The left-right twin Higgs model predicts a light stable scalar \hat{S}, which is a candidate for WIMP dark matter. We study its scattering on nucleon and find that the cross section is below the CDMS II upper bound but can reach the SuperCDMS sensitivity. Then we study the Higgs phenomenology by paying special attention to the decay h -> \hat{S} \hat{S} which is strongly correlated with the dark matter scattering on nucleon. We find that such an invisible decay can be sizable, which can severely suppress the conventional decay modes like h->VV (V=W,Z) and h->b\bar{b}. On the other hand, compared to the SM prediction, the rates of Higgs boson productions at the LHC via gluon-gluon fusion, weak boson fusion or in association with top quark pairs are all reduced significantly, e.g., the gluon-gluon fusion channel can be suppressed by about 30%.
We discuss within the framework of effective four-fermion scalar interaction the phenomenology of a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dirac Dark Matter candidate which is exothermic (i.e. is metastable and interacts with nuclear targets down-scattering to a lower-mass state) and $Ge$-phobic (i.e. whose couplings to quarks violate isospin symmetry leading to a suppression of its cross section off Germanium targets). We discuss the specific example of the CDMS-II Silicon three-candidate effect showing that a region of the parameter space of the model exists where WIMP scatterings can ex…
Twin Higgs mechanism has recently been proposed to solve the ``little Hierarchy'' problem. We studied the implementation of twin Higgs mechanism in left-right models. We discussed the particle spectrum, and the collider phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider.
The twin Higgs mechanism has recently been proposed to solve the little hierarchy problem. We study the implementation of the twin Higgs mechanism in left-right models. At TeV scale, heavy quark and gauge bosons appear, with rich collider phenomenology. In addition, there are extra Higgses, some of which couple to both the Standard Model fermion sector and the gauge sector, while others couple to the gauge bosons only. We present the particle spectrum, and study the general features of the collider phenomenology of this class of model at the Large Hadron Collider.
In light of positive signals reported by the CDMS-II Si experiment and the recent results of the LUX and SuperCDMS experiments, we study isospin-violating dark matter scenarios assuming that the interaction of the dark matter is mediated by colored particles. We investigate the phenomenology of the model, including collider searches, flavor and CP phenomenology. A minimal possible scenario includes scalar dark matter and new vector-like colored fermions with masses of O(1) TeV as mediators. Such a scenario may be probed at the 14 TeV LHC, while flavor and CP constraints are stringent and sever…
Dark Matter direct detection experiments are able to exclude interesting parameter space regions of particle models which predict an important amount of thermal relics. We use recent data to constrain the branon model and to compute the region that is favored by CDMS measurements. Within this work, we also update present colliders constraints with new studies coming from the LHC. Despite the present low luminosity, it is remarkable that for heavy branons, CMS and ATLAS measurements are already more constraining than previous analyses performed with TEVATRON and LEP data.
We consider a strongly interacting twin Higgs (SITH) model where an ultraviolet completion of twin Higgs mechanism is realized by a strongly coupled approximately scale invariant theory. Besides the Standard Model (SM) and twin sectors, the low energy effective theory contains a relatively light scalar called a dilaton --- the pseudo Goldstone boson of spontaneously broken scale invariance. The dilaton provides a unique portal between the SM and twin sectors whose phenomenology could provide an important probe of the twin Higgs mechanism. As a concrete example, we consider a holographic twin H…
In the context of Twin Higgs models, we study a simple mechanism that simultaneously generates asymmetries in the dark and visible sector through the out-of-equilibrium decay of a TeV scale particle charged under a combination of baryon and twin baryon number. We predict the dark matter to be a 5 GeV twin baryon, which is easy to achieve because of the similarity between the two confinement scales. Dark matter is metastable and can decay to three quarks, yielding indirect detection signatures. The mechanism requires the introduction of a new colored particle, typically within the reach of the …
We present a version of the twin Higgs mechanism with vector-like top partners. In this setup all gauge anomalies automatically cancel, even without twin leptons. The matter content of the most minimal twin sector is therefore just two twin tops and one twin bottom. The LHC phenomenology, illustrated with two example models, is dominated by twin glueball decays, possibly in association with Higgs bosons. We further construct an explicit four-dimensional UV completion and discuss a variety of UV completions relevant for both vector-like and fraternal twin Higgs models.
