Covariant Description of Flavor Violation at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper introduces a covariant, model-independent formalism for describing flavor and CP violation, enabling robust bounds on new physics models using LHC data and flavor constraints.

Contribution

It provides a simple, covariant framework for analyzing flavor violation, allowing derivation of assumptions-free bounds from LHC top flavor violation and other flavor observables.

Findings

LHC can exclude new physics up to 0.6 TeV (weakly coupled) and 7.6 TeV (strongly coupled) with 100 fb^{-1}.

Constraints on Delta F=2 processes via same-sign tops exclude scales of 0.08 TeV (weakly coupled) and 1.0 TeV (strongly coupled).

Stronger bounds from CP violation in D-mixing reach 0.57 TeV (weakly coupled) and 7.2 TeV (strongly coupled).

Abstract

A simple formalism to describe flavor and CP violation in a model independent way is provided. Our method is particularly useful to derive robust bounds on models with arbitrary mechanisms of alignment. Known constraints on flavor violation in the K and D systems are reproduced in a straightforward and covariant manner. Assumptions-free limits, based on top flavor violation at the LHC, are then obtained. In the absence of signal, with 100 fb^{-1} of data, the LHC will exclude weakly coupled (strongly coupled) new physics up to a scale of 0.6 TeV (7.6 TeV), while at present no general constraint can be set related to Delta t=1 processes. Delta F=2 contributions will be constrained via same-sign tops signal, with a model independent exclusion region of 0.08 TeV (1.0 TeV). However, in this case, stronger bounds are found from the study of CP violation in D-bar D mixing with a scale of 0.57 TeV (7.2 TeV). We also apply our analysis to supersymmetric and warped extra dimension models.