Showing papers in "Journal of High Energy Physics in 2007"

Matching NLO QCD computations with Parton Shower simulations: the POWHEG method

Abstract: The aim of this work is to describe in detail the POWHEG method, first suggested by one of the authors, for interfacing parton-shower generators with NLO QCD computations. We describe the method in its full generality, and then specify its features in two subtraction frameworks for NLO calculations: the Catani-Seymour and the Frixione-Kunszt-Signer approach. Two examples are discussed in detail in both approaches: the production of hadrons in e+e− collisions, and the Drell-Yan vector-boson production in hadronic collisions.

A covariant holographic entanglement entropy proposal

Abstract: With an aim towards understanding the time-dependence of entanglement entropy in generic quantum field theories, we propose a covariant generalization of the holographic entanglement entropy proposal of hep-th/0603001. Apart from providing several examples of possible covariant generalizations, we study a particular construction based on light-sheets, motivated in similar spirit to the covariant entropy bound underlying the holographic principle. In particular, we argue that the entanglement entropy associated with a specified region on the boundary in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence is given by the area of a co-dimension two bulk surface with vanishing expansions of null geodesics. We demonstrate our construction with several examples to illustrate its reduction to the holographic entanglement entropy proposal in static spacetimes. We further show how this proposal may be used to understand the time evolution of entanglement entropy in a time varying QFT state dual to a collapsing black hole background. Finally, we use our proposal to argue that the Euclidean wormhole geometries with multiple boundaries should be regarded as states in a non-interacting but entangled set of QFTs, one associated to each boundary.

The String landscape, black holes and gravity as the weakest force

Abstract: We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1) gauge field with gauge coupling g, there is a new ultraviolet scale Λ = gMPl, invisible to the low-energy effective field theorist, which sets a cutoff on the validity of the effective theory. Moreover, there is some light charged particle with mass smaller than or equal to Λ. The bound is motivated by arguments involving holography and absence of remnants, the (in) stability of black holes as well as the non-existence of global symmetries in string theory. A sharp form of the conjecture is that there are always light ``elementary'' electric and magnetic objects with a mass/charge ratio smaller than the corresponding ratio for macroscopic extremal black holes, allowing extremal black holes to decay. This conjecture is supported by a number of non-trivial examples in string theory. It implies the necessary presence of new physics beneath the Planck scale, not far from the GUT scale, and explains why some apparently natural models of inflation resist an embedding in string theory.

Gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling

Abstract: We describe how to compute planar gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling in = 4 super Yang Mills by using the gauge/string duality. The computation boils down to finding a certain classical string configuration whose boundary conditions are determined by the gluon momenta. The results are infrared divergent. We introduce the gravity version of dimensional regularization to define finite quantities. The leading and subleading IR divergencies are characterized by two functions of the coupling that we compute at strong coupling. We compute also the full finite form for the four point amplitude and we find agreement with a recent ansatz by Bern, Dixon and Smirnov.

MadGraph/MadEvent v4: the new web generation

Abstract: We present the latest developments of the MadGraph/MadEvent Monte Carlo event generator and several applications to hadron collider physics. In the current version events at the parton, hadron and detector level can be generated directly from a web interface, for arbitrary processes in the Standard Model and in several physics scenarios beyond it (HEFT, MSSM, 2HDM). The most important additions are: a new framework for implementing user-defined new physics models; a standalone running mode for creating and testing matrix elements; generation of events corresponding to different processes, such as signal(s) and backgrounds, in the same run; two platforms for data analysis, where events are accessible at the parton, hadron and detector level; and the generation of inclusive multi-jet samples by combining parton-level events with parton showers. To illustrate the new capabilities of the package some applications to hadron collider physics are presented: 1) Higgs search in pp \to H \to W^+W^-: signal and backgrounds. 2) Higgs CP properties: pp \to H jj$in the HEFT. 3) Spin of a new resonance from lepton angular distributions. 4) Single-top and Higgs associated production in a generic 2HDM. 5) Comparison of strong SUSY pair production at the SPS points. 6) Inclusive W+jets matched samples: comparison with the Tevatron data. Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures

Black holes as mirrors: Quantum information in random subsystems

Abstract: We study information retrieval from evaporating black holes, assuming that the internal dynamics of a black hole is unitary and rapidly mixing, and assuming that the retriever has unlimited control over the emitted Hawking radiation. If the evaporation of the black hole has already proceeded past the ``half-way'' point, where half of the initial entropy has been radiated away, then additional quantum information deposited in the black hole is revealed in the Hawking radiation very rapidly. Information deposited prior to the half-way point remains concealed until the half-way point, and then emerges quickly. These conclusions hold because typical local quantum circuits are efficient encoders for quantum error-correcting codes that nearly achieve the capacity of the quantum erasure channel. Our estimate of a black hole's information retention time, based on speculative dynamical assumptions, is just barely compatible with the black hole complementarity hypothesis.

The Strongly-Interacting Light Higgs

Abstract: We develop a simple description of models where electroweak symmetry breaking is triggered by a light composite Higgs, which emerges from a strongly-interacting sector as a pseudo-Goldstone boson. Two parameters broadly characterize these models: mρ, the mass scale of the new resonances and gρ, their coupling. An effective low-energy Lagrangian approach proves to be useful for LHC and ILC phenomenology below the scale mρ. We identify two classes of operators: those that are genuinely sensitive to the new strong force and those that are sensitive to the spectrum of the resonances only. Phenomenological prospects for the LHC and the ILC include the study of high-energy longitudinal vector boson scattering, strong double-Higgs production and anomalous Higgs couplings. We finally discuss the possibility that the top quark could also be a composite object of the strong sector.

A Positive-weight next-to-leading-order Monte Carlo for heavy flavour hadroproduction

Abstract: We present a next-to-leading order calculation of heavy flavour production in hadronic collisions that can be interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs. The calculation is performed in the context of the POWHEG method [1]. It is suitable for the computation of charm, bottom and top hadroproduction. In the case of top production, spin correlations in the decay products are taken into account.

Matching matrix elements and shower evolution for top-pair production in hadronic collisions

Abstract: We study the matching of multijet matrix elements and shower evolution in the case of top production in hadronic collisions at the Tevatron and at the LHC. We present the results of the matching algorithm implemented in the ALPGEN Monte Carlo generator, and compare them with results obtained at the parton level, and with the predictions of the MC@NLO approach. We highlight the consistency of the matching algorithm when applied to these final states, and the excellent agreement obtained with MC@NLO for most inclusive quantities. We nevertheless identify also a remarkable difference in the rapidity spectrum of the leading jet accompanying the top quark pair, and comment on the likely origin of this discrepancy.

The Higgs Boson Masses and Mixings of the Complex MSSM in the Feynman-Diagrammatic Approach

Abstract: New results for the complete one-loop contributions to the masses and mixing effects in the Higgs sector are obtained for the MSSM with complex parameters using the Feynman-diagrammatic approach. The full dependence on all relevant complex phases is taken into account, and all the imaginary parts appearing in the calculation are treated in a consistent way. The renormalization is discussed in detail, and a hybrid on-shell/ scheme is adopted. We also derive the wave function normalization factors needed in processes with external Higgs bosons and discuss effective couplings incorporating leading higher-order effects. The complete one-loop corrections, supplemented by the available two-loop corrections in the Feynman-diagrammatic approach for the MSSM with real parameters and a resummation of the leading (s)bottom corrections for complex parameters, are implemented into the public Fortran code FeynHiggs 2.5. In our numerical analysis the full results for the Higgs-boson masses and couplings are compared with various approximations, and -violating effects in the mixing of the heavy Higgs bosons are analyzed in detail. We find sizable deviations in comparison with the approximations often made in the literature.

