We propose a simple model of supersymmetric dark matter that can explain recent results from PAMELA and ATIC experiments. It is based on a U(1)_B-L extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The dark matter particle is a linear combination of the U(1)_B-L gaugino and Higgsino partners of Higgs fields that break the B-L around one TeV. The dominant mode of dark matter annihilation is to the lightest of the new Higgs fields, which has a mass in the GeV range, and its subsequent decay mainly produces taus or muons by the virtue of B-L charges. This light Higgs also results in Sommerfeld enhancement of the dark matter annihilation cross section, which can be >~ 10^3. For a dark matter mass in the 1-2 TeV range, the model provides a good fit to the PAMELA data and a reasonable fit to the ATIC data. We also briefly discuss the prospects of this model for direct detection experiments and the LHC.
The local cohomology of an extended BRST differential which includes global N=1 supersymmetry and Poincare transformations is completely and explicitly computed in four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories with super-Yang-Mills multiplets, chiral matter multiplets and linear multiplets containing 2-form gauge potentials. In particular we determine to first order all N=1 supersymmetric and Poincare invariant consistent deformations of these theories that preserve the N=1 supersymmetry algebra on-shell modulo gauge transformations, and all Poincare invariant candidate gauge and supersymmetr…
The supersymmetric evolution of the fragmentation functions (or timelike evolution) within N=1 $QCD$ is discussed and predictions for the fragmentation functions of the theory (into final protons) are given. We use a backward running of the supersymmetric DGLAP equations, using a method developed in previous works. We start from the usual QCD parameterizations at low energy and run the DGLAP back, up to an intermediate scale -assumed to be supersymmetric- where we switch-on supersymmetry. From there on we assume the applicability of an N=1 supersymmetric evolution (ESAP). We elaborate on possi…
The formalism for neutrino flavor change induced by lepton family number violating interactions is developed for the three-neutrino case, and used to derive the corresponding flavor change probabilities in matter. Applied to the solar and atmospheric neutrino fluxes, it is argued that the observed anomalies, including the zenith dependence for the atmospheric case, could be due to such interactions.
Motivated by tensions between experimental measurements and SM predictions in $b\to s \ell^+\ell^-$ transitions, we present the first study of non-minimal flavour-violating Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) scenarios contributing to the relevant Wilson coefficients to address the observed anomalies using SuperIso and MARTY. We calculate the full one-loop analytical contributions of the general MSSM to Wilson coefficients relevant for flavour anomalies, together with the anomalous muon magnetic dipole moment $(g-2)_μ$. We show that, after imposing theoretical constraints on the flavo…
It is usually believed that there are no perturbative anomalies in supersymmetric gauge theories beyond the well-known chiral anomaly. In this paper we revisit this issue, because previously given arguments are incomplete. Specifically, we rule out the existence of soft anomalies, i.e., quantum violations of supersymmetric Ward identities proportional to a mass parameter in a classically supersymmetric theory. We do this by combining a previously proven theorem on the absence of hard anomalies with a spurion analysis, using the methods of Algebraic Renormalization. We work in the on-shell comp…
In the framework of supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories, the minimal Higgs sector is often extended by introducing multi-dimensional Higgs representations in order to obtain realistic models. However these constructions should remain anomaly-free, which constraints significantly their structure. We review the necessary conditions for the cancellation of anomalies in general and discuss in detail the different possibilities for SUSY SU(5) models. Alternative anomaly free combinations of Higgs representations, beyond the usual vector-like choice, are identified, and it is shown that their corr…
In this paper, we consider a solution to explain the three discrepancies with the standard model (SM) predictions in flavor observables, i.e. anomalies in $B\rightarrow K^\astμ^+μ^-$ and $R_K=\mathcal{B}(B\rightarrow Kμ^+μ^-)/\mathcal{B}(B\rightarrow K e^+e^-)$ at the LHCb and an excess in $h\rightarrow μτ$ at the CMS in the context of R-parity violating (RPV) supersymmetry. We demonstrate that these anomalies can be explained within a unified framework: the minimal supersymmetry model (MSSM) extended with $5+\overline{5}$ vectorlike (VL) particles. The new trilinear RPV couplings involving VL…
Recently it was shown that the excess of diffuse Galactic gamma rays above 1 GeV traces the Dark Matter halo, as proven by reconstructing the peculiar shape of the rotation curve of our Galaxy from the gamma ray excess. This can be interpreted as a Dark Matter annihilation signal. In this paper we investigate if this interpretation is consistent with Supersymmetry. It is found that the EGRET excess combined with all electroweak constraints is fully consistent with the minimal mSUGRA model for scalars in the TeV range and gauginos below 500 GeV.
