a significance of $2.4\,σ$. Furthermore, BELLE, BABAR and LHCb founds hints for the violation of flavour universality in $B\to D^{(*)}τν$. In addition, there is the long-standing discrepancy in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Interestingly, all these anomalies are related to muons and taus, while the corresponding…
We perform a model independent analysis of the flavour changing strong interaction vertices relevant to the LHC. In particular, the contribution of dimension six operators to single top production in various production processes is discussed, together with possible hints for identifying signals and setting bounds on physics beyond the standard model.
This note is a concise theoretical summary of the first session on new physics searches at the high-intensity frontier of the IFAE2017 Conference. Recent theoretical developments related to muonic lepton-flavour violation and $g-2$ are reviewed.
After years of silence we should witness in the rest of this decade and in the next decade the revival of kaon flavour physics. This is not only because of the crucial measurements of the branching ratios for the rare decays $K^+\toπ^+ν\barν$ and $K_{L}\to π^0ν\barν$ by NA62 and KOTO that being theoretically clean and very sensitive to new physics (NP) could hint for new phenomena even beyond the reach of the LHC without any significant theoretical uncertainties. Indeed simultaneously the advances in the calculations of perturbative and in particular non-perturbative QCD effects in $\varepsilo…
Based on a view of current flavour physics and motivated by the hierarchy problem and by the pattern of quark masses and mixings, I describe a picture of flavour physics that should give rise in a not too distant future to observable deviations from the SM in Higgs compositeness and/or in B-decays with violations of Lepton Flavour Universality, as hinted by current data, or perhaps even in supersymmetry, depending on the specific realisation.
Several experiments observed deviations from the Standard Model (SM) in the flavour sector: LHCb found a $4-5\,σ$ discrepancy compared to the SM in $b\to sμ^+μ^-$ transitions (recently supported by an Belle analysis) and CMS reported a non-zero measurement of $h\toμτ$ with a significance of $2.4\,σ$. Furthermore, BELLE, BABAR and LHCb founds hints for the violation of flavour universality in $B\to D^{(*)}τν$. In addition, there is the long-standing discrepancy in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Interestingly, all these anomalies are related to muons and taus, while the corresponding…
After a summary of the motivations for searching flavour violating decays and electric dipole moments in the leptonic sector, I briefly sketch the present status of the limits on lepton-slepton misalignement and discuss the potentialities of the planned experimental improvements. Candidates for theories beyond the Standard Model have to satisfy all these experimental constraints; I will discuss in particular how the supersymmetric SM extended with the see-saw faces the flavour problem.
LHCb found hints for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) in $B\to K^*μ^+μ^-$, $R(K)$ and $B_s\toϕμ^+μ^-$. These intriguing hints for NP have recently been confirmed by the LHCb measurement of $R(K^*)$ giving a combined significance for NP above the $5\,σ$ level. In addition, the BABAR, BELLE and LHCb results for $B\to D^{(*)}τν$ also point towards lepton flavour universality (LFU) violating new physics (NP). Furthermore, there is the long-standing discrepancy between the measurement and the theory prediction of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon ($a_μ$) at the $3\,σ$ level. Concernin…
This talk reviews some of the theoretical progress and outstanding issues in QCD, flavour physics, Higgs and electroweak physics and the search for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Tevatron and the LHC, and previews some physics possibilities for future runs of the LHC and proposed future hadron colliders.
We examine quark flavour mixing matrices for three and four generations using the recursive parametrization of $U(n)$ and $SU(n)$ matrices developed by some of us in Refs.[2] and [3]. After a brief summary of the recursive parametrization, we obtain expressions for the independent rephasing invariants and also the constraints on them that arise from the requirement of mod symmetry of the flavour mixing matrix.
We study the phenomenology of simplified $Z^\prime$ models with a global $U(2)^3$ flavour symmetry in the quark sector, broken solely by the Standard Model Yukawa couplings. This flavour symmetry, known as less-minimal flavour violation, protects $ΔF=2$ processes from dangerously large new physics (NP) effects, and at the same time provides a free complex phase in $b\to s$ transitions, allowing for an explanation of the hints for additional direct CP violation in kaon decays ($ε^\prime/ε$) and in hadronic $B$-decays ($B\to Kπ$ puzzle). Furthermore, once the couplings of the $Z^\prime$ boson to…
The concept of lepton flavour universality (LFU), according to which the three lepton families are equivalent except for their masses, is a cornerstone prediction of the Standard Model (SM). LFU can be violated in models beyond the SM by new physics particles that couple preferentially to certain generations of leptons. In the last few years, hints of LFU violation have been observed in both tree-level $b\to c\ellν$ and loop-level $b\to s\ell\ell$ transitions. These measurements, combined with the tensions observed in angular observables and branching fractions of rare semileptonic $b$ decays,…
During the last year many important results have been achieved in heavy flavour physics: New measurements of charm and beauty production have been performed at HERA and the Tevatron. A wealth of new spectroscopy data with several new, unexpected states in the charmonium and the D_s systems has been collected and b to d gamma transitions have been established. The oscillation frequency in the B_s Bbar_s is now measured, and mixing in the D0 D0bar system has been observed. Theoretical progress in the areas of open heavy flavour production, quarkonium production and decays, and multiquark spectro…
In the context of a Two-Higgs-Doublet Model in which Minimal Flavour Violation (MFV) is imposed, one can allow the presence of flavour-blind CP-violating phases without obtaining electric dipole moments that overcome the experimental bounds. This choice permits to accommodate the hinted large phase in the $B_s$ mixing and, at the same time, to soften the observed anomaly in the relation between $ε_K$ and $S_{ψK_S}$.
