In this note, we give a definitive basis for the dimension-eight operators leading to quartic -- but no cubic -- interactions among electroweak gauge bosons. These are often called anomalous quartic gauge couplings, or aQGCs. We distinguish in particular the CP-even ones from their CP-odd counterparts.
Effective field theory (EFT) formulations of dark matter interactions have proven to be a convenient and popular way to quantify LHC bounds on dark matter. However, some of the non-renormalizable EFT operators considered do not respect the gauge symmetries of the Standard Model. We carefully discuss under what circumstances such operators can arise, and outline potential issues in their interpretation and application.
We review the limitations to the use of the effective field theory approach to study dark matter at the LHC. Due to the high energy reach, the low energy description breaks down, and may lead to incorrect results. The use of simplified models is suggested.
The LHC effective field theory working group gathers members of the LHC experiments and the theory community to provide a framework for the interpretation of LHC data in the context of EFT. In this note we discuss experimental observables and corresponding measurements in analysis of the Higgs, top, and electroweak data at the LHC. We review the relationship between operators and measurements relevant for the interpretation of experimental data in the context of a global SMEFT analysis. One of the goals of ongoing effort is bridging the gap between theory and experimental communities working o…
We investigate the current LHC bounds on New Physics (NP) that contributes to $\bar B \to D^{(*)} l\barν$ for $l = (e,μ,τ)$ by considering both leptoquark (LQ) models and an effective-field-theory (EFT) Hamiltonian. Experimental analyses from $l+\text{missing}$ searches with high $p_T$ are applied to evaluate the NP constraints with respect to the Wilson coefficients. A novel point of this work is to show difference between LQs and EFT for the applicable LHC bound. In particular, we find that the EFT description is not valid to search for LQs with the mass less than $\lesssim 10\,\text{TeV}$ a…
This note gives an overview of the tools for the precision matching of ultraviolet theories to the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) at the tree level and one loop. Several semi- and fully automated codes are presented, as well as some supplementary codes for the basis conversion and the subsequent running and matching at low energies. A suggestion to collect information for cross-validations of current and future codes is made.
With the absence of the direct detection of new physics and the large data set collected at the LHC, the search for indirect effects in precision measurements became popular. Effective field theories enable to interpret these effects that originate from physics manifested at currently unreachable energy scales in a model independent framework. In this report, an overview of new analyses performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations in the field of top quark physics is given.
We compute six-point string amplitudes for the scattering of one closed string Ramond-Ramond state, two tachyons, and two gauge fields in the worldvolume of D-brane-anti-D-brane systems in the Type II superstring theories. From the resulting S-matrix elements, we read off the precise form of the couplings, including their exact numerical coefficients, of two tachyons and two gauge fields in the corresponding highly symmetric effective field theory (EFT) Lagrangian in the worldvolume of D-brane-Anti-D-brane to all orders in $α'$, which modify and complete previous proposals. We verify that the …
We propose a new approach to the LHC dark matter search analysis within the effective field theory (EFT) framework by utilising the K-matrix unitarisation formalism. This approach provides a reasonable estimate of the dark matter production cross section at high energies, and hence allows reliable bounds to be placed on the cut-off scale of relevant operators without running into the problem of perturbative unitarity violation. We exemplify this procedure for the effective operator D5 in monojet dark matter searches in the collinear approximation. We compare our bounds to those obtained using …
The assumption that the Standard Model is an Effective Field Theory (SM EFT) of a more fundamental theory at a higher, than electroweak, energy scale, implies a growth of cross-sections for electroweak Vector Boson Scattering (VBS) processes signalling the appearance of a resonance (or resonances) nearby that scale. In this article, we investigate in detail SM EFT effects from dimension-6 operators in VBS with like-sign-$W$ production in fully leptonic decay modes at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). We find that these effects are important for a handful of operators, most notably for the oper…
We investigate the Beyond Standard Model discovery potential in the framework of the Effective Field Theory (EFT) for the same-sign $WW$ scattering process in purely leptonic $W$ decay modes at the High-Luminosity and High-Energy phases of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The goal of this paper is to examine the applicability of the EFT approach, with one dimension-8 operator varied at a time, to describe a hypothetical new physics signal in the $WWWW$ quartic coupling. In the considered process there is no experimental handle on the $WW$ invariant mass, and it has previously been shown that t…
We review the current status of vector boson fusion and vector boson scattering studies in the frame of Run-2 of LHC. These processes are equally interesting and challenging, and new ideas have to be applied for their experimental analysis. These channels are optimal for the search of new physics, and therefore we discuss two promising techniques for this purpose: standard model effective field theory and pseudo observables. Regarding their implementation in the analyses, we also discuss briefly how these techniques should be included in the Monte Carlo generators.