A procedure for Pauli-Villars regularization of locally and globally supersymmetric theories is described. Implications for specific theories, especially those obtained from superstrings, are discussed with emphasis on the role of field theory anomalies.
Recently it was shown that the excess of diffuse Galactic gamma rays above 1 GeV could be interpreted as a Dark Matter annihilation signal. From the spectral shape of the excess it is possible to determine a range for the allowed WIMP mass which can be used to test the supersymmetric parameter space. It is found that the EGRET excess combined with electroweak and other constraints, e.g. relic denisity or direct detection limits, is fully consistent with the minimal mSUGRA model for scalars in the TeV range and gauginos below 500 GeV.
We study the realization of anomalous Ward identities in deconstructed (latticized) supersymmetric theories. In a deconstructed four-dimensional theory with N=2 supersymmetry, we show that the chiral symmetries only appear in the infrared and that the anomaly is reproduced in the usual framework of lattice perturbation theory with Wilson fermions. We then realize the theory on the world-volume of fractional D-branes on an orbifold. In this brane realization, we show how deconstructed theory anomalies can be computed via classical supergravity. Our methods and observations are more generally ap…
Measurements of proton and nuclear collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at nucleon-nucleon c.m. energies up to $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 13 TeV, have improved our understanding of hadronic interactions at the highest energies reached in collisions of cosmic rays with nuclei in the earth atmosphere, up to $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\approx 450$ TeV. The Monte Carlo event generators (EPOS, QGSJET, and SIBYLL) commonly used to describe the air showers generated by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECR, with $E_{CR}\approx 10^{17}$--$10^{20}$ eV) feature now, after parameter retuning based on LHC Run-I data, more cons…
The supersymmetric standard model (SSM) contains a wealth of potential supersymmetry anomalies, all of which occur in the renormalization of composite operators of the theory. The coefficients of the weak-E.M. superanomalies should be related to the Witten indices of the neutrino and photon superfields, and the coefficients of the strong superanomalies should be related to the Witten indices of the gluon and photon superfields. Assuming the coefficients are non-zero, the superanomalies break supersymmetry in observable states. However the neutral Higgs particles should remain in a supermultipl…
Neutrino masses and light (keV-GeV) sterile neutrinos can arise naturally via a modified, low energy seesaw mechanism if the right-handed neutrinos are charged under a new symmetry broken by a PeV scale vacuum expectation value, presumably tied to supersymmetry breaking. The additional field content also allows for freeze-in production of sterile neutrino dark matter. This framework can accommodate the recently observed 3.5 keV X-ray line, while a straightforward extension of the framework, using the new symmetry and the PeV energy scale, can explain the PeV energy neutrino events at IceCube. …
Cosmic topological defects in a wide class of supersymmetric theories can simultaneously be sources of higgs particles of mass comparable to the supersymmetry breaking scale $\sim$ TeV, as well as superheavy gauge bosons of mass $\simη$, where $η$ (>> 1 TeV) denotes the associated gauge symmetry breaking scale. For cosmic strings with $η\sim 10^{14}$ GeV, the higgs decay can account for the extragalactic diffuse gamma ray background above $\sim$ 10 GeV, while the gauge boson decay may explain the highest energy cosmic ray flux above $\sim 10^{11}$ GeV, provided that particle production is the …
We extend the well-known 't Hooft anomaly matching conditions for continuous global symmetries to discrete groups. We state the matching conditions for all possible anomalies which involve discrete symmetries explicitly. There are two types of discrete anomalies. For Type I anomalies, the matching conditions have to be always satisfied regardless of the details of the massive bound state spectrum. The Type II anomalies have to be also matched except if there are fractionally charged massive bound states in the theory. We check discrete anomaly matching in recent solutions of certain N=1 supers…
The established results concerning the BRS cohomology of supersymmetric theories in four space-time dimensions are briefly reviewed. The current status of knowledge concerning supersymmetry anomalies and the possibility that supersymmetry breaks itself through anomalies in local composite operators is then discussed. It turns out that the simplest allowable supersymmetry anomalies occur only in conjunction with the spontaneous breaking of gauge symmetry. A simple example of such a possible supersymmetry anomaly is presented.