We analyze the neutrino phenomenology in an $SU(5)$ F-theory model with both a visible sector and a twin hidden sector. At low energies, the strong and weak scales of the two sectors may differ but the spectrum of states is described by the MSSM (MSSM$^\prime$) in the visible (twin) sectors. What is special about the model is that there are right-handed neutrinos which couple to both sectors via Yukawa couplings. As a result, assuming 3 right-handed neutrinos with a large mass much greater than the weak scale, at tree-level the seesaw mechanism results in 3 massive Majorana neutrinos and 3 mas…
We present an ultraviolet extension of the Twin Higgs in which the radial mode of twin symmetry breaking is itself a pseudo-goldstone boson. This "turtle" structure raises the scale of new colored particles in exchange for additional states in the Higgs sector, making multiple Higgs-like scalars the definitive signature of naturalness in this context. We explore the parametrics and phenomenology of a concrete Twin Turtle model and demonstrate its robustness in two different supersymmetric completions. Along the way, we also introduce a new mechanism for inducing hard twin symmetry-breaking qua…
In twin Higgs models, a discrete Z2 symmetry between the standard model Higgs and the twin Higgs is introduced to address the hierarchy problem. In this work, we propose another discrete symmetry in twin Higgs: the T parity, which maps the twin Higgs quadruplet into its mirror copy. The T parity brings us a whole group of T-odd particles, and leads to a promising dark matter candidate. We present one realization of the T parity twin Higgs scenario by implementing the $SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_1 \times U(1)_2$ gauge symmetry in twin Higgs model. In this specific setup, the T-odd U(1) …
A two Higgs doublet model with flavorful Yukawa structure, in which the two doublets give mass to the third and the first two generations respectively, is combined with the twin Higgs mechanism to stabilize the Higgs mass against radiative corrections. We consider both a mirror twin and fraternal twin setup. We identify Higgs signal strength measurements and the decay $B_s \to μμ$ as the most important indirect constraints on the parameter space of the model. We explore the collider phenomenology of the model and find that the heavy Higgs in the visible sector can give a sizable number of disp…
Twin Higgs (TH) models explain the absence of new colored particles responsible for natural electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). All known ultraviolet completions of TH models require some non-perturbative dynamics below the Planck scale. We propose a supersymmetric model in which the TH mechanism is introduced by a new asymptotically free gauge interaction. The model features natural EWSB for squarks and gluino heavier than 2 TeV even if supersymmetry breaking is mediated around the Planck scale, and has interesting flavor phenomenology including the top quark decay into the Higgs and the up…
In original twin Higgs model, vacuum misalignment between electroweak and new physics scales is realized by adding explicit $\mathbb{Z}_2$ breaking term. Introducing additional twin Higgs could accommodate spontaneous $\mathbb{Z}_2$ breaking, which explains the origin of this misalignment. We introduce a class of two twin Higgs doublet models with most general scalar potential, and discuss general conditions which trigger electroweak and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry breaking. Various scenarios on realising the vacuum misalignment are systematically discussed in a natural two Higgs double model fram…
We examine the dark matter phenomenology in supersymmetric light higgs boson scenarios, adapting nonuniversal Higgs masses at the gauge coupling unification scale. The correct relic density is obtained mostly through the annihilation into a pseudoscalar $A$, which gives high values for the self-annihilation cross-section at present times. Our analysis shows that most part of the $A$ pole region can produce detectable gamma-rays and antiproton signals, and still be compatible with with recent direct detection data from XENON100 and CDMS-II.
