Minimal 3-3-1 model with only two Higgs triplets
The simplest non-Abelian gauge extension of the electroweak standard model, the SU(3){sub c} x SU(3){sub L} x U(1){sub N}, known as the 3-3-1 model, has a minimal version which demands the least possible fermionic content to account for the whole established phenomenology for the well-known particles and interactions. Nevertheless, in its original form the minimal 3-3-1 model was proposed with a set of three scalar triplets and one sextet in order to yield the spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry and generate the observed fermion masses. Such a huge scalar sector turns the task of clearly identifying the physical scalar spectrum into a clumsy labor. It not only adds an obstacle for the development of its phenomenology, but implies a scalar potential plagued with new free coupling constants. In this work, we show that the framework of the minimal 3-3-1 model can be built with only two scalar triplets, but still triggering the desired pattern of spontaneous symmetry breaking and generating the correct fermion masses. We present the exact physical spectrum and also show all the interactions involving the scalars, obtaining a neat minimal 3-3-1 model far more suited for phenomenological studies at the current Large Hadron Collider.

title: Light composite Higgs from an effective action for technicolor
abstract: We compute an effective action for a composite Higgs boson formed by new fermions belonging to a general technicolor non-Abelian gauge theory, using a quite general expression for the fermionic self-energy that depends on a certain parameter ($\ensuremath{\alpha}$), that defines the technicolor theory from the extreme walking behavior up to the one with a standard operator product expansion behavior. We discuss the values of the trilinear and quadrilinear scalar couplings. Our calculation spans all the possible physical possibilities for mass and couplings of the composite system. In the case of extreme walking technicolor theories we verify that it is possible to have a composite Higgs boson with a mass as light as the present experimental limit, contrary to the usual expectation of a heavy mass for the composite Higgs boson. In this case we obtain an upper limit for the Higgs boson mass, (${M}_{H}\ensuremath{\le}\mathcal{O}(700)\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ for $SU(2{)}_{\mathrm{TC}}$), and the experimental data on the Higgs boson mass constrain $SU(N{)}_{\mathrm{TC}}$ technicolor gauge groups to be smaller than $SU(10{)}_{\mathrm{TC}}$.

title: Spontaneous CP violation in the 3-3-1 model with right-handed neutrinos
abstract: complex VEV's in the respective model. Obtain the con- straint equations on the phases which come from the minimum condition of the scalar potential. Check how many phases the gauge transformation can eliminate. Finally, wherever it is possible, redefine the fields as to absorb the remaining phases. If, in the end, at least one phase survives, then the SCPV mechanism works in the model considered. In this work we implement the SCPV mechanism in the SU� 3� CSU� 3� LU� 1� N (3-3-1) gauge model for the electroweak and strong interactions that possess right- handed neutrinos composing the fundamental representa- tion (6). The SCPV was already considered in other ver- sions of the 3-3-1 models (7,8). In general all the 3-3-1 models require at least three scalar triplets in order to generate the correct particle masses of the model. Considering that each scalar triplet involves at least one neutral scalar, we are going to have at least three phases when no complex coupling is assumed. Nevertheless, the SU� 3� LU� 1� N symmetry allows us to eliminate two of these phases and, certainly, the minimum condition of the scalar potential of the model will provide an additional constraint over the phases. Thus, it is expected that, in the case of three triplets and three phases, the gauge symmetry and the minimum constraint lead to a trivial solution, i.e., that these three phases can be washed out of the model. It was shown in Ref. (7) that this kind of 3-3-1 model requires three triplets and one scalar sextet in order for SCPV to be implemented. The minimal 3-3-1 model with right-handed neutrinos also requires only three scalar triplets to generate the needed masses. What motivates our investigation of the SCPV in this model is that its scalar sector differs from the other models in a subtle aspect. Two of its three scalar triplets possess each one two neutral scalars. Thus, in this model, we dispose from the beginning of a total of five neutral scalars. When we assume that all of them develop complex VEV's, five phases appear in the model. We will show that in this scenario one phase still survives the gauge transformation, the constraints for the minimum of the

title: Bounds on the simplest little Higgs model mass spectrum through Z leptonic decay
abstract: We derive the leptonic neutral current in the simplest little Higgs model and compute the contribution of the model to the decay width $Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. Using the precision electroweak data we obtain a strong lower bound $f\ensuremath{\ge}5.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ at 95% C.L. on the characteristic energy scale of the model. It results in a lower bound for the new gauge bosons ${W}^{\ensuremath{'}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ and ${Z}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ as being ${M}_{{W}^{\ensuremath{'}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}}\ensuremath{\ge}2.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ and ${M}_{{Z}^{\ensuremath{'}}}\ensuremath{\ge}3.1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$, respectively. We also present the allowed values of the $k={f}_{1}/{f}_{2}$ which is the parameter relating the two vacuum expectation values of the scalar triplets in the model, and the $\ensuremath{\mu}$ parameter of a quadratic term, involving the triplets, necessary to provide an acceptable mass range for the standard Higgs boson.

