Abstract: We study the mass spectrum of light pseudoscalar and vector mesons in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field B., considering the effects of the mixing with the axial-vector meson sector. The analysis is performed within a two-flavor NJL-like model which includes isoscalar and isovector couplings together with a flavor mixing 't Hooft-like term. The effect of the magnetic field on charged particles is taken into account by retaining the Schwinger phases carried by quark propagators, and expanding the corresponding meson fields in proper Ritus-like bases. The spin-isospin and spin-flavor decomposition of meson mass states is also analyzed. For neutral pion masses it is shown that the mixing with axial vector mesons improves previous theoretical results, leading to a monotonic decreasing behavior with B that is in good qualitative agreement with lattice QCD (LQCD) calculations, both for the case of constant or B-dependent couplings. Regarding charged pions, it is seen that the mixing softens the enhancement of their mass with B. As a consequence, the energy becomes lower than the one corresponding to a pointlike pion, improving the agreement with LQCD results. The agreement is also improved for the magnetic behavior of the lowest.thorn energy state, which does not vanish for the considered range of values of B-a fact that can be relevant in connection with the occurrence of meson condensation for strong magnetic fields.

Abstract: The Sun may capture asymmetric dark matter (DM), which can subsequently form bound-states through the radiative emission of a sub-GeV scalar. This process enables generation of scalars without requiring DM annihilation. In addition to DM capture on nucleons, the DM-scalar coupling responsible for bound-state formation also induces capture from self-scatterings of ambient DM particles with DM particles already captured, as well as with DM bound-states formed in-situ within the Sun. This scenario is studied in detail by solving Boltzmann equations numerically and analytically. In particular, we take into consideration that the DM self-capture rates require a treatment beyond the conventional Born approximation. We show that, thanks to DM scatterings on bound-states, the number of DM particles captured increases exponentially, leading to enhanced emission of relativistic scalars through bound-state formation, whose final decay products could be observable. We explore phenomenological signatures with the example that the scalar mediator decays to neutrinos. We find that the neutrino flux emitted can be comparable to atmospheric neutrino fluxes within the range of energies below one hundred MeV. Future facilities like Hyper-K, and direct DM detection experiments can further test such scenario.

Abstract: In this article, we demonstrate that the inclusion of right-handed neutrino superfields in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) makes it possible to impose universality conditions on the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters at the Grand Unification scale, alleviating many of the problems of the so-called Constrained NMSSM. We have studied the renormalization group equations of this model, showing that right-handed neutrinos greatly contribute to driving the singlet Higgs mass-squared parameter negative, which makes it considerably easier to satisfy the conditions for radiative electroweak symmetry breaking. The new fields also lead to larger values of the Standard Model Higgs mass, thus making it easier to reproduce the measured value. As a consequence, all bounds from colliders and low-energy observables can be fulfilled in wide areas of the parameter space. However, the relic density in these regions is generally too high requiring some form of late entropy production to dilute the density of the lightest supersymmetric particle.

Abstract: As part of the R2D2 (Rare Decays with Radial Detector) R &D, the use of a gas detector with a spherical or cylindrical cathode, equipped with a single anode and operating at high pressure, was studied for the search of rare phenomena such as neutrinoless double-beta decay. The presented measurements were obtained with a cylindrical detector, covering gas pressures ranging from 1 to 10 bar in argon and 1 to 6 bar in xenon, using both a point-like source of 210 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$<^>{210} $$\end{document} Po (5.3 MeV alpha \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\alpha $$\end{document} ) and a diffuse source of 222 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$<^>{222}$$\end{document} Rn (5.5 MeV alpha \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\alpha $$\end{document} ). Analysis and interpretation of the data were developed using the anodic current waveform. Similar detection performances were achieved with both gases, and comparable energy resolutions were measured with both sources. As long as the purity of the gas was sufficient, no significant degradation of the measured energy was observed by increasing the pressure. At the highest operating pressure, an energy resolution better than 1.5% full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) was obtained for both gaseous media, although optimal noise conditions were not reached.

Abstract: The absolute mass of neutrinos and their nature are presently unknown. Aggregate matter has a coherent weak charge leading to a repulsive interaction mediated by a neutrino pair. The virtual neutrinos are non-relativistic at micron distances, giving a distinct behavior for Dirac versus Majorana mass terms. This effective potential allows for the disentanglement of the Dirac or Majorana nature of the neutrino via magnitude and distance dependence. We propose an experiment to search for this potential based on the concept that the density-dependent interaction of an atomic probe with a material source in one arm of an atomic clock interferometer generates a differential phase. The appropriate geometry of the device is selected using the saturation of the weak potential as a guide. The proposed experiment has the added benefit of being sensitive to gravity at micron distances. A strategy to suppress the competing Casimir-Polder interaction, depending on the electronic structure of the material source, as well as a way to compensate the gravitational interaction in the two arms of the interferometer is discussed.