Magic identities for conformal four-point integrals

Abstract: We propose an iterative procedure for constructing classes of off-shell four-point conformal integrals which are identical. The proof of the identity is based on the conformal properties of a subintegral common for the whole class. The simplest example are the so-called `triple scalar box' and `tennis court' integrals. In this case we also give an independent proof using the method of Mellin–Barnes representation which can be applied in a similar way for general off-shell Feynman integrals.

Semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering at small transverse momentum

Abstract: We study the cross section for one-particle inclusive deep inelastic scattering off the nucleon for low transverse momentum of the detected hadron. We decompose the cross section in terms of structure functions and calculate them at tree level in terms of transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution and fragmentation functions. Our results are complete in the one-photon exchange approximation at leading and first subleading twist accuracy, with both beam and target polarization.

Comments on gluon scattering amplitudes via AdS/CFT

Abstract: In this article we consider n gluon color ordered, planar amplitudes in = 4 super Yang Mills at strong 't Hooft coupling. These amplitudes are approximated by classical surfaces in AdS5 space. We compute the value of the amplitude for a particular kinematic configuration for a large number of gluons and find that the result disagrees with a recent guess for the exact value of the amplitude. Our results are still compatible with a possible relation between amplitudes and Wilson loops. In addition, we also give a prescription for computing processes involving local operators and asymptotic states with a fixed number of gluons. As a byproduct, we also obtain a string theory prescription for computing the dual of the ordinary Wilson loop, TrPeiA, with no couplings to the scalars. We also evaluate the quark-antiquark potential at two loops.

The Pomeron and gauge/string duality

Abstract: The traditional description of high-energy small-angle scattering in QCD has two components — a soft Pomeron Regge pole for the tensor glueball, and a hard BFKL Pomeron in leading order at weak coupling. On the basis of gauge/string duality, we present a coherent treatment of the Pomeron. In large-N QCD-like theories, we use curved-space string-theory to describe simultaneously both the BFKL regime and the classic Regge regime. The problem reduces to finding the spectrum of a single j-plane Schrodinger operator. For ultraviolet-conformal theories, the spectrum exhibits a set of Regge trajectories at positive t, and a leading j-plane cut for negative t, the cross-over point being model-dependent. For theories with logarithmically-running couplings, one instead finds a discrete spectrum of poles at all t, where the Regge trajectories at positive t continuously become a set of slowly-varying and closely-spaced poles at negative t. Our results agree with expectations for the BFKL Pomeron at negative t, and with the expected glueball spectrum at positive t, but provide a framework in which they are unified. Effects beyond the single Pomeron exchange are briefly discussed.

Notes on superconformal Chern-Simons-Matter theories

Abstract: The three dimensional = 2 supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory coupled to matter fields, possibly deformed by a superpotential, give rise to a large class of exactly conformal theories with Lagrangian descriptions. These theories can be arbitrarily weakly coupled, and hence can be studied perturbatively. We study the theories in the large N limit, and compute the two-loop anomalous dimension of certain long operators. Our result suggests that various = 2 U(N) Chern-Simons theories coupled to suitable matter fields are dual to open or closed string theories in AdS4, which are not yet constructed.

Counting BPS operators in gauge theories: quivers, syzygies and plethystics

Abstract: We develop a systematic and efficient method of counting single-trace and multi-trace BPS operators with two supercharges, for world-volume gauge theories of $N$ D-brane probes for both $N \to \infty$ and finite $N$. The techniques are applicable to generic singularities, orbifold, toric, non-toric, complete intersections, et cetera, even to geometries whose precise field theory duals are not yet known. The so-called ``Plethystic Exponential'' provides a simple bridge between (1) the defining equation of the Calabi-Yau, (2) the generating function of single-trace BPS operators and (3) the generating function of multi-trace operators. Mathematically, fascinating and intricate inter-relations between gauge theory, algebraic geometry, combinatorics and number theory exhibit themselves in the form of plethystics and syzygies.

