Search

Interest in searches for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) at the LHC has increased considerably in the past few years. In the minimal scenario, HNLs are produced and decay via their mixing with active neutrinos in the Standard Model (SM) spectrum. However, many SM extensions with HNLs have been discussed in the literature, which sometimes change expectations for LHC sensitivities drastically. In the NRSMEFT, one extends the SM effective field theory with operators including SM singlet fermions, which allows to study HNL phenomenology in a "model independent" way. In this paper, we study the sensitivity of ATLAS to HNLs in the NRSMEFT for four-fermion operators with a single HNL. These operators might dominate both production and decay of HNLs, and we find that new physics scales in excess of 20 TeV could be probed at the high-luminosity LHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we accomplish the complete one-loop matching of the type-I seesaw model onto the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), by integrating out three heavy Majorana neutrinos with the functional approach. It turns out that only 31 dimension-six operators (barring flavor structures and Hermitian conjugates) in the Warsaw basis of the SMEFT can be obtained, and most of them appear at the one-loop level. The Wilson coefficients of these 31 dimension-six operators are computed up to O (M−2) with M being the mass scale of heavy Majorana neutrinos. As the effects of heavy Majorana neutrinos are encoded in the Wilson coefficients of these higher-dimensional operators, a complete one-loop matching is useful to explore the low-energy phenomenological consequences of the type-I seesaw model. In addition, the threshold corrections to the couplings in the Standard Model and to the coefficient of the dimension-five operator are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yukawa-type interactions between heavy Dirac fermions and a scalar field are a common ingredient in various extensions of the Standard Model. Despite of that, the non-relativistic limit of the scalar Yukawa theory has not yet been studied in full generality in a rigorous and model-independent way. In this paper we intend to fill this gap by initiating a series of investigations that make use of modern effective field theory (EFT) techniques. In particular, we aim at constructing suitable non-relativistic and potential non-relativistic EFTs of Yukawa interactions (denoted as NRY and pNRY respectively) in close analogy to the well known and phenomenologically successful non-relativistic QCD (NRQCD) and potential non-relativistic QCD (pNRQCD). The phenomenological motivation for our study lies in the possibility to explain the existing cosmological observations by introducing heavy fermionic dark matter particles that interact with each other by exchanging a light scalar mediator. A systematic study of this compelling scenario in the framework of non-relativistic EFTs (NREFTs) constitutes the main novelty of our approach as compared to the existing studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The axion is much lighter than all other degrees of freedom introduced by the Peccei-Quinn mechanism to solve the strong CP problem. It is therefore natural to use an effective field theory (EFT) to describe its interactions. Loop processes calculated in the EFT may however explicitly depend on the ultraviolet cutoff. In general, the UV cutoff is not uniquely defined, but the dimensionful couplings suggest to identify it with the Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scale. An example are K+ → π+ + a decays that will soon be tested to improved precision in NA62 and KOTO and whose amplitude is dominated by the term logarithmically dependent on the cutoff. In this paper, we critically examine the adequacy of using such a naive EFT approach to study loop processes by comparing EFT calculations with ones performed in complete QCD axion models. In DFSZ models, for example, the cutoff is found to be set by additional Higgs degrees of freedom and to therefore be much closer to the electroweak scale than to the Peccei-Quinn scale. In fact, there are non-trivial requirements on axion models where the cutoff scale of loop processes is close to the Peccei-Quinn scale, such that the naive EFT result is reproduced. This suggests that the existence of a suitable UV embedding may impose restrictions on axion EFTs. We provide an explicit construction of a model with suitable fermion couplings and find promising prospects for NA62 and IAXO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we systematically consider the baryon (B) and lepton (L) number violating dinucleon to dilepton decays (pp → ℓ+ℓ′+, pn → ℓ + ν ¯ ′ , nn → ν ¯ ν ¯ ′ ) with ∆B = ∆L = −2 in the framework of effective field theory. We start by constructing a basis of dimension-12 (dim-12) operators mediating such processes in the low energy effective field theory (LEFT) below the electroweak scale. Then we consider their standard model effective field theory (SMEFT) completions upwards and their chiral realizations in baryon chiral perturbation theory (BχPT) downwards. We work to the first nontrivial orders in each effective field theory, collect along the way the matching conditions, and express the decay rates in terms of the Wilson coefficients associated with the dim-12 operators in the SMEFT and the low energy constants pertinent to BχPT. We find the current experimental limits push the associated new physics scale larger than 1 − 3 TeV, which is still accessible to the future collider searches. Through weak isospin symmetry, we find the