We review the status of the 2-Higgs doublet model (2HDM) type-II, in the light of the current experimental results and various theoretical consistency conditions. Compared to the existing literature, in this paper, we apply for the first time a new method that can improve the standard procedure for setting bounds on the 2HDM parameter space, as no experimental evidence has been found so far. Our new numerical framework, called MAGELLAN, and statistical techniques can be applied to any beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenario. Here, we take as testing ground the 2HDM, particularly as it is physically interesting and moreover characterized by a far from trivial multidimensional parameter space where the effectiveness of the new methods can be proved. MAGELLAN uses a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique for scanning the parameter space and leverages the use of data processing and visualisation methods, allowing the user to perform inference on the model in a complete and efficient way. The novelty of the proposed method is that the parameter space of any BSM theory can be projected onto any bidimensional plane while still retaining all underlying attributes of those points, so that it is possible to investigate the associations between the properties of the various lower dimensional subspaces of the complete parameter space. The MAGELLAN's website interactive dashboards can be accessed via a public link. Through this website, the user can explore the full parameter space and exploit the phenomenological features of a BSM model with ease.

We propose a Vector-like quark (VLQ) model constrained by the requirement of perturbative unitarity. In this scenario, the neutral and charged couplings of the new heavy VLQs to SM quarks and bosons are strictly related. We derive the corresponding sum rules and display the definite structure of the couplings. We analyse, qualitatively, the phenomenological consequences of this model in terms of expected width, production mechanism and decay channels. We show that the upcoming LHC run 3 could have sensitivity to such particles but the search strategy should be adapted to cover wide resonances decaying mainly in the charged channel T(B) -> Wq.

We study the process q q, g g -> A -> Z* h in a 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type-II where the mass of the CP-odd Higgs state A is lower than the rest mass of the Z and h particles (the latter being the Standard Model-like Higgs state), i.e., mA < mZ + mh = 215 GeV. This is a mass range which is not being currently tested by ATLAS and CMS in this channel, yet we show that there can be sensitivity to it already during Runs 2 and 3, assuming leptonic decays of the gauge boson and bottom-antibottom quark ones for the Higgs boson.

Di-lepton searches for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) Z′ bosons that rely on the analysis of the Breit-Wigner (BW) line shape are appropriate in the case of narrow resonances, but likely not sufficient in scenarios featuring Z′ states with large widths. Conversely, alternative experimental strategies applicable to wide Z′ resonances are much more dependent than the default bump search analyses on the modelling of QCD higher-order corrections to the production processes, for both signal and background. For heavy Z′ boson searches in the di-lepton channel at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the transverse momentum qT of the di-lepton system peaks at qT≲10−2Mll, where Mll is the di-lepton invariant mass. We exploit this to treat the QCD corrections by using the logarithmic resummation methods in Mll/qT to all orders in the strong coupling constant αs. We carry out studies of Z′ states with large width at the LHC by employing the program reSolve, which performs QCD transverse momentum resummation up to Next-to-Next-to-Leading Logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. We consider two benchmark BSM scenarios, based on the Sequential Standard Model (SSM) and dubbed ‘SSM wide’ and ‘SSM enhanced’. We present results for the shape and size of Z′ boson signals at the differential level, mapped in both cross section (σ) and Forward-Backward Asymmetry (AFB), and perform numerical investigations of the experimental sensitivity at the LHC Run 3 and High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC).

We submit an Erratum for our paper Eur. Phys. J. C (2018) 78: 663 (ID: EPJC-18-06-165), with title “Neutral current Forward-Backward Asymmetry:

We investigate the impact of high-statistics Drell-Yan (DY) measurements at the LHC on the study of non-perturbative QCD effects from parton distribution functions (PDF). We present the results of a PDF profiling analysis based on the neutral-current DY forward-backward asymmetry, using the open source fit platform xFitter.

We review the status of the 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) Type-II, in the light of the current experimental results and various theoretical consistency conditions. In doing so, we adopt a new numerical framework, called Magellan, to explore the full parameter space of the model. Magellan uses a simple, Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique for the exploration and leverages the use of modern tools, allowing the user to perform inference on the model in an efficient way. The framework exploits the output of well-known Higgs production and decay programs, together with that of packages implementing the current results of both direct and indirect Higgs boson searches. We further illustrate how future measurements can be incorporated in such a framework, through the example of neutral heavy Higgs boson production and decay via the gluon-gluon fusion mode in a variety of final states.

E. Accomando, ∗ F. Coradeschi, † T. Cridge, ‡ J. Fiaschi, § F. Hautmann, 6, 7, 8, ¶ S. Moretti, ∗∗ C. Shepherd-Themistocleous, †† and C. Voisey ‡‡ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK DAMTP, CMS, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Münster, D 48149 Münster, Germany Elementaire Deeltjes Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, B 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium Theoretical Physics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK UPV/EHU University of the Basque Country, Bilbao 48080 CERN, Theoretical Physics Department, CH 1211 Geneva, Switzerland Particle Physics Department, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,

Received 19 March 2019DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.079902Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasW & Z bosonsParticles & Fields

We study the impact of the inclusion of Neutral Current (NC) DY data from LHC mapped in the Forward-Backward Asymmetry ($A_{\rm FB}$) observable on PDF uncertainties, using the open source platform \texttt{xFitter}. We find that $A_{\rm FB}$ enables new PDF sensitivity at current and future luminosity stages of LHC.

We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of standard model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the [Formula: see text]m scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of [Formula: see text] m. Neutral LLPs with lifetimes above [Formula: see text]100 m are particularly difficult to probe, as the sensitivity of the LHC main detectors is limited by challenging backgrounds, triggers, and small acceptances. MATHUSLA is a proposal for a minimally instrumented, large-volume surface detector near ATLAS or CMS. It would search for neutral LLPs produced in HL-LHC collisions by reconstructing displaced vertices (DVs) in a low-background environment, extending the sensitivity of the main detectors by orders of magnitude in the long-lifetime regime. We study the LLP physics opportunities afforded by a MATHUSLA-like detector at the HL-LHC, assuming backgrounds can be rejected as expected. We develop a model-independent approach to describe the sensitivity of MATHUSLA to BSM LLP signals, and compare it to DV and missing energy searches at ATLAS or CMS. We then explore the BSM motivations for LLPs in considerable detail, presenting a large number of new sensitivity studies. While our discussion is especially oriented towards the long-lifetime regime at MATHUSLA, this survey underlines the importance of a varied LLP search program at the LHC in general. By synthesizing these results into a general discussion of the top-down and bottom-up motivations for LLP searches, it is our aim to demonstrate the exceptional strength and breadth of the physics case for the construction of the MATHUSLA detector.

In this paper, we discuss the potential of observing heavy neutrino (ν h ) signatures of a U(1)B−L enlarged Standard Model (SM) encompassing three heavy Majorana neutrinos alongside the known light neutrino states at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We exploit the theoretical decay via a heavy (non-SM-like) Higgs boson and Z′ production followed by ν h → l±W ∓(∗) and ν h → ν l Z(∗) decays, ultimately yielding a 3l + 2j + E T miss signature and, depending upon how boosted the final state objects are, we define different possible selections aimed at improving the signal to background ratio in LHC Run 2 data for a wide range of heavy neutrino masses.

We study the cross section $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ and forward-backward asymmetry (${A}_{\mathrm{FB}}$) in the process $pp\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{*},Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ (with $\ensuremath{\ell}=e$, $\ensuremath{\mu}$) for determinations of parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton. We show that, once mapped in the invariant mass of the dilepton final state, $M(\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\ell})$, both observables, $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ and ${A}_{\mathrm{FB}}$, display a statistical error which is presently competitive with that assigned to the existing PDF sets and which will rapidly become smaller than the latter as the luminosity being accumulated at Run-II of the LHC grows. This statement is applicable to both on-peak and off-peak $M(\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\ell})$ regions, both (just) below and above it, thereby offering a means of constraining the quark PDFs over a sizable $(x,{Q}^{2})$ range.

The high statistics that will be collected during the LHC Run-II (and beyond) open the path to precision measurements at the TeV scale, where the PDFs will play a crucial role in BSM searches. In the di-lepton final state accurate measurements of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry (AFB) will be available, particularly in the invariant mass region around the Z peak. We show that this observable displays a statistical error which is competitive with that assigned to the existing PDF sets and which will rapidly become smaller than the latter as the integrated luminosity grows, thereby offering a means of constraining the (anti)quark PDFs over a sizeable $(x,Q^2)$ range. In the context of SUSY searches we consider the effects of employing threshold-improved PDFs in a consistent calculation at NLO+NLL of slepton pair production cross sections. The calculations featuring a consistent resummation procedure both at PDF and partonic matrix element level are accompanied by PDF and scale uncertainties, and they provide a reliable and updated theoretical estimation for experimental data analyses at the LHC Run-II.

We report on recent studies of photon-induced (PI) contributions to di-lepton production and their implications for Beyond Standard Model (BSM) $Z^\prime$-bosons searches at the LHC.

We show the SM prediction of di-lepton production at the LHC where to the usual Drell-Yan production we add the contribution from Photon-Initiated processes. We discuss the effects of the inclusion of photon interactions in the high invariant mass region (TeV region) and their consequences on BSM heavy Z'-boson searches.

We recognise the appearance of a Focus Point (FP) in the transverse momentum distribution of either leptons originating from a BSM $Z^\prime$-boson decay, after a simple normalisation procedure. Exploring the properties of the FP we will be able to define in a general way a new observable, the Focus Point Asymmetry ($A_{\rm FP}$), which can be used to set constrains on the $Z^\prime$ width. We discuss the potential and the sensitivity of the $A_{\rm FP}$ in as diagnostic tool for $Z^\prime$ physics, considering various $Z^\prime$ phenomenological realisations.

We explore the effects of Photon Induced (PI) production of a dilepton final state in the Large Hadron Collider environment. Using QED Parton Distribution Function (PDF) sets we can treat the photons as real partons inside the protons and compare their yield directly to that of the Drell-Yan (DY) process. In particular, we concentrate on an error analysis of the two mechanisms. In order to do so, we use the NNPDF set, which comes with a set of replicas to estimate the systematic PDF error. On the one hand, we find that the PI contribution becomes dominant over DY above a dilepton invariant mass of 3 TeV. On the other hand, the PI predictions are affected by a large error coming from the QED PDFs, well above the one affecting the DY mode. We assess the impact of these uncertainties in the context of resonant and non-resonant searches for a neutral massive vector boson (Z') through the differential cross section and Forward-Backward Asymmetry (AFB) observables as a function of the dilepton invariant mass. While the former is subject to the aforementioned significant residual errors the latter shows the systematic error cancellation expected (recall that AFB is a ratio of cross sections) even in presence of PI contributions, so that the recently emphasized key role played by AFB as a valid tool for both Z' discovery and interpretation in both resonant and non-resonant mode is further consolidated.

We examine the observability of heavy neutrino (ν h ) signatures of a U(1)′ enlarged Standard Model (SM) encompassing three heavy Majorana neutrinos alongside the known light neutrino states at the the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We show that heavy neutrinos can be rather long-lived particles producing distinctive displaced vertices that can be accessed in the CERN LHC detectors. We concentrate here on the gluon fusion production mechanism gg → H 1,2 → ν h ν h , where H 1 is the discovered SM-like Higgs and H 2 is a heavier state, yielding displaced leptons following ν h decays into weak gauge bosons. Using data collected by the end of the LHC Run 2, these signatures would prove to be accessible with negligibly small background.

We define a focus point (FP) asymmetry, A(FP), obtained by integrating the normalized transverse momentum distribution of either lepton produced in the Drell-Yan (DY) process below and above a point where a variety of popular Z' models all have the same magnitude. For a given Z' mass the position of this FP is predictable, depending only on the collider energy and on the low transverse momentum cut chosen in the normalization procedure. The resulting A(FP) is very sensitive to the Z' width and can be used to constrain this parameter in experimental fits.