The mirror twin Higgs framework allows for a natural Higgs mass while being consistent with collider bounds on colored symmetry partners to standard model quarks. This mechanism relies crucially on a discrete symmetry which relates each standard model field to a mirror partner. These partners are charged under gauge groups identical to, but distinct from, those in the standard model. The minimal twin Higgs scenario provides only one low-energy connection between the visible and twin sectors, the light Higgs boson. We present a new class of portals connecting the two sectors, using fields that …
We revisit the Twin Higgs scenario as a "dark" solution to the little hierarchy problem, identify the structure of a minimal model and its viable parameter space, and analyze its collider implications. In this model, dark naturalness generally leads to Hidden Valley phenomenology. The twin particles, including the top partner, are all Standard-Model-neutral, but naturalness favors the existence of twin strong interactions -- an asymptotically-free force that confines not far above the Standard Model QCD scale -- and a Higgs portal interaction. We show that, taken together, these typically give…
Dark matter (DM) without a matter asymmetry is studied in the context of Twin Higgs (TH) theories in which the LHC naturalness problem is addressed. These possess a twin sector related to the Standard Model (SM) by a (broken) $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry, and interacting with the SM via a specific Higgs portal. We focus on the minimal realisation of the TH mechanism, the Fraternal Twin Higgs, with only a single generation of twin quarks and leptons, and $SU(3)'\times SU(2)'$ gauge group. We show that a variety of natural twin-WIMP DM candidates are present (directly linked to the weak scale by natu…
The Twin Higgs model is the preeminent example of a theory of neutral naturalness, where the new particles that alleviate the little hierarchy problem are Standard Model (SM) singlets. The most promising collider search strategy, based on rare Higgs decays, is nevertheless not effective in significant regions of the parameter space of the low energy theory. This underlines the importance of phenomenological studies on ultraviolet completions of the Twin Higgs model, which must lie at a scale lower than 5-10 TeV. We pursue this course in the context of non-supersymmetric completions, focusing o…
We investigate the phenomenology of the Nearly Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (nMSSM) in the deflected anomaly mediation scenario. We also include the Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term of the standard model gauge group. In the nMSSM, the mu term is replaced by the vacuum expectation value of the gauge singlet; therefore, there is no difficulty in generating the B-term of the SUSY breaking scale. Although the messenger sector is introduced, direct couplings between nMSSM fields and messenger sector fields are forbidden by the discrete symmetry. Therefore, the phenomenology at the weak scale does n…
The trinification model is an interesting extension of the Standard Model (SM) based on the gauge group $SU(3)_C\times SU(3)_L\times SU(3)_R$. We study its low-energy phenomenology by constructing a low-energy effective field theory, thereby reducing the number of particles and free parameters that need to be studied. The resulting model predicts that several new scalar particles have masses in the $\mathcal{O}\left(100\text{ GeV}\right)$ range. We study a few of the interesting phenomenological scenarios, such as the presence of a light fermiophobic scalar in addition to a SM-like Higgs, or a…
Dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles is predicted to become gravitationally captured and accumulate in stars. While the subsequent annihilations of such particles lead to the injection of energy into stellar cores, elastically scattering dark matter particles do not generally yield enough energy to observably impact stellar phenomenology. Dark matter particles which scatter inelastically with nuclei (such that they reconcile the annual modulation reported by DAMA with the null results of CDMS and other experiments), however, can be captured by and annihilate in compa…
The trinification model is an interesting extension of the Standard Model based on the gauge group $SU(3)_C\times SU(3)_L\times SU(3)_R$. It naturally explains parity violation as a result of spontaneous symmetry breaking, and the observed fermion masses and mixings can be reproduced using only a few parameters. We study the low-energy phenomenology of the trinification model in order to compare its predictions to experiment. To this end, we construct a low-energy effective field theory, thereby reducing the number of particles and free parameters that need to be studied. We constrain the mode…
We study the phenomenology of the CMSSM/mSUGRA with non-thermal neutralino dark matter. Besides the standard parameters of the CMSSM we include the reheating temperature as an extra parameter. Imposing radiative electroweak symmetry breaking with a Higgs mass around 125 GeV and no dark matter overproduction, we contrast the scenario with different experimental bounds from colliders (LEP, LHC), cosmic microwave background (Planck), direct (LUX, XENON100, CDMS, IceCube) and indirect (Fermi) dark matter searches. The allowed parameter space is characterised by a Higgsino-like LSP with a mass arou…
We study gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking in ${\cal F}$-SU(5) and its low-energy supersymmetric phenomenology. The gaugino masses are not unified at the traditional grand unification scale, but we nonetheless have the same one-loop gaugino mass relation at the electroweak scale as minimal supergravity (mSUGRA). We introduce parameters testable at the colliders to measure the small second loop deviation from the mSUGRA gaugino mass relation at the electroweak scale. In the minimal SU(5) model with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking, we show that the deviations from the mSUGRA gaugin…
Many new physics models beyond the standard model, such as the littlest higgs models and the left right twin higgs models, predict the existence of the large charged higgs couplings H^-q\bar b and H^+b\bar q, where q=t or the new vector-like heavy quark T; On the other hand, some new physics models like the littlest higgs also predict the gauge-higgs couplings. Such couplings may have rich collider phenomenology. We focus our attention on these couplings induced by the littlest higgs models and the left right twin higgs models models and consider their contributions to the production cross sec…
Very light right-handed (RH) sneutrinos in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model can be viable candidates for cold dark matter. We investigate the prospects for their direct detection, addressing their compatibility with the recent signal observed by the CoGeNT detector, and study the implications for Higgs phenomenology. We find that in order to reproduce the correct relic abundance very light RH sneutrinos can annihilate into either a fermion-antifermion pair, very light pseudoscalar Higgses or RH neutrinos. If the main annihilation channel is into fermions, we point out that RH …
