Flavor symmetries that explain masses and mixings of the standard model fermions dictate flavor patterns for the couplings of scalar and vector leptoquarks to the standard model fermions. A generic feature is that couplings to SU(2)-doublet leptons are suppressed at least by one spurion of the discrete non-abelian symmetry breaking, responsible for neutrino mixing, while couplings to charged lepton singlets can be order one. We obtain testable patterns including those that predominantly couple to a single lepton flavor, or two, or in a skewed way. They induce lepton non-universality, which we contrast to current anomalies in B-decays. We find maximal effects in R D and R D * at the level of ∼10 percent and few percent, respectively, while leptoquark effects in R K ( * ) can reach order few×10 percent. Predictions for charm and kaon decays and µ − e conversion are worked out.

B-physics data and flavor symmetries suggest that leptoquarks can have masses as low as a few OðTeVÞ, predominantly decay to third generation quarks, and highlight pp → bμμ signatures from single production and pp → bbμμ from pair production. Abandoning flavor symmetries could allow for inverted quark hierarchies and cause sizable pp → jμμ and jjμμ cross sections, induced by second generation couplings. Final states with leptons other than muons including lepton flavor violation (LFV) ones can also arise. The corresponding couplings can also be probed by precision studies of the B → ðX s ; K Ã ; ϕÞee distribution and LFV searches in B-decays. We demonstrate sensitivity in single leptoquark production for the large hadron collider (LHC) and extrapolate to the high luminosity LHC. Exploration of the bulk of the parameter space requires a hadron collider beyond the reach of the LHC, with b-identification capabilities.

Evidence for electron-muon universality violation that has been revealed in b → sℓℓ transitions in the observables $$ {R}_{KK^{\ast }} $$ R KK ∗ by the LHCb Collaboration can be explained with spin-1 leptoquarks in SU(2)L singlet V1 or triplet V3 representations in the $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (1 − 10) TeV range. We explore the sensitivity of the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) and future proton-proton colliders to V1 and V3 in the parameter space connected to $$ {R}_{KK^{\ast }} $$ R KK ∗ -data. We consider pair production and single production in association with muons in different flavor benchmarks. Reinterpreting a recent ATLAS search for scalar leptoquarks decaying to bμ and jμ, we extract improved limits for the leptoquark masses: for gauge boson-type leptoquarks (κ = 1) we obtain $$ {M}_{V_1} $$ M V 1 > 1.9 TeV, $$ {M}_{V_1} $$ M V 1 > 1.9 TeV, and $$ {M}_{V_1} $$ M V 1 > 1.7 TeV for leptoquarks decaying predominantly according to hierarchical, flipped and democratic quark flavor structure, respectively. Future sensitivity projections based on extrapolations of existing ATLAS and CMS searches are worked out. We find that for κ = 1 the mass reach for pair (single) production of V1 can be up to 3 TeV (2.1 TeV) at the HL-LHC and up to 15 TeV (19.9 TeV) at the FCC-hh with $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 100 TeV and 20 ab−1. The mass limits and reach for the triplet V3 are similar or higher, depending on flavor. While there is the exciting possibility that leptoquarks addressing the $$ {R}_{KK^{\ast }} $$ R KK ∗ -anomalies are observed at the LHC, to fully cover the parameter space pp-collisions beyond the LHC-energies are needed.