Individual events at high-energy colliders like the LHC can be represented by a sequence of measurements, or 'point patterns' in an observable space. Starting from this data representation, we build a simple Bayesian probabilistic model for event measurements useful for unsupervised event classification in beyond the standard model (BSM) studies. In order to arrive to this model we assume that the event measurements are exchangeable (and apply De Finetti's representation theorem), the data is discrete, and measurements are generated from multiple 'latent' distributions, called 'themes'. The resulting probabilistic model for collider events is a mixed-membership model known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a model extensively used in natural language processing applications. By training on point patterns in the primary Lund plane, we demonstrate that a two-theme LDA model can learn to distinguish in unlabelled dijet events the hidden new physics patterns produced by a BSM signature from a much larger QCD background. Based on 1904.04200 and 2005.12319.
In models of composite Higgs dynamics new composite pseudoscalars can interact with the Higgs and electroweak gauge bosons via anomalous interactions, stemming from the topological sector of the underlying theory. We show that a future 100 TeV proton-proton collider (FCC-pp) will be able to test this important sector and thus shed light on the strong dynamics which generates the Higgs and other composite states. To elucidate our results we focus on the topological interactions of a minimal composite Higgs model with a fermionic ultraviolet completion, based on the coset $\text{SU}(4)/\text{Sp}…
We study one possible production mechanism for hidden charm pentaquark in e+e- collision, where it is produced via a color-octet c \bar c pair fragmentation. The pentaquark production at B factory energy is dominated by e+e- to c \bar c g to Pc + X. At Z^0 pole, for the pentaquark production, there are several partonic processes playing significant role. Our results show that it is possible to search for the direct pentaquark production signal at e+e- colliders, which is important to understand the properties of pentaquark.
We add fermions to an abelian-gauged hidden sector. We show that the lightest can be the dark matter with the right thermal relic abundance, and discovery is within reach of upcoming dark matter detectors. We also show that these fermions change Higgs boson phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and in particular could induce a large invisible width to the lightest Higgs boson state. Such an invisibly decaying Higgs boson can be discovered with good significance in the vector boson fusion channel at the LHC.
We calculate the production rate of gauge-boson pairs at $e^+e^-$ colliders in a model with a ``hidden'' electroweak symmetry breaking sector - i.e. one in which there are a large number of particles in the symmetry breaking sector other than the $W^{\pm}$ \thinspace and the $Z^0$. In such a model, the elastic $W^{\pm}$ \thinspace and $Z^0$ scattering amplitudes are small and structureless, i.e. lacking any discernable resonances, at all energies. We show that two gauge boson fusion signal of electroweak symmetry breaking is swamped by the background. Therefore, we cannot rely on gauge boson p…
The possibility of a scalar messenger that can couple the Standard Model (SM) to a hidden sector has been discussed in a variety of contexts in the literature in recent years. We consider the case that a new scalar singlet charged under an exotic spontaneously broken Abelian gauge symmetry mixes weakly with the SM Higgs resulting in two scalar mass states, one of which has heavily suppressed couplings to the SM particles. Previous phenomenological studies have focussed on potential signatures for such a model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, there are interesting regions of the par…
Little experimental data bears on the question of whether there is a spontaneously broken hidden sector that has no Standard Model quantum numbers. Here we discuss the prospects of finding evidence for such a hidden sector through renormalizable interactions of the Standard Model Higgs boson with a Higgs boson of the hidden sector. We find that the lightest Higgs boson in this scenario has smaller rates in standard detection channels, and it can have a sizeable invisible final state branching fraction. Details of the hidden sector determine whether the overall width of the lightest state is sm…
