Cette thèse résume une recherche de manifestations de Grandes Dimensions Supplémentaires (GDS, og Large Extra Dimensions fg en anglais) en utilisant 4.91 fb-1 de données enregistrées en 2011 par le détecteur Atlas installé auprès du collisionneur LHC au CERN. En 2011, le LHC a produit des collisions proton-proton à une énergie dans le centre de masse de sqrt(s)= 7 TeV. Les GDS peuvent potentiellement expliquer une énigme connue sous le nom du problème de la hiérarchie : la grande différence entre l'échelle électrofaible et l'échelle de Planck dans le Modèle Standard (MS). Dans le cadre du modèle ADD (nommé selon les auteurs N. Arkani-Hamed, S. Dimopoulos and G. Dvali) des GDS, les effets de la gravitation quantique deviennent plus forts que dans le MS; potentiellement suffisamment forts pour être observés au LHC. Il y a deux mécanismes de production de gravitons dans les collisions proton-proton : production directe de gravitons et échange virtuel de gravitons. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une recherche de dimensions supplémentaires via l'effet de l'échange virtuel de gravitons dans l'état final di-photon. Le spectre de masse invariante des événements di-photon est étudié, et un bon accord entre les données et le bruit de fond prédit par le MS est observé. Nous utilisons deux méthodes pour estimer des limites sur l'échelle de Planck fondamentale du modèle ADD : une expérience de comptage et une analyse de la forme du spectre de masse. L'expérience de comptage donne des limites entre 2.62 et 3.92 TeV à 95% C.L., en fonction du nombre de dimensions supplémentaires et du formalisme théorique utilisé. L'analyse de la forme du spectre de masse donne des limites légèrement plus strictes : la limite inférieure sur l'échelle de Planck fondamentale augmente d'un facteur de 1.04. / This thesis summarizes a search for manifestations of Large Extra Dimensions (LED) using 4.91fb-1 of data collected in 2011 by the Atlas detector at the LHC collider at CERN. In 2011, the LHC has provided proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. LED can potentially solve the so-called hierarchy problem, i.e. large apparent difference between two fundamental scales of the Standard Model (SM), the electroweak and the Planck scales. In the context of the ADD model (named after the authors N. Arkani-Hamed, S. Dimopoulos and G. Dvali) of LED, the effects of quantum gravity become much stronger than in the SM; possibly large enough to be observed at the LHC. There are two possibilities of graviton production in proton-proton collisions: direct graviton production and virtual graviton exchange. In this thesis, we present a search for the manifestation of extra dimensions via the effect of virtual graviton exchange on the di-photon final state. The di-photon invariant mass spectrum is studied and found to be in good agreement with SM background expectation. We set limits on the fundamental Planck scale of the ADD model using two different methods: a counting experiment and an analysis of the shape of the di-photon mass spectrum. The counting experiment yields limits between 2.62 and 3.92 TeV at 95% CL, depending on the number of extra dimensions and the theoretical formalism used. The shape analysis yields slightly more stringent limits: the lower limits on the fundamental Planck scale improve by a factor of 1.04.

This thesis describes the optimisation of the calorimeter design for collider experiments at the future Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) and the International Linear Collider (ILC). The detector design of these experiments is built around high-granularity Particle Flow Calorimetry that, in contrast to traditional calorimetry, uses the energy measurements for charged particles from the tracking detectors. This can only be realised if calorimetric energy deposits from charged particles can be separated from those of neutral particles. This is made possible with fine granularity calorimeters and sophisticated pattern recognition software, which is provided by the PandoraPFA algorithm. This thesis presents results on Particle Flow calorimetry performance for a number of detector configurations. To obtain these results a new calibration procedure was developed and applied to the detector simulation and reconstruction to ensure optimal performance was achieved for each detector configuration considered. This thesis also describes the development of a software compensation technique that vastly improves the intrinsic energy resolution of a Particle Flow Calorimetry detector. This technique is implemented within the PandoraPFA framework and demonstrates the gains that can be made by fully exploiting the information provided by the fine granularity calorimeters envisaged at a future linear collider. A study of the sensitivity of the CLIC experiment to anomalous gauge couplings that {affect} vector boson scattering processes is presented. These anomalous couplings provide insight into possible beyond standard model physics. This study, which utilises the excellent jet energy resolution from Particle Flow Calorimetry, was performed at centre-of-mass energies of 1.4 TeV and 3 TeV with integrated luminosities of 1.5$\text{ab}^{-1}$ and 2$\text{ab}^{-1}$ respectively. The precision achievable at CLIC is shown to be approximately one to two orders of magnitude better than that currently offered by the LHC. In addition, a study into various technology options for the CLIC vertex detector is described.