Contributor info: Mr Jan Horak

Jan Horak, Friederike Ihssen, Joannis Papavassiliou, Jan M. Pawlowski, Axel Weber, Christof Wetterich

SciPost Phys. 13, 042 (2022) · published 31 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Lattice simulations along with studies in continuum QCD indicate that non-perturbative quantum fluctuations lead to an infrared regularisation of the gluon propagator in covariant gauges in the form of an effective mass-like behaviour. In the present work we propose an analytic understanding of this phenomenon in terms of gluon condensation through a dynamical version of the Higgs mechanism, leading to the emergence of color condensates. Within the functional renormalisation group approach we compute the effective potential of covariantly constant field strengths, whose non-trivial minimum is related to the color condensates. In the physical case of an SU(3) gauge group this is an octet condensate. The value of the gluon mass obtained through this procedure compares very well to lattice results and the mass gap arising from alternative dynamical scenarios.

Elias Bernreuther, Jan Horak, Tilman Plehn, Anja Butter

SciPost Phys. 5, 034 (2018) · published 17 October 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Mono-X searches are standard dark matter search strategies at the LHC. First, we show how in the case of initial state radiation they essentially collapse to mono-jet searches. Second, we systematically study mono-X signatures from decays of heavier dark matter states. Direct detection constraints strongly limit our MSSM expectations, but largely vanish for mono-Z and mono-Higgs signals once we include light NMSSM mediators. Finally, the decay topology motivates mono-W-pair and mono-Higgs-pair searches, strengthening and complementing their mono-X counterparts.