The usage of Effective Field Theories (EFT) for LHC new physics searches is receiving increasing attention. It is thus important to clarify all the aspects related with the applicability of the EFT formalism in the LHC environment, where the large available energy can produce reactions that overcome the maximal range of validity, i.e. the cutoff, of the theory. We show that this does forbid to set rigorous limits on the EFT parameter space through a modified version of the ordinary binned likelihood hypothesis test, which we design and validate. Our limit-setting strategy can be carried on in …
We study the validity of effective field theory (EFT) interpretations of monojet searches for dark matter at the LHC for vector and axial-vector interactions. We show that the EFT approach is valid when the mediator has mass m_med greater than 2.5 TeV. We find that the current limits on the contact interaction scale Lambda in the EFT apply to theories that are perturbative for dark matter mass m_DM < 800 GeV. However, for all values of m_DM in these theories, the mediator width is larger than the mass, so that a particle-like interpretation of the mediator is doubtful. Furthermore, consistency…
We study the impact of anomalous gauge boson and fermion couplings on the production of $W^+W^-$ pairs at potential future LHC upgrades and estimate the sensitivity at $\sqrt{S}=14$ TeV with $3~ab^{-1}$ and $\sqrt{S}=27$ TeV with $15~ab^{-1}$. A general technique for including NLO QCD effects in effective field theory (EFT) fits to kinematic distributions is presented, and numerical results are given for $\sqrt{S}=13$ TeV $W^+W^-$ production. Our method allows fits to anomalous couplings at NLO accuracy in any EFT basis and has been implemented in a publicly available version of the POWHEG-BOX…
We generalize in several directions our recent analysis of the limitations to the use of the effective field theory approach to study dark matter at the LHC. Firstly, we study the full list of operators connecting fermion DM to quarks and gluons, corresponding to integrating out a heavy mediator in the $s$-channel; secondly, we provide analytical results for the validity of the EFT description for both $\sqrt{s}=8$ {\rm TeV} and $14$ {\rm TeV}; thirdly, we make use of a MonteCarlo event generator approach to assess the validity of our analytical conclusions. We apply our results to revisit the…
We study the $W/Z$ pair production via two-photon exchange at the LHC and give the sensitivities on trilinear and quartic gauge anomalous couplings between photons and $W/Z$ bosons for an integrated luminosity of 30 and 200 fb$^{-1}$. For simplicity and to obtain lower backgrounds, only the leptonic decays of the electroweak bosons are considered. The intact protons in the final states are detected in the ATLAS Forward Proton detectors. The high energy and luminosity of the LHC and the forward detectors allow to probe beyond standard model physics and to test the higgsless and extra dimension …
Effective field theory (EFT) approaches are widely used at the LHC, such that it is important to study their validity, and ease of matching to specific new physics models. In this paper, we consider an extension of the SM in which a top quark couples to a new heavy scalar. We find the dimension six operators generated by this theory at low energy, and match the EFT to the full theory up to NLO precision in the simplified model coupling. We then examine the range of validity of the EFT description in top pair production, finding excellent validity even if the scalar mass is only slightly above …
In these proceedings we review the interplay between LHC searches for dark matter and direct detection experiments. For this purpose we consider two prime examples: the effective field theory (EFT) approach and the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). In the EFT scenario we show that for operators which do not enter directly direct detection at tree-level, but only via loop effects, LHC searches give complementary constraints. In the MSSM stop and Higgs exchange contribute to the direct detection amplitude. Therefore, LHC searches for supersymmetric particles and heavy Higgses place c…
We report on a possible measurement at the LHC using the first data and a luminosity of 10 pb$^{-1}$ of $W$ and $Z$ pair production via two-photon exchange. This measurement allows to increase the present sensitivity on $WWγγ$ and $ZZγγ$ quartic anomalous couplings from the LEP experiments by almost three orders of magnitude.
