Fileviez Perez, P., Gross, A., & Murgui, C. (2018). Seesaw scale, unification, and proton decay. Phys. Rev. D, 98(3), 035032–10pp.
Abstract: We investigate a simple realistic grand unified theory based on the SU(5) gauge symmetry, which predicts an upper bound on the proton decay lifetime for the channels p -> K+(nu) over bar and p -> pi(+)(nu) over bar, i.e., tau (p -> K+(nu) over bar) less than or similar to 3.4 x 10(35) and tau(p -> pi(+)(nu) over bar) less than or similar to 1.7 x 10(34) years, respectively. In this context, the neutrino masses are generated through the type I and type III seesaw mechanisms, and one predicts that the field responsible for type III seesaw must be light with a mass below 500 TeV. We discuss the testability of this theory at current and future proton decay experiments.
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Centelles Chulia, S., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2018). Seesaw roadmap to neutrino mass and dark matter. Phys. Lett. B, 781, 122–128.
Abstract: We describe the many pathways to generate Majorana and Dirac neutrino mass through generalized dimension-5 operators a la Weinberg. The presence of new scalars beyond the Standard Model Higgs doublet implies new possible field contractions, which are required in the case of Dirac neutrinos. We also notice that, in the Dirac neutrino case, the extra symmetries needed to ensure the Dirac nature of neutrinos can also be made responsible for stability of dark matter.
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Centelles Chulia, S., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2018). Seesaw Dirac neutrino mass through dimension-six operators. Phys. Rev. D, 98(3), 035009–18pp.
Abstract: In this paper, a follow-up of [S. C. Chulia, R. Srivastava, and J. W. F. Valle, Phys. Lett. B 781, 122 (2018)], we describe the many pathways to generate Dirac neutrino mass through dimension-six operators. By using only the standard model Higgs doublet in the external legs, one gets a unique operator 1/Lambda(2) (L) over bar (Phi) over bar (Phi) over bar Phi nu(R). In contrast, the presence of new scalars implies new possible field contractions, which greatly increase the number of possibilities. Here, we study in detail the simplest ones, involving SU(2)(L) singlets, doublets, and triplets. The extra symmetries needed to ensure the Dirac nature of neutrinos can also be responsible for stabilizing dark matter.
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NEXT Collaboration(Henriques, C. A. O. et al), Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2017). Secondary scintillation yield of xenon with sub-percent levels of CO2 additive for rare-event detection. Phys. Lett. B, 773, 663–671.
Abstract: Xe-CO2 mixtures are important alternatives to pure xenon in Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification with applications in the important field of rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The addition of CO2 to pure xenon at the level of 0.05-0.1% can reduce significantly the scale of electron diffusion from 10 mm/root m to 2.5 mm/root m, with high impact on the discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionization trails. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe-CO2 mixtures, with sub-percent CO2 concentrations. We demonstrate that the EL production is still high in these mixtures, 70% and 35% relative to that produced in pure xenon, for CO2 concentrations around 0.05% and 0.1%, respectively. The contribution of the statistical fluctuations in EL production to the energy resolution increases with increasing CO2 concentration, being smaller than the contribution of the Fano factor for concentrations below 0.1% CO2.
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Caputo, A., Regis, M., & Taoso, M. (2020). Searching for sterile neutrino with X-ray intensity mapping. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 001–21pp.
Abstract: The cosmological X-ray emission associated to the possible radiative decay of sterile neutrinos is composed by a collection of lines at different energies. For a given mass, each line corresponds to a given redshift. In this work, we cross correlate such line emission with catalogs of galaxies tracing the dark matter distribution at different redshifts. We derive observational prospects by correlating the X-ray sky that will be probed by the eROSITA and Athena missions with current and near future photometric and spectroscopic galaxy surveys. A relevant and unexplored fraction of the parameter space of sterile neutrinos can be probed by this technique.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abi, B. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2021). Searching for solar KDAR with DUNE. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 10(10), 065–28pp.
Abstract: The observation of 236 MeV muon neutrinos from kaon-decay-at-rest (KDAR) originating in the core of the Sun would provide a unique signature of dark matter annihilation. Since excellent angle and energy reconstruction are necessary to detect this monoenergetic, directional neutrino flux, DUNE with its vast volume and reconstruction capabilities, is a promising candidate for a KDAR neutrino search. In this work, we evaluate the proposed KDAR neutrino search strategies by realistically modeling both neutrino-nucleus interactions and the response of DUNE. We find that, although reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction is difficult with current techniques in the relevant energy range, the superb energy resolution, angular resolution, and particle identification offered by DUNE can still permit great signal/background discrimination. Moreover, there are non-standard scenarios in which searches at DUNE for KDAR in the Sun can probe dark matter interactions.