We augment the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with a gauged family-dependent $U(1)$ to reproduce Yukawa textures compatible with experiment. In the simplest model with one extra chiral electroweak singlet field, acceptable textures require this $U(1)$ to be anomalous. The cancellation of its anomalies by a generic Green-Schwarz mechanism requires $\sin^2θ_w=3/8$ at the string scale, suggesting a superstring origin for the standard model.
We revisit sneutrino dark matter in light of the recent results from the PAMELA and ATIC experiments. In the U(1)_B-L extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model the right-handed sneutrino is a natural candidate for thermal dark matter. Sneutrino annihilation at the present time can be considerably enhanced due to the exchange of the lightest field in the Higgs sector that breaks U(1)_B-L. The annihilation mainly produces taus (or muons) by the virtue of B-L charges. A sneutrino mass in the 1-2 TeV range provides a good fit to the PAMELA data and a reasonable fit to the ATIC data. W…
I introduce the critical pomeron theory ("white pomeron") proposed by Alan White, with its prediction of excessive WW and ZZ production at the LHC especially by double pomeron exchange (DPE), which is a crucial test. This theory implies dramatic effects in cosmic rays, possibly explaining the knee and high ET jet excesses. Some of the ultra high energy (UHE) cosmic rays may be "Superbaryons" made of color sextet Quarks, and most (all?) UHE collisions in the atmosphere may produce W's and Z's.
We analyze the recent hints of lepton flavor universality violation in both charged-current and neutral-current rare decays of $B$-mesons in an $R$-parity violating supersymmetric scenario. Motivated by simplicity and minimality, we had earlier postulated the third-generation superpartners to be the lightest (calling the scenario "RPV3") and explicitly showed that it preserves gauge coupling unification and of course has the usual attribute of naturally addressing the Higgs radiative stability. Here we show that both $R_{D^{(*)}}$ and $R_{K^{(*)}}$ flavor anomalies can be addressed in this RPV…
Two new observations have strengthened the case for the supersymmetric nature of the Cold Dark Matter component in our universe: First, it was shown that new data on the nuclear abundance, B/C - and 10Be/9Be ratios constrain the diffusion parameters in Galactic Models so strongly, that they lead to a clear deficiency in the production of diffuse hard gamma rays, antiprotons and hard positrons, if no anomalous sources or anomalous energy dependence of the diffusion coefficients are postulated. Second, from the precise relic density measurement by WMAP the WIMP annihilation cross section can be …
The anomaly of a discrete symmetry is defined as the Jacobian of the path-integral measure. Assuming that the anomaly at low energies is cancelled by the Green-Schwarz (GS) mechanism at a fundamental scale, we investigate possible Kac-Moody levels for anomalous discrete family symmetries. As the first example, we consider discrete abelian baryon number and lepton number symmetries in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with the see-saw mechanism, and we find that the ordinary unification of gauge couplings is inconsistent with the GS conditions, indicating the possible existence of furth…
There have been known "exact" beta functions for the gauge coupling in N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories, the so-called NSVZ beta functions. Shifman and Vainshtein (SV) further related these beta functions to the exact 1-loop running of the "Wilsonian" gauge coupling. All these results, however, remain somewhat mysterious. We attempt to clarify these issues by presenting new perspectives on the NSVZ beta function. Our interpretation of the results is somewhat different than the one given by SV, having nothing to do with the distinction between "Wilsonian" and "1PI" effective actions. Throughou…
In most supersymmetic models, neutralino dark matter particles are predicted to accumulate in the Galactic center and annihilate generating, among other products, gamma rays. The EGRET experiment has made observations in this region, and is sensitive to gamma rays from 30 MeV to $\sim$30 GeV. We have used an improved point source analysis including an energy dependent point spread function and an unbinned maximum likelihood technique, which has allowed us to significantly lower the limits on gamma ray flux from the Galactic center. We find that the present EGRET data can limit many supersymmet…
Neutrino mass spectrum is reanalyzed in supersymmetric models with explicit trilinear $R$ violation. Models in this category are argued to provide simultaneous solution to the solar and atmospheric neutrino anomalies. It is shown specifically that large mixing and hierarchical masses needed for the vacuum solution of neutrino anomalies arise naturally in these models without requiring any additional symmetries or hierarchies among the trilinear couplings.