We consider examples of ``hidden-valley'' models, in which a new confining gauge group is added to the standard model. Such models often arise in string constructions, and elsewhere. The resulting (electrically-neutral) bound states can have low masses and long lifetimes, and could be observed at the LHC and Tevatron. Production multiplicities are often large. Final states with heavy flavor are common; lepton pairs, displaced vertices and/or missing energy are possible. Accounting for LEP constraints, we find LHC production cross-sections typically in the 1-100 fb range, though they can be lar…
We propose a framework of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model that can ameliorate both the SUSY Higgs mass problem and the missing superpartner problem. New vectorlike matter fields couple to the Higgs and provide new loop contributions to its mass. New Yukawa couplings are sizable and large supersymmetry breaking is not needed to lift the Higgs mass. To avoid a Landau pole for the new Yukawa couplings, these fields are charged under a new gauge group, which confines and leads to a Hidden Valley-like phenomenology. The Hidden Valley sector is almost supersymmetric and ordinary spar…
We consider a broad class of supersymmetric theories in which dark matter (DM) is the lightest superpartner (LSP) of a hidden sector that couples very weakly to visible sector fields. Portal interactions connecting visible and hidden sectors mediate the decay of the lightest observable superpartner (LOSP) into the LSP, allowing the LHC to function as a spectacular probe of the origin of hidden sector DM. As shown in a companion paper, this general two-sector framework allows only for a handful of DM production mechanisms, each of which maps to a distinctive window in lifetimes and cross-sectio…
We study the phenomenology of, and search techniques for, a class of "Hidden Valleys." These models are characterized by low mass (well below a TeV) bound states resulting from a confining gauge interaction in a hidden sector; the states include a spin-one resonance that can decay to lepton pairs. Assuming that the hidden sector communicates to the Standard Model (SM) through TeV suppressed operators, taking into account the constraint from the $Z$ pole physics at LEP, searches at Tevatron may be difficult in the particular class of Hidden Valleys we consider, so that we concentrate on the sea…
The study of multiparticle dynamics in hadron-hadron collisions at Tevatron and LHC could provide useful information on new physics in addition to the expected signatures on the transverse plane. We suggest that an analysis of inclusive correlations between emitted particles in $pp$ inelastic collisions, and factorial moments of multiplicity distributions, may be helpful in uncovering (un)particles from Hidden Sectors, using underlying events tagged by hard products like high $p_T$ leptons and photons, and applying stringent selection criteria like event shape variables, etc
Many models of Beyond the Standard Model physics contain particles that are charged under both Standard Model and Hidden Valley gauge groups, yet very little effort has been put into establishing their experimental signatures. We provide a general overview of the collider phenomenology of spin 0 or 1/2 mediators with non-trivial gauge numbers under both the Standard Model and a single new confining group. Due to the possibility of many unconventional signatures, the focus is on direct production with semivisible jets. For the mediators to be able to decay, a global $U(1)$ symmetry must be brok…
I discuss how the Large Hadron Collider era should broaden our view of particle physics research, and apply this thinking to the case of Hidden Worlds. I focus on one of the simplest representative cases of a Hidden World, and detail the rich implications it has for LHC physics, including universal suppression of Higgs boson production, trans-TeV heavy Higgs boson signatures, heavy-to-light Higgs boson decays, weakly coupled exotic gauge bosons, and Higgs boson decays to four fermions via light exotic gauge bosons. Some signatures may be accessible in the very early stages of collider operatio…
We study the recent $e^\pm$ cosmic ray excess reported by DAMPE in a Hidden Valley Model with lepton-portal dark matter. We find the electron-portal can account for the excess well and satisfy the DM relic density and direct detection bounds, while electron+muon/electron+muon+tau-portal suffers from strong constraints from lepton flavor violating observables, such as $μ\to 3 e$. We also discuss possible collider signatures of our model, both at the LHC and a future 100 TeV hadron collider.