Doubled geometry and T-folds

Abstract: The doubled formulation of string theory, which is T-duality covariant and enlarges spacetime with extra coordinates conjugate to winding number, is reformulated and its geometric and topological features examined. It is used to formulate string theory in T-fold backgrounds with T-duality transition functions and a quantum implementation of the constraints of the doubled formalism is presented. This establishes the quantum equivalence to the usual sigma-model formalism for world-sheets of arbitrary genus, provided a topological term is added to the action. The quantisation involves a local choice of polarisation, but the results are independent of this. The natural dilaton of the doubled formalism is duality-invariant and so T-duality is a perturbative symmetry for the perturbation theory in the corresponding coupling constant. It is shown how this dilaton is related to the dilaton of the conventional sigma-model which does transform under T-duality. The generalisation of the doubled formalism to the superstring is given and shown to be equivalent to the usual formulation. Finally, the formalism is generalised to one in which the whole spacetime is doubled.

Generalised geometry for M-theory

Abstract: Generalised geometry studies structures on a d-dimensional manifold with a metric and 2-form gauge field on which there is a natural action of the group SO(d, d). This is generalised to d-dimensional manifolds with a metric and 3-form gauge field on which there is a natural action of the group Ed. This provides a framework for the discussion of M-theory solutions with flux. A different generalisation is to d-dimensional manifolds with a metric, 2-form gauge field and a set of p-forms for p either odd or even on which there is a natural action of the group Ed+1. This is useful for type IIA or IIB string solutions with flux. Further generalisations give extended tangent bundles and extended spin bundles relevant for non-geometric backgrounds. Special structures that arise for supersymmetric backgrounds are discussed.

Holographic phase transitions at finite baryon density

Abstract: We use holographic techniques to study SU(Nc) super Yang-Mills theory coupled to Nf << Nc flavours of fundamental matter at finite temperature and baryon density. We focus on four dimensions, for which the dual description consists of Nf D7-branes in the background of Nc black D3-branes, but our results apply in other dimensions as well. A non-zero chemical potential μb or baryon number density nb is introduced via a nonvanishing worldvolume gauge field on the D7-branes. Ref. [1] identified a first order phase transition at zero density associated with `melting' of the mesons. This extends to a line of phase transitions for small nb, which terminates at a critical point at finite nb. Investigation of the D7-branes' thermodynamics reveals that (∂μb/∂nb)T<0 in a small region of the phase diagram, indicating an instability. We comment on a possible new phase which may appear in this region.

Real-time static potential in hot QCD

Abstract: We derive a static potential for a heavy quark- antiquark pair propagating in Minkowski time at finite temperature, by defining a suitable gauge-invariant Green's function and computing it to first non-trivial order in Hard Thermal Loop resummed perturbation theory. The resulting Debye- screened potential could be used in models that attempt to describe the "melting" of heavy quarkonium at high temperatures. We show, in particular, that the potential develops an imaginary part, implying that thermal e effects ects generate a finite width for the quarkonium peak in the dilepton production rate. For quarkonium with a very heavy constituent mass M, the width can be ignored for T <= g(2)M/12 pi, where g2 is the strong gauge coupling; for a physical case like bottomonium, it could become important at temperatures as low as 250 MeV. Finally, we point out that the physics related to the finite width originates from the Landau-damping of low-frequency gauge fields, and could be studied non-perturbatively by making use of the classical approximation.

Singlet Higgs phenomenology and the electroweak phase transition

Abstract: We study the phenomenology of gauge singlet extensions of the Standard Model scalar sector and their implications for the electroweak phase transition. We determine the conditions on the scalar potential parameters that lead to a strong first order phase transition as needed to produce the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe. We analyze the constraints on the potential parameters derived from Higgs boson searches at LEP and electroweak precision observables. For models that satisfy these constraints and that produce a strong first order phase transition, we discuss the prospective signatures in future Higgs studies at the Large Hadron Collider and a Linear Collider. We argue that such studies will provide powerful probes of phase transition dynamics in models with an extended scalar sector.

