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Testing Models with Higher Dimensional Effective Interactions at the LHC and Dark Matter Experiments
(2013)
Dark matter and non-zero neutrino masses are possible hints for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Such potential consequences of new physics can be described by effective field theories in a model independent way. It is possible that the dominant contribution to low-energy effects of new physics is generated by operators of dimension d>5, e.g., due to an additional symmetry. Since these are more suppressed than the usually discussed lower dimensional operators, they can lead to extremly weak interactions even if new physics appears at comparatively low scales. Thus neutrino mass models can be connected to TeV scale physics, for instance. The possible existence of TeV scale particles is interesting, since they can be potentially observed at collider experiments, such as the Large Hadron Collider. Hence, we first recapitulate the generation of neutrino masses by higher dimensional effective operators in a supersymmetric framework. In addition, we discuss processes that can be used to test these models at the Large Hadron Collider. The introduction of new particles can affect the running of gauge couplings. Hence, we study the compatibilty of these models with Grand Unified Theories. The required extension of these models can imply the existence of new heavy quarks, which requires the consideration of cosmological constraints. Finally, higher dimensional effective operators can not only generate small neutrino masses. They also can be used to discuss the interactions relevant for dark matter detection experiments. Thus we apply the methods established for the study of neutrino mass models to the systematic discussion of higher dimensional effective operators generating dark matter interactions.
Although the contribution to the Isotropic Gamma-Ray Background (IGRB) from unresolved extragalactic objects has been studied for many years, its exact composition and origin are as of yet unknown. It is suspected that diffuse processes such as dark matter annihilation contribute to the total IGRB, as well as unresolved gamma-ray emission from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), including radio galaxies. Radio galaxies are a source class that emit strongly at radio wavelengths, some of which have also been detected at gamma-ray wavelengths by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), and by very high energy gamma-ray Cherenkov telescopes. It is thought that due to the orientation of their jets, radio galaxies are detected less numerously at gamma-ray energies than blazars. Furthermore, only a small number of radio galaxies have been detected at gamma-ray energies though it is considered that others do as well. It is for these reasons that gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies, an interesting and elusive class of objects, are selected for investigation in this work.
In order to reach the goal of better understanding diffuse processes, it is necessary to model the radio galaxy spectral energy distributions (SEDs). As AGN emission is variable with respect to time, it is critical to use simultaneously collected observations. Calculation of the SED based on simultaneous, multiwavelength data across the electromagnetic spectrum produces a reasonably accurate representation of the state of an object in a given time range. The gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies M 87, NGC 1275, Pictor A, and Centaurus A are selected here based on having been detected in very high energy gamma-rays by Cherenkov telescopes, as well as in other wavelengths. A uniquely consistent analysis approach is applied, in which each radio galaxy is analyzed the same way using simultaneously collected data. This approach sets it apart from other studies.
Fermi-LAT raw data for each source in the sample is analyzed in time ranges which directly overlap the very high energy gamma-ray Cherenkov observations, as well as several other wavelength ranges. A synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model is applied, which provides accurate treatment of synchrotron and inverse-Compton processes occurring in the jets of AGN, while estimating physical characteristics of the source. It is found that the spectra of M 87, NGC 1275, Pictor A, and Centaurus A can be well described by the same SSC model, producing values for the physical characteristics such as the doppler factor and magnetic field, which are relatively consistent with each other.
In order to characterize the diffuse emission from dark matter self-annihilation, the radio galaxy SEDs are also fit with a dark matter model, resulting in an estimated dark matter particle mass of around 4.7 TeV which lies within predicted ranges.
The highly dense regions near the black holes of AGN provide the optimal conditions for detecting these signatures. It is also found here that discrepancies between the expected emission and the observed emission in the spectra of some radio galaxies can be explained using the combined SSC and dark matter model. As emission from dark matter annihilation is expected to remain steady with respect to time, a key feature of this work is the novelty of the combined SSC and dark matter model, and the finding that dark matter characteristics may be revealed through similar multiwavelength analyses during future low emission states of the AGN.
The radio galaxy sample is then extended to include all gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies detected by the Fermi-LAT, and a calculation of the core radio, total radio, and gamma-ray luminosities is followed through. A future step in extending this work would be to estimate the gamma-ray luminosity function of radio galaxies and their percent contribution to the total IGRB, based on the widely agreed upon assumption that a reasonable estimate of the gamma-ray luminosity function of a population can be attained by appropriately scaling its radio luminosity function, as gamma-ray luminosities and radio luminosities are strongly linearly correlated. This work has also provided the basis for such a calculation by outlining the theory and initial steps.
It is the hope that the vast scope of the gathered data, its simultaneity, and the use of consistent analysis methods across the sample, will provide an improved foundation for a future calculation of the contribution of this population to the IGRB, as well as encourage stricter requirements for multiwavelength studies.
Killing the cMSSM softly
(2016)
We investigate the constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (cMSSM) in the light of constraining experimental and observational data from precision measurements, astrophysics, direct supersymmetry searches at the LHC and measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson, by means of a global fit using the program Fittino. As in previous studies, we find rather poor agreement of the best fit point with the global data. We also investigate the stability of the electro-weak vacuum in the preferred region of parameter space around the best fit point. We find that the vacuum is metastable, with a lifetime significantly longer than the age of the Universe. For the first time in a global fit of supersymmetry, we employ a consistent methodology to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of the cMSSM in a frequentist approach by deriving p values from large sets of toy experiments. We analyse analytically and quantitatively the impact of the choice of the observable set on the p value, and in particular its dilution when confronting the model with a large number of barely constraining measurements. Finally, for the preferred sets of observables, we obtain p values for the cMSSM below 10 %, i.e. we exclude the cMSSM as a model at the 90 % confidence level.
