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Escudero, M., Lopez-Pavon, J., Rius, N., & Sandner, S. (2020). Relaxing cosmological neutrino mass bounds with unstable neutrinos. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 119–44pp.
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).
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Folgado, M. G., Donini, A., & Rius, N. (2021). Spin-dependence of gravity-mediated dark matter in warped extra-dimensions. Eur. Phys. J. C, 81(3), 197–13pp.
Abstract: We study the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) particles of spin 0, 1/2 or 1 may interact gravitationally with Standard Model (SM) particles within the framework of a warped Randall-Sundrum (RS) model. Both the Dark Matter and the Standard Model particles are assumed to be confined to the infra-red (IR) brane and only interchange Kaluza-Klein excitations of the graviton and the radion (adopting the Goldberger-Wise mechanism to stabilize the size of the extra-dimension). We analyze the different DM annihilation channels and find that the presently observed Dark Matter relic abundance, Omega DM, can be obtained within the freeze-out mechanism for DM particles of all considered spins. This extends our first work concerning scalar DM in RS scenarios (Folgado et al., in JHEP 01:161. https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2020)161, 2020) and put it on equal footing with our second work in which we studied DM particles of spin 0, 1/2 and 1 in the framework of the Clockwork/Linear Dilaton (CW/LD) model (Folgado et al., in JHEP 20:036. https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2020)036, 2020). We study the region of the model parameter space for which Omega DM is achieved and compare it with the different experimental and theoretical bounds. We find that, for DM particles mass mDM is an element of [1,15] TeV, most of the parameter space is excluded by the current constraints or will be excluded by the LHC Run III or by the LHC upgrade, the HL-LHC. The observed DM relic abundance can still be achieved for DM masses mDM is an element of [4,15] TeV and mG1<10 TeV for scalar and vector boson Dark Matter. On the other hand, for spin 1/2 fermion Dark Matter, only a tiny region with mDM<is an element of>[4,15] TeV, mG1 is an element of [5,10] TeV and Lambda >mG1 is compatible with theoretical and experimental bounds. We have also studied the impact of the radion in the phenomenology, finding that it does not modify significantly the allowed region for DM particles of any spin (differently from the CW/LD case, where its impact was quite significant in the case of scalar DM). We, eventually, briefly compare results in RS with those obtained in the CW/LD model.
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Bernal, N., Donini, A., Folgado, M. G., & Rius, N. (2021). FIMP Dark Matter in Clockwork/Linear Dilaton extra-dimensions. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 061–29pp.
Abstract: We study the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the Standard Model particles in the framework of a Clockwork/Linear Dilaton (CW/LD) model. We restrict here to the case in which the DM particles are scalar fields. This paper extends our previous study of FIMP's in Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped extra-dimensions. As it was the case in the RS scenario, also in the CW/LD model we find a significant region of the parameter space in which the observed DM relic abundance can be reproduced with scalar DM mass in the MeV range, with a reheating temperature varying from 10 GeV to 10(9) GeV. We comment on the similarities of the results in both extra-dimensional models.
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Hernandez, P., Lopez-Pavon, J., Rius, N., & Sandner, S. (2022). Bounds on right-handed neutrino parameters from observable leptogenesis. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 012–58pp.
Abstract: We revisit the generation of a matter-antimatter asymmetry in the minimal extension of the Standard Model with two singlet heavy neutral leptons (HNL) that can explain neutrino masses. We derive an accurate analytical approximation to the solution of the complete linearized set of kinetic equations, which exposes the non-trivial parameter dependencies in the form of parameterization-independent CP invariants. The identification of various washout regimes relevant in different regions of parameter space sheds light on the relevance of the mass corrections in the interaction rates and clarifies the correlations of baryogenesis with other observables. In particular, by requiring that the measured baryon asymmetry is reproduced, we derive robust upper or lower bounds on the HNL mixings depending on their masses, and constraints on their flavour structure, as well as on the CP-violating phases of the PMNS mixing matrix, and the amplitude of neutrinoless double-beta decay. We also find certain correlations between low and high scale CP phases. Especially emphasizing the testable part of the parameter space we demonstrate that our findings are in very good agreement with numerical results. The methods developed in this work can help in exploring more complex scenarios.
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Sandner, S., Hernandez, P., Lopez-Pavon, J., & Rius, N. (2023). Predicting the baryon asymmetry with degenerate right-handed neutrinos. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 153–37pp.
Abstract: We consider the generation of a baryon asymmetry in an extension of the Standard Model with two singlet Majorana fermions that are degenerate above the electroweak phase transition. The model can explain neutrino masses as well as the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry, for masses of the heavy singlets below the electroweak scale. The only physical CP violating phases in the model are those in the PMNS mixing matrix, i.e. the Dirac phase and a Majorana phase that enter light neutrino observables. We present an accurate analytic approximation for the baryon asymmetry in terms of CP flavour invariants, and derive the correlations with neutrino observables. We demonstrate that the measurement of CP violation in neutrino oscillations as well as the mixings of the heavy neutral leptons with the electron, muon and tau flavours suffice to pin down the matter-antimatter asymmetry from laboratory measurements.
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