Discriminating between Higgs Production Mechanisms via Jet Charge at the LHC.

Discriminating between Higgs production mechanisms can play a crucial role in determining the couplings of Higgs to gauge bosons, probing the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking. We propose a novel method to distinguish the Higgs production mechanisms at the LHC by utilizing the jet charge asymmetry of the two leading forward jets in Higgs plus two jets production. This novel observable provides a way to disentangle the W fusion from the Z fusion and gluon fusion processes for the first time, due to the electric charge correlation of the two leading jets in the events. We show that the Higgs couplings to gauge bosons can be well constrained, and its conclusion does not depend on the other possible new physics effects which modify the Higgs total or partial width. We also discuss the complementary roles between the proposed jet charge asymmetry measurement and the Higgs signal strength measurements at the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) in determining the Higgs couplings.

Single Transverse Spin Asymmetry as a New Probe of Standard-Model-Effective-Field-Theory Dipole Operators.

Electroweak dipole operators in the standard-model-effective-field theory (SMEFT) are important indirect probes of quantum effects of new physics beyond the standard model (SM), yet they remain poorly constrained by current experimental analyses for lack of interference with the SM amplitudes in constructing cross section observables. In this Letter, we point out that dipole operators flip fermion helicities and so are ideally studied through single transverse spin asymmetries. We illustrate this at a future electron-positron collider with transversely polarized beams, where such an effect exhibits as azimuthal cosϕ and sinϕ distributions which originate from the interference of the electron dipole operators with the SM and are linearly dependent on their Wilson coefficients. This new method can improve the current constraints on the electron dipole couplings by 1-2 orders of magnitude, without depending on other new physics operators, and can also simultaneously constrain both their real and imaginary parts, offering a new opportunity for probing potential CP-violating effects.

Azimuthal Angular Correlation as a Boosted Top Jet Substructure.

We propose a novel jet substructure observable of boosted tops that is related to the linear polarization of the W boson in boosted top quark decay, which results in a cos2ϕ angular correlation between the t→bW and W→ff^{'}[over ¯] decay planes. We discuss in detail the origin of such linear polarization by applying Wigner's little group transformation. We show that the unique cos2ϕ angular correlation only exists in the boosted regime but not in the top quark rest frame. We construct an experimental observable for such correlation based on the transverse energy deposition asymmetry in the top jet that does not require the reconstruction of W decay products. The degree of this asymmetry can be used to measure the longitudinal polarization of the top quark, which is an important probe of new physics that couples to the top sector, and can discriminate a boosted top quark jet from its background events, such as QCD jets. A numerical simulation is also performed and found to agree well with the analytic prediction of the standard model.

Anomalous Zbb[over ¯] Couplings: From LEP to LHC.

The bottom quark forward-backward asymmetry (A_{FB}^{b}) data at LEP exhibits a long-standing discrepancy with the standard model prediction. We propose a novel method to probe the Zbb[over ¯] interactions through gg→Zh production at the LHC, which is sensitive to the axial-vector component of the Zbb[over ¯] couplings. The apparent degeneracy of the anomalous Zbb[over ¯] couplings implied by the LEP precision electroweak measurements seems to be resolved by the current 13 TeV LHC Zh data, which is, however, dominated by the two data points with high transverse momentum of Z boson whose central values are in conflict with the standard model prediction. We also show the potential of the HL-LHC to either verify or exclude the anomalous Zbb[over ¯] couplings observed at LEP through measuring the Zh production rate at the HL-LHC, and this conclusion is not sensitive to the possible new physics contribution induced by top quark or Higgs boson anomalous couplings in the loop.

Genetic diversity of rhg1 and Rhg4 loci in wild soybeans resistant to soybean cyst nematode race 3.

Over-utilization of germplasms that are resistant to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) in soybean breeding programs can lead to genetic vulnerability in resistant cultivars. Resistant wild soybean (Glycine soja) is considered an invaluable gene source for increasing the genetic diversity of SCN resistance. In this study, we genotyped 23 G. soja accessions that are resistant to SCN race 3 for polymorphisms in the resistance genes, rhg1, Rhg4, and SHMT, and investigated their genetic relationship with eight Glycine max resistant cultivars. We identified 89 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 11 DNA insertion-deletions (InDels), of which 70 SNPs and 8 InDels were found in rhg1, 9 SNPs were found in Rhg4, and 10 SNPs and 3 InDels were found in SHMT. Nucleotide diversity was π = 0.00238 and θ = 0.00235, and haplotype diversity was 1.000. A phylogenetic tree comprising four clusters was constructed using sequence variations of the 23 G. soja and 8 G. max resistant accessions. Five G. soja accessions in subcluster A2, and four G. soja accessions in cluster B were genetically distant from G. max genotypes. Eight resistance-associated SNPs in the three resistance genes formed nine haplotypes in total. G. soja resistant accessions had different haplotypes (H2, H4, H5, H6, H7, and H8) compared with those of G. max (H1, H3, and H9). These results provide vital information on the use of wild soybeans for broadening the genetic base of SCN resistance.

Kinematical Correlations for Higgs Boson Plus High P_{T} Jet Production at Hadron Colliders.

We investigate the effect of QCD resummation to kinematical correlations in the Higgs boson plus high transverse momentum (P(T)) jet events produced at hadron colliders. We show that at the complete one-loop order, the Collins-Soper-Sterman resummation formalism can be applied to derive the Sudakov form factor. We compare the singular behavior of resummation calculation to fixed order prediction in the case that a Higgs boson and high P(T) jet are produced nearly back to back in their transverse momenta, and find perfect agreement. The phenomenological importance of the resummation effect at the LHC is also demonstrated.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the CPP-like gene family in soybean.

