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: In recent years, several observables associated to semileptonic b -> s processes have been found to depart from their predicted values in the Standard Model, including a few tantalizing hints of lepton flavor universality violation. In this work, we consider an existing model with a massive Z' boson that addresses the anomalies in b -> s transitions and extend it with a nontrivial embedding of neutrino masses. We analyze lepton flavor-violating effects, induced by the nonuniversal interaction associated to the b -> s anomalies and by the new physics associated to the neutrino mass generation, and determine the expected ranges for the most relevant observables.

Abstract: The gauge bosons of the Pati-Salam model do not mediate proton decay at the renormalizable level, and for this reason it is possible to construct scenarios in which SU(4) (R) SU(2)R is broken at relatively low scales. In this paper we show that such low-scale models generate dimension-five operators that can give rise to nucleon decays at unacceptably large rates, even if the operators are suppressed by the Planck scale. We find an interesting complementarity between the nucleon-decay limits and the usual meson-decay constraints. Furthermore, we argue that these operators are generically present when the model is embedded into SO(10), lowering the suppression scale. Under reasonable assumptions, the lower limit on the breaking scale can be constrained to be as high as O(108) GeV.

Abstract: Both the naturalness of the electroweak symmetry breaking and the resolution of the strong CP problem may require a small Higgsino mass μgenerated by a realization of the DFSZ axion model. Assuming the axino is the lightest supersymmetric particle, we study its implications on μand the axion scale. Copiously produced light Higgsinos at collider (effectively only neutral next-to-lightest superparticles pairs) eventually decay to axinos leaving prompt multileptons or displaced vertices which are being looked for at the LHC. We use latest LHC7 + 8 results to derive current limits on μand the axion scale. Various Higgsino-axino phenomenology is illustrated by comparing with a standard case without lightest axinos as well as with a more general case with additional light gauginos in the spectrum.

Abstract: In general two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs) without scalar flavor changing neutral couplings (SFCNC) in the lepton sector, the electron, muon, and tau interactions can be decoupled in a robust framework, stable under renormalization group evolution. In this framework, the breaking of lepton flavor universality (LFU) goes beyond the mass proportionality, opening the possibility to accommodate in a simple manner a different behavior among charged leptons. We analyze simultaneously the electron and muon (g – 2) anomalies in the context of these general flavor conserving models in the leptonic sector (gtlFC). We consider two different models, I-gtlFC and II-gelFC, in which the quark Yukawa couplings coincide, respectively, with the ones in type I and in type II 2HDMs. We find two types of solutions that fully reproduce both (g – 2) anomalies, and which are compatible with experimental constraints from LEP and LHC, from LFU, from flavor and electroweak physics, and with theoretical constraints in the scalar sector. In the first type of solution, all the new scalars have masses in the 1-2.5 TeV range, the vacuum expectation values (vevs) of both doublets are quite similar in magnitude, and both anomalies are dominated by two loop Barr-Zee contributions. This solution appears in both models. There is a second type of solution, where one loop contributions are dominant in the muon anomaly, all new scalars have masses below 1 TeV, and the ratio of vevs is in the range 10-100. The second neutral scalar H is the lighter among the new scalars, with a mass in the 210-390 GeV range while the pseudoscalar A is the heavier, with a mass in the range 400-900 GeV. The new charged scalar H-+/- is almost degenerate either with the scalar or with the pseudoscalar. This second type of solution only appears in the I-gelFC model. Both solutions require the soft breaking of the Z(2) symmetry of the Higgs potential.