de Anda, F. J., Nath, N., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2020). Probing the predictions of an orbifold theory of flavor. Phys. Rev. D, 101(11), 116012–8pp.
Abstract: We examine the implications of a recently proposed theory of fermion masses and mixings in which an A(4) family symmetry emerges from orbifold compactification. We analyze two variant schemes concerning their predictions for neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double-beta decay, and the golden quark-lepton unification mass relation. We find that upcoming experiments DUNE as well as LEGEND and nEXO offer good chances of exploring a substantial region of neutrino parameters.
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Mandal, S., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2020). Consistency of the dynamical high-scale type-I seesaw mechanism. Phys. Rev. D, 101(11), 115030–15pp.
Abstract: We analyze the consistency of electroweak breaking within the simplest high-scale SU(3)(c) circle times SU(2)(L) circle times U(1)(Y) type-I seesaw mechanism. We derive the full two-loop renormalization group equations of the relevant parameters, including the quartic Higgs self-coupling of the Standard Model. For the simplest case of bare “right-handed” neutrino mass terms we find that, with large Yukawa couplings, the Higgs quartic self-coupling becomes negative much below the seesaw scale, so that the model may be inconsistent even as an effective theory. We show, however, that the “dynamical” type-I high-scale seesaw with spontaneous lepton number violation has better stability properties.
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Grieger, M., Hensel, T., Agramunt, J., Bemmerer, D., Degering, D., Dillmann, I., et al. (2020). Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He-3 counters. Phys. Rev. D, 101(12), 123027–15pp.
Abstract: Ambient neutrons may cause significant background for underground experiments. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate their flux and energy spectrum in order to devise a proper shielding. Here, two sets of altogether ten moderated He-3 neutron counters are used for a detailed study of the ambient neutron background in tunnel IV of the Felsenkeller facility, underground below 45 m of rock in Dresden/Germany. One of the moderators is lined with lead and thus sensitive to neutrons of energies higher than 10 MeV. For each He-3 counter moderator assembly, the energy-dependent neutron sensitivity was calculated with the FLUKA code. The count rates of the ten detectors were then fitted with the MAXED and GRAVEL packages. As a result, both the neutron energy spectrum from 10(-9) to 300 MeV and the flux integrated over the same energy range were determined experimentally. The data show that at a given depth, both the flux and the spectrum vary significantly depending on local conditions. Energy-integrated fluxes of (0.61 +/- 0.05), (1.96 +/- 0.15), and (4.6 +/- 0.4) x 10(-4) cm(-2) s(-1), respectively, are measured for three sites within Felsenkeller tunnel IV which have similar muon flux but different shielding wall configurations. The integrated neutron flux data and the obtained spectra for the three sites are matched reasonably well by FLUKA Monte Carlo calculations that are based on the known muon flux and composition of the measurement room walls.
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Penalva, N., Hernandez, E., & Nieves, J. (2020). Hadron and lepton tensors in semileptonic decays including new physics. Phys. Rev. D, 101(11), 113004–24pp.
Abstract: We extend our general framework for semileptonic decay, originally introduced in N. Penalva et al. [Phys. Rev. D 100, 113007 (2019)], with the addition of new physics (NP) tensor terms. In this way, all the NP effective Hamiltonians that are considered in lepton flavor universality violation (LFUV) studies have now been included. Those are left and right vector and scalar NP Hamiltonians and the NP tensor one. Besides, we now also give general expressions that allow for complex Wilson coefficients. The scheme developed is totally general and it can be applied to any charged current semileptonic decay, involving any quark flavors or initial and final hadron states. We show that all the hadronic input, including NP effects, can be parametrized in terms of 16 Lorentz scalar structure functions, constructed out of the NP complex Wilson coefficients and the genuine hadronic responses, with the latter determined by the matrix elements of the involved hadron operators. In the second part of this work, we use this formalism to obtain the complete NP effects in the Ab Acr(/ semileptonic decay, where LFUV, if finally confirmed, is also expected to be seen. We- stress the relevance of the center of mass (CM) d2F/ (dwd cos 0i) and laboratory (LAB) d2F/(dwdE,) differential decay widths, with (o the product of the hadron four-velocities, Oe the angle made by the three -momenta of the charged lepton and the final hadron in the 11/- CM frame and the charged lepton energy in the decaying hadron rest frame. While models with very different strengths in the NP terms give the same differential d17 do) and total decay widths for this decay, they predict very different numerical results for some of the cos (.),, and E coefficient -functions that determine the above two distributions. Thus, the combined analysis of the CM d2F1(dcodcos0,,) and LAB d21'/(doidE,.) differential decay widths will help clarifying what kind of NP is a better candidate in order to explain LFUV.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2020). Measurement of CP-Averaged Observables in the B-0 -> K-star 0 mu(+)mu(-) Decay. Phys. Rev. Lett., 125(1), 011802–13pp.