Cysteine-rich polycomb-like protein (CPP-like) genes are a group of transcription factors with highly conserved cysteine-rich domains and are widely distributed in animals and plants, but do not present in yeast. Previous studies have shown that members of this family play important roles in the development of reproductive tissue and in the control of cell division in plants. In this study, whole genome identification of soybean CPP transcription factors was performed using bioinformatic methods. The results showed that there were 20 CPP transcription factors in the soybean genome, which encoded for 28 distinct CPP proteins. These transcription factors were distributed on 16 of 20 chromosomes. Phylogenetic relationship analysis showed that expression of CPP gene family members occurred before the differentiation of monocotyledons and dicotyledons. RNA-Seq analysis showed that 5 genes were highly expressed in all tissues, including Glyma10g39080, Glyma01g44670, Glyma101g66920, Glyma02g01540, and Glyma20g28740. One gene (Glyma14g14750) was specifically expressed in young leaves, while 2 genes (Glyma02g01540 and Glyma10g01580) were highly expressed in root nodules. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the expression levels of most genes increased in the roots under high temperature stress. Our findings indicate that these genes are not only involved in growth and development, but also in the responses to high temperature stress in soybean roots.

Soft gluon resummations in dijet azimuthal angular correlations in hadronic collisions.

We derive all order soft gluon resummation in dijet azimuthal angular correlation in hadronic collisions at the next-to-leading logarithmic level. The relevant coefficients for the Sudakov resummation factor, the soft and hard factors, are calculated. The theory predictions agree well with the experimental data from D0 Collaboration at the Tevatron. This provides a benchmark calculation for the transverse momentum dependent QCD resummation for jet productions in hadron collisions.

QCD resummation for jet substructures.

We provide a novel development in jet physics by predicting the energy profiles of light-quark and gluon jets in the framework of perturbative QCD. Resumming large logarithmic contributions to all orders in the coupling constant, our predictions are shown to agree well with Tevatron CDF and Large Hadron Collider CMS data. We also extend our resummation formalism to the invariant mass distributions of light-quark and gluon jets produced in hadron collisions. The predicted peak positions and heights in jet mass distributions are consistent with CDF data within uncertainties induced by parton distribution functions.

Next-to-leading QCD effect on the quark compositeness search at the LHC.

We present the exact next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to the dijet production induced by the quark contact interactions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We show that, as compared to the exact calculation, the scaled NLO QCD prediction adopted by the ATLAS Collaboration has overestimated the new physics effect on some direct observables by more than 30% and renders a higher limit on the quark compositeness scale. The destructive contribution from the exact NLO correction will also lower the compositeness scale limit set by the CMS Collaboration.

Next-to-leading-order QCD corrections to the top-quark decay via model-independent flavor-changing neutral-current couplings.

D0 and CDF collaborations at the Fermilab Tevatron have searched for nonstandard-model single top-quark production and have set upper limits on the anomalous top-quark flavor-changing neutral-current (FCNC) couplings kappatcg/Lambda and kappatug/Lambda using the measurement of the total cross section calculated at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD. In this Letter, we report on the effect of anomalous FCNC couplings to various decay branching ratios of the top quark, calculated at the NLO. This result is not only mandatory for a consistent treatment of both the top-quark production and decay via FCNC couplings by D0 and CDF at the Tevatron, but is also important for the study of ATLAS and CMS sensitivity to these anomalous couplings at the CERN LHC.

Light minimal supersymmetric standard model Higgs boson scenario and its test at hadron colliders.

We show that, in the minimal supersymmetric standard model, the possibility for the lightest CP-even Higgs boson to be lighter than Z boson (as low as about 60 GeV) is, contrary to the usual belief, not yet excluded by the CERN LEP2 Higgs search nor any direct searches for supersymmetric particles at high energy colliders. The characteristic of the light Higgs boson scenario (LHS) is that the ZZh coupling and the decay branching ratio Br(h/A-->bb) are simultaneously suppressed as a result of generic supersymmetric loop corrections. Consequently, the W(+/-)H(-/+)h coupling has to be large due to the sum rule of Higgs couplings to weak gauge bosons. We discuss the potential of the Fermilab Tevatron and B factories to test the LHS, and show that the associated neutral and charged Higgs boson production process, pp-->H(+/-)h(A), can completely probe the LHS at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Combined effect of QCD resummation and QED radiative correction to W boson observables at the Tevatron.

A precise determination of the W boson mass at the Fermilab Tevatron requires a theoretical calculation in which the effects of the initial-state multiple soft-gluon emission and the final-state photonic correction are simultaneously included. Here, we present such a calculation and discuss its prediction on the transverse mass distribution of the W boson and the transverse momentum distribution of its decay charged lepton, which are the most relevant observables for measuring the W boson mass at hadron colliders.

Determining the chirality of Yukawa couplings via single charged Higgs boson production in polarized photon collisions.

When the charged Higgs boson is too heavy to be produced in pairs, the predominant production mechanism at linear colliders is via the single charged Higgs boson production processes, such as e(-)e(+)-->bcH+,taunuH+ and gammagamma-->bcH+,taunuH+. We show that the yield of a heavy charged Higgs boson at a gammagamma collider is typically 1 or 2 orders of magnitude larger than that at an e(-)e(+) collider. Furthermore, a polarized gammagamma collider can determine the chirality of the Yukawa couplings of fermions with charged Higgs boson via single charged Higgs boson production and, thus, discriminate models of new physics.