We present the HiggsPO UFO model for Monte Carlo event generation of electroweak VH and VBF Higgs production processes at NLO in QCD in the formalism of Higgs pseudo-observables (PO). We illustrate the use of this tool by studying the QCD corrections, matched to a parton shower, for several benchmark points in the Higgs PO parameter space. We find that, while being sizable and thus important to be considered in realistic experimental analyses, the QCD higher-order corrections largely factorize. As an additional finding, based on the NLO results, we advocate to consider 2D distributions of the two-jet azimuthal-angle difference and the leading jet pT\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$p_T$$\end{document} for new physics searches in VBF Higgs production. The HiggsPO UFO model is publicly available.

LHCb experiment at CERN has recently reported a set of measurements on lepton flavour universality in $b \to s$ transitions showing a departure from the Standard Model predictions. I will review the main ideas recently put forward to make sense out of these intriguing hints. Focusing on the new physics explanation, I will discuss the correlated signals expected in other low- and high-energy observables, that could help clarify the mysterious anomalies.

We present the HiggsPO UFO model for Monte Carlo event generation of electroweak VH and VBF Higgs production processes at NLO in QCD in the formalism of Higgs pseudo-observables (PO). We illustrate the use of this tool by studying the QCD corrections, matched to a parton shower, for several benchmark points in the Higgs PO parameter space. We find that, while being sizable and thus important to be considered in realistic experimental analyses, the QCD higher-order corrections largely factorize. As an additional finding, based on the NLO results, we advocate to consider 2D distributions of the two-jet azimuthal-angle difference and the leading jet $$p_T$$pT for new physics searches in VBF Higgs production. The HiggsPO UFO model is publicly available.

The vector leptoquark representation, Uμ ¼ ð3; 1; 2=3Þ, was recently identified as an exceptional single mediator model to address experimental hints on lepton flavor universality violation in semileptonic B-meson decays, both in neutral (b → sμμ) and charged (b → cτν) current processes. Nonetheless, it is well known that massive vectors crave an ultraviolet (UV) completion. We present the first full-fledged UV complete and calculable gauge model which incorporates this scenario while remaining in agreement with all other indirect flavor and electroweak precision measurements, as well as, direct searches at high-pT . The model is based on a new non-Abelian gauge group spontaneously broken at the TeV scale, and a specific flavor structure suppressing flavour violation in ΔF ¼ 2 processes while inducing sizeable semileptonic transitions

Motivated by additional experimental hints of Lepton Flavour Universality violation in B decays, both in charged- and in neutral-current processes, we analyse the ingredients necessary to provide a combined description of these phenomena. By means of an Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach, based on the hypothesis of New Physics coupled predominantly to the third generation of left-handed quarks and leptons, we show how this is possible. We demonstrate, in particular, how to solve the problems posed by electroweak precision tests and direct searches with a rather natural choice of model parameters, within the context of a U(2)q ×U(2)ℓ flavour symmetry. We further exemplify the general EFT findings by means of simplified models with explicit mediators in the TeV range: coloured scalar or vector leptoquarks and colour-less vectors. Among these, the case of an SU(2)L-singlet vector leptoquark emerges as a particularly simple and successful framework.

We investigate the impact of flavor-conserving, non-universal quark-lepton contact interactions on the dilepton invariant mass distribution in $$p~p \rightarrow \ell ^+ \ell ^-$$pp→ℓ+ℓ- processes at the LHC. After recasting the recent ATLAS search performed at 13 TeV with 36.1 fb$$^{-1}$$-1 of data, we derive the best up-to-date limits on the full set of 36 chirality-conserving four-fermion operators contributing to the processes and estimate the sensitivity achievable at the HL-LHC. We discuss how these high-$$p_T$$pT measurements can provide complementary information to the low-$$p_T$$pT rare meson decays. In particular, we find that the recent hints on lepton-flavor universality violation in $$b \rightarrow s \mu ^+ \mu ^-$$b→sμ+μ- transitions are already in mild tension with the dimuon spectrum at high-$$p_T$$pT if the flavor structure follows minimal flavor violation. Even if the mass scale of new physics is well beyond the kinematical reach for on-shell production, the signal in the high-$$p_T$$pT dilepton tail might still be observed, a fact that has been often overlooked in the present literature. In scenarios where new physics couples predominantly to third generation quarks, instead, the HL-LHC phase is necessary in order to provide valuable information.

Given many possible forms that physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) could take, it is important to pursue a bottom-up approach in which as few assumptions as possible about the BSM sector are made. In this talk, we present a combined analysis of LHC Run-1 Higgs data (signal strengths) together with LEP-2 WW production measurements, in the framework of an Effective Field Theory (EFT) where the SM is extended by higher-dimensional operators suppressed by the mass scale of new physics Λ. Working under this hypothesis, important relations among Higgs and electroweak precision observables occur. We perform the first consistent analysis at the order Λ−2 in the EFT expansion keeping all the relevant operators. While the two data sets suffer from flat directions, together they impose stringent model-independent constraints on the anomalous couplings, thus showing the importance of a global analysis in the EFT framework. We also discuss challenges faced when interpreting diboson production at the LHC in the EFT context.

We discuss how to perform consistent extractions of anomalous triple gauge couplings (aTGC) from electroweak boson pair production at the LHC in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). After recasting recent ATLAS and CMS searches in pp → W Z(W W ) → ℓ′νℓ+ℓ−(νℓ) channels, we find that: (a) working consistently at order Λ−2 in the SMEFT expansion the existing aTGC bounds from Higgs and LEP-2 data are not improved, (b) the strong limits quoted by the experimental collaborations are due to the partial Λ−4 corrections (dimension-6 squared contributions). Using helicity selection rule arguments we are able to explain the suppression in some of the interference terms, and discuss conditions on New Physics (NP) models that can benefit from such LHC analyses. Furthermore, standard analyses assume implicitly a quite large NP scale, an assumption that can be relaxed by imposing cuts on the underlying scale of the process (s^\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ \sqrt{\widehat{s}} $$\end{document}). In practice, we find almost no correlation between s^\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ \sqrt{\widehat{s}} $$\end{document} and the experimentally accessible quantities, which complicates the SMEFT interpretation. Nevertheless, we provide a method to set (conservative) aTGC bounds in this situation, and recast the present searches accordingly. Finally, we introduce a simple NP model for aTGC to compare the bounds obtained directly in the model with those from the SMEFT analysis.

I revisit a set of pseudo-observables (PO) in Higgs decays that parameterise, in great generality, possible beyond the Standard Model effects. PO are defined from the decomposition of onshell decay amplitudes around the physical poles. On the one hand, PO can be determined from experimental data, providing a systematic generalisation of the ”κ-framework” so far adopted by the LHC experiments. On the other hand, PO can be computed in large set of new physics (NP) models and, in particular, in any Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to Higgs physics. The PO framework allows for a systematic inclusion of higher-order QED/QCD corrections. These features single out PO as a correct formalism for general interpretation of the upcoming precision measurements in Higgs physics.