current experimental limits on the partial lifetime of transitions pp → ℓ+ℓ′+, pn → ℓ + ν ¯ ′ imply stronger limits on nn → ν ¯ ν ¯ ′ than their existing lower bounds, which are improved by 2−3 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, assuming charged mode transitions are also dominantly generated by the similar dim-12 SMEFT interactions, the experimental limits on pp → e+e+, e+μ+, μ+μ+ lead to stronger limits on pn → ℓ α + ν ¯ β with α, β = e, μ than their existing bounds. Conversely, the same assumptions help us to set a lower bound on the lifetime of the experimentally unsearched mode pp → e+τ+ from that of pn → e + ν ¯ τ , i.e., Γ pp → e + τ + − 1 ≳ 2 × 10 34 yr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the impact of extra radiation on predictions of pp → t t ¯ X , X = h / W ± / Z processes within the dimension-6 SMEFT framework. While full next-to-leading order calculations are of course preferred, they are not always practical, and so it is useful to be able to capture the impacts of extra radiation using leading-order matrix elements matched to the parton shower and merged. While a matched/merged leading-order calculation for t t ¯ X is not expected to reproduce the next-to-leading order inclusive cross section precisely, we show that it does capture the relative impact of the EFT effects by considering the ratio of matched SMEFT inclusive cross sections to Standard Model values, σ SMEFT t t ¯ X + j / σ SM t t ¯ X + j ≡ μ . Furthermore, we compare leading order calculations with and without extra radiation and find several cases, such as the effect of the operator φ † i D ↔ μ φ t ¯ γ μ t on t t ¯ h and t t ¯ W , for which the relative cross section prediction increases by more than 10% — significantly larger than the uncertainty derived by varying the input scales in the calculation, including the additional scales required for matching and merging. Being leading order at heart, matching and merging can be applied to all operators and processes relevant to pp → t t ¯ X , X = h / W ± / Z + jet , is computationally fast and not susceptible to negative weights. Therefore, it is a useful approach in t t ¯ X + jet studies where complete next-to-leading order results are currently unavailable or unwieldy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-energy effective field theories (EFT) encode information about the physics at high energies — i.e., the high-energy theory (HET). To extract this information the EFT and the HET have to be matched to each other. At the one-loop level, general results for the matching of renormalizable operators have already been obtained in the literature. In the present paper, we take a step towards a better understanding of renormalizable operator matching at the two-loop level: focusing on the diagrammatic method, we discuss in detail the various contributions to two-loop matching conditions and compare different approaches to derive them. Moreover, we discuss which observables are best suited for the derivation of matching conditions. As a concrete application, we calculate the O α t α s and O α t 2 matching conditions of the scalar four-point couplings between the Standard Model (SM) and the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (THDM) as well as the THDM and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We use the derived formulas to improve the prediction of the SM-like Higgs mass in the MSSM using the THDM as EFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze interactions between dark matter and standard model particles with spin one mediators in an effective field theory framework. In this paper, we are considering dark particles masses in the range from a few MeV to the mass of the Z boson. We use bounds from different experiments: Z invisible decay width, relic density, direct detection experiments, and indirect detection limits from the search of gamma-ray emissions and positron fluxes. We obtain solutions corresponding to operators with antisymmetric tensor mediators that fulfill all those requirements within our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The XENON1T collaboration recently reported the excess of events from recoil electrons, possibly giving an insight into new area beyond the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. We try to explain this excess by considering effective interactions between the sterile neutrinos and the SM particles. In this paper, we present an effective model based on one-particle-irreducible interaction vertices at low energies that are induced from the SM gauge symmetric four-fermion operators at high energies. The effective interaction strength is constrained by the SM precision measurements, astrophysical and cosmological observations. We introduce a novel effective electromagnetic interaction between sterile neutrinos and SM neutrinos, which can successfully explain the XENON1T event rate through inelastic scattering of the sterile neutrino dark matter from Xenon electrons. We find that sterile neutrinos with masses around 90 keV and specific effective coupling can fit well with the XENON1T data where the best fit points preserving DM constraints and possibly describe the anomalies in other experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discrepancy between the measured value and the Standard Model prediction of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is one of the most important issues in the particle physics. It is known that introducing a mediator boson X with the μτ lepton flavor violating (LFV) couplings is one good solution to explain the discrepancy, due to the τ mass enhancement in the one-loop correction. In this paper, we study the signal of this model, i.e. the same-sign leptons, in the Belle II experiment, assuming the flavor-diagonal couplings are suppressed. We show that the Belle II experiment is highly sensitive to the scenario in the mediator mass range of O(1–10) GeV, using the e+e−→ μ±τ∓X → μ±μ±τ∓τ∓ process induced by the X. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixing of axion fields is widely used to generate EFTs with phenomenologically advantageous features, such as hierarchies between axion couplings to different gauge fields and/or large effective field ranges. While these features are strongly constrained by periodicity for models with only a single axion, mixing has been used in the literature (sometimes incorrectly) to try to evade some of these constraints. In this paper, we ask whether it is possible to use axion mixing to generate an EFT of axions that evades these constraints by flowing to a theory of a non-compact scalar in the IR. We conclude that as long as the light axion is exactly massless, it will inherit the periodicity and associated constraints of the UV theory. However, by giving the light axion a mass, we can relax these constraints with effects proportional to the axion mass squared, including non-quantized couplings and the realignment of monodromy to a light axion with a larger field range. To show this, we consider various examples of axions mixing with other axions or with non-compact scalar fields, and work in a basis where coupling quantization is manifest. This basis makes it clear that in the case where an axion is eaten through the Higgs or Stückelberg mechanism, the light axion does not have a large effective field range, in contrast to some recent claims in the literature. Additionally, we relate our results about axion EFTs to a well-known fact about gauge theory: that QFTs with compact gauge groups in the UV flow to QFTs with compact gauge groups in the IR, and make this correspondence precise in the 2+1 dimensional case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At low energies, the strong interaction is governed by the Goldstone bosons associated with the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, which can be systematically described by chiral perturbation theory. In this paper, we apply this theory to study the θ-vacuum energy density and hence the QCD axion potential up to next-to-leading order with N non-degenerate quark masses. By setting N = 3, we then derive the axion mass, self-coupling, topological susceptibility and the normalized fourth cumulant both analytically and numerically, taking the strong isospin breaking effects into account. In addition, the model-independent part of the axion-photon coupling, which is important for axion search experiments, is also extracted from the chiral Lagrangian supplemented with the anomalous terms up to O p 6 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first paper of our systematic efforts on lepton number violating (LNV) hadronic decays in the effective field theory approach. These decays provide information complementary to popular nuclear neutrinoless double-β (0νββ) decay in that they can probe LNV interactions involving heavier quarks and charged leptons. We may call them hadronic 0νββ decays in short, though β refers to all charged leptons. In this work we investigate the decays K±→ π∓l±l± that arise from short-distance or contact interactions involving four quark fields and two charged lepton fields, which have canonical dimension nine (dim-9) at leading order in low energy effective field theory (LEFT). We make a complete analysis on the basis of all dim-9 operators that violate lepton number by two units, and compute their one-loop QCD renormalization effects. We match these effective interactions in LEFT to those in chiral perturbation theory (χPT) for pseudoscalar mesons, and determine the resulting hadronic low energy constants (LECs) by chiral symmetry and lattice results in the literature. The obtained decay rate is general in that all physics at and above the electroweak scale is completely parameterized by the relevant Wilson coefficients in LEFT and hadronic LECs in χPT. Assuming the standard model effective field theory (SMEFT) is the appropriate effective field theory between some new physics scale and the electroweak scale, we match our LEFT results to SMEFT whose leading effective interactions arise from LNV dim-7 operators. This connection to SMEFT simplifies significantly the interaction structures entering in the kaon decays, and we employ the current experimental bounds to set constraints on the relevant Wilson coefficients in SMEFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a companion paper [1], we show that operator bases for general effective field theories are controlled by the conformal algebra. Equations of motion and integration by parts identities can be systematically treated by organizing operators into irreducible representations of the conformal group. In the present work, we use this result to study the standard model effective field theory (SM EFT), determining the content and number of higher dimension operators up to dimension 12, for an arbitrary number of fermion generations. We find additional operators to those that have appeared in the literature at dimension 7 (specifically in the case of more than one fermion generation) and at dimension 8. (The title sequence is the total number of independent operators in the SM EFT with one fermion generation, including hermitian conjugates, ordered in mass dimension, starting at dimension 5.