Abstract: We propose a new method toward distinguishing the Dirac versus Majorana nature of neutrino masses from the spectrum of gravitational waves (GWs) associated with neutrino mass genesis. Motivated by the principle of generating small neutrino masses without tiny Yukawa couplings, we assume generic seesaw mechanisms for both Majorana and Dirac neutrino masses. For Majorana neutrinos, we further assume a spontaneously broken gauged U(1)B-L symmetry, independently of the type of Majorana seesaw mechanism, which gives a cosmic string induced GW signal flat over a wide range of frequencies. For Dirac neutrinos, we assume the spontaneous breaking of a Z2 symmetry, the minimal symmetry choice associated with all Dirac seesaw mechanisms, which is softly broken, generating a peaked GW spectrum from the annihilation of the resulting domain walls. In fact, the GW spectra for all types of Dirac seesaws with such a broken Z2 symmetry are identical, subject to a mild caveat. As an illustrative example, we study the simplest respective type-I seesaw mechanisms, and show that the striking difference in the shapes of the GW spectra can help differentiate between these Dirac and Majorana seesaws, complementing results of neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. We also discuss detailed implications of the recent NANOGrav data for Majorana and Dirac seesaw models.

Abstract: High-electric-charge compact objects (HECOs) appear in several theoretical particle physics models beyond the Standard Model, and are actively searched for in current colliders, such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In such searches, mass bounds of these objects have been placed, using Drell-Yan and photon-fusion processes at tree level so far. However, such mass-bound estimates are not reliable, given that, as a result of the large values of the electric charge of the HECO, perturbative quantum electrodynamics calculations break down. In this work, we perform a Dyson-Schwinger resummation scheme (as opposed to lattice strong-coupling approach), which makes the computation of the pertinent HECO-production cross sections reliable, thus allowing us to extract improved mass bounds for such objects from ATLAS and MoEDAL searches.

Abstract: We investigate the time evolution of spherically symmetric boson stars in Palatini f(R) gravity through numerical relativity computations. Employing a novel approach that establishes a correspondence between modified gravity with scalar matter and general relativity with modified scalar matter, we are able to use the techniques of numerical relativity to simulate these systems. Specifically, we focus on the quadratic theory f(R) = R + xi R2 and compare the obtained solutions with those in general relativity, exploring both positive and negative values of the coupling parameter xi. Our findings reveal that boson stars in Palatini f(R) gravity exhibit both stable and unstable evolutions. The latter give rise to three distinct scenarios: migration toward a stable configuration, complete dispersion, and gravitational collapse leading to the formation of a baby universe structure.

Abstract: We develop a new regularization method for the stress -energy tensor and the two -point function of free quantum scalar fields propagating in cosmological spacetimes. We proceed by extending the adiabatic regularization scheme with the introduction of two additional mass scales. By setting them to the order of the physical scale of the studied scenario, we obtain ultraviolet -regularized quantities that do not distort the power spectra amplitude at the infrared scales amplified by the expansion of the Universe. This is not ensured by the standard adiabatic approach. We also show how our proposed subtraction terms can be interpreted as a renormalization of coupling constants in the Einstein equations. We finally illustrate our proposed regularization method in two scenarios of cosmological interest: de Sitter inflation and geometric reheating.

Abstract: The decay-time-dependent CP asymmetry in B0s -> J=psi(-> mu+mu-)K+K- decays is measured using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb-1, collected with the LHCb detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Using a sample of approximately 349 000 B0s signal decays with an invariant K+K- mass in the vicinity of the phi(1020) resonance, the CP-violating phase phi s is measured, along with the difference in decay widths of the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the B0s-B over bar 0s system, Delta Gamma s, and the difference of the average B0s and B0 meson decay widths, Gamma s – Gamma d. The values obtained are phi s = -0.039 +/- 0.022 +/- 0.006 rad, Delta Gamma s = 0.0845 +/- 0.0044 +/- 0.0024 ps-1, and -0.0015 +/- 0.0014 ps-1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. These are the most precise single measurements to date and are consistent with expectations based on the Standard Model and with the previous LHCb analyses of this decay. These results are combined with previous independent LHCb measurements. The phase phi s is also measured independently for each polarization state of the K+K- system and shows no evidence for polarization dependence.