The 17m Imaging Air shower Cherenkov Telescope MAGIC (Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands) has recently entered its commissioning phase. One of the main goals of the MAGIC telescope project is to provide an unprecedented sensitivity for the detection of gamma rays with energies as low as 30 GeV. A dedicated search for the gamma rays expected to be produced by WIMP annihilations is a prime object of the MAGIC physics program. We consider annihilating supersymmetric dark matter in M 87 and discuss a possible observation strategy. New calculations concerning the extragala…
We study the constraints on models with extra dimensions arising from local anomaly cancellation. We consider a five-dimensional field theory with a U(1) gauge field and a charged fermion, compactified on the orbifold S^1/(Z_2 x Z_2'). We show that, even if the orbifold projections remove both fermionic zero modes, there are gauge anomalies localized at the fixed points. Anomalies naively cancel after integration over the fifth dimension, but gauge invariance is broken, spoiling the consistency of the theory. We discuss the implications for realistic supersymmetric models with a single Higgs h…
Bright bursts of gamma rays from outer space have been puzzling Astronomers for more than thirty years and there is still no conceptually complete model for the phenomenon within the standard model of particle physics. Is it time to consider a supersymmetric (SUSY) origin for these bursts to add to the astronomical indications of supersymmetry from dark matter?
The CACTUS experiment recently observed a gamma ray excess above 50 GeV from the direction of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Considering that Draco is dark matter dominated the gamma rays may be generated through dark matter annihilation in the Draco halo. In the framework of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model we explore the parameter space to account for the gamma ray signals at CACTUS. We find that the neutralino mass is constrained to be approximately in the range between 100 GeV ~ 400 GeV and a sharp central cuspy of the dark halo profile in Draco is necessary t…
Recent studies have suggested the possibility that the lightest supersymmetric particle is a suitable dark matter candidate. In this theoretical framework, annihilations in high density environments like the center of dark matter haloes may produce an intense flux of gamma-rays. In this paper we discuss the possibility of detecting the signatures of neutralino annihilation in nearby galaxies with next generation ground-based detectors.
Motivated by the recent PAMELA and ATIC results, we calculate the electron and positron fluxes from the decay of lightest-superparticle (LSP) dark matter. We assume that the LSP is the dominant component of dark matter, and consider the case that the R-parity is very weakly violated so that the lifetime of the LSP becomes of the order of 10^26 sec. We will see that, with such a choice of the lifetime, the cosmic-ray electron and positron from the decay can be the source of the anomalous electron and positron fluxes observed by PAMELA and ATIC. We consider the possibilities that the LSP is the …
We discuss for some particular non supersymmetric theories a generalized symmetry that includes both the scale and axial transformations and leads to a single current that may contain also a pseudoscalar term. The method, inspired by the superconformal anomalies has important application for low energy effective models where it allows the introduction of a single complex glueball field with a scalar and a pseudoscalar component on the same footing with the complex meson nonets fields made of quarks. Both axial and trace and axial anomalies are satisfied in accordance to the meson structure and…
A two flavor color sextet quark sector added to QCD yields the {\it uniquely} unitary Critical Pomeron at high energy while also producing electroweak symmetry breaking. In this paper it is argued that a number of experimental phenomena in Cosmic Ray and hadron collider physics can be interpreted as evidence for the sextet sector. These phenomena include (1) Top quark production is via the eta_6 sextet quark pseudoscalar resonance - interference with the background will produce an asymmetry. (2) Longitudinal Z pairs, produced as sextet pions, provide a high mass excess cross-section that inclu…
We estimate the amount of antiprotons and positrons in cosmic rays due to neutralino annihilations in the galactic halo assuming that dark matter tends to cluster and that these clusters are not disturbed by tidal forces. We find that, assuming neutralinos annihilate mostly to gauge bosons, the amount of antiprotons should exceed the number seen at BESS, whereas the increase in positron flux is below the present detection threshold.
