Constraints on mSUGRA through entropy and abundance criteria
We derive an expression for the entropy of a present dark matter halo described by a Navarro-Frenk-White modified model with a central core. The comparison of this entropy with the one of the halo at the freeze-out era allows us to obtain an expression for the relic abundance of neutralinos, which in turn is used to constrain the parameter space in mSUGRA models, when used with the WMAP observations. Moreover, by joning these results with the ones obtained from the usual abundance criteria, we are able to clearly discriminate validity regions among tan beta values of the mSUGRA model, by demanding both criteria to be consistent with the 2 sigma bounds of the WMAP observations for the relic density: 0.112 151 GeV.

title: Finite unification at all-loops

title: Finite unified theories and the top quark mass
abstract: We present results of a study of two phenomenologically interesting SU (5) supersymmetric Grand Unified models, which are finite to all-loops before spontaneous symmetry breaking. The finiteness conditions provide us with relationships among the Yukawa and gauge couplings at the unification point, which in turn predict a heavy top quark mass (∼ 175 – 190 GeV).

title: Finite GUTs within conventional N=1 gauge theories
abstract: Finite Unified Theories (FUTs) are conventional N=1 supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories, which can be made all-loop finite, both in the dimensionless (gauge and Yukawa couplings) and dimensionful (soft supersymmetry breaking terms) sectors. This remarkable property leads to a drastic reduction in the number of free parameters, which in turn leads to an accurate prediction of the top quark mass in the dimensionless sector, and predictions for the Higgs boson mass and the s-spectrum in the dimensionful sector. Among the characteristics of the latter ones are: 1) The lightest Higgs boson mass is predicted to be in the window 120–130 GeV, in case the LSP is neutralino, while in case the LSP is the τ (which can be consistently accommodated in presence of bilinear R-parity violating terms) it can be as light as 111 GeV. 2) The s-spectrum starts above several hundreds of GeV.

title: Top quark mass predictions from gauge Yukawa unification
abstract: Gauge-Yukawa Unification (GYU) is a renormalization group invariant functional relation among gauge and Yukawa couplings which holds beyond the unification point in Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). Here, GYU is obtained by requiring finiteness and reduction of couplings to all orders in perturbation theory. We examine the consequences of GYU in various supersymmetric GUTs and in particular the predictions for the top quark mass. These predictions are such that they distinguish already GYU from ordinary GUTs. Moreover, when more accurate measurements of the top quark mass are available, it is expected that it will be possible to discriminate among the various GYUs.

title: Conditions for vacuum stability in an S3 extension of the Standard Model
abstract: In this work we study the Higgs sector in the minimal S3 extension of the Standard Model. The S3 extended Standard Model, which has three Higgs doublets fields that belong to the three-dimensional reducible representation of the permutation group S3, has naturally new phenomena: there are several Higgs bosons, charged, neutral and pseuodscalar ones, and more than one potential minimum. We analyzed the stability of the minimal S3 invariant extension of the Higgs potential and show that at tree-level, the potential minimum preserving electric charge and CP symmetries, when it exists, is the global one.

title: Inclusive search for standard model Higgs boson production in the WW decay channel using the CDF II detector.
abstract: We present a search for standard model (SM) Higgs boson production using pp collision data at square root(s) = 1.96 TeV, collected with the CDF II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb(-1). We search for Higgs bosons produced in all processes with a significant production rate and decaying to two W bosons. We find no evidence for SM Higgs boson production and place upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the SM production cross section (sigma(H)) for values of the Higgs boson mass (sigma(H)) in the range from 110 to 200 GeV. These limits are the most stringent for m(H) > 130 GeV and are 1.29 above the predicted value of sigma(H) for c = 165 GeV.

title: Search for Higgs bosons produced in association with b quarks
abstract: We present a search for neutral Higgs bosons φ decaying into bb¯, produced in association with b quarks in ppb¯ collisions. This process could be observable in supersymmetric models with high values of tan β. The event sample corresponds to 2.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. We search for an enhancement in the mass of the two leading jets in events with three jets identified as coming from b quarks using a displaced vertex algorithm. A data-driven procedure is used to estimate the dijet mass spectrum of the nonresonant multijet background. The contributions of backgrounds and a possible Higgs boson signal are determined by a two-dimensional fit of the data, using the dijet mass together with an additional variable which is sensitive to the flavor composition of the three tagged jets. We set mass-dependent limits on σ(ppb¯ = φb) x Β(φ= bb¯) which are applicable for a narrow scalar particle φ produced in association with b quarks. We also set limits on tan β in supersymmetric Higgs models including the effects of the Higgs boson width.

title: Search for new dielectron resonances and Randall-Sundrum gravitons at the collider detector at Fermilab.
abstract: A search for new dielectron-mass resonances using data recorded by the CDF II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.7  fb(-1) is presented. No significant excess over the expected standard model prediction is observed. In this data set, an event with the highest dielectron mass ever observed (960  GeV/c(2)) was recorded. The results are interpreted in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model. Combined with the 5.4  fb(-1) diphoton analysis, the RS-graviton lower-mass limit for the coupling k/M¯(Pl)=0.1 is 1058  GeV/c(2), making it the strongest limit to date.