Abstract: An angular analysis of the B-0 -> K-0 (-> K+pi(-))mu(+)mu(-) decay is presented using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb(-1) of pp collision data collected with the LHCb experiment. The full set of CP-averaged observables are determined in bins of the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system. Contamination from decays with the K+ pi(-) system in an S-wave configuration is taken into account. The tension seen between the previous LHCb results and the standard model predictions persists with the new data. The precise value of the significance of this tension depends on the choice of theory nuisance parameters.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Fernandez, P., Izmaylov, A., & Novella, P. (2020). First measurement of the charged current (nu)over-bar(mu) double differential cross section on a water target without( )pions in the final state. Phys. Rev. D, 102(1), 012007–16pp.
Abstract: This paper reports the first differential measurement of the charged-current (nu) over bar (mu) interaction cross section on water with no pions in the final state. The unfolded flux-averaged measurement using the T2K off-axis near detector is given in double-differential bins of mu(+) momentum and angle. The integrated cross section in a restricted phase space is sigma = (1.11 +/- 0.18) x 10(-38) cm(2) per water molecule. Comparisons with several nuclear models are also presented.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Stamatopoulos, A. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2020). Investigation of the Pu-240(n, f) reaction at the n_TOF/EAR2 facility in the 9 meV-6 MeV range. Phys. Rev. C, 102(1), 014616–23pp.
Abstract: Background: Nuclear waste management is considered amongst the major challenges in the field of nuclear energy. A possible means of addressing this issue is waste transmutation in advanced nuclear systems, whose operation requires a fast neutron spectrum. In this regard, the accurate knowledge of neutron-induced reaction cross sections of several (minor) actinide isotopes is essential for design optimization and improvement of safety margins of such systems. One such case is Pu-240, due to its accumulation in spent nuclear fuel of thermal reactors and its usage in fast reactor fuel. The measurement of the Pu-240(n, f) cross section was previously attempted at the CERN nTOF facility EAR1 measuring station using the time-of-flight technique. Due to the low amount of available material and the given flux at EAR1, the measurement had to last several months to achieve a sufficient statistical accuracy. This long duration led to detector deterioration due to the prolonged exposure to the high alpha activity of the fission foils, therefore the measurement could not be successfully completed. Purpose: It is aimed to determine whether it is feasible to study neutron-induced fission at nTOF/EAR2 and provide data on the Pu-240(n, f) reaction in energy regions requested for applications. Methods: The study of the Pu-240(n, f) reaction was made at a new experimental area (EAR2) with a shorter flight path which delivered on average 30 times higher flux at fast neutron energies. This enabled the measurement to be performed much faster, thus limiting the exposure of the detectors to the intrinsic activity of the fission foils. The experimental setup was based on microbulk Micromegas detectors and the time-of-flight data were analyzed with an optimized pulse-shape analysis algorithm. Special attention was dedicated to the estimation of the non-negligible counting loss corrections with the development of a new methodology, and other corrections were estimated via Monte Carlo simulations of the experimental setup. Results: This new measurement of the Pu-240(n, f) cross section yielded data from 9 meV up to 6 MeV incident neutron energy and fission resonance kernels were extracted up to 10 keV. Conclusions: Neutron-induced fission of high activity samples can be successfully studied at the n_TOF/EAR2 facility at CERN covering a wide range of neutron energies, from thermal to a few MeV.