We propose a new beam dump experiment at future colliders with electron ($e^-$) and positron ($e^+$) beams, BDee, which will provide a new possibility to search for hidden particles, like hidden photon. If a particle detector is installed behind the beam dump, it can detect the signal of in-flight decay of the hidden particles produced by the scatterings of $e^\pm$ beams off materials for dumping. We show that, compared to past experiments, BDee (in particular BDee at $e^+e^-$ linear collider) significantly enlarges the parameter region where the signal of the hidden particle can be discovered…
We consider a new physics possibility at the colliders: the observation of TeV scale massive vector bosons in the non-adjoint representations under the Standard Model (SM) gauge symmetry. To have a unitary and renormalizable theory, we propose a class of models with gauge symmetry $\prod_i G_i \times SU(3)'_C \times SU(2)'_L \times U(1)'_Y$ where the SM fermions and Higgs fields are singlets under the hidden gauge symmetry $\prod_i G_i$, and such massive vector bosons appear after the gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken down to the SM gauge symmetry. We discuss the model with SU(5) hidden g…
We present an improved method of reconstructing New Physics (NP) masses from invariant mass endpoints. While the traditional method focuses on a single NP decay, our method considers the decays of two or more NP particles ($ABC...$) in a grander decay chain: $ anything \to ABC... \to ... \to jets + leptons$. Though the center-of-mass energy $E_{CM}$ of `anything' varies unpredictably at a hadron collider, a sample of many events nonetheless expresses features of threshold production $E_{CM} = m_A + m_B + ...$: invariant masses constructed from the final jet and lepton momenta are correlated in…
It is a distinct possibility that a Hidden Valley sector would have a spectrum of light particles consisting of both stable and unstable dark mesons. The simultaneous presence of these two types of particles can lead to novel mechanisms for generating the correct dark matter relic abundance, which in turn can reflect themselves into new exotic signatures at colliders. We study the viability of such sectors for various Hidden Valley models and map the valid parameter space to possible collider signatures. Mediators studied include various scalar bifundamentals and a heavy $Z'$. It is shown that…
The Hidden Abelian Higgs Model (HAHM) is an extension of the Standard Model based on the gauge group $G =SU(3)_{C} \times SU(2)_{L} \times U(1)_{Y} \times U(1)_{X}$ i.e. an extra $U(1)_{X}$ gauge group in addition to the SM gauge groups.In HAHM, an Abelian Hidden sector is coupled to the SM, and the resulting new Higgs boson H and new neutral gauge boson $Z_{HAHM}$ fields are allowed to mix with the corresponding SM fields. In this work, we search for the new neutral gauge boson $Z_{HAHM}$ and new Higgs boson in the context of the Hidden Abelian Higgs Model (HAHM) through the decay process $pp…
(This is a general physics level overview article about hidden sectors, and how they motivate searches for long-lived particles. Intended for publication in Physics Today.) Searches for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider have so far come up empty, but we just might not be looking in the right place. Spectacular bursts of particles appearing seemingly out of nowhere could shed light on some of nature's most profound mysteries.
We apply techniques from Bayesian generative statistical modeling to uncover hidden features in jet substructure observables that discriminate between different a priori unknown underlying short distance physical processes in multi-jet events. In particular, we use a mixed membership model known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation to build a data-driven unsupervised top-quark tagger and $t\bar t$ event classifier. We compare our proposal to existing traditional and machine learning approaches to top jet tagging. Finally, employing a toy vector-scalar boson model as a benchmark, we demonstrate the p…
We propose a scenario of gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking (gravity mediation) in a supersymmetric Randall-Sundrum model. In our setup, both of the visible sector and the hidden sector co-exist on the infrared (IR) brane. We introduce the Polonyi model as a simple hidden sector. Due to the warped metric, the effective cutoff scale on the IR brane is ``warped down'', so that the gravity mediation occurs at a low scale. As a result, the gravitino is naturally the lightest superpartner (LSP) and contact interactions between the hidden and the visible sector fields become stronger. We addres…
The analysis of azimuthal correlations in multiparticle production can be useful to uncover the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model, e.g., Hidden Valley, in $e^+e^-$ annihilation at high energies. In this paper, based on previous theoretical studies and using PYTHIA8 event generator, it is found that both azimuthal and rapidity long-range correlations are enhanced due to the presence of a new stage of matter on top of the QCD partonic cascade. Ridge structures, similar to those observed at the LHC, show up providing a possible signature of new physics at future $e^+e^-$ collider…
In a class of new physics models, new physics sector is completely or partly hidden, namely, singlet under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group. Hidden fields included in such new physics models communicate with the Standard Model sector through higher dimensional operators. If a cutoff lies in the TeV range, such hidden fields can be produced at future colliders. We consider a scalar filed as an example of the hidden fields. Collider phenomenology on this hidden scalar is similar to that of the SM Higgs boson, but there are several features quite different from those of the Higgs boson. We inv…
In the framework of the quark combination, we derive the yield formulas and study the yield ratios of the hidden-charm pentaquark states in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. We propose some interesting yield ratios which clearly exhibit the production relationships between different hidden-charm pentaquark states. We show how to employ a specific quark combination model to evaluate the yields of exotic $P_c^+(4380)$, $P_c^+(4450)$ and their partners on the basis of reproducing the yields of normal identified hadrons, and execute the calculations in central Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{…
Most signatures of new physics in colliders have been studied so far on the transverse plane with respect to the beam direction. In this work however we study the impact of a hidden sector beyond the Standard Model (SM) on inclusive (pseudo)rapidity correlations and moments of the multiplicity distributions, with special emphasis in the LHC results.