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Apresentamos um estudo preliminar da produção difrativa de mésons utilizando dados obtidos da colisão próton-próton, a energias de centro de massa de 7 TeV, com o experimento CMS-LHC. O trabalho inclui o desenvolvimento do algoritmo de reconstrução dos mésons D* através do canal de decaimento D*->D0 + pion (lento) ->K+pion, a medida da eficiência de detecção e reconstrução, e uma análise do comportamento de variáveis cinemáticas na produção difrativa dessas partículas, particularmente, das lacunas de rapidez. Para isso, foi utilizada uma luminosidade integrada de 3,171pb^(-1) de dados coletados no ano de 2010. As análises com os dados experimentais foram comparadas com os resultados obtidos com geradores de Monte Carlo PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8 e POMPYT. / In this work we present a very preliminary study of the diffractive production of mesons D* from proton-proton collisions, at center of mass energy of 7 TeV, with the CMS-LHC experiment. The decay channel where D*->D0 + pion (slow) ->K+pion was reconstructed and the efficiency was computed. An analysis of the dependence of the kinematical variables,particularly of the pseudo rapidity gap Δη, on the meson production was done. A total luminosity of 3.171pb^(-1) of data collected in the year of 2010 was analyzed, and the reconstructed data were compared to the ones obtained with PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8 and POMPYT generators.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Apresentamos um estudo preliminar da produção difrativa de mésons utilizando dados obtidos da colisão próton-próton, a energias de centro de massa de 7 TeV, com o experimento CMS-LHC. O trabalho inclui o desenvolvimento do algoritmo de reconstrução dos mésons D* através do canal de decaimento D*->D0 + pion (lento) ->K+pion, a medida da eficiência de detecção e reconstrução, e uma análise do comportamento de variáveis cinemáticas na produção difrativa dessas partículas, particularmente, das lacunas de rapidez. Para isso, foi utilizada uma luminosidade integrada de 3,171pb^(-1) de dados coletados no ano de 2010. As análises com os dados experimentais foram comparadas com os resultados obtidos com geradores de Monte Carlo PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8 e POMPYT. / In this work we present a very preliminary study of the diffractive production of mesons D* from proton-proton collisions, at center of mass energy of 7 TeV, with the CMS-LHC experiment. The decay channel where D*->D0 + pion (slow) ->K+pion was reconstructed and the efficiency was computed. An analysis of the dependence of the kinematical variables,particularly of the pseudo rapidity gap Δη, on the meson production was done. A total luminosity of 3.171pb^(-1) of data collected in the year of 2010 was analyzed, and the reconstructed data were compared to the ones obtained with PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8 and POMPYT generators.

Orientador: Jun Takahashi / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T10:21:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vasconcelos_GeraldoMagelaSeverino_M.pdf: 4363414 bytes, checksum: 50c5bd667b62ccab57088d6b77e1ec81 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: As colisões de íons pesados em energias relativísticas permitem estudar o comportamento da matéria nuclear em condições extremas de temperatura e alta densidade de energia. Nessas condições, espera-se uma transição de fase da matéria onde seria formado um estado de quarks e glúons livres, conhecido como Plasma de Quarks e Glúons (QGP). Com o objetivo de estudar a formação deste novo estado e suas características, o experimento STAR, situado no Laboratório Nacional de Brookhaven, Nova Iorque, mede vários canais observáveis das colisões de íons pesados. Uma das marcas da formação do QGP é o aumento da produção de estranheza. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a produção dos bárions multi-estranhos X e W produzidos nas colisões de Cu+Cu com energia de 62,4 GeV=A no referencial do centro de massa (CM), medidos no experimento STAR. Foram obtidos os espectros de momento transverso dessas partículas e a partir deles foi extraída a abundância de produção por unidade de rapidez na região de rapidez central (dN=dy)y=0. A produção desses bárions foi comparada com os resultados de um outro sistema (Au+Au) na mesma energia para estudar a dependência da produção de estranheza em função do tamanho do sistema formado. Os resultados mostraram que a produção de estranheza cresce com o tamanho do sistema, e que este aumento é ligeiramente maior para o sistema de Cu+Cu do que Au+Au. Os resultados deste trabalho são inéditos e complementam um estudo sistemático da produção de estranheza. Também são importantes para a compreensão dos mecanismos de produção de