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Dias, A. G., Leite, J., Sanchez-Vega, B. L., & Vieira, W. C. (2020). Dynamical symmetry breaking and fermion mass hierarchy in the scale-invariant 3-3-1 model. Phys. Rev. D, 102(1), 015021–18pp.
Abstract: We propose an extension of the Standard Model (SM) based on the SU(3)(C) circle times SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X) (3-3-1) gauge symmetry and scale invariance. Maintaining the main features of the so-called 3-3-1 models, such as the cancellation of gauge anomalies related to the number of chiral fermion generations, this model exhibits a very compact scalar sector. Only two scalar triplets and one singlet are necessary and sufficient to break the symmetries dynamically via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism. With the introduction of an Abelian discrete symmetry and assuming a natural hierarchy among the vacuum expectation values of the neutral scalar fields, we show that all particles in the model can get phenomenologically consistent masses. In particular, most of the standard fermion masses are generated via a seesaw mechanism involving some extra heavy fermions introduced for consistency. This mechanism provides a partial solution for the fermion mass hierarchy problem in the SM. Furthermore, the simplicity of the scalar sector allows us to analytically find the conditions for the potential stability up to one-loop level and show how they can be easily satisfied. Some of the new particles, such as the scalars H, H-+/- and all the non-SMvector bosons, are predicted to get masses around the TeV scale and, therefore, could be produced at the high-luminosity LHC. Finally, we show that the model features a residual symmetry, which leads to the stability of a heavy neutral particle; the latter is expected to show up in experiments as missing energy.
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Leite, J., Morales, A., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2020). Dark matter stability from Dirac neutrinos in scotogenic 3-3-1-1 theory. Phys. Rev. D, 102(1), 015022–11pp.
Abstract: We propose the simplest TeV-scale scotogenic extension of the original 3-3-1 theory, where dark matter stability is linked to the Dirac nature of neutrinos, which results from an unbroken B – L gauge symmetry. The new gauge bosons get masses through the interplay of spontaneous symmetry breaking a la Higgs and the Stueckelberg mechanism.
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Siciliano, M. et al, & Gadea, A. (2020). Shape coexistence in neutron-deficient Hg-188 investigated via lifetime measurements. Phys. Rev. C, 102(1), 014318–16pp.
Abstract: Background: Shape coexistence in the Z approximate to 82 region has been established in mercury, lead, and polonium isotopes. For even-even mercury isotopes with 100 <= N <= 106 multiple fingerprints of this phenomenon are observed, which seems to be no longer present for N >= 110. According to a number of theoretical calculations, shape coexistence is predicted in the Hg-188 isotope. Purpose: The aim of this work was to measure lifetimes of excited states in Hg-188 to infer their collective properties, such as the deformation. Extending the investigation to higher-spin states, which are expected to be less affected by band-mixing effects, can provide additional information on the coexisting structures. Methods: The Hg-188 nucleus was populated using two different fusion-evaporation reactions with two targets, Gd-158 and Gd-160, and a beam of S-34 provided by the Tandem-ALPI accelerator complex at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. The channels of interest were selected using the information from the Neutron Wall array, while the gamma rays were detected using the GALILEO gamma-ray spectrometer. Lifetimes of excited states were determined using the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method, employing the dedicated GALILEO plunger device. Results: Lifetimes of the states up to spin 16 (h) over bar were measured and the corresponding reduced transition probabilities were calculated. Assuming two-band mixing and adopting, as done commonly, the rotational model, the mixing strengths and the deformation parameters of the unperturbed structures were obtained from the experimental results. In order to shed light on the nature of the observed configurations in the Hg-188 nucleus, the extracted transition strengths were compared with those resulting from state-of-the-art beyond-mean-field calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing approach, limited to axial shapes, and the five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian, including the triaxial degree of freedom. Conclusions: The first lifetime measurement for states with spin >= 6 suggested the presence of an almost spherical structure above the 12(1)(+) isomer and allowed elucidating the structure of the intruder band. The comparison of the extracted B(E2) strengths with the two-band mixing model allowed the determination of the ground-state band deformation. Both beyond-mean-field calculations predict coexistence of a weakly deformed band with a strongly prolate-deformed one, characterized by elongation parameters similar to those obtained experimentally, but the calculated relative position of the bands and their mixing strongly differ.
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