title: Fixed points and vacuum energy of dynamically broken gauge theories
abstract: We show that if a gauge theory with dynamical symmetry breaking has nontrivial fixed points, they will correspond to extrema of the vacuum energy. This relationship provides a different method to determine fixed points.

title: Scalar Bilepton Dark Matter
abstract: In this work we show that 3-3-1 model with right-handed neutrinos has a natural weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter candidate. It is a complex scalar with mass of order of some hundreds of GeV which carries two units of lepton number, a scalar bilepton. This makes it a very peculiar WIMP, very distinct from supersymmetric or extra-dimension candidates. Besides, although we have to make some reasonable assumptions concerning the several parameters in the model, no fine tuning is required in order to get the correct dark matter abundance. We also analyze the prospects for WIMP direct detection by considering recent and projected sensitivities for WIMP–nucleon elastic cross section from CDMS and XENON collaborations.

title: Recent results on Top quark Physics with the ATLAS and CMS experiments
abstract: An overview of the most recent results on top quark physics obtained using proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS and the CMS experiments at 7 TeV center-of-mass energy is given. Measurements for inclusive and differential top quark pair or single top quark production in different final states are reviewed. Top properties such as W helicity in top decays, electric charge, charge asymmetry and spin correlations of top quark pairs, among others have also been measured by the LHC experiments. All the measurements are found to be consistent with the Standard Model predictions with a good level of accuracy. The latest results in the measurement of the top quark mass at the LHC are also presented and discussed.

title: The Production and Qualification of Scintillator Tiles for the ATLAS Hadronic Calorimeter

title: Identification and filtering of uncharacteristic noise in the CMS hadron calorimeter
abstract: Commissioning studies of the CMS hadron calorimeter have identified sporadic uncharacteristic noise and a small number of malfunctioning calorimeter channels. Algorithms have been developed to identify and address these problems in the data. The methods have been tested on cosmic ray muon data, calorimeter noise data, and single beam data collected with CMS in 2008. The noise rejection algorithms can be applied to LHC collision data at the trigger level or in the offline analysis. The application of the algorithms at the trigger level is shown to remove 90% of noise events with fake missing transverse energy above 100 GeV, which is sufficient for the CMS physics trigger operation.

title: What does low energy physics tell us about the zero momentum gluon propagator
abstract: The connection between QCD, a nonlocal Nambu–Jona-Lasinio type model and the Landau gauge gluon propagator is explored. This two point function is parameterized by a functional form which is compatible with Dyson–Schwinger and lattice QCD results. Demanding the nonlocal model to reproduce the experimental values for the pion mass, the pion decay constant, Γ π → γ γ and the light quark condensate we conclude that low energy physics does not distinguish between the so-called decoupling and scaling solutions of the Dyson–Schwinger equations. This result means that, provided that the model parameters are chosen appropriately, one is free to choose any of the above scenarios. Furthermore, the nonlocal Nambu–Jona-Lasinio quark model considered here is chiral invariant and satisfies the GMOR relation at the 1% level of precision.

title: Evidence for the direct decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to fermions
abstract: The discovery of a new boson with a mass of approximately 125 GeV in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider1, 2, 3 has heralded a new era in understanding the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking and possibly completing the standard model of particle physics4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Since the first observation in decays to γγ, WW and ZZ boson pairs, an extensive set of measurements of the mass10, 11 and couplings to W and Z bosons11, 12, 13, as well as multiple tests of the spin-parity quantum numbers10, 11, 13, 14, have revealed that the properties of the new boson are consistent with those of the long-sought agent responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking. An important open question is whether the new particle also couples to fermions, and in particular to down-type fermions, as the current measurements mainly constrain the couplings to the up-type top quark. Determination of the couplings to down-type fermions requires direct measurement of the corresponding Higgs boson decays, as recently reported by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment in the study of Higgs decays to bottom quarks15 and τ leptons16. Here, we report the combination of these two channels, which results in strong evidence for the direct coupling of the 125 GeV Higgs boson to down-type fermions, with an observed significance of 3.8 standard deviations, when 4.4 are expected.