de Gouvea, A., De Romeri, V., & Ternes, C. A. (2020). Probing neutrino quantum decoherence at reactor experiments. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 049–17pp.
Abstract: We explore how well reactor antineutrino experiments can constrain or measure the loss of quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations. We assume that decoherence effects are encoded in the size of the neutrino wave-packet, sigma. We find that the current experiments Daya Bay and the Reactor Experiment for Neutrino Oscillation (RENO) already constrain sigma >1.0x10(-4) nm and estimate that future data from the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) would be sensitive to sigma <2.1x10(-3) nm. If the effects of loss of coherence are within the sensitivity of JUNO, we expect sigma to be measured with good precision. The discovery of nontrivial decoherence effects in JUNO would indicate that our understanding of the coherence of neutrino sources is, at least, incomplete.
|
Cepedello, R., Hirsch, M., Rocha-Moran, P., & Vicente, A. (2020). Minimal 3-loop neutrino mass models and charged lepton flavor violation. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 067–37pp.
Abstract: We study charged lepton flavor violation for the three most popular 3-loop Majorana neutrino mass models. We call these models “minimal” since their particle content correspond to the minimal sets for which genuine 3-loop models can be constructed. In all the three minimal models the neutrino mass matrix is proportional to some powers of Standard Model lepton masses, providing additional suppression factors on top of the expected loop suppression. To correctly explain neutrino masses, therefore large Yukawa couplings are needed in these models. We calculate charged lepton flavor violating observables and find that the three minimal models survive the current constraints only in very narrow regions of their parameter spaces.
|
Breso-Pla, V., Falkowski, A., & Gonzalez-Alonso, M. (2021). A(FB) in the SMEFT: precision Z physics at the LHC. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 021–27pp.
Abstract: We study the forward-backward asymmetry A(FB) in pp -> l(+)l(-) at the Z peak within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We find that this observable provides per mille level constraints on the vertex corrections of the Z boson to quarks, which close a flat direction in the electroweak precision SMEFT fit. Moreover, we show that current A(FB) data is precise enough so that its inclusion in the fit improves significantly LEP bounds even in simple New Physics setups. This demonstrates that the LHC can compete with and complement LEP when it comes to precision measurements of the Z boson properties.
|
Coloma, P., Lopez-Pavon, J., Rosauro-Alcaraz, S., & Urrea, S. (2021). New physics from oscillations at the DUNE near detector, and the role of systematic uncertainties. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 065–33pp.
Abstract: We study the capabilities of the DUNE near detector to probe deviations from unitarity of the leptonic mixing matrix, the 3+1 sterile formalism and Non-Standard Interactions affecting neutrino production and detection. We clarify the relation and possible mappings among the three formalisms at short-baseline experiments, and we add to current analyses in the literature the study of the nu(mu)-> nu(tau) appearance channel. We study in detail the impact of spectral uncertainties on the sensitivity to new physics using the DUNE near detector, which has been widely overlooked in the literature. Our analysis shows that this plays an important role on the results and, in particular, that it can lead to a strong reduction in the sensitivity to sterile neutrinos from nu(mu)-> nu(e) transitions, by more than two orders of magnitude. This stresses the importance of a joint experimental and theoretical effort to improve our understanding of neutrino nucleus cross sections, as well as hadron production uncertainties and beam focusing effects. Nevertheless, even with our conservative and more realistic implementation of systematic uncertainties, we find that an improvement over current bounds in the new physics frameworks considered is generally expected if spectral uncertainties are below the 5% level.
|
Forero, D. V., Morisi, S., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2011). Lepton flavor violation and non-unitary lepton mixing in low-scale type-I seesaw. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 142–18pp.
Abstract: Within low-scale seesaw mechanisms, such as the inverse and linear seesaw, one expects (i) potentially large lepton flavor violation (LFV) and (ii) sizeable non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI). We consider the interplay between the magnitude of non-unitarity effects in the lepton mixing matrix, and the constraints that follow from LFV searches in the laboratory. We find that NSI parameters can be sizeable, up to percent level in some cases, while LFV rates, such as that for μ-> e gamma, lie within current limits, including the recent one set by the MEG collaboration. As a result the upcoming long baseline neutrino experiments offer a window of opportunity for complementary LFV and weak universality tests.
|