estranheza em diferentes energias / Abstract: Relativistic heavy-ion collisions allow us to study the behavior of nuclear matter at extreme conditions of temperature and energy density. In these conditions, we expect a phase transition of matter where a free state of quarks and gluons would be formed, and that is known as Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). With the aim to study this new state of matter and its features, the STAR experiment was built at BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory), New York. The STAR experiment measures many observables of heavy-ion collisions and in particular, the strangeness enhancement in QGP is of special interest. The aim of this work was the study of multi-strange baryon production, X and W , at collisions of Cu+Cu in the center of mass energy of 62.4 GeV=A measured at the STAR experiment. Transverse momentum spectra and integrated yields for X and W at mid-rapidity are presented in this work. We also compared Cu+Cu and Au+Au systems in order to study the dependence of strange particle production with the system size. The results showed that strangeness production enhances with the system size, and strange baryons yields in Cu+Cu are slightly larger than Au+Au for the same energy. The new results obtained here complement a systematic study of strangeness production in heavy ion collisions and are important to understand the strangeness particle production mechanism in different energies / Mestrado / Física Nuclear / Mestre em Física

Orientador: Jun Takahashi / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T16:49:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_RafaelDerradide_D.pdf: 5902855 bytes, checksum: ef026256d77f665d1d9d346c08ad7ec8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Nas colisões nucleares relativísticas, devido ao comportamento coletivo do sistema, é esperado que a anisotropia espacial inicial da região de uperposição entre os núcleos incidentes seja convertida em uma anisotropia final na distribuição de momento das partículas produzidas. Em particular, o coeficiente de fluxo elíptico, dado pelo segundo harmônico (v2) da decomposição de Fourier da distribuição azimutal das partículas finais produzidas, é um observável sensível à anisotropia geométrica inicial. Neste trabalho, estudamos o comportamento do coeficiente v2 obtido a partir de eventos gerados com o código de evolução hidrodinâmica NeXSPheRIO simulando colisões Au+Au a (SNN)1/2 = 200 GeV. O NeXSPheRIO permite o controle da condição inicial, da evolução hidrodinâmica e gera as partículas finais como em um evento real. Portanto, foi possível aplicar as mesmas técnicas de análise de dados utilizadas experimentalmente. Estudamos os efeitos de flutuações na condição inicial no observável v2 e testamos alguns observáveis experimentais propostos que seriam sensíveis a estas flutuações. Como os observáveis também são sensíveis a outros tipos de correlações, geralmente chamadas de non-flow, e considerando que a maior contribuição pode vir de jatos de partículas gerados nessas colisões, estudamos os efeitos de jatos nesses observáveis. Construímos um modelo simplificado de duas componentes a partir da superposição de eventos NeXSPheRIO, com eventos de colisões p+p produzidos pelo gerador de eventos Pythia. Resultados deste modelo descrevem melhor a dependência de v2 com o momento transversal quando comparados com dados experimentais. Determinamos também que, ao contrário do que se esperava, os observáveis sensíveis à flutuação na condição inicial são pouco afetados pela inclusão dos jatos. Este resultado sugere que os efeitos de non-flow, como considerados aqui, são desprezíveis nas medidas de flutuações de v2, indicando que os resultados obtidos pelos experimentos sejam dominados pelas flutuações da condição inicial / Abstract: Due to the collective behavior of the system created in relativistic nuclear collisions, it is expected that the initial spatial anisotropy of the overlap region between the two incoming nuclei converts into an anisotropy of the momentum distribution of the outgoing particles. In particular, the elliptic flow coefficient, which is given by the second harmonic (v2) of the Fourier decomposition of the final particle azimuthal distribution, is an observable sensitive to the initial geometric anisotropy. In this work, we studied the behavior of the elliptic flow coefficient obtained from events generated using the hydrodynamic-based code NeXSPheRIO for Au+Au collisions at (SNN)1/2= 200 GeV. The NeXSPheRIO code allows the control of the initial condition, the hydrodynamic evolution and produces the outgoing particles just like in a real event. Therefore, it was possible to apply the same data analysis techniques used experimentally. We studied the effects of initial condition fluctuations on flow observables and tested some experimental observables thought to be sensitive to the fluctuations. Since these observables are also sensitive to other types of correlations, usually referred to as non-flow, and considering that the major contribution to them may come from jets of particles generated in the collision, we also studied the effects