We investigate the prospects for producing new, light, hidden states at a future $e^+ e^-$ collider in a Higgsed dark $U(1)_D$ model, which we call the Double Dark Portal model. The simultaneous presence of both vector and scalar portal couplings immediately modifies the Standard Model Higgsstrahlung channel, $e^+ e^- \to Zh$, at leading order in each coupling. In addition, each portal leads to complementary signals which can be probed at direct and indirect detection dark matter experiments. After accounting for current constraints from LEP and LHC, we demonstrate that a future $e^+ e^-$ Higg…
We investigate the prospects for detecting a hidden sector at an $e^+ e^-$ collider. The hidden sector is assumed to be composed of invisible particles that carry no charges under the Standard Model gauge interactions, and whose primary interactions with ordinary matter are through the Higgs portal. We consider both the cases when the decays of an on-shell Higgs into a pair of hidden sector particles are kinematically allowed, and the case when such decays are kinematically forbidden. We find that at collider energies below a TeV, the most sensitive channel involves production of an on-shell o…
A dark sector -- a new non-Abelian gauge group Higgsed or confined near the GeV scale -- can be spectacularly probed in low-energy e+e- collisions. A low-mass dark sector can explain the annual modulation signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA and the PAMELA, ATIC, and INTEGRAL observations by generating small mass splittings and new interactions for weak-scale dark matter. Some of these observations may be the first signs of a low-mass dark sector that collider searches can definitively confirm. Production and decay of O(GeV)-mass dark states is mediated by a Higgsed Abelian gauge boson that mixes kin…
We investigate the power of low-energy, high-luminosity electron--positron colliders to probe hidden sectors with a mass below ~10 GeV that couple to Standard Model particles through a light mediator. Such sectors provide well-motivated dark matter candidates, and can give rise to distinctive mono-photon signals at B-factories and similar experiments. We use data from an existing mono-photon search by BaBar to place new constraints on this class of models, and give projections for the sensitivity of a similar search at a future B-factory such as Belle II. We find that the sensitivity of such s…
While the SUSY flavor, CP and gravitino problems seem to favor a very heavy spectrum of matter scalars, fine-tuning in the electroweak sector prefers low values of superpotential mass μ. In the limit of low μ, the two lightest neutralinos and light chargino are higgsino-like. The light charginos and neutralinos may have large production cross sections at LHC, but since they are nearly mass degenerate, there is only small energy release in three-body sparticle decays. Possible dilepton and trilepton signatures are difficult to observe after mild cuts due to the very soft p_T spectrum of the fin…
We study the effective theory of a generic class of hidden sectors where supersymmetry is broken together with an approximate R-symmetry at low energy. The light spectrum contains the gravitino and the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of the R-symmetry, the R-axion. We derive new model-independent constraints on the R-axion decay constant for R-axion masses ranging from GeV to TeV, which are of relevance for hadron colliders, lepton colliders and B-factories. The current bounds allow for the exciting possibility that the first sign of SUSY will be the R-axion. We point out its most distinctive sig…
SHiP is a newly proposed fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS with the aim of searching for hidden particles that interact very weakly with SM particles. The work presented in this document investigates SHiP's physics reach in the parameter space of the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model ($ν$MSM), which is a theory that could solve most problems left open by the Standard Model with sterile neutrinos. A model introducing an extra $U(1)$ symmetry in the hidden sector, providing a natural candidate for dark matter, is also explored. This work shows that the SHiP experiment can improve by several …
We establish that many fundamental concepts and techniques in quantum field theory and collider physics can be naturally understood and unified through a simple new geometric language. The idea is to equip the space of collider events with a metric, from which other geometric objects can be rigorously defined. Our analysis is based on the energy mover's distance, which quantifies the "work" required to rearrange one event into another. This metric, which operates purely at the level of observable energy flow information, allows for a clarified definition of infrared and collinear safety and re…
Cosmologically long-lived, composite states arise as natural dark matter candidates in theories with a strongly interacting hidden sector at a scale of 10 - 100 TeV. Light axion-like states, with masses in the 1 MeV - 10 GeV range, are also generic, and can decay via Higgs couplings to light standard model particles. Such a scenario is well motivated in the context of very low energy supersymmetry breaking, where ubiquitous cosmological problems associated with the gravitino are avoided. We investigate the astrophysical and collider signatures of this scenario, assuming that dark matter decays…