The exclusive two-photon production at the LHC of pairs of W and Z bosons provides a novel and unique test-ground for the electroweak gauge boson sector. In particular it offers, thanks to high gamma-gamma center-of-mass energies, large and direct sensitivity to the anomalous quartic gauge couplings otherwise very difficult to investigate at the LHC. An initial analysis has been performed assuming leptonic decays and generic acceptance cuts. Simulation of a simple counting experiment has shown for the integrated luminosity of 10 fb-1 at least four thousand times larger sensitivity to the genui…
With an expected rate of about one event per 100,000 top-quark pairs, four top-quark final states very rarely arise at the LHC. Though scarce, they offer a unique window onto top-quark compositeness, self-interactions and more generically, onto any top-philic new physics. By employing simplified models featuring heavy resonances, we study the range of validity of effective theory interpretations of current four top-quark analyses at the LHC and establish their future reach at the HL-LHC. We find that for the class of models under consideration, the effective field theory interpretations are no…
We investigate the constraints on the anomalous quartic $ZZγγ$ couplings through the process $p p\to pγp\to p γq Z X$ at the LHC. Taking into consideration various forward detector acceptances and integrated LHC luminosities, we find 95% confidence level bounds on the anomalous coupling parameters. We show that the bounds on these couplings are at the order of $10^{-6}GeV^{-2}$ which are about four orders of magnitude more restricted with respect to current experimental bounds.
We first report on possible measurements at the LHC using the first data and a luminosity of 10 pb$^{-1}$ of $W$ and $Z$ pair production via two-photon exchange. This measurement allows in particular to increase the present sensitivity on $WWγγ$ and $ZZγγ$ quartic anomalous couplings from the LEP experiments by almost three orders of magnitude. We also discuss the possible improvements on quartic and trilinear anomalous couplings at high luminosity at the LHC using new forward proton taggers to be installed at 220 and 420 m from the CMS or ATLAS detectors.
We study the W/Z pair production via two-photon exchange at the LHC and give the sensitivities on trilinear and quartic gauge anomalous couplings between photons and W/Z bosons for an integrated luminosity of 30 and 200 fb^{-1}. For simplicity and to obtain lower backgrounds, only the leptonic decays of the electroweak bosons are considered.
We analyze the anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings $WWγγ$ and $ZZγγ$, described by dimension-6 effective quartic Lagrangian at the LHC. The sensitivities to anomalous quartic gauge couplings $a_{0,c}^{W,Z}/Λ^2$ by examining the two different photon-induced processes $pp\to pγp\to p WγqX$ and $pp\to pγp\to p ZZ qX$ with $W$ and $Z$s decaying leptonically are investigated. We show that $γp$ mode of photon-induced reactions at the LHC are able to probe these couplings to the order of $10^{-6}$-$10^{-7}$ GeV$^{-2}$ at 95 % confidence level with $\sqrt s$ = 14 TeV and for proton-proton luminosi…
Triple gauge boson production provides a promising opportunity to probe the anomalous quartic gauge couplings in understanding the details of electroweak symmetry breaking at future hadron-hadron collider facilities with increasing center of mass energy and luminosity. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivities of dimension-8 anomalous couplings related to the $ZZγγ$ and $Zγγγ$ quartic vertices, defined in the effective field theory framework, via $pp\to Zγγ$ signal process with Z-boson decaying to charged leptons at the high luminosity phase of LHC (HL-LHC) and future facilities, namely …
Exploring Higgs EFT in $t\bar{t}hh$ at High Luminosity LHC
Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)（圣保罗州立大学理论物理研究所）；Departamento de Física Matemática, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo（圣保罗大学数学物理系物理研究所）；IRFU - CEA, University Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学CEA IRFU）；The Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute, IPHC, CNRS/IN2P3（CNRS/IN2P3伊夫·居里多学科研究所）
A complete list of operators contributing at the lowest order to Quartic Neutral Gauge Boson Couplings involving photons and Z-bosons, is presented. We show that, for the couplings we consider, the lowest order contribution is from dimension 8 operators in the case when a light Higgs is present and from dimension 6 operators in the higgsless case where electroweak symmetry is non-linearly realized. We also show that these operators are generated by exchange of the Kaluza-Klein partners of the graviton in extra-dimensional models. We then explore the possibility of probing these couplings in th…