of jets on these observables. A simplified two-component model was built by superimposing events produced with the NeXSPheRIO code and p+p collision events produced with the Pythia event generator. Results from our model present a better description of the ?2 dependence with transverse momentum when compared to experimental data. Also, opposite to what was expected, the observables sensitive to the fluctuations are not much sensitive to the inclusion of jets. This result may suggest that the contribution of non-flow, as considered here, is negligible in the observed flow fluctuations measurement, which indicates that the values observed in the experiments are mainly dominated by fluctuations from the initial condition / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is designed to search for new physics by colliding protons with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The ATLAS detector is a multipurpose particle detector built to record these proton-proton collisions. In order to improve sensitivity to new physics at the LHC, luminosity increases are planned for 2018 and beyond. With this greater luminosity comes an increase in the number of simultaneous proton-proton collisions per bunch crossing (pile-up). This extra pile-up has adverse effects on algorithms for clustering the ATLAS detector's calorimeter cells. These adverse effects stem from overlapping energy deposits originating from distinct particles and could lead to difficulties in accurately reconstructing events. Machine learning algorithms provide a new tool that has potential to improve clustering performance. Recent developments in computer science have given rise to new set of machine learning algorithms that, in many circumstances, out-perform more conventional algorithms. One of these algorithms, convolutional neural networks, has been shown to have impressive performance when identifying objects in 2d or 3d arrays. This thesis will develop a convolutional neural network model for calorimeter cell clustering and compare it to the standard ATLAS clustering algorithm. / Graduate

La formation des hadrons est, dans le cadre de la théorie quantique de couleur (QCD), un processus non-perturbatif ; cette caractéristique entraîne d’importantes difficultés théoriques. C’est pourquoi, les mesures expérimentales de fragmentation dans différents noyaux sont une nécessité afin d’obtenir des progrès tangibles dans la compréhension des mécanismes de formation des hadrons. La thèse commence par les bases théoriques nécessaires à une telle approche, suivies des principaux modèles qui lui sont associés.La thèse se poursuit par l’analyse de données de Jefferson Lab obtenues à l’aide d’un faisceau d’électrons de 5 GeV incident sur différentes cibles (2H, C, Al, Fe, Sn et Pb). Les produits de la réaction sont mesurés avec le spectromètre CLAS. Les principaux résultats de cette expérience sont : (a) l’analyse multi-dimensionnelle des observables mesurées, qui permet une meilleure confrontation avec les modèles théoriques et l’extraction d’informations temporelles sur la fragmentation, et (b) l’observation d’une atténuation hadronique non-linéaire en fonction du rayon du noyau cible. Dans une partie plus théorique, le générateur d’événements PyQM, développé dans le but de reproduire les données de la collaboration HERMES, est présenté. Les résultats sont mitigés, en effet la base théorique utilisée ne semble pas s’appliquer au cas étudié, néanmoins certaines caractéristiques des données sont reproduites permettant de comprendre leurs origines parfois inattendues. Enfin, les possibilités d’expériences futures, à Jefferson Lab et dans un collisionneur ion-électron (EIC), sont explorées. / The hadron formation is, in the framework of the quantum chromodynamics theory (QCD), a non-perturbative process; this characteristic leads to important theoretical challenges. This is why experimental measurements of fragmentation in nuclei are a necessity in order to obtain substantial progress in our understanding of the mechanisms of hadron formation. The thesis begins with the introduction of theoretical background, followed by an overview of theoretical models. The thesis continues with the analysis of Jefferson Lab data obtained with a 5 GeV electron beam incident on various targets (2H, C, Al, Fe, Sn and Pb). The reaction products are measured with the CLAS spectrometer of Hall B. The main results are: (a) a multi-dimensional analysis of the measured observables, which permits a better confrontation with theoretical models and the extraction of temporal information on fragmentation, and (b) the observation of a non linear hadronic attenuation as a function of the target’s nuclear radius. The PyQM event generator, developed to reproduce the data from the HERMES collaboration, is also presented. The results are ambivalent, the theoretical basis used does not seem to apply to the studied case, however, some characteristics of the data are reproduced allowing to understand their origin, which is sometimes unexpected. Finally, the possibilities for future experiments, at Jefferson Lab and at an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), are explored.