LHCb found hints for physics beyond the standard model in $B\to K^*μ^+μ^-$, $B\to K^*μ^+μ^-/B\to K^*e^+e^-$ and $B_s\toϕμ^+μ^-$. In addition, the BABAR results for $B\to D^{(*)}τν$ and the CMS excess in $h\toτ^\pmμ^\mp$ also point towards lepton flavour (universality) violating new physics. While $B\to D^{(*)}τν$ and $h\toτ^\pmμ^\mp$ can be naturally explained by an extended Higgs sector, the probably most promising explanation for the $b\to sμμ$ anomalies is a $Z'$ boson. Furthermore, combining a 2HDM with a gauged $L_μ-L_τ$ symmetry allows for explaining the $b\to sμ^+μ^-$ anomalies and $h\t…
I report on investigations of physics beyond the Standard Model using experiments designed to investigate $b$ quark and $c$ quark interactions. Generalized searches involving loop diagrams using heavy meson mixing and CP violation experiments imply limits on New Physics (NP) at large scales from 100-100,000 TeV. There are ways of avoiding these limits, but satisfying their requirements puts severe restrictions on NP properties. Specific constraints on NP models are discussed from individual measurements including b-> s gamma, Bs->mu+ mu-, B0 -> K* l+ l-, and CP violation in the B0 and Bs syste…
We investigate the impact of flavour-conserving, non-universal quark-lepton contact interactions on the dilepton invariant mass distribution in $p~p \to \ell^+ \ell^-$ processes at the LHC. After recasting the recent ATLAS search performed at 13 TeV with 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of data, we derive the best up-to-date limits on the full set of 36 relevant four-fermion operators, as well as estimate the sensitivity achievable at the HL-LHC. We discuss how these high-$p_T$ measurements can provide complementary information to the low-$p_T$ rare meson decays. In particular, we find that the recent hints on …
I present a brief summary of the main results on flavour physics beyond the Standard Model that have been obtained in 2008 by my collaborators and myself at the TUM. In particular I list main messages coming from our analyses of flavour and CP-violating processes in Supersymmetry, the Littlest Higgs model with T-Parity and a warped extra dimension model with custodial protection for flavour violating $Z$ boson couplings.
Given the hints of lepton-flavour non-universality in semi-leptonic $B$ decays, leptoquark (LQ) models with sizeable couplings to heavy-quark flavours are enjoying a renaissance. While such models are subject to stringent constraints from low-energy experiments also bounds from non-resonant dilepton searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) turn out to be phenomenologically relevant. Based on the latest LHC dilepton analyses corresponding to an integrated luminosity of around $140 \, {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13 \, {\rm TeV}$, we present improved limits on the…
The origin of flavour and CP violation is among the most important open questions in particle physics. Imminent results from the LHC as well as planned dedicated flavour physics experiments might help to shed light on this puzzle. This talk concentrates on the NP sensitivity of the rare B decays B(s,d) -> mu+ mu- and B -> K* mu+ mu- and of the CP violating phase in B(s) mixing. A brief summary of a supersymmetric model with interesting signatures in the flavour sector is presented.
B-decays mediated by both charged currents and neutral currents have provided hints of violation of lepton flavour universality. By assuming an explanation of these anomalies in terms of new physics at the TeV scale affecting the third fermion generation, we review the relevant constraints. In particular we illustrate the effects of electroweak radiative corrections and their impact on a consistent interpretation of the data. The simplest scenario is ruled out and we briefly discuss the modifications required to simultaneously describe the whole set of anomalies.
The vector leptoquark representation, $U_μ= (3,1,2/3)$, was recently identified as an exceptional single mediator model to address experimental hints on lepton flavour universality violation in semileptonic $B$-meson decays, both in neutral ($b \to s μμ$) and charged ($b \to c τν$) current processes. Nonetheless, it is well-known that massive vectors crave an ultraviolet (UV) completion. We present the first full-fledged UV complete and calculable gauge model which incorporates this scenario while remaining in agreement with all other indirect flavour and electroweak precision measurements, as…
We review the sources and phenomenology of non-minimal flavour violation in the MSSM. We discuss in some detail the most important theoretical and experimental constraints, as well as promising observables to look for supersymmetric effects at the LHC and in the future. We emphasize the sensitivity of flavour physics to the mechanism of supersymmetry breaking and to new degrees of freedom present at fundamental scales, such as the grand unification scale. We include a discussion of present data that may hint at departures from the Standard Model.
In view of the emerging hints for the violation of lepton flavour universality in several $B$-meson decays, we conduct a model-independent study (effective field theory approach) of several well-motivated new physics scenarios. Taking into account the most recent LHCb data, we provide updates to Wilson coefficient fits for numerous popular new physics hypotheses. We also consider a promising model of vector leptoquarks, which in addition to explaining the $B$-meson decay anomalies ($R_{K^{(*)}}$ and $R_{D^{(*)}}$) would have an extensive impact for numerous flavour observables. We identify pro…
Rare semileptonic $b \to s \ell^+ \ell^-$ transitions provide some of the most promising frameworks to search for new physics effects. Recent analyses of these decays have indicated an anomalous behaviour in measurements of angular distributions of the decay $B^0\to K^*μ^+μ^-$ and lepton-flavour-universality observables. Unambiguously establishing if these deviations have a common nature is of paramount importance in order to understand the observed pattern. We propose a novel approach to independently and complementary probe this hypothesis by performing a simultaneous amplitude analysis of $…
