Vectorlike Confinement at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper explores vectorlike confining gauge theories at the TeV scale, predicting rich LHC phenomenology with unique signatures like displaced vertices, stable charged particles, and potential dark matter candidates.

Contribution

It introduces a broad class of vectorlike confining theories at the TeV scale with distinctive collider signatures and minimal impact on precision measurements.

Findings

Resonant production of spin-1 bound states via gauge boson mixing

Diverse final states including photons, leptons, and stable charged particles

Identification of novel signatures like resonance reconstruction from stable charged particles

Abstract

We argue for the plausibility of a broad class of vectorlike confining gauge theories at the TeV scale which interact with the Standard Model predominantly via gauge interactions. These theories have a rich phenomenology at the LHC if confinement occurs at the TeV scale, while ensuring negligible impact on precision electroweak and flavor observables. Spin-1 bound states can be resonantly produced via their mixing with Standard Model gauge bosons. The resonances promptly decay to pseudo-Goldstone bosons, some of which promptly decay to a pair of Standard Model gauge bosons, while others are charged and stable on collider time scales. The diverse set of final states with little background include multiple photons and leptons, missing energy, massive stable charged particles and the possibility of highly displaced vertices in dilepton, leptoquark or diquark decays. Among others, a novel experimental signature of resonance reconstruction out of massive stable charged particles is highlighted. Some of the long-lived states also constitute Dark Matter candidates.