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De Romeri, V., Fernandez-Martinez, E., Gehrlein, J., Machado, P. A. N., & Niro, V. (2017). Dark Matter and the elusive Z' in a dynamical Inverse Seesaw scenario. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 169–21pp.
Abstract: The Inverse Seesaw naturally explains the smallness of neutrino masses via an approximate B-L symmetry broken only by a correspondingly small parameter. In this work the possible dynamical generation of the Inverse Seesaw neutrino mass mechanism from the spontaneous breaking of a gauged U(1) B-L symmetry is investigated. Interestingly, the Inverse Seesaw pattern requires a chiral content such that anomaly cancellation predicts the existence of extra fermions belonging to a dark sector with large, non-trivial, charges under the U(1) B-L. We investigate the phenomenology associated to these new states and find that one of them is a viable dark matter candidate with mass around the TeV scale, whose interaction with the Standard Model is mediated by the Z' boson associated to the gauged U(1) B-L symmetry. Given the large charges required for anomaly cancellation in the dark sector, the B-L Z' interacts preferentially with this dark sector rather than with the Standard Model. This suppresses the rate at direct detection searches and thus alleviates the constraints on Z'-mediated dark matter relic abundance. The collider phenomenology of this elusive Z' is also discussed.
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Morales, A. I. et al. (2017). Type II shell evolution in A=70 isobars from the N >= 40 island of inversion. Phys. Lett. B, 765, 328–333.
Abstract: The level structures of Co-70 and Ni-70, populated from the Chi decay of Fe-70, have been investigated using beta-delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy following in-flight fission of a U-238 beam. The experimental results are compared to Monte-Carlo Shell-Model calculations including the pf + g(9/2) + d(5/2) orbitals. The strong population of a (1(+)) state at 274 keV in Co-70 is at variance with the expected excitation energy of 1 MeV from near spherical single-particle estimates. This observation indicates a dominance of prolate deformed intruder configurations in the low-lying levels, which coexist with the normal near spherical states. It is shown that the 13 decay of the neutron-rich A = 70 isobars from the new island of inversion to the Z = 28 closed-shell regime progresses in accordance with a newly reported type of shell evolution, the so-called Type II, which involves many particle-hole excitations across energy gaps.
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Ong, W. J. et al, & Domingo-Pardo, C. (2017). Low-lying level structure of Cu-56 and its implications for the rp process. Phys. Rev. C, 95(5), 055806–8pp.
Abstract: The low-lying energy levels of proton-rich Cu-56 have been extracted using in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy with the state-of-the-art gamma-ray tracking array GRETINA in conjunction with the S800 spectrograph at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. Excited states in Cu-56 serve as resonances in the Ni-55(p,gamma)Cu-56 reaction, which is a part of the rp process in type-I x-ray bursts. To resolve existing ambiguities in the reaction Q value, a more localized isobaric multiplet mass equation (IMME) fit is used, resulting in Q = 639 +/- 82 keV. We derive the first experimentally constrained thermonuclear reaction rate for Ni-55(p,.) Cu-56. We find that, with this newrate, the rp processmay bypass the (56)Niwaiting point via the Ni-55(p,gamma) reaction for typical x-ray burst conditions with a branching of up to similar to 40%. We also identify additional nuclear physics uncertainties that need to be addressed before drawing final conclusions about the rp-process reaction flow in the Ni-56 region.
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LUX-ZEPLIN Collaboration(Akerib, D. S. et al), & Bailey, A. J. (2017). Identification of radiopure titanium for the LZ dark matter experiment and future rare event searches. Astropart Phys., 96, 1–10.
Abstract: The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector containing a total of 10 tonnes of liquid xenon within a double -vessel cryostat. The large mass and proximity of the cryostat to the active detector volume demand the use of material with extremely low intrinsic radioactivity. We report on the radioassay campaign conducted to identify suitable metals, the determination of factors limiting radiopure production, and the selection of titanium for construction of the LZ cryostat and other detector components. This titanium has been measured with activities of U-238(e) < 1.6 mBq/kg, U-238(I) < 0.09 mBq/kg, Th-232(e) = 0.28 +/- 0.03 mBq/kg, Th-232(I) = 0.25 +/- 0.02 mBq/kg, K-40 <0.54 mBq/kg, and (60) Co <0.02 mBq/kg (68% CL). Such low intrinsic activities, which are some of the lowest ever reported for titanium, enable its use for future dark matter and other rare event searches. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to assess the expected background contribution from the LZ cryostat with this radioactivity. In 1,000 days of WIMP search exposure of a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, the cryostat will contribute only a mean background of 0.160 +/- 0.001(stat) +/- 0.030(sys) counts.
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Diaz, M. A., Koch, B., & Rojas, N. (2017). Non-renormalizable operators for solar neutrino mass generation in Split SuSy with bilinear R-parity violation. Nucl. Phys. B, 916, 402–413.
Abstract: The Minimal Supersymmetric Extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) is able to explain the current data from neutrino physics. Unfortunately Split Supersymmetry as low energy approximation of this theory fails to generate a solar square mass difference, including after the addition of bilinear R-Parity Violation. In this work, it is shown how one can derive an effective low energy theory from the MSSM in the spirit of Split Supersymmetry, which has the potential of explaining the neutrino phenomenology. This is achieved by going beyond leading order in the process of integrating out heavy scalars from the original theory, which results in non-renormalizable operators in the effective low energy theory. It is found that in particular a d = 8 operator is crucial for the generation of the neutrino mass differences.
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