Gauge boson self-couplings are exactly determined by the non-Abelian gauge nature of the Standard Model (SM), thus precision measurements of these couplings at the LHC provide an important opportunity to test the gauge structure of the SM and the spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism. It is a common way to examine the physics of anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings via effective Lagrangian method. In this work, we investigate the potential of the process $pp\rightarrow pγp\rightarrow p W Z q X$ to analyze anomalous quartic $WWZγ$ couplings by two different CP-violating and CP-conserving e…
Effective Field Theory (EFT) extensions of the Standard Model are tools to compute observables $\big(e.g.$ cross sections with partonic center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{\hat{s}}\,\big)$ as a systematically improvable expansion suppressed by a new physics scale $M$. If one is interested in EFT predictions in the parameter space where $M<\sqrt{\hat{s}}$, concerns of self-consistency emerge, which can manifest as a violation of perturbative partial-wave unitarity. However, when we search for the effects of an EFT at a hadron collider with center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ using an inclusive strategy, …
Sterile neutrinos coupling only to third-generation fermions are attractive dark matter candidates. In an EFT approach we demonstrate that they can generate the observed relic density without violating constraints from direct and indirect detection. Such an EFT represents a gauged third-generation $B-L$ model, as well as third-generation scalar or vector leptoquarks. LHC measurements naturally distinguish the different underlying models.
Triple gauge boson associated production at the LHC serves as an interesting channel to test the robustness of the Standard Model. Any deviation from its SM prediction may indicate possible existence of relevant new physics, e.g., anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings. In this paper, a Monte-Carlo feasibility study of measuring WWA production with pure leptonic decays and probing anomalous quartic gauge-boson (e.g., WWAA) couplings, is presented in detail for the first time, with parton shower and detector simulation effects taken into account. Our results show that at the sqrt{s} = 14 TeV L…
We analyze the potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to study anomalous quartic vector-boson interactions Z Z gamma gamma, Z Z Z gamma, W+ W- gamma gamma, and W+ W- Z gamma through the weak boson fusion processes q q -> q q gamma gamma and q q -> q q gamma Z(-> l+ l-) with l = electron or muon. After a careful study of the backgrounds and how to extract them from the data, we show that the process p p -> j j gamma l+ l- is potentially the most sensitive to deviations from the Standard Model, improving the sensitivity to anomalous couplings by up to a factor 10^4 (10^2) with respect…
We discuss an interesting class of models, based on strongly coupled Dark Matter (DM), where sizable effects can be expected in LHC missing energy (MET) searches, compatibly with a large separation of scales. In this case, an effective field theory (EFT) is appropriate (and sometimes necessary) to describe the most relevant interactions at the LHC. The selection rules implied by the structure of the new strong dynamics shape the EFT in an unusual way, revealing the importance of higher-derivative interactions previously ignored. We compare indications from relic density and direct detection ex…
We present a parton-level study of electro-weak production of vector-boson pairs at the Large Hadron Collider, establishing the sensitivity to a set of dimension-six operators in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). Different final states are statistically combined, and we discuss how the orthogonality and interdependence of different analyses must be considered to obtain the most stringent constraints. The main novelties of our study are the inclusion of SMEFT effects in non-resonant diagrams and in irreducible QCD backgrounds, and an exhaustive template analysis of optimal obse…
We present a study of the interplay between PDF and EFT effects in high-mass Drell-Yan at the LHC. We quantify the impact of a consistent joint determination of the PDFs and Wilson coefficients on the bounds obtained on the EFT and examine the effect on the PDFs, determining the extent to which EFT signals could be reabsorbed into the large-$x$ quark and anti-quark PDFs. Finally, we present dedicated projections for the High-Luminosity LHC and evaluate its ultimate potential to constrain the EFT parameters, while taking into account potential modifications of the proton structure.
We present a systematic interpretation of vector boson scattering (VBS) and diboson measurements from the LHC in the framework of the dimension-six Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We consider all available measurements of VBS fiducial cross-sections and differential distributions from ATLAS and CMS, in most cases based on the full Run II luminosity, and use them to constrain 16 independent directions in the dimension-six EFT parameter space. Compared to the diboson measurements, we find that VBS provides complementary information on several of the operators relevant for the desc…
Finding better ways to prove the Standard Model Effective Field Theory is a very important direction of research. This paper focuses on measurements of Electroweak triple gauge couplings, paying special attention on the regime of validity of the Effective Field Theory (EFT). In this regard, one of our goals is to find measurements leading to a large increase of the interference between the SM amplitude and the contribution of irrelevant operators in the EFT. We propose two such distributions that will lead to a better accuracy. Improvements compared to the traditional methods as well as LHC hi…
We discuss the implications of dimension-six operators of the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework in the study of Vector Boson Scattering (VBS) in the $pp \to Z Z j j $ channel. We show that operators of dimension-six should not be neglected in favour of those of dimension-eight. We observe that this process is very sensitive to some of the operators commonly fit using LEP and Higgs data, and that it can be used to improve the bounds on the former. Further we show that other operators than the ones generating anomalous triple and quartic gauge couplings (aTGCs/aQCGs) can have a non-negligib…
We analyze the potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider to study anomalous quartic vector--boson interactions through the production of vector--boson pairs accompanied by jets. In the framework of $SU(2)_L \otimes U(1)_Y$ chiral Lagrangians, we examine all effective operators of order $p^4$ that lead to new four--gauge--boson interactions but do not alter trilinear vertices. In our analyses, we perform the full tree level calculation of the processes leading to two jets plus vector--boson pairs, $W^+W^-$, $W^\pm W^\pm$, $W^\pm Z$, or $ZZ$, taking properly into account the interference betwe…
It is possible that measurements of vector boson scattering (VBS) at the LHC will reveal disagreement with Standard Model predictions, but no new particles will be observed directly. The task is then to learn as much as possible about the new physics from a VBS analysis carried within the framework of the Effective Field Theory (EFT). In this paper we discuss issues related to the correct usage of the EFT when the WW invariant mass is not directly accessible experimentally, as in purely leptonic W decay channels. The strategies for future data analyses in case such scenario indeed occurs are p…
Effective field theories are an incredibly powerful tool in order to study and understand the true nature of the symmetry breaking sector dynamics of the Standard Model. However, they can suffer from some theoretical problems such as that of unitarity violation. Nevertheless, in order to interpret experimental data correctly a fully unitary prescription is needed. To this purpose, unitarization methods are addressed, but each of them leads to a different (unitary) prediction. Because of this, there is an inherent theoretical uncertainty in the determination of the effective field theory parame…
We analyze the potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to study the structure of quartic vector-boson interactions through the pair production of electroweak gauge bosons via weak boson fusion q q -> q q W W. In order to study these couplings we have performed a partonic level calculation of all processes p p -> j j e+/- mu+/- nu nu and pp -> j j e+/- mu-/+ nu nu at the LHC using the exact matrix elements at O(α_{em}^6) and O(α_{em}^4 α_s^2) as well as a full simulation of the t tbar plus 0 to 2 jets backgrounds. A complete calculation of the scattering amplitudes is necessary not on…
We study the indirect effects of New Physics in the Higgs decay into four charged leptons, using an Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to Higgs interactions. We evaluate the deviations induced by the EFT dimension-six operators in observables like partial decay width and various kinematic distributions, including angular observables, and compare them with the contribution of the full SM electroweak corrections. The calculation is implemented in an improved version of the event generator Hto4l, which can provide predictions in terms of different EFT-bases and is available for data analysis a…
We report a study of the process pp to l nu gamma gamma at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, using a leading order partonic-level event generator interfaced to the Pythia program for showering and hadronisation and a with a generic detector simulation. The process is sensitive to possible anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings of the form W W gamma gamma. It is shown how unitarity-safe limits may be placed on these anomalous couplings by applying a binned maximum likelihood fit to the distribution of the two-photon invariant mass, M(gamma gamma), below a cutoff of 1TeV. Assuming 30fb-1 of integra…
In supersymmetric theories, there is a scalar quartic related to the top and bottom yukawas that gives LHC observable decays of the stop or sbottom. After electroweak symmetry breaking, this quartic induces the decay of the stop (sbottom) to a charged Higgs and the sbottom (stop) without allowing for the corresponding channel involving the W boson. Unlike other scalar quartics, this scalar quartic is measurable at the LHC and for compressed spectra may even be the discovery channel for the stop or sbottom. Observing this decay and measuring the value of the quartic interaction would give direc…
