Centelles Chulia, S., Miranda, O. G., & Valle, J. W. F. (2024). Leptonic neutral-current probes in a short-distance DUNE-like setup. Phys. Rev. D, 109(11), 115007–12pp.
Abstract: Precision measurements of neutrino -electron scattering may provide a viable way to test the nonminimal form of the charged and neutral current weak interactions within a hypothetical near -detector setup for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Although low -statistics, these processes are clean and provide information complementing the results derived from oscillation studies. They could shed light on the scale of neutrino mass generation in low -scale seesaw schemes.
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Rossi, R. R., Sanchez Garcia, G., & Tortola, M. (2024). Probing nuclear properties and neutrino physics with current and future CEνNS experiments. Phys. Rev. D, 109(9), 095044–17pp.
Abstract: The recent observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) with neutrinos from pion decay at rest (N-DAR) sources by the COHERENT Collaboration has raised interest in this process in the search for new physics. Unfortunately, current uncertainties in the determination of nuclear parameters relevant to those processes can hide new physics effects. This is not the case for processes involving lower-energy neutrino sources such as nuclear reactors. Note, however, that a CEvNS measurement with reactor neutrinos depends largely on a (still-missing) precise determination of the quenching factor at very low energies, making its observation more challenging. In the upcoming years, once this signal is confirmed, a combined analysis of N-DAR and reactor CEvNS experiments will be very useful to probe particle and nuclear physics, with a reduced dependence on nuclear uncertainties. In this work, we explore this idea by simultaneously testing the sensitivity of current and future CEvNS experiments to neutrino nonstandard interactions (NSIs) and the neutron root mean square (rms) radius, considering different neutrino sources as well as several detection materials. We show how the interplay between future reactor and accelerator CEvNS experiments can help to get robust constraints on the neutron rms and to break degeneracies between the NSI parameters. Our forecast could be used as a guide to optimize the experimental sensitivity to the parameters under study.
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Servant, G., & Simakachorn, P. (2024). Ultrahigh frequency primordial gravitational waves beyond the kHz: The case of cosmic strings. Phys. Rev. D, 109(10), 103538–24pp.
Abstract: We investigate gravitational -wave backgrounds (GWBs) of primordial origin that would manifest only at ultrahigh frequencies, from kilohertz to 100 gigahertz, and leave no signal at LIGO, the Einstein Telescope, the Cosmic Explorer, LISA, or pulsar -timing arrays. We focus on GWBs produced by cosmic strings and make predictions for the GW spectra scanning over high-energy scale (beyond 10 10 GeV) particle physics parameters. Signals from local string networks can easily be as large as the big bang nucleosynthesis/ cosmic microwave background bounds, with a characteristic strain as high as 10 – 26 in the 10 kHz band, offering prospects to probe grand unification physics in the 10 14 -10 17 GeV energy range. In comparison, GWB from axionic strings is suppressed (with maximal characteristic strain similar to 10 – 31 ) due to the early matter era induced by the associated heavy axions. We estimate the needed reach of hypothetical futuristic GW detectors to probe such GWB and, therefore, the corresponding high-energy physics processes. Beyond the information of the symmetry -breaking scale, the high -frequency spectrum encodes the microscopic structure of the strings through the position of the UV cutoffs associated with cusps and kinks, as well as potential information about friction forces on the string. The IR slope, on the other hand, reflects the physics responsible for the decay of the string network. We discuss possible strategies for reconstructing the scalar potential, particularly the scalar self -coupling, from the measurement of the UV cutoff of the GW spectrum.
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del Rio, A., & Ester, E. A. (2024). Electrically charged black hole solutions in semiclassical gravity and dynamics of linear perturbations. Phys. Rev. D, 109(10), 105022–23pp.
Abstract: We explore quantum corrections of electrically charged black holes subject to vacuum polarization effects of fermion fields in QED. Solving this problem exactly is challenging so we restrict to perturbative corrections that one can obtain using the heat kernel expansion in the one -loop effective action for electrons. Starting from the corrections originally computed by Drummond and Hathrell, we solve the full semiclassical Einstein -Maxwell system of coupled equations to leading order in Planck 's constant and find a new electrically charged, static black hole solution. To probe these quantum corrections, we study electromagnetic and gravitational (axial) perturbations on this background and derive the coupled system of Regge-Wheeler master equations that govern the propagation of these waves. In the classical limit, our results agree with previous findings in the literature. We finally compare these results with those that one can obtain by working out the Euler-Heisenberg effective action. We find again a new electrically charged static black hole spacetime and derive the coupled system of Regge-Wheeler equations governing the propagation of axial electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations. Results are qualitatively similar in both cases. We briefly discuss some challenges found in the numerical computation of the quasinormal mode frequency spectra when quantum corrections are included.
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Navarro, P., Gimeno, B., Monzo-Cabrera, J., Diaz-Morcillo, A., & Blas, D. (2024). Study of a cubic cavity resonator for gravitational waves detection in the microwave frequency range. Phys. Rev. D, 109(10), 104048–19pp.
Abstract: The direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) of frequencies above MHz has recently received considerable attention. In this work, we present a precise study of the reach of a cubic cavity resonator to GWs in the microwave range, using for the first time tools allowing to perform realistic simulations. Concretely, the boundary integral -resonant mode expansion (BI-RME) 3D method, which allows us to obtain not only the detected power but also the detected voltage (magnitude and phase), is used here. After analyzing three cubic cavities for different frequencies and working simultaneously with three different degenerate modes at each cavity, we conclude that the sensitivity of the experiment is strongly dependent on the polarization and incidence angle of the GW. The presented experiment can reach sensitivities up to 1 x 10 – 19 at 100 MHz, 2 x 10 – 20 at 1 GHz, and 6 x 10 – 19 at 10 GHz for optimal angles and polarizations, and where in all cases we assumed an integration time of Delta t 1 / 4 1 ms. These results provide a strong case for further developing the use of cavities to detect GWs. Moreover, the possibility of analyzing the detected voltage (magnitude and phase) opens a new interferometric detection scheme based on the combination of the detected signals from multiple cavities.
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Beltran, R., Günther, J., Hirsch, M., Titov, A., & Wang, Z. S. (2024). Heavy neutral leptons from kaons in effective field theory. Phys. Rev. D, 109(11), 115014–19pp.
Abstract: In the framework of the low -energy effective theory containing, in addition to the Standard -Model fields, heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), we compute the decay rates of neutral and charged kaons into HNLs. We consider both lepton -number -conserving and lepton -number -violating four-fermion operators, taking into account also the contribution of active -heavy neutrino mixing. Assuming that the produced HNLs are longlived, we perform simulations and calculate the sensitivities of future long -lived -particle (LLP) detectors at the high -luminosity LHC as well as the near detector of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE -ND) to the considered scenario. When applicable, we also recast the existing bounds on the minimal mixing case obtained by NA62, T2K, and PS191. Our findings show that, while the future LHC LLP detectors can probe currently allowed parameter space only in certain benchmark scenarios, DUNE -ND should be sensitive to parameter space beyond the current bounds in almost all the benchmark scenarios, and, for some of the effective operators considered, it can even probe new -physics scales in excess of 3000 TeV.
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Aristizabal Sierra, D., De Romeri, V., & Ternes, C. A. (2024). Reactor neutrino background in next-generation dark matter detectors. Phys. Rev. D, 109(11), 115026–7pp.
Abstract: Third -generation dark matter detectors will be fully sensitive to the 8 B solar neutrino flux. Because of this, the characterization of such a background has been the subject of extensive analyses over the last few years. In contrast, little is known about the impact of reactor neutrinos. In this paper, we report on the implications of such a flux for dark matter direct -detection searches. We consider five potential detector deployment sites envisioned by the recently established XLZD Consortium: SURF, SNOLAB, Kamioka, LNGS, and Boulby. By using public reactor data, we construct five reactor clusters -involving about 100 currently operating commercial nuclear reactors each -and determine the net neutrino flux at each detector site. Assuming a xenon -based detector and a 50 ton -year exposure, we show that in all cases the neutrino event rate may be sizable, depending on energy recoil thresholds. Of all possible detector sites, SURF and LNGS are those with the smallest reactor neutrino background. On the contrary, SNOLAB and Boulby are subject to the strongest reactor neutrino fluxes, with Kamioka being subject to a more moderate background. Our findings demonstrate that reactor neutrino fluxes should be taken into account in the next round of dark matter searches. We argue that this background may be particularly relevant for directional detectors, provided they meet the requirements we have employed in this analysis.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Wright, T. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2017). Measurement of the U-238(n,gamma) cross section up to 80 keV with the Total Absorption Calorimeter at the CERN n_TOF facility. Phys. Rev. C, 96(6), 064601–11pp.
Abstract: The radiative capture cross section of a highly pure (99.999%), 6.125(2) grams and 9.56(5) x 10(-4) atoms/barn areal density U-238 sample has been measured with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) in the 185 m flight path at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF. This measurement is in response to the NEA High Priority Request list, which demands an accuracy in this cross section of less than 3% below 25 keV. These data have undergone careful background subtraction, with special care being given to the background originating from neutrons scattered by the 238U sample. Pileup and dead-time effects have been corrected for. The measured cross section covers an energy range between 0.2 eV and 80 keV, with an accuracy that varies with neutron energy, being better than 4% below 25 keV and reaching at most 6% at higher energies.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Lerendegui-Marco, J. et al.), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2018). Radiative neutron capture on Pu-242 in the resonance region at the CERN n_TOF-EAR1 facility. Phys. Rev. C, 97(2), 024605–21pp.
Abstract: The spent fuel of current nuclear reactors contains fissile plutonium isotopes that can be combined with uranium to make mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. In this way the Pu from spent fuel is used in a new reactor cycle, contributing to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy. However, an extensive use of MOX fuels, in particular in fast reactors, requires more accurate capture and fission cross sections for some Pu isotopes. In the case of Pu-242 there are sizable discrepancies among the existing capture cross-section measurements included in the evaluations (all from the 1970s) resulting in an uncertainty as high as 35% in the fast energy region. Moreover, postirradiation experiments evaluated with JEFF-3.1 indicate an overestimation of 14% in the capture cross section in the fast neutron energy region. In this context, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) requested an accuracy of 8% in this cross section in the energy region between 500 meV and 500 keV. This paper presents a new time-of-flight capture measurement on Pu-242 carried out at nTOF-EAR1 (CERN), focusing on the analysis and statistical properties of the resonance region, below 4 keV. The Pu-242(n, gamma) reaction on a sample containing 95(4) mg enriched to 99.959% was measured with an array of four C6D6 detectors and applying the total energy detection technique. The high neutron energy resolution of nTOF-EAR1 and the good statistics accumulated have allowed us to extend the resonance analysis up to 4 keV, obtaining new individual and average resonance parameters from a capture cross section featuring a systematic uncertainty of 5%, fulfilling the request of the NEA.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Mendoza, E. et al), Giubrone, G., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2018). Measurement and analysis of the Am-241 neutron capture cross section at the n_TOF facility at CERN. Phys. Rev. C, 97(5), 054616–21pp.
Abstract: The Am-241(n, gamma) cross section has been measured at the nTOF facility at CERN with the nTOF BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter in the energy range between 0.2 eV and 10 keV. Our results are analyzed as resolved resonances up to 700 eV, allowing a more detailed description of the cross section than in the current evaluations, which contain resolved resonances only up to 150-160 eV. The cross section in the unresolved resonance region is perfectly consistent with the predictions based on the average resonance parameters deduced from the resolved resonances, thus obtaining a consistent description of the cross section in the full neutron energy range under study. Below 20 eV, our results are in reasonable agreement with JEFF-3.2 as well as with the most recent direct measurements of the resonance integral, and differ up to 20-30% with other experimental data. Between 20 eV and 1 keV, the disagreement with other experimental data and evaluations gradually decreases, in general, with the neutron energy. Above 1 keV, we find compatible results with previously existing values.
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