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colored fermionic partners of the top quark are well-known signatures of the Composite Higgs scenario and for this reason they have been and will be subject of an intensive experimental study at the LHC. Performing an assessment of the theoretical implications of this experimental effort is the goal of the present paper. We proceed by analyzing a set of simple benchmark models, characterized by simple two-dimensional parameter spaces where the results of the searches are conveniently visualized and their impact quantified. We only draw exclusion contours, in the hypothesis of no signal, but of course our formalism could equally well be used to report discoveries in a theoretically useful format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare kaon decays with missing energy, K → π+Emiss, have received considerable attention because their rates can be calculated quite precisely within the standard model (SM), where the missing energy is carried away by an undetected neutrino- antineutrino pair. Beyond the SM, clean theoretical predictions can also be made regarding these processes. One such prediction is the so-called Grossman-Nir (GN) bound, which states that the branching fractions of the KL and K+ modes must satisfy the relation ℬ K L → π 0 + E miss < ∼ 4.3 ℬ K + → π + + E miss and applies within and beyond the SM, as long as the hadronic transitions change isospin by ∆I = 1/2. In this paper we extend the study of these modes to include new-physics scenarios where the missing energy is due to unobserved lepton-number-violating neutrino pairs, invisible light new scalars, or pairs of such scalars. The new interactions are assumed to arise above the electroweak scale and described by an effective field theory. We explore the possibility of violating the GN bound through ∆I = 3/2 contributions to the K → π transitions within these scenarios and find that large violations are only possible in the case where the missing energy is due to an invisible light new scalar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If dark matter (DM) is a fermion and its interactions with the standard model particles are mediated by pseudoscalar particles, the tree-level amplitude for the DM-nucleon elastic scattering is suppressed by the momentum transfer in the non-relativistic limit. At the loop level, on the other hand, the spin-independent contribution to the cross section appears without such suppression. Thus, the loop corrections are essential to discuss the sensitivities of the direct detection experiments for the model prediction. The one-loop corrections were investigated in the previous works. However, the two-loop diagrams give the leading order contribution to the DM-gluon effective operator χ¯χGμναGαμν and have not been correctly evaluated yet. Moreover, some interaction terms which affect the scattering cross section were overlooked. In this paper, we show the cross section obtained by the improved analysis and discuss the region where the cross section becomes large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An updated analysis of New Physics violating Lepton Flavour Universality, by using the Standard Model Effective Field Lagrangian with semileptonic dimension six operators at Λ = 1 TeV is presented. We perform a global fit, by discussing the relevance of the mixing in the first generation. We use for the first time in this context a Montecarlo analysis to extract the confidence intervals and correlations between observables. Our results show that machine learning, made jointly with the SHAP values, constitute a suitable strategy to use in this kind of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis is given of the Belle II sensitivities and NA64 constraints on the sub-GeV Dirac dark matter that interacts with charged leptons. We consider two different types of interactions between sub-GeV Dirac dark matter and the charged leptons: the EFT operators and the light vector mediators. We compute the Belle II mono-photon sensitivities on sub-GeV dark matter with 50 ab−1 data which are expected to be accumulated in the full Belle II runs. Although the Belle II mono-photon sensitivities on the EFT operators are of similar size as the LEP constraints, Belle II can probe new parameter space of the light vector mediator models that are unexplored by LEP. For both the EFT operators and the light vector mediator models, the Belle II mono-photon sensitivities can be several orders of magnitude stronger than the current dark matter direct detection limits, as well as the white dwarf limits. The light vector mediator can also be directly searched for by reconstructing the invariant mass of its di-lepton decay final states at Belle II, which is found to be complementary to the mono-photon channel. We compute the NA64 constraints on the sub-GeV Dirac dark matter and provide analytic expressions of the dark matter cross section in the Weizsäcker-Williams approximation, for the EFT operators, and for the light vector mediator models. We find that the current NA64 data (with 2.84 × 1011 electron-on-target events) provide strong constraints on sub-GeV dark matter. Although the NA64 constraints are found to be about one order of magnitude smaller than the Belle II sensitivities for the EFT operators, NA64 can probe some regions of the parameter space in the light vector mediator models that are beyond the reach of Belle II. We also find that Belle II and NA64 can probe the canonical dark matter annihilation cross section in thermal freeze-out in a significant portion of the parameter space of the models considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop an effective field theory (EFT) framework for superfluid 4He to model the interactions among quasiparticles, helium atoms and probe particles. Our effective field theory approach brings together symmetry arguments and power-counting and matches to classical fluid dynamics. We then present the decay and scattering rates for the relevant processes involving quasiparticles and helium atoms. The presented EFT framework and results can be used to understand the dynamics of thermalization in the superfluid, and can be further applied to sub-GeV dark matter direct detection with superfluid 4He. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision atomic spectroscopy provides a solid model independent bound on the existence of new dark forces among the atomic constituents. We focus on the keV-GeV region investigating the sensitivity to such dark sectors of the recent measurements on muonic atoms at PSI. To this end we develop for the first time, the effective field theory that describes the leading effect of a new (pseudo-)vector or a (pseudo-)scalar particle of any mass at atomic energies. We identify in the Lamb Shift measurement in muonic deuterium (μD) and the 2s Hyperfine Splitting (HFS) in muonic hydrogen (μH) the most promising measurements to probe respectively spin-independent and spin-dependent new forces. Furthermore, we evaluate the expression of the vector force HFS finding that a future measurement of the 2s HFS in regular hydrogen could provide the strongest atomic bound for such a force for masses above 100 MeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not only conceivable but likely that the spectrum of physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) is non-degenerate. The lightest non-SM particle may reside close enough to the electroweak scale that it can be kinematically probed at high-energy experiments and on account of this, it must be included as an infrared (IR) degree of freedom (DOF) along with the SM ones. The rest of the non-SM particles are heavy enough to be directly experimentally inaccessible and can be integrated out. Now, to capture the effects of the complete theory, one must take into account the higher dimensional operators constituted of the SM DOFs and the minimal extension. This construction, BSMEFT, is in the same spirit as SMEFT but now with extra IR DOFs. Constructing a BSMEFT is in general the first step after establishing experimental evidence for a new particle. We have investigated three different scenarios where the SM is extended by additional (i) uncolored, (ii) colored particles, and (iii) abelian gauge symmetries. For each such scenario, we have included the most-anticipated and phenomenologically motivated models to demonstrate the concept of BSMEFT. In this paper, we have provided the full EFT Lagrangian for each such model up to mass dimension 6. We have also identified the CP, baryon (B), and lepton (L) number violating effective operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the near future, fundamental interactions at high-energy scales may be most efficiently studied via precision measurements at low energies. A universal language to assemble and interpret precision measurements is the so-called SMEFT, which is an effective field theory (EFT) where the Standard Model (SM) Lagrangian is extended by higher-dimensional operators. In this paper we investigate the possible impact of the DUNE neutrino experiment on constraining the SMEFT. The unprecedented neutrino flux offers an opportunity to greatly improve the current limits via precision measurements of the trident production and neutrino scattering off electrons and nuclei in the DUNE near detector. We quantify the DUNE sensitivity to dimension-6 operators in the SMEFT Lagrangian, and find that in some cases operators suppressed by an O30 TeV scale can be probed. We also compare the DUNE reach to that of future experiments involving atomic parity violation and polarization asymmetry in electron scattering, which are sensitive to an overlapping set of SMEFT parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform a phenomenological analysis of simplified models of light, feebly interacting particles (FIPs) that can provide a combined explanation of the anomalies in b → sl+l− transitions at LHCb and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Different scenarios are categorised according to the explicit momentum dependence of the FIP coupling to the b−s and μ−μ vector currents and they are subject to several constraints from flavour and precision physics. We show that viable combined solutions to the muon g − 2 and flavour anomalies exist with the exchange of a vector FIP with mass larger than 4 GeV. Interestingly, the LHC has the potential to probe this region of the parameter space by increasing the precision of the Z → 4μ cross-section measurement. Conversely, we find that solutions based on the exchange of a lighter vector, in the mV< 1 GeV range, are essentially excluded by a combination of B → K+ invisible and W-decay precision bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark matter models with light mediators featuring sizable interactions among dark particles enjoy an increasing attention in the model building community due to the elegance with which they can potentially explain the scaling relations governing galactic halos and clusters of galaxies. In the present work we continue our study of such models using non-relativistic and potential non-relativistic effective field theories (NREFTs and pNREFTs) and explore the properties of a Yukawa-type model with scalar and pseudoscalar interactions between a low-energetic scalar mediator and heavy dark matter