Asymmetric lepton flavor violating Higgs decays and Progress with THGEM detectors

In the first part of the seminar I’ll discuss the search for lepton flavor violating (LFV) decays of the Higgs boson. LFV is forbidden by the SM. However, it is known to exist in nature as indicated by the observation of neutrino oscillations. It calls for physics beyond the SM that participates in flavor changing dynamics. With the recently discovered Higgs boson, new channels in which such dynamics may be observed become experimentally available and serve as a motivation for this work. The focus is on a new background estimation method and statistical tools that we developed for this purpose. In our method, the SM background is estimated directly from the data (with no need for simulations). This has the potential of suppressing systematic uncertainties associated with Monte Carlo simulations as well as uncertainties associated with theoretical calculations of the production cross section of the various SM processes. I will show that the techniques we have developed are not specific to LFV Higgs decays and can be used as a generic prob for new physics.

In the second part of the seminar I’ll describe our recent progress with THGEM detectors. Unlike high-resolution Micropattern Gas Detectors (MPGD), like GEM and Micromegas, the aim is to conceive   robust, industrially mass-produced medium-resolution detectors, required in numerous applications. The direct target application has been Semi Digital and Digital Hadronic Calorimeter (DHCAL) for future collider experiments. However, THGEM-based detectors are capable of operation under high radiation flux, providing nanosecond-scale response, with sub-millimeter localization capabilities and energy-proportional response. Thus, our study has potential interest for many other scientific (particle-physics, astro-particle physics) and non-scientific (home-land security, medicine, volcanology, etc.) applications. New results from a test beam campaign carried out this December will be presented.