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Herrero-Garcia, J., Patrick, R., & Scaffidi, A. (2022). A semi-supervised approach to dark matter searches in direct detection data with machine learning. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 02, 039–19pp.
Abstract: The dark matter sector remains completely unknown. It is therefore crucial to keep an open mind regarding its nature and possible interactions. Focusing on the case of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, in this work we make this general philosophy more concrete by applying modern machine learning techniques to dark matter direct detection. We do this by encoding and decoding the graphical representation of background events in the XENONnT experiment with a convolutional variational autoencoder. We describe a methodology that utilizes the `anomaly score' derived from the reconstruction loss of the convolutional variational autoencoder as well as a pre-trained standard convolutional neural network, in a semi-supervised fashion. Indeed, we observe that optimum results are obtained only when both unsupervised and supervised anomaly scores are considered together. A data set that has a higher proportion of anomaly score is deemed anomalous and deserves further investigation. Contrary to classical analyses, in principle all information about the events is used, preventing unnecessary information loss. Lastly, we demonstrate the reach of learning-focused anomaly detection in this context by comparing results with classical inference, observing that, if tuned properly, these techniques have the potential to outperform likelihood-based methods.
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Cai, Y., Herrero-Garcia, J., Schmidt, M. A., Vicente, A., & Volkas, R. R. (2017). From the Trees to the Forest: A Review of Radiative Neutrino Mass Models. Front. Physics, 5, 63–56pp.
Abstract: A plausible explanation for the lightness of neutrino masses is that neutrinos are massless at tree level, with their mass (typically Majorana) being generated radiatively at one or more loops. The new couplings, together with the suppression coming from the loop factors, imply that the new degrees of freedom cannot be too heavy (they are typically at the TeV scale). Therefore, in these models there are no large mass hierarchies and they can be tested using different searches, making their detailed phenomenological study very appealing. In particular, the new particles can be searched for at colliders and generically induce signals in lepton-flavor and lepton-number violating processes (in the case of Majorana neutrinos), which are not independent from reproducing correctly the neutrino masses and mixings. The main focus of the review is on Majorana neutrinos. We order the allowed theory space from three different perspectives: (i) using an effective operator approach to lepton number violation, (ii) by the number of loops at which the Weinberg operator is generated, (iii) within a given loop order, by the possible irreducible topologies. We also discuss in more detail some popular radiative models which involve qualitatively different features, revisiting their most important phenomenological implications. Finally, we list some promising avenues to pursue.
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