fermions. In particular, we make first steps towards the formulation of such theories at finite temperature by providing the thermal bound-state formation rate and the thermal break-up of bound states from the self-energies of the dark-pair fields, that interact with the thermal environment. We estimate numerically bound-state effects on the dark matter energy density, that provide up to a 35% correction depending on the relative size of the model couplings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently suggested Festina-Lente (FL) bound provides a lower bound on the masses of U(1) charged particles in terms of the positive vacuum energy. Since the charged particle masses in the Standard Model (SM) are generated by the Higgs mechanism, the FL bound provides a testbed of consistent Higgs potentials in the current dark energy-dominated universe as well as during inflation. We study the implications of the FL bound on the UV behavior of the Higgs potential for a miniscule vacuum energy, as in the current universe. We also present values of the Hubble parameter and the Higgs vacuum expectation value allowed by the FL bound during inflation, which implies that the Higgs cannot stay at the electroweak scale during this epoch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computing the properties of the bubble wall of a cosmological first order phase transition at electroweak scale is of paramount importance for the correct prediction of the baryon asymmetry of the universe and the spectrum of gravitational waves. By means of the semiclassical formalism we calculate the velocity and thickness of the wall using as theoretical framework the scalar singlet extension of the SM with a parity symmetry and the SM effective field theory supplemented by a dimension six operator. We use these solutions to carefully predict the baryon asymmetry and the gravitational wave signals. The singlet scenario can easily accommodate the observed asymmetry but these solutions do not lead to observable effects at future gravity wave experiments. In contrast the effective field theory fails at explaining the baryon abundance due to the strict constraints from electric dipole moment experiments, however, the strongest solutions we found fall within the sensitivity of the LISA experiment. We provide a simple analytical approximation for the wall velocity which only requires calculation of the strength and temperature of the transition and works reasonably well in all models tested. We find that generically the weak transitions where the fluid approximation can be used to calculate the wall velocity and verify baryogenesis produce signals too weak to be observed in future gravitational wave experiments. Thus, we infer that GW signals produced by simple SM extensions visible in future experiments are likely to only result from strong transitions described by detonations with highly relativistic wall velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoration of the electroweak symmetry at temperatures around the Higgs mass is linked to tight phenomenological constraints on many baryogenesis scenarios. A potential remedy can be found in mechanisms of electroweak symmetry non-restoration (SNR), in which symmetry breaking is extended to higher temperatures due to new states with couplings to the Standard Model. Here we show that, in the presence of a second Higgs doublet, SNR can be realized with only a handful of new fermions which can be identified as viable dark matter candidates consistent with all current observational constraints. The competing requirements on this class of models allow for SNR at temperatures up to ∼TeV, and imply the presence of sub-TeV new physics with sizable interactions with the Standard Model. As a result this scenario is highly testable with signals in reach of next-generation collider and dark matter direct detection experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the sensitivity of directly testing the muon-Higgs coupling at a high-energy muon collider. This is strongly motivated if there exists new physics that is not aligned with the Standard Model Yukawa interactions which are responsible for the fermion mass generation. We illustrate a few such examples for physics beyond the Standard Model. With the accidentally small value of the muon Yukawa coupling and its subtle role in the high-energy production of multiple (vector and Higgs) bosons, we show that it is possible to measure the muon-Higgs coupling to an accuracy of ten percent for a 10 TeV muon collider and a few percent for a 30 TeV machine by utilizing the three boson production, potentially sensitive to a new physics scale about Λ ∼ 30 − 100 TeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report consistent results for Γ(h → γγ), σ GG → h and Γ h → GG in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) perturbing the SM by corrections O υ ¯ T 2 / 16 π 2 Λ 2 in the Background Field Method (BFM) approach to gauge fixing, and to O υ ¯ T 4 / Λ 4 using the geometric formulation of the SMEFT. We combine and modify recent results in the literature into a complete set of consistent results, uniforming conventions, and simultaneously complete the one loop results for these processes in the BFM. We emphasize calculational scheme dependence present across these processes, and how the operator and loop expansions are not independent beyond leading order. We illustrate several cross checks of consistency in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark photons are massive abelian gauge bosons that interact with ordinary photons via a kinetic mixing with the hypercharge field strength tensor. This theