Abstract: During single clock inflation, hidden fields (i.e. fields coupled to the inflaton only gravitationally) in their adiabatic vacua can ordinarily only affect observables through virtual effects. After renormalizing background quantities (fixed by observations at some pivot scale), all that remains are logarithmic runnings in correlation functions that are both Planck and slow roll suppressed. In this paper we show how a large number of hidden fields can partially compensate this suppression and generate a potentially observable running in the tensor two point function, consistently inferable courtesy of a large N resummation. We detour to address certain subtleties regarding loop corrections during inflation, extending the analysis of [1]. Our main result is that one can extract bounds on the hidden field content of the universe from bounds on violations of the consistency relation between the tensor spectral index and the tensor to scalar ratio, were primordial tensors ever detected. Such bounds are more competitive than the naive bound inferred from requiring inflation to occur below the strong coupling scale of gravity if deviations from the consistency relation can be bounded to within the sub-percent level. We discuss how one can meaningfully constrain the parameter space of various phenomenological scenarios and constructions that address naturalness with a large number of species (such as N-naturalness') with CMB observations up to cosmic variance limits, and possibly future 21cm and gravitational wave observations.

Abstract: At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model (Lambda CDM), the Planck collaboration reports Sigma m(v)< 0.12 eV at 95 % CL. This bound, taken at face value, excludes many neutrino mass models. However, unstable neutrinos, with lifetimes shorter than the age of the universe <tau>(nu) less than or similar to t(U), represent a particle physics avenue to relax this constraint. Motivated by this fact, we present a taxonomy of neutrino decay modes, categorizing them in terms of particle content and final decay products. Taking into account the relevant phenomenological bounds, our analysis shows that 2-body decaying neutrinos into BSM particles are a promising option to relax cosmological neutrino mass bounds. We then build a simple extension of the type I seesaw scenario by adding one sterile state nu (4) and a Goldstone boson phi, in which nu (i)-> nu (4)phi decays can loosen the neutrino mass bounds up to Sigma m(v) similar to 1 eV, without spoiling the light neutrino mass generation mechanism. Remarkably, this is possible for a large range of the right-handed neutrino masses, from the electroweak up to the GUT scale. We successfully implement this idea in the context of minimal neutrino mass models based on a U(1)(mu-tau) flavor symmetry, which are otherwise in tension with the current bound on Sigma m(v).

Abstract: In leptophilic scenarios, dark matter interactions with nuclei, relevant for direct detection experiments and for the capture by celestial objects, could only occur via loop-induced processes. If the mediator is a scalar or pseudo-scalar particle, which only couples to leptons, the dominant contribution to dark matter-nucleus scattering would take place via two-photon exchange with a lepton triangle loop. The corresponding diagrams have been estimated in the literature under different approximations. Here, we present new analytical calculations for one-body two-loop and two-body one-loop interactions. The two-loop form factors are presented in closed analytical form in terms of generalized polylogarithms up to weight four. In both cases, we consider the exact dependence on all the involved scales, and study the dependence on the momentum transfer. We show that some previous approximations fail to correctly predict the scattering cross section by several orders of magnitude. Moreover, we quantitatively show that form factors in the range of momentum transfer relevant for local galactic dark matter, can be significantly smaller than their value at zero momentum transfer, which is the approach usually considered.