Indirect Search for Dark Matter in the Universe - the Multiwavelength and Multiobject Approach
(2011)
Cold dark matter constitutes a basic tenet of modern cosmology, essential for our understanding of structure formation in the Universe. Since its first discovery by means of spectroscopic observations of the dynamics of the Coma cluster some 80 years ago, mounting evidence of its gravitational pull and its impact on the geometry of space-time has build up across a wide range of scales, from galaxies to the entire Hubble flow. The apparent lack of electromagnetic coupling and independent measurements of the energy density of baryonic matter from the primordial abundances of light elements show the non-baryonic nature of dark matter, and its clustering properties prove that it is cold, i.e. that it has a temperature lower than its mass during the time of radiation-matter equality. A generic particle candidate for cold dark matter are weakly interacting massive particles at the electroweak symmetry-breaking scale, such as the neutralinos in R-parity conserving supersymmetry. Such particles would naturally freeze-out with a cosmologically relevant relic density at early times in the expanding Universe. Subsequent clustering of matter would recover annihilation interactions between the dark matter particles to some extent and thus lead to potentially observable high-energy emission from the decaying unstable secondaries produced in annihilation events. The spectra of the secondaries would permit a determination of the mass and annihilation cross section, which are crucial for the microphysical identification of the dark matter. This the central motivation for indirect dark matter searches. However, presently neither the indirect searches, nor the complementary direct searches based on the detection of elastic scattering events, nor the production of candidate particles in collider experiments, has yet provided unequivocal evidence for dark matter. This does not come as a surprise, since the dark matter particles interact only through weak interactions and therefore the corresponding secondary emission must be extremely faint. It turns out that even for the strongest mass concentrations in the Universe, the dark matter annihilation signal is expected to not exceed the level of competing astrophysical sources. Thus, the discrimination of the putative dark matter annihilation signal from the signals of the astrophysical inventory has become crucial for indirect search strategies. In this thesis, a novel search strategy will be developed and exemplified in which target selection across a wide range of masses, astrophysical background estimation, and multiwavelength signatures play the key role. It turns out that the uncertainties regarding the halo profile and the boost due to surviving substructure are bigger for halos at the lower end of the observed mass scales, i.e. in the regime of dwarf galaxies and below, while astrophysical backgrounds tend to become more severe for massive dark matter halos such as clusters of galaxies. By contrast, the uncertainties due to unknown details of particle physics are invariant under changes of the halo mass. Therefore, the different scaling behaviors can be employed to significantly cut down on the uncertainties in observations of different targets covering a major part of the involved mass scales. This strategical approach was implemented in the scientific program carried out with the MAGIC telescope system. Observations of dwarf galaxies and the Virgo- and Perseus clusters of galaxies have been carried out and, at the time of writing, result in some of the most stringent constraints on weakly interacting massive particles from indirect searches. Here, the low-threshold design of the MAGIC telescope system plays a crucial role, since the bulk of the high-energy photons, produced with a high multiplicity during the fragmentation of unstable dark matter annihilation products, are emitted at energies well below the dark matter mass scale. The upper limits severely constrain less generic, but more prolific scenarios characterized by extraordinarily high annihilation efficiencies.
The standard model (SM) of particle physics is for the last three decades a very successful description of the properties and interactions of all known elementary particles. Currently, it is again probed with the first collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is widely expected that new physics will be detected at the LHC and the SM has to be extended. The most exhaustive analyzed extension of the SM is supersymmetry (SUSY). SUSY can not only solve intrinsic problems of the SM like the hierarchy problem, but it also postulates new particles which might explain the nature of dark matter in the universe. The majority of all studies about dark matter in the framework of SUSY has focused on the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). The aim of this work is to consider scenarios beyond that scope. We consider two models which explain not only dark matter but also neutrino masses: the gravitino as dark matter in gauge mediated SUSY breaking (GMSB) with bilinear broken $R$-parity as well as different seesaw scenarios with the neutralino as dark matter candidate. Furthermore, we also study the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) which solves the \(\mu\)-problem of the MSSM and discuss the properties of the neutralino as dark matter candidate. In case of $R$-parity violation, light gravitinos are often the only remaining candidate for dark matter in SUSY because of their very long life time. We reconsider the cosmological gravitino problem arising for this kind of models. It will be shown that the proposed solution for the overclosure of the universe by light gravitinos, namely the entropy production by decays of GMSB messenger, just works in a small subset of models and in fine-tuned regions of the parameter space. This is a consequence of two effects so far overlooked: the enhanced decay channels in massive vector bosons and the impact of charged messenger particles. Both aspects cause an interplay between different cosmological restrictions which lead to strong constraints on the parameters of GMSB models. Afterwards, a minimal supergravity (mSugra) scenario with additional chiral superfields at high energy scales is considered. These fields are arranged in complete $SU(5)$ multiplets in order to maintain gauge unification. The new fields generate a dimension 5 operator to explain neutrino data. Furthermore, they cause large differences in mass spectrum of MSSM fields because of the different evaluation of the renormalization group equations what changes also the properties of the lightest neutralino as dark matter candidate. We discuss the parameter space of all three possible seesaw scenarios with respect to dark matter and the impact on rare lepton flavor violating processes. As we will see, especially in seesaw type~III but also in type~II the mass spectrum and regions of parameter space consistent with dark matter differ significantly in comparison to a common mSugra scenario. Moreover, the experimental bounds, in particular of branching ratios like \(l_i \rightarrow l_j \gamma\), cause large constraints on the seesaw parameters.