Beltran, R., Cottin, G., Hirsch, M., Titov, A., & Wang, Z. S. (2023). Reinterpretation of searches for long-lived particles from meson decays. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 031–31pp.
Abstract: Many models beyond the Standard Model predict light and feebly interacting particles that are often long-lived. These long-lived particles (LLPs) in many cases can be produced from meson decays. In this work, we propose a simple and quick reinterpretation method for models predicting LLPs produced from meson decays. With the method, we are not required to run Monte-Carlo simulation, implement detector geometries and efficiencies, or apply experimental cuts in an event analysis, as typically done in recasting and reinterpretation works. The main ingredients our method requires are only the theoretical input, allowing for computation of the production and decay rates of the LLPs. There are two conditions for the method to work: firstly, the LLPs in the models considered should be produced from a set of mesons with similar mass and lifetime (or the same meson) and second, the LLPs should, in general, have a lab-frame decay length much larger than the distance between the interaction point and the detector. As an example, we use this method to reinterpret exclusion bounds on heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) in the minimal “3+1” scenario, into those for HNLs in the general effective-field-theory framework as well as for axion-like particles. We are able to reproduce existing results, and obtain new bounds via reinterpretation of past experimental results, in particular, from CHARM and Belle.
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Rebel, B., Hall, C., Bernard, E., Faham, C. H., Ito, T. M., Lundberg, B., et al. (2014). High voltage in noble liquids for high energy physics. J. Instrum., 9, T08004–57pp.
Abstract: A workshop was held at Fermilab November 8-9, 2013 to discuss the challenges of using high voltage in noble liquids. The participants spanned the fields of neutrino, dark matter, and electric dipole moment physics. All presentations at the workshop were made in plenary sessions. This document summarizes the experiences and lessons learned from experiments in these fields at developing high voltage systems in noble liquids.
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Loya Villalpando, A. A., Martin-Albo, J., Chen, W. T., Guenette, R., Lego, C., Park, J. S., et al. (2020). Improving the light collection efficiency of silicon photomultipliers through the use of metalenses. J. Instrum., 15(11), P11021–13pp.
Abstract: Metalenses are optical devices that implement nanostructures as phase shifters to focus incident light. Their compactness and simple fabrication make them a potential cost-effective solution for increasing light collection efficiency in particle detectors with limited photosensitive area coverage. Here we report on the characterization and performance of metalenses in increasing the light collection efficiency of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) of various sizes using an LED of 630 nm, and find a six to seven-fold increase in signal for a 1.3 x 1 3 mm(2) SiPM when coupled with a 10-mm-diameter metalens manufactured using deep ultraviolet stepper lithography. Such improvements could be valuable for future generations of particle detectors, particularly those employed in rare-event searches such as dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay.
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Peinado, E., Reig, M., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2020). Dirac neutrinos from Peccei-Quinn symmetry: A fresh look at the axion. Mod. Phys. Lett. A, 35(21), 2050176–9pp.
Abstract: We show that a very simple solution to the strong CP problem naturally leads to Dirac neutrinos. Small effective neutrino masses emerge from a type-I Dirac seesaw mechanism. Neutrino mass limits probe the axion parameters in regions currently inaccessible to conventional searches.
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Dias, A. G., Leite, J., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2020). Reloading the axion in a 3-3-1 setup. Phys. Lett. B, 810, 135829–12pp.
Abstract: We generalize the idea of the axion to an extended electroweak gauge symmetry setup. We propose a minimal axion extension of the Singer-Valle-Schechter (SVS) theory, in which the standard model fits in SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X), the number of families results from anomaly cancellation, and the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) solution to the strong-CP problem is implemented. Neutrino masses arise from a type-I Dirac seesaw mechanism, suppressed by the ratio of SVS and PQ scales, suggesting the existence of new physics at a moderate SVS scale. Novel features include an enhanced axion coupling to photons when compared to the DFSZ axion, as well as flavor-changing axion couplings to quarks.
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Capozzi, F., Ferreira, R. Z., Lopez-Honorez, L., & Mena, O. (2023). CMB and Lyman-alpha constraints on dark matter decays to photons. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 060–23pp.
Abstract: Dark matter energy injection in the early universe modifies both the ionization history and the temperature of the intergalactic medium. In this work, we improve the CMB bounds on sub-keV dark matter and extend previous bounds from Lyman-& alpha; observations to the same mass range, resulting in new and competitive constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) decaying into two photons. The limits depend on the underlying reionization history, here accounted self-consistently by our modified version of the publicly available DarkHistory and CLASS codes. Future measurements such as the ones from the CMB-S4 experiment may play a crucial, leading role in the search for this type of light dark matter candidates.
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Garcfa-Barcelo, J. M., Melcon, A. A., Cuendis, S. A., Diaz-Morcillo, A., Gimeno, B., Kanareykin, A., et al. (2023). On the Development of New Tuning and Inter-Coupling Techniques Using Ferroelectric Materials in the Detection of Dark Matter Axions. IEEE Access, 11, 30360–30372.
Abstract: Tuning is an essential requirement for the search of dark matter axions employing haloscopes since its mass is not known yet to the scientific community. At the present day, most haloscope tuning systems are based on mechanical devices which can lead to failures due to the complexity of the environment in which they are used. However, the electronic tuning making use of ferroelectric materials can provide a path that is less vulnerable to mechanical failures and thus complements and expands current tuning systems. In this work, we present and design a novel technique for using the ferroelectric Potassium Tantalate (KTaO3 or KTO) material as a tuning element in haloscopes based on coupled microwave cavities. In this line, the structures used in the Relic Axion Detector Exploratory Setup (RADES) group are based on several cavities that are connected by metallic irises, which act as interresonator coupling elements. In this article, we also show how to use these KTaO3 films as interresonator couplings between cavities, instead of inductive or capacitive metallic windows used in the past. These two techniques represent a crucial upgrade over the current systems employed in the dark matter axions community, achieving a tuning range of 2.23% which represents a major improvement as compared to previous works (<0.1%) for the same class of tuning systems. The theoretical and simulated results shown in this work demonstrate the interest of the novel techniques proposed for the incorporation of this kind of ferroelectric media in multicavity resonant haloscopes in the search for dark matter axions.
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