Comments on operators with large spin

Abstract: We consider high spin operators. We give a general argument for the logarithmic scaling of their anomalous dimensions which is based on the symmetries of the problem. By an analytic continuation we can also see the origin of the double logarithmic divergence in the Sudakov factor. We show that the cusp anomalous dimension is the energy density for a flux configuration of the gauge theory on AdS3 × S1. We then focus on operators in = 4 super Yang Mills which carry large spin and SO(6) charge and show that in a particular limit their properties are described in terms of a bosonic O(6) sigma model. This can be used to make certain all loop computations in the string theory.

Metallic AdS/CFT

Abstract: We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to compute the conductivity of massive = 2 hypermultiplet fields at finite baryon number density in an = 4 SU(Nc) super-Yang-Mills theory plasma in the large Nc, large 't Hooft coupling limit. The finite baryon density provides charge carriers analogous to electrons in a metal. An external electric field then induces a finite current which we determine directly. Our result for the conductivity is good for all values of the mass, external field and density, modulo statements about the yet-incomplete phase diagram. In the appropriate limits it agrees with known results obtained from analyzing small fluctuations around equilibrium. For large mass, where we expect a good quasi-particle description, we compute the drag force on the charge carriers and find that the answer is unchanged from the zero density case. Our method easily generalizes to a wide class of systems of probe branes in various backgrounds.

Closed strings from decaying D-branes

Abstract: We compute the emission of closed string radiation from homogeneous rolling tachyons. For an unstable decaying Dp-brane the radiated energy is infinite to leading order for p ≤ 2 and finite for 2$>p > 2. The closed string state produced by a decaying brane is closely related to the state produced by D-instantons at a critical Euclidean distance from t = 0. In the case of a D0 brane one can cutoff this divergence so that we get a finite energy final state which would be the state that the brane decays into.

Exact half-BPS Type IIB interface solutions. I. Local solution and supersymmetric Janus

Abstract: The complete Type IIB supergravity solutions with 16 supersymmetries are obtained on the manifold AdS4 ? S2 ? S2 ? ? with SO(2, 3) ? SO(3) ? SO(3) symmetry in terms of two holomorphic functions on a Riemann surface ?, which generally has a boundary. This is achieved by reducing the BPS equations using the above symmetry requirements, proving that all solutions of the BPS equations solve the full Type IIB supergravity field equations, mapping the BPS equations onto a new integrable system akin to the Liouville and Sine-Gordon theories, and mapping this integrable system to a linear equation which can be solved exactly. Amongst the infinite class of solutions, a non-singular Janus solution is identified which provides the AdS/CFT dual of the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills interface theory discovered recently. The construction of general classes of globally non-singular solutions, including fully back-reacted AdS5 ? S5 and supersymmetric Janus doped with D5 and/or NS5 branes, is deferred to a companion paper [1].

Neutrino Majorana masses from string theory instanton effects

Abstract: Finding a plausible origin for right-handed neutrino Majorana masses in semirealistic compactifications of string theory remains one of the most difficult problems in string phenomenology. We argue that right-handed neutrino Majorana masses are induced by non-perturbative instanton effects in certain classes of string compactifications in which the U(1)B−L gauge boson has a Stuckelberg mass. The induced operators are of the form e−UνRνR where U is a closed string modulus whose imaginary part transforms appropriately under B−L. This mass term may be quite large since this is not a gauge instanton and Re U is not directly related to SM gauge couplings. Thus the size of the induced right-handed neutrino masses could be a few orders of magnitude below the string scale, as phenomenologically required. It is also argued that this origin for neutrino masses would predict the existence of R-parity in SUSY versions of the SM. Finally we comment on other phenomenological applications of similar instanton effects, like the generation of a μ-term, or of Yukawa couplings forbidden in perturbation theory.