The nature of interactions of fundamental particles is governed by symmetries. These interactions are well described by an elegant and simple SU(3)c x SU(2)L x U(1)Y symmetric gauge theory that we call the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. Very recently the CMS and ATLAS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) confirmed the discovery of a boson of mass of about 125 GeV. Already, the data collected from these experiments seem to indicate that this particle is in fact the last missing piece and essential ingredient of the Standard Model : the Higgs boson. The Higgs has the very distinct role of providing a mechanism through which masses for other particles can be generated without destroying gauge invariance and hence the renormalizability of the theory. While this discovery completes the picture we have of the SM, the SM itself does not account for several experimentally observed phenomena , notably, dark matter (DM) and the baryon asymmetry in the universe (BAU). From a theoretical perspective a possibility for gauge coupling unification, an explanation for the quark flavour structure and the stability of the Higgs mass to radiative corrections are features that are absent in the framework of SM. This provides a strong basis to the hypothesis that there must be some intermediate scale (between the Planck scale and electroweak scale) of new physics, i.e. physics beyond the SM (BSM). The renormalizability of SM guarantees that various parameters of SM can be determined from the electroweak scale all the way up to the Planck scale. It is interesting to note that the RG evolution of the Higgs quartic coupling is driven to smaller values and can also become negative as the energy scale increases. Naively, a negative quartic coupling indicates destabilization of the EWSB vacuum. The energy scale at which the quartic coupling becomes negative would signify a break down of the theory and would set a scale for new physics. In principle the potential can be made stable through Planck scale dynamics and other vacua (other than the EWSB vacuum) may crop up. In this scenario the EWSB vacuum may decay to the deeper vacua. It is safe to say that, within experimental uncertainties of the Higgs and top quark masses the EWSB vacuum appears to be metastable. We are now left clueless: neither do we have any hints as to the nature of BSM physics nor the scale at which SM breaks down and new physics is assured. One should also note that although the evidence for BSM is compelling, data analysed from 7 and 8 TeV runs of the LHC have not produced any signals of BSM physics so far. Thus any indications of TeV scale BSM physics have been eluding us. In such a scenario the Higgs boson has assumed the role of a portal to study the possibilities of new physics. This is also motivated by the key role that the Higgs plays in generation of mass in a gauge symmetric theory. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the Higgs boson does in fact couple to particles predicted in BSM physics. Such couplings would play a role in modifying the properties of this boson. It is now essential to determine the properties of the Higgs as precisely as possible to search for signs of BSM. This thesis explores the idea of using the Higgs as a portal to study BSM physics. The properties of the Higgs that have already been measured with data from the first two runs of the LHC are its mass, branching ratios, spin and CP. When placed in the framework of a particular new physics model, these properties impose restrictions on the couplings and masses of BSM particles. A strong candidate for a BSM scenario is a Supersymmetric extension of the SM. Supersymmetry is an extension of the Poincar´e group that describes space time symmetries. Fermionic and bosonic degrees of freedom are mixed through the generators of this extended symmetry. In the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM (MSSM), each particle of SM has a corresponding superpartner with identical quantum numbers modulo its spin. Since we do not see, for example, a bosonic superpartner of the fermionic top quark of the same mass as that of the top quark, this must mean that the supersymmetry, even if it is realized in nature, is not exact and must be broken. Although the symmetry may be broken the MSSM has some very appealing features: stabilization of the Higgs mass to quantum corrections, gauge coupling unification and possible dark matter candidate if the lightest Supersymmetric particle happens to be both stable and neutral. It is interesting to note that in MSSM, the tree level Higgs mass is bounded from above by the Z boson mass ( ~90 GeV ). The measured value of the Higgs mass (~126 GeV ) is still achievable in the MSSM through quantum corrections, the largest contribution coming from the top quarks and stop squarks. One therefore sees that the mass of the Higgs can already provide information about top superpartners. The presence of additional charged and coloured scalars implies the possibility of existence of charge and colour breaking (CCB) minima which would affect the stability of the Electroweak Symmetry breaking (EWSB) minima generated by the Higgs potential. Stability of EWSB is then dependent on parameters in the scalar sector of MSSM. We explore the nexus between the Higgs mass and vacuum stability in this model and find restrictions on the MSSM parameter space. The lighter Higgs of the MSSM couples differently to SM particles than the SM Higgs boson. More specifically one expects the couplings of the MSSM Higgs to gauge bosons to be smaller than in SM and unlike the SM Higgs, up type quarks have couplings strengths that are different from that of down type quarks. In the decoupling regime these differences become negligible and the lighter MSSM Higgs behaves identically to the SM Higgs. The measured Higgs rates do not show any large deviations from the expectations of a SM Higgs. It is therefore reasonable to assume that MSSM, if realized, resides in the decoupling regime. While tree level processes are not altered significantly in this regime, the same cannot be said about loop induced processes such as (h→ γγ) or (gg → h). Such processes may be affected significantly by sparticles running in the loops. Higgs decays to two photons can be strongly affected by the stau sector of MSSM and we study this in connection with EWSB vacuum stability. In several models of dark matter, the dark matter candidate particle couples to the Higgs boson. It may well be that this candidate particle may be light enough so that the decay of the Higgs boson to these particles may be possible. For example, in the framework of the MSSM, the LSP (˜χ01) is the dark matter candidate and a decay of the form hχ˜→01χ˜01is possible depending on the mass and strength of coupling of such a particle. At the LHC this would show up as an branching ratio to particles that are invisible to the detectors. The dominant production mode of the Higgs at LHC proceeds through gluon fusion. In