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Sanchis-Lozano, M. A., & Sarkisyan-Grinbaum, E. K. (2018). Searching for new physics with three-particle correlations in pp collisions at the LHC. Phys. Lett. B, 781, 505–509.
Abstract: New phenomena involving pseudorapidity and azimuthal correlations among final-state particles in pp collisions at the LHC can hint at the existence of hidden sectors beyond the Standard Model. In this paper we rely on a correlated-cluster picture of multiparticle production, which was shown to account for the ridge effect, to assess the effect of a hidden sector on three-particle correlations concluding that there is a potential signature of new physics that can be directly tested by experiments using well-known techniques.
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Kalliokoski, M., Mitsou, V. A., de Montigny, M., Mukhopadhyay, A., Ouimet, P. P. A., Pinfold, J., et al. (2024). Searching for minicharged particles at the energy frontier with the MoEDAL-MAPP experiment at the LHC. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 137–22pp.
Abstract: The MoEDAL's Apparatus for Penetrating Particles (MAPP) Experiment is designed to expand the search for new physics at the LHC, significantly extending the physics program of the baseline MoEDAL Experiment. The Phase-1 MAPP detector (MAPP-1) is currently undergoing installation at the LHC's UA83 gallery adjacent to the LHCb/MoEDAL region at Interaction Point 8 and will begin data-taking in early 2024. The focus of the MAPP experiment is on the quest for new feebly interacting particles – avatars of new physics with extremely small Standard Model couplings, such as minicharged particles (mCPs). In this study, we present the results of a comprehensive analysis of MAPP-1's sensitivity to mCPs arising in the canonical model involving the kinetic mixing of a massless dark U(1) gauge field with the Standard Model hypercharge gauge field. We focus on several dominant production mechanisms of mCPs at the LHC across the mass-mixing parameter space of interest to MAPP: Drell-Yan pair production, direct decays of heavy quarkonia and light vector mesons, and single Dalitz decays of pseudoscalar mesons. The 95% confidence level background-free sensitivity of MAPP-1 for mCPs produced at the LHC's Run 3 and the HL-LHC through these mechanisms, along with projected constraints on the minicharged strongly interacting dark matter window, are reported. Our results indicate that MAPP-1 exhibits sensitivity to sizable regions of unconstrained parameter space and can probe effective charges as low as 8 x 10 -4 e and 6 x 10 -4 e for Run 3 and the HL-LHC, respectively.
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Alimena, J. et al, Hirsch, M., Mamuzic, J., Mitsou, V. A., & Santra, A. (2020). Searching for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. J. Phys. G, 47(9), 090501–226pp.
Abstract: Particles beyond the Standard Model (SM) can generically have lifetimes that are long compared to SM particles at the weak scale. When produced at experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, these long-lived particles (LLPs) can decay far from the interaction vertex of the primary proton-proton collision. Such LLP signatures are distinct from those of promptly decaying particles that are targeted by the majority of searches for new physics at the LHC, often requiring customized techniques to identify, for example, significantly displaced decay vertices, tracks with atypical properties, and short track segments. Given their non-standard nature, a comprehensive overview of LLP signatures at the LHC is beneficial to ensure that possible avenues of the discovery of new physics are not overlooked. Here we report on the joint work of a community of theorists and experimentalists with the ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments-as well as those working on dedicated experiments such as MoEDAL, milliQan, MATHUSLA, CODEX-b, and FASER-to survey the current state of LLP searches at the LHC, and to chart a path for the development of LLP searches into the future, both in the upcoming Run 3 and at the high-luminosity LHC. The work is organized around the current and future potential capabilities of LHC experiments to generally discover new LLPs, and takes a signature-based approach to surveying classes of models that give rise to LLPs rather than emphasizing any particular theory motivation. We develop a set of simplified models; assess the coverage of current searches; document known, often unexpected backgrounds; explore the capabilities of proposed detector upgrades; provide recommendations for the presentation of search results; and look towards the newest frontiers, namely high-multiplicity 'dark showers', highlighting opportunities for expanding the LHC reach for these signals.
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Candia, P., Cottin, G., Mendez, A., & Muñoz, V. (2021). Searching for light long lived neutralinos at Super-Kamiokande. Phys. Rev. D, 104(5), 055024–11pp.
Abstract: Light neutralinos could be copiously produced from the decays of mesons generated in cosmic-ray air showers. These neutralinos can be long-lived particles in the context of R-parity violating (RPV) supersymmetric models, implying that they could be capable of reaching the surface of the earth and decay within the instrumental volume of large neutrino detectors. In this article, we use atmospheric neutrino data from the Super-Kamiokande experiment to derive novel constraints for the RPV couplings involved in the production of long-lived light neutralinos from the decays of charged D-mesons and kaons. Our results highlight the potential of neutrino detectors to search for long-lived particles, by demonstrating that it is possible to explore regions of parameter space that are not yet constrained by any fixed-target nor collider experiments.
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