A scan for new N = 1 vacua on twisted tori

Abstract: We perform a systematic search for = 1 Minkowski vacua of type II string theories on compact six-dimensional parallelizable nil- and solvmanifolds (quotients of six-dimensional nilpotent and solvable groups, respectively). Some of these manifolds have appeared in the construction of string backgrounds and are typically called twisted tori. We look for vacua directly in ten dimensions, using the a reformulation of the supersymmetry condition in the framework of generalized complex geometry. Certain algebraic criteria to establish compactness of the manifolds involved are also needed. Although the conditions for preserved = 1 supersymmetry fit nicely in the framework of generalized complex geometry, they are notoriously hard to solve when coupled to the Bianchi identities. We find solutions in a large-volume, constant-dilaton limit. Among these, we identify those that are T-dual to backgrounds of IIB on a conformal T6 with self-dual three-form flux, and hence conceptually not new. For all backgrounds of this type fully localized solutions can be obtained. The other new solutions need multiple intersecting sources (either orientifold planes or combinations of O-planes and D-branes) to satisfy the Bianchi identities; the full list of such new solution is given. These are so far only smeared solutions, and their localization is yet unknown. Although valid in a large-volume limit, they are the first examples of Minkowski vacua in supergravity which are not connected by any duality to a Calabi-Yau. Finally, we discuss a class of flat solvmanifolds that may lead to AdS4 vacua of type IIA strings.

Counting gauge invariants: The Plethystic program

Abstract: We propose a programme for systematically counting the single and multi-trace gauge invariant operators of a gauge theory. Key to this is the plethystic function. We expound in detail the power of this plethystic programme for world-volume quiver gauge theories of D-branes probing Calabi-Yau singularities, an illustrative case to which the programme is not limited, though in which a full intimate web of relations between the geometry and the gauge theory manifests herself. We can also use generalisations of Hardy-Ramanujan to compute the entropy of gauge theories from the plethystic exponential. In due course, we also touch upon fascinating connections to Young Tableaux, Hilbert schemes and the MacMahon Conjecture.

Thermodynamics of the brane

Abstract: The holographic dual of a finite-temperature gauge theory with a small number of flavours typically contains D-brane probes in a black hole background. We have recently shown that these systems undergo a first order phase transition characterised by a `melting' of the mesons. Here we extend our analysis of the thermodynamics of these systems by computing their free energy, entropy and energy densities, as well as the speed of sound. We also compute the meson spectrum for brane embeddings outside the horizon and find that tachyonic modes appear where this phase is expected to be unstable from thermodynamic considerations.

Angular distributions of B̄ → Kl̄l decays

Abstract: We model-independently analyze the angular distributions of → Kl decays, l = e,μ, for low dilepton mass using QCD factorization. Besides the decay rate, we study the forward-backward asymmetry AlFB and a further observable, FlH, which gives rise to a flat term in the angular distribution. We find that in the Standard Model FlH∝ml2, hence vanishing FeH and FμH of around 2% (exact value depends on cuts) with a very small theoretical uncertainty of a few percent. We also give predictions for RK, the ratio of → Kμ to → Kēe decay rates. We analytically show using large recoil symmetry relations that in the Standard Model RK equals one up to lepton mass corrections of the order 10−4 including αs and subleading 1/E power corrections. The New Physics reach of the observables from the → Kl angular analysis is explored together with RK and the s → l and → Xsl branching ratios for both l = e and l = μ. We find substantial room for signals from (pseudo-) scalar and tensor interactions beyond the Standard Model. Experimental investigations of the → Kμ angular distributions are suitable for the LHC environment and high luminosity B factories, where also studies of the electron modes are promising.