We calculate the flux of cosmic gamma rays expected {}from the annihilation of neutralinos in the Galactic halo. Our calculation of the annihilation cross section to two photons improves the existing calculations by inclusion of exact one-loop diagrams for the amplitudes involving Higgs boson and chargino states as well as those involving fermion and sfermion states. A survey of supersymmetric parameter space shows that numerous models would be observable at the $3σ$ level with an air Cerenkov telescope with an exposure of $10^4 \meter^2 \yr$.
Recently, models proposing superheavy particles $X$ as source of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays have attracted some interest. The $X$-particles are either metastable relic particles from the early Universe or are released by topological defects. In these models, the detected air-showers are produced by primaries originating from the fragmentation of the $X$-particles. We present the fragmentation spectrum of superheavy particles calculated in SUSY-QCD. Then we discuss the status of the lightest supersymmetric particle as possible ultrahigh energy primary.
Generalized matter couplings to four-dimensional supersymmetric sigma models on general Kaehler manifolds are presented, preserving all holomorphic symmetries. Our generalization allows assignment of arbitrary U(1) charges to additional matter fermions, in all representations of (the holomorphic part of) the isometry group. This can be used to eliminate unwanted gamma_5 anomalies, in particular for the U(1) symmetry arising from the complex structure of the target space. A consistent gauging of this isometry group, or any of its subgroups, then becomes possible. When gauged in the presence of …
We solve numerically the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi (DGLAP) equations for the evolution of fragmentation functions using the Laguerre method. We extend this method to include supersymmetric evolution. The solution to the DGLAP equations is particularly interesting to calculate the expected spectra of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays in models where they are produced by the decay of a massive particle X, M_X > 10^{12} GeV.
The Universe opacity to gamma rays is still an open question, in particular anomalies may have been observed. Assuming that such anomalies find their origin in conventional physics like intrinsic source spectra or the density of the extragalactic background light, they would be evenly distributed over the sky. If they exist, axion-like particles (ALPs) would have a potential effect on the opacity of the Universe to gamma rays, possibly related to the anomalies in the spectral indices of distant gamma-ray sources. In the scenario where ALPs from distant sources convert back to photons in the Ga…
We present a supersymmetric SU(5) x U(1)_H model, free from gauge anomalies, where the Abelian factor U(1)_H, introduced to account for the hierarchy of fermion masses and mixings, is broken by the same adjoint representations of SU(5) that also break the GUT symmetry. The model predicts approximate, but never exact, bottom-tau Yukawa unification. The deviations are related to group theoretical coefficients and can naturally be at the level of 10%-20%.
I describe supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model with light sgoldstinos and discuss the explanation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays above GZK cutoff in these models. Also I briefly discuss the possibility to solve other cosmological and astrophysical puzzles, such as gamma-ray bursts and dimming of high-redshift supernovae, within the models with light sgoldstinos.
The propagation length of high-energy photons through the Universe is limited by $e^+e^-$ pair production on the extragalactic background radiation. Previous studies reported discrepancies between predicted and observed attenuation, suggesting explanations in terms of new physics. However, these effects are dominated by a limited number of observed sources, while many do not show any discrepancy. Here, we consider the distribution in the sky of these apparently anomalous objects, selected in two very different approaches: the study of unphysical hardenings at distance-dependent energies in dea…
We present an R-parity conserving model of sneutrino dark matter within a Higgs-philic U(1)' extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. In this theory, the mu parameter and light Dirac neutrino masses are generated naturally upon the breaking of the U(1)' gauge symmetry. The leptonic and hadronic decays of sneutrinos in this model, taken to be the lightest and next-to-lightest superpartners, allow for a natural fit to the recent results reported by the PAMELA experiment.
Inspired by the decaying dark matter (DM) which can explain cosmic ray anomalies naturally, we consider the supersymmetric Standard Model with three right-handed neutrinos (RHNs) and R-parity, and introduce a TeV-scale DM sector with two fields ϕ_{1,2} and a $Z_3$ discrete symmetry. The DM sector only interacts with the RHNs via a very heavy field exchange and then we can explain the cosmic ray anomalies. With the second right-handed neutrino N_2 dominant seesaw mechanism at the low scale around 10^4 GeV, we show that ϕ_{1,2} can obtain the vacuum expectation values around the TeV scale, and t…
The Madala hypothesis was formulated to explain anomalies in LHC data from run-1. Subsequently, these anomalies have endured into run-2 and been strengthened. This makes the analysis of the proposal highly pertinent, and, since some of the properties of the model are beyond the reach of current collider data it is also important to determine alternative means of analysis. Here, we examine the consequences of WIMPs linked to the Madala hypothesis providing a dark matter candidate and annihilating in the galactic centre of the Milky-Way and the Andromeda galaxy. These targets have been observed …
Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays provide a unique ground for probing new physics. In this talk we review the possibility of testing TeV gravity in interactions of cosmogenic neutrinos and the potential to discover long-lived exotic particles in nucleon-produced air showers, such as gluinos of split-SUSY models or staus of supersymmetric models with a gravitino LSP.
Cosmic rays are nowadays a crucial tool to study the astrophysics of extreme objects in the Universe, the cosmic environmental plasma (both Galactic and extra-galactic), the physics of nuclear interactions or the properties of elementary particles at very high energies and even cosmological problems such as the dark matter puzzle. In this thesis, the phenomenology on the transport of Galactic cosmic rays is studied in light of the most recent experimental data in the field and new analyses are presented in order to obtain better constraints. Throughout the thesis, secondary particles produced …
I present a short overview of the latest developments in indirect searches for dark matter using gamma rays, X-rays, charged cosmic rays, micro waves, radio waves, and neutrinos. I briefly outline key past, present, and future experiments and their search strategies. In several searches there are exciting anomalies which could potentially be emerging dark matter signals. I discuss these anomalous signals, and some future prospects to determine their origins.
Ground-based observatories have been collecting 0.2 - 20 TeV gamma rays from blazars for about twenty years. These gamma rays can experience absorption along the line of sight due to interactions with the extragalactic background light (EBL). In this paper, we show that the gamma-ray optical depth can be reduced to the convolution product of an EBL kernel with the EBL intensity, assuming a particular form for the EBL evolution. We extract the absorption signal from the most extensive set of TeV spectra from blazars collected so far and unveil a broad-band EBL spectrum from mid-ultraviolet to f…
We show how cosmic gamma rays can be used to constrain models of asymmetric Dark Matter decaying into lepton pairs by violating flavor. First of all we require the models to explain the anomalies in the charged cosmic rays measured by PAMELA, FERMI and HESS; performing combined fits we determine the allowed values of the Dark Matter mass and lifetime. For these models, we then determine the constraints coming from the measurement of the isotropic gamma-ray background by FERMI for a complete set of lepton flavor violating primary modes and over a range of DM masses from 100 GeV to 10 TeV. We fi…
We describe cosmic gamma-ray and neutrino signals of dark matter annihilation, explaining how the complementarity of these signals provides additional information that, if observable, can enlighten the particle nature of dark matter. This is discussed in the context of exploiting the separate galactic and extragalactic components of the signal, using the spherical halo model distribution of dark matter. We motivate the discussion with supersymmetric extensions of the standard model of particle physics. We consider the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) where both neutrinos and gamma-…
