Interpretation of vector-like quark searches: the case of a heavy gluon in composite Higgs models and vector-like quarks

摘要

Pair production of new vector-like quarks in $pp$ collisions is consideredmodel independent as it is usually dominated by QCD production. Nonetheless,the presence of a new massive color octet (heavy gluon) in some composite Higgsmodels may modify the pair production rate of vector-like quarks. This scenariois considered and the possible differences between the usual QCD production andthe production mediated via heavy gluons is studied. The sensitivity to thesedifferences in the LHC (run-1 and run-2) are studied. No sizeable differenceshave been found, which suggests that the published experimental results can beeasily reinterpreted by a simple cross-section scaling. This reinterpretationhas been also done for the run-1 results published by the collaborations.