this channel a signal for an “invisibly” decaying Higgs would show up as missing energy plus jets at LHC. This has already been studied in quite some detail. We focus on other production modes, namely Vector Boson Fusion (VBF) and associated production (VH), in determining an invisible branching fraction at LHC. These two production channels are much less sensitive to any other BSM signals that may mimic an invisibly decaying Higgs and thus provide clean signals for the latter. A determination of the nature of interactions between the Higgs and gauge bosons is of paramount importance. An understanding of these interactions is closely tied to an understanding of the nature of EWSB. There are two aspects to probing these interactions. One is a determination of the Lorentz structure of the Higgs and gauge boson vertices and the second is to determine the strength of its couplings. The Higgs coupling to two gauge bosons (the hVV vertex) in SM is of the form ~ agµν . Under the assumption that BSM physics does not alter this Lorentz structure, information about possible new physics can be simply extracted through a determination of the strength of the coupling aV . However, the most general structure of this vertex is of the form (aV gµν + bV pµq ν + cV ɛ µνρσpρqσ) . Here p and q are the sum and difference of the two gauge boson momenta respectively and ɛµνρσ the completely antisymmetric Levi-Civita tensor. The term cV parametrizes CP-odd couplings while the rest are CP-even. The terms proportional to b V and cV may be generated by new physics. But which new physics model do we look at? There are a plethora of such models. Rather than shooting in the dark at random BSM directions one could adopt the following approach. In the absence of BSM signals at the LHC so far, one could assume that the scale of physics is relatively high and BSM particles are more massive than SM particles and can therefore be integrated out of the Lagrangian. It is also prudent to assume that new physics respects the SU(3)c x SU(2)L x U(1)Y gauge symmetry of SM. With these two assumptions in hand, one could supplement the SM Lagrangian with additional operators. These operators which generally have mass dimensions greater than four would destroy the renormalizability of the theory, though an interpretation as an effective theory up to a scale Λ is still valid. The idea is to now study the consequences that this effective theory would have on measurable properties of the Higgs. The effective theory could affect both the Lorentz structure as well as the strength of the couplings of the Higgs to the gauge bosons. This thesis deals with the determination of the Lorentz structure of the Higgs coupling to two gauge bosons , i.e the trilinear vertex. An analysis of this for the hZZ vertex has already been performed by ATLAS and CMS using h → ZZ *decays. A pure pseudoscalar Higgs (cZ ≠0, aZ = bZ = 0) coupling has been ruled out at about 2 ~ 3 σ level. Bounds have also been placed on a mixed scalar-pseudoscalar coupling (a Z =0,cZ =0,bZ = 0). This however, is not the end of the story. There are two important points to note here. Firstly it is important to be able to verify these findings in other production modes. To this end, we investigate the ability of VBF production to probe such anomalous couplings and find strong effects on the pseudo-rapidity distributions of the tagging jets in VBF. Secondly it is important to also look for such anomalous couplings in the hWW vertex. At this point, one might argue that the hZZ vertex and hWW vertex are connected by Custodial symmetry. However this symmetry is violated in SM by gauging of the hypercharge. It follows that violations of this symmetry should arise naturally in BSM physics. A study of the anomalous vertex is not easily achieved in h→ WW ∗ decays due to backgrounds and difficulties in reconstructing momenta. The VBF channel can be quite effective here although there is significant contamination from VBF production through the Z boson. We find that a cleaner production mode to use would be associated production. Until recently the low cross-section of Vh made it difficult to analyse this channel at LHC. An analysis of Vh has been made possible by the use of modern jet substructure techniques using (h→ bb) decays. We use these techniques and study how one can probe anomalous couplings in the Vh production mode at LHC. One of the most important couplings of the Higgs is that to the top, the heaviest SM particle. Not only is this coupling responsible for the main production channel of the SM Higgs at the LHC but the interaction with the top also has important consequences on spontaneous symmetry breaking within the SM – notably, vacuum stability arguments – as well as beyond the SM – supersymmetry, for instance, where the top drives electroweak symmetry breaking in some scenarios. The strength as well as the CP property of the Higgs top coupling is therefore an important aspect of to study. more specifically we investigate terms of the form ψ¯t(at + ibtγ5)ψth. here ψt and h corresponds to the top quark and Higgs fields respectively. at and bt parametrize scalar and pseudoscalar couplings respectively. Since the dominant production mode of the Higgs at the LHC (gluon fusion) proceeds through a top quark loop as do decays of the Higgs to two photons, some information about these couplings may be extracted just by looking at Higgs production and decay rates. However, an unambiguous determination of these couplings is possible only through Higgs production with a top and anti-top pair. Although the production rates are very small at the LHC, such a study is of prime importance. We investigate t¯th production at the LHC and list some useful observable that can probe the couplings described above. The outline of the thesis is as follows. We start with brief introduction to SM and Electroweak Symmetry breaking (EWSB) also briefly reviewing SM Higgs production and decay at the LHC. We then investigate the information that the Higgs mass in conjunction with stability of the EWSB vacuum provides about the stop sector of the MSSM. We further investigate the information that Higgs decay rates in conjunction with the stability of the EWSB vacuum could provide about the stau sector in the MSSM. We move on to examining the extent to which an invisible branching ratio of the Higgs could be measured or excluded directly at the LHC. Coming to the second part of the thesis we examine in a model independent way the nature of the Higgs-gauge boson couplings. We first give a brief description of the Higgs gauge boson vertex and the effective theory approach following it up with a description of how this could be probed using Higgs decays. We then follow it up with a study on how the Lorentz structure could affect Higgs production in Vector Boson fusion and Higgs production in association with W or Z boson. Finally, we show how the CP properties of the Higgs coupling to the top quark can be investigated using tth production along with Higgs rates.

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics provides the theoretical framework to describe the fundamental interactions among elementary constituents of matter. SM is supported by experiments to a high degree of accuracy, up to parts per-mil for the electroweak (EW) sector and parts-per-trillion for QED alone, but it still remains incomplete. Many observed phenomena lack explanation in the framework of the SM and its particles. They indicate the possibility of existence of particles and interactions beyond the SM (BSM). These phenomena include dark matter (DM), dark energy and baryonic asymmetry of the universe. In addition, a quantum description of gravity is still lacking. The top quark has the largest mass among the SM particles. Due to it’s heavy mass, top quark is the only colored particle which does not hadronize and hence its properties are directly accessible by studying it’s decay particles. The order one Yukawa coupling of the top quark also imbibes it with an important role in the behavior of the SM couplings at higher energy scales where possible BSM physics may contribute. As a result, precision measurements of top quark properties may provide a glimpse into BSM physics and hence making these measurements is one of the core aims of the Large Hadron Collider. In stark contrast with top quark physics is the elusive, dark matter (DM) of the universe. There exists a lot of observational evidence for it but, as of yet, with no clue with regards to its particle properties and interactions. Compelling evidence for the existence of DM comes from measurements based on cosmic microwave background radiation, astrophysical observations of distribution of visible matter in galaxy clusters, galactic cluster collisions (e.g. bullet cluster), gravitational lensing, galactic rotation curves, structure formation simulations, to name a few. It is interesting to investigate the possibility that there may be a connection between top quark and DM. In this thesis, we extend the SM with simplified models to study BSM physics at colliders and also to explain the DM puzzle. Here, we use the Top quark as a laboratory for constructing generic probes of BSM and also of the dark sector physics. In Chapter 1, we introduce some relevant background and salient aspects of the SM framework on which the following BSM theories are built. In Chapter 2 we explore an s channel and a t-channel simplified model in the context of top quark pair production using asymmetries constructed with kinematic variables of the top decay products. In Chapter 3, we then propose a simplified model which includes a colored scalar as the mediator between DM and SM particles, termed gluphillic scalar dark matter (GSDM). Monojet process is one of the primary channels to probe DM at hadron colliders. In Chapter 3, the discussion of monojet process at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is limited to the effective field theory (EFT) framework. In Chapter 4 we discuss collider processes in GSDM model with complete loop calculations for the diagrams involving the mediating colored scalar. We also compare the loop calculation with the EFT results to find the range of applicability of the EFT. The top quark study in Chapter 2 was initially inspired from an interesting observation made in 2008 which suggested a deviation from the SM in the forward-backward asymmetry (FBA) of a pair produced top quark. The value of FBA measured at the time was 18% ±12%. This value deviated by more than 1σ with respect to the SM leading order (LO) value of 5%. The deviation was observed by both the detectors at Tevatron, D0 and CDF, and it’s significance increased with additional data in 2012. Recent analyses of the data by D0 is now in better agreement with the latest effective-NNNLO calculations. However, the FBA measurements by CDF are still in tension with those by D0 and the value predicted by theoretical calculations. Inspired by this puzzle, which may be on its way to getting solved, we have been able to construct effective probes of BSM physics for the on-going and future searches of BSM in the top quark sector. In our analyses, we studied correlations among observables which can distinguish between different sources of BSM contributions in the top quark pair production. As a template, we use an s-channel and a t-channel mediator, both of which leave very different signatures in the kinematic asymmetry correlations. The simplified models considered by us also included parity breaking interactions which lead to polarized top quarks, providing another probe into the underlying production process. We find that all the kinematic distributions of the decay lepton get influenced by the polarization of the top quark. We show that these correlations can distinguish well between the template models of axigluon and diquark. In general, all of these observables also provide a probe into the polarization of the top quark and therefore any chiral couplings with the mediator. However, the lepton polar angle asymmetry measured in the lab frame is special in that it can not only probe the longitudinal polarization as other observables but is also sensitive to the transverse polarization of the top quark. We also show the effectiveness of the proposed top quark kinematic observables, to distinguish between s and t-channel BSM physics models, in future searches for BSM particles at the run-II LHC. In a large verity of dark matter (DM) models the simplest candidate is the model of a singlet scalar particle. The scalar may couple to the standard model in a number of ways via any of the SM particles. Such models with BSM Yukawa interactions or gauge sector extensions are strongly constrained from both the direct detection and collider precision measurements. The remaining models either predict a very heavy dark matter, completely out of reach of collider searches or introduce an unnaturally weak coupling with the SM particles giving no justifications for the small numbers. An interesting corner of the space of possible DM models which has been under-explored so far includes interactions of DM particles with gluons. Although DM particles cannot themselves be charged or colored, a colored scalar mediator can allow this interaction. One such model arises when we consider the scalar DM in presence of a colored scalar particle, for example the one from t-channel model above. Such colored scalars are generically present in a number of BSM theories including SUSY and GUT. How-ever, without the need for any additional gauge symmetries, the two scalars would interact with each other via the marginal operators. In Chapter 3 we study a SM singlet scalar DM candidate which couples to SM via a colored scalar particle. In the GSDM model, DM and mediator interact via the quartic, marginal operator. DM annihilation cross-section of the order of weak interactions (∼ 0.1pb) is predicted to explain the observed dark matter relic density if arising from thermal production of a WIMP DM candidate of mass ∼ 100 GeV. On investigating the GSDM model, we find that it allows a large annihilation cross-section and is still compatible with direct detection bounds. This is so because the annihilation cross-section to a pair of colored scalars proceeds via a tree-level interaction, whereas the interaction with SM particles proceeds via loop diagrams involving the colored scalars. Our work shows that this model is compatible with the observed relic density of DM when the mediating particle is lighter than DM for a large range of the couplings. For masses of the DM and the mediator less then ∼ 50 GeV, the DM can also be lighter than the mediator where the annihilation then proceeds via loop interactions. This region of parameter space is strongly constrained from the collider physics bounds on a colored scalar particle. These bounds become much weaker in the case where the colored scalar does not couple to quarks and hence cannot decay. The bounds coming from long-lived colored scalars become relevant in those cases and also constrain the light mass window. A colored scalar interacting with quarks must do so without violating the strong flavor constraints. We consider the scalar in the framework of a class of models termed minimally flavor violating (MFV) and also assume that it couples only to the right handed up-sector quarks. Such a particle would couple to the top quark and would be observable at the LHC pair production of the top quark. We find constraints on a color triplet particle in such a case and show the coupling and mass regions allowed. Constraints from the decays to light quarks are interpreted from dijet process searches and limit the mass of a color-triplet scalar above 350 GeV. The primary process for direct search of stable particles produced at a collider is a single jet in association with missing transverse energy (MET). We find that in an effective field theory (EFT) framework, very weak bounds are obtained on the mediating scale. In Chapter 4, we perform complete loop calculations for processes involving colored scalar particles and DM at LHC in order to explore the GSDM model at LHC and FCC (Future Circular Collider). The EFT is valid only for mediator masses much heavier than the momentum transfer or the MET cuts. We show the region of applicability of the EFT by comparing it with respect to the loop induced calculation. We analyze the monojet + missing transverse energy (MET) process to find the expected bounds from LHC 13 TeV run-II. We calculate the reach of the LHC in the high luminosity run in the future and also the reach of the FCC to explore the GSDM model. We perform all our calculations for a number of representations of the colored mediator from a triplet to dimension 15. As expected, collider constraints are only significant when the dark matter is light enough (mDM ∼ 10 GeV) to be copiously produced at the LHC. We find that in the high luminosity run, LHC can probe the scalar triplet particle up-to 50 GeV mass in the monojet process though a dimension 15 particle can be probed up to 150 GeV. With an order of magnitude higher beam energy, FCC can rule out much larger parameter space or provide observational evidence for TeV scale mediating particles. In conclusion, this thesis adds to the growing body of literature which points towards BSM discoveries around the corner at high luminosity LHC in the top physics and in dark sector physics. We have also proposed avenues for precision BSM studies at the next generation colliders.