Search for physics beyond the standard model in events with a Z boson, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in events with a Z boson, jets, and missing transverse energy (MET). This signature is motivated by BSM physics scenarios, including supersymmetry. The study is performed using a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 inverse femtobarns. The contributions from the dominant standard model backgrounds are estimated from data using two complementary strategies, the jet-Z balance technique and a method based on modeling MET with data control samples. In the absence of evidence for BSM physics, we set limits on the non-standard-model contributions to event yields in the signal regions and interpret the results in the context of simplified model spectra. Additional information is provided to facilitate tests of other BSM physics models.

title: DARK MATTER AND MASSIVE NEUTRINOS

title: Search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7\;TeV $
abstract: A bstractResults are presented from a search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in a sample of proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7\;TeV $ collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb−1. A scenario where the new particles are pair produced and each decays to a b quark plus a tau neutrino or neutralino is considered. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the standard model prediction. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross sections. Leptoquarks with masses below ~450 GeV are excluded. Upper limits in the mass plane of the scalar quark and neutralino are set such that scalar bottom quark masses up to 410 GeV are excluded for neutralino masses of 50 GeV.

title: Measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel cross section in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractA measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel production cross section in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. Two different and complementary approaches have been followed. The first approach exploits the distributions of the pseudorapidity of the recoil jet and reconstructed top-quark mass using background estimates determined from control samples in data. The second approach is based on multivariate analysis techniques that probe the compatibility of the candidate events with the signal. Data have been collected for the muon and electron final states, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.17 and 1.56 fb−1, respectively. The single-top-quark production cross section in the t-channel is measured to be 67.2±6.1 pb, in agreement with the approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order standard model prediction. Using the standard model electroweak couplings, the CKM matrix element |Vtb| is measured to be 1.020 ± 0.046 (meas.) ± 0.017 (theor.).

title: Search for new physics in events with same-sign dileptons and b-tagged jets in pp collisions at $ \sqrt {s} = 7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractA search for new physics is performed using isolated same-sign dileptons with at least two b-quark jets in the final state. Results are based on a 4.98 fb−1 sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS detector. No excess above the standard model background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the number of events from non-standard-model sources. These limits are used to set constraints on a number of new physics models. Information on acceptance and efficiencies are also provided so that the results can be used to confront additional models in an approximate way.

title: Search for Excited Electrons in ep Collisions at HERA
abstract: A search for excited electrons is performed using the full e±p data sample collected by the H1 experiment at HERA, corresponding to a total luminosity of 475 pb−1. The electroweak decays of excited electrons e*→eγ, e*→eZ and e*→νW with subsequent hadronic or leptonic decays of the W and Z bosons are considered. No evidence for excited electron production is found. Mass dependent exclusion limits on e* production cross sections and on the ratio f/Λ of the coupling to the compositeness scale are derived within gauge mediated models. These limits extend the excluded region compared to previous excited electron searches. The e* production via contact interactions is also addressed for the first time in ep collisions.

title: Low Mass WIMP Searches with a Neutrino Experiment: A Proposal for Further MiniBooNE Running
abstract: A proposal submitted to the FNAL PAC is described to search for light sub-GeV WIMP dark matter at MiniBooNE. The possibility to steer the beam past the target and into an absorber leads to a significant reduction in neutrino background, allowing for a sensitive search for elastic scattering of WIMPs off nucleons or electrons in the detector. Dark matter models involving a vector mediator can be probed in a parameter region consistent with the required thermal relic density, and which overlaps the region in which these models can resolve the muon g-2 discrepancy. Estimates of signal significance are presented for various operational modes and parameter points. The experimental approach outlined for applying MiniBooNE to a light WIMP search may also be applicable to other neutrino facilities.

title: A Combined Three-Phase Signal Extraction of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Data Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique
abstract: Neutrino physics has entered an era of precision, after proving that the Standard Solar Model is a viable theory and going beyond the current Standard Model of particle physics by proving that neutrinos possess nonzero masses. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment, along with other experiments, has restricted neutrino mixing angle (θ12) and the mass square difference (∆m21) to lie within the large mixing solution area. SNO, located 2 km underground in Sudbury, Canada, was an ultraclean heavy-water (D2O) imaging detector for observing neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the Sun. Neutrino interactions with heavy water resulted in flashes of light called C̆erenkov radiation which was detected by an array of photomultiplier tubes. SNO took data from November 1999 to November 2006, totalling 1082 days of data taking. This work describes an improved measurement of the mixing parameters from a combined fit of all the data. For the signal extraction fit on the data consisting of 4 observable of an event – radial position, recoil electron energy, direction relative to the Sun and event isotropy – Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method based on Metropolis algorithm was employed. The nuisance parameters (systematics), weighted by external constraints, were allowed to vary in the fit. The goal of the thesis was to extract the survival probabilities of electron neutrinos and determine the total flux of active-flavour neutrinos from B decay in the Sun measured through the neutral current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium. The B flux from the fit is (5.24 ± 0.02) × 10 cm−2 s−1; uncertainty from statistics and systematics is 3.56%. Along with B flux, the fit extracted energy spectra of charged current interactions of neutrinos on deuterium and elastic scattering interactions of neutrinos on electrons. The fit described the energy-dependent day survival probability of solar neutrinos as a quadratic equation and asymmetry on the day survival probability as a linear equation. Four polynomial coefficients of the survival probability were extracted from the fit: constant coefficient as 0.3206± 0.0197, linear coefficient as 0.005± 0.008 and quadratic coefficient as −0.0014± 0.0033. There are two coefficients on the day-night asymmetry: constant coefficient as 0.0496 ± 0.0347 and the linear coefficient as −0.018 ± 0.028. The day-night asymmetry (0.0496) observed is 1.4σ away from zero. Using these findings, the oscillation space in terms of ∆m21 and θ12 will be further constrained. Compared to the previous published SNO results, the uncertainty on B went down from 3.83% to 3.56% and average B νe survival probability (p0) went down from 6.57% to 6.14%. If the data were analysed with the same assumptions, the decrease in uncertainties would have been approximately twice as big; however, more conservative systematic uncertainties were assigned in some cases.

title: COSMIC EMULATION: THE CONCENTRATION-MASS RELATION FOR wCDM UNIVERSES
abstract: The concentration-mass relation for dark matter-dominated halos is one of the essential results expected from a theory of structure formation. We present a simple prediction scheme, a cosmic emulator, for the concentration-mass (c-M) relation as a function of cosmological parameters for wCDM models. The emulator is constructed from 37 individual models, with three nested N-body gravity-only simulations carried out for each model. The mass range covered by the emulator is 2 × 1012 M ☉ < M < 1015 M ☉ with a corresponding redshift range of z = 0-1. Over this range of mass and redshift, as well as the variation of cosmological parameters studied, the mean halo concentration varies from c ~ 2 to c ~ 8. The distribution of the concentration at fixed mass is Gaussian with a standard deviation of one-third of the mean value, almost independent of cosmology, mass, and redshift over the ranges probed by the simulations. We compare results from the emulator with previously derived heuristic analytic fits for the c-M relation, finding that they underestimate the halo concentration at high masses. Using the emulator to investigate the cosmology dependence of the c-M relation over the currently allowable range of values, we find—not surprisingly—that σ8 and ω m influence it considerably, but also that the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w has a substantial effect. In general, the concentration of lower-mass halos is more sensitive to changes in cosmological parameters as compared to cluster mass halos. The c-M emulator is publicly available from http://www.hep.anl.gov/cosmology/CosmicEmu.

title: Simulations and cosmological inference : A statistical model for power spectra means and covariances
abstract: We describe an approximate statistical model for the sample variance distribution of the nonlinear matter power spectrum that can be calibrated from limited numbers of simulations. Our model retains the common assumption of a multivariate normal distribution for the power spectrum band powers but takes full account of the (parameter-dependent) power spectrum covariance. The model is calibrated using an extension of the framework in Habib et al. (2007) to train Gaussian processes for the power spectrum mean and covariance given a set of simulation runs over a hypercube in parameter space. We demonstrate the performance of this machinery by estimating the parameters of a power-law model for the power spectrum. Within this framework, our calibrated sample variance distribution is robust to errors in the estimated covariance and shows rapid convergence of the posterior parameter constraints with the number of training simulations.

title: Attractor states and infrared scaling in de Sitter space
abstract: The renormalized expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor for a scalar field with any mass m and curvature coupling {xi} is studied for an arbitrary homogeneous and isotropic physical initial state in de Sitter spacetime. We prove quite generally that has a fixed point attractor behavior at late times, which depends only on m and {xi}, for any fourth order adiabatic state that is infrared finite. Specifically, when m{sup 2}+{xi}R>0, approaches the Bunch-Davies de Sitter invariant value at late times, independently of the initial state. When m={xi}=0, it approaches instead the de Sitter invariant Allen-Folacci value. When m=0 and {xi}{>=}0 we show that the state independent asymptotic value of the energy-momentum tensor is proportional to the conserved geometrical tensor {sup (3)}H{sub ab}, which is related to the behavior of the quantum effective action of the scalar field under global Weyl rescaling. This relationship serves to generalize the definition of the trace anomaly in the infrared for massless, nonconformal fields. In the case m{sup 2}+{xi}R=0, but m and {xi} separately different from zero, grows linearly with cosmic time at late times. For most values of m{sup 2} and {xi} in the tachyonic cases, m{sup 2}+{xi}R grows exponentially at late cosmic times for all physically admissible initial states.« less