Abstract: We consider a scenario in which dark matter particles are accelerated to semirelativistic velocities through their scattering with the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background. Such a subdominant, but more energetic dark matter component can be then detected via its scattering on the electrons and nucleons inside direct detection experiments. This opens up the possibility to probe the sub -GeV mass range, a region of parameter space that is usually not accessible at such facilities. We analyze current data from the XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN experiments and we obtain novel constraints on the scattering cross sections of sub -GeV boosted dark matter with both nucleons and electrons. We also highlight the importance of carefully taking into account Earth's attenuation effects as well as the finite nuclear size into the analysis. By comparing our results to other existing constraints, we show that these effects lead to improved and more robust constraints.

Abstract: The large distances travelled by neutrinos emitted from the Sun and core -collapse supernovae together with the characteristic energy of such neutrinos provide ideal conditions to probe their lifetime, when the decay products evade detection. We investigate the prospects of probing invisible neutrino decay capitalising on the detection of solar and supernova neutrinos as well as the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) in the next -generation neutrino observatories Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, DARWIN, and RES-NOVA. We find that future solar neutrino data will be sensitive to values of the lifetime -to -mass ratio tau 1 /m 1 and tau 2 /m 2 of O(10 – 1 -10 – 2 ) s/eV. From a core -collapse supernova explosion at 10 kpc, lifetime -to -mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates of O(10 5 ) s/eV could be tested. After 20 years of data taking, the DSNB would extend the sensitivity reach of tau 1 /m 1 to 10 8 s/eV. These results promise an improvement of about 6-15 orders of magnitude on the values of the decay parameters with respect to existing limits.

Abstract: Einstenian cubic gravity (ECG) is a modified theory of gravity constructed with cubic contractions of the curvature tensor. This theory has the remarkable feature of having the same two propagating degrees of freedom of Einstein gravity (EG), at the perturbative level on maximally symmetric spacetimes. The additional unstable modes steaming from the higher order derivative dynamics are suppressed provided that we consider the ECG as an effective field theory wherein the cubic terms are seen as perturbative corrections of the Einstein -Hilbert term. Extensions of ECG have been proposed in cosmology and compact objects in order to probe if this property holds in more general configurations. In this work, we construct a modified ECG gravity in a five dimensional warped braneworld scenario. By assuming a specific combination of the cubic parameters, we obtained modified gravity equations of motion with terms up to second -order. For a thin 3-brane, the cubic -gravity corrections yield an effective positive bulk cosmological constant. Thus, in order to keep the 5D bulk warped compact, an upper bound of the cubic parameter with respect to the bulk curvature was imposed. For a thick brane, the cubic -gravity terms modify the scalar field potential and its corresponding vacuum. Nonetheless, the domain -wall structure with a localized source is preserved. At the perturbative level, the Kaluza-Klein (KK) tensor gravitational modes are stable and possess a localized massless mode provided the cubic corrections are small compared to the EG braneworld.

Abstract: We perform a theoretical study of the J/psi -> omega (Phi)K* K + c.c. -> omega(Phi)K-0 pi+ K- reactions with the assumption that the f1(1285) is dynamically generated from a single channel K*K + c.c interaction in the chiral unitary approach. Two peaks in the K-0 pi+ K- invariant mass distribution are observed, one clear peak locates at the f(1)(1285) nominal mass, the other peak locates at around 1420MeV with about 70MeV width. We conclude that the former peak is associated with the f(1)(1285) and the latter peak is not a genuine resonance but a manifestation of the kinematic effect in the higher energy region caused by the K* K + c.c. decay mode of the f(1)(1285).

Abstract: The next-generation water Cherenkov Hyper-Kamiokande detector will be able to detect thousands of neutrino events from a galactic Supernova explosion via Inverse Beta Decay processes followed by neutron capture on Gadolinium. This superb statistics provides a unique window to set bounds on neutrino properties, as its mass and lifetime. We shall explore the capabilities of such a future detector, constraining the former two properties via the time delay and the flux suppression induced in the Supernovae neutrino time and energy spectra. Special attention will be devoted to the statistically sub-dominant elastic scattering induced events, normally neglected, which can substantially improve the neutrino mass bound via time delays. When allowing for a invisible decaying scenario, the 95% CL lower bound on tau/m\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\tau /m$$\end{document} is almost one order of magnitude better than the one found with SN1987A neutrino events. Simultaneous limits can be set on both m nu\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$m\nu $$\end{document} and tau nu\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\tau {\nu }$$\end{document}, combining the neutrino flux suppression with the time-delay signature: the best constrained lifetime is that of nu 1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\nu 1$$\end{document}, which has the richest electronic component. We find tau nu 1 greater than or similar to 4x105\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\tau {\nu _1}\gtrsim 4\times 10<^>5$$\end{document} s at 95% CL. The tightest 95% CL bound on the neutrino mass we find is 0.34 eV, which is not only competitive with the tightest neutrino mass limits nowadays, but also comparable to future laboratory direct mass searches. Both mass and lifetime limits are independent on the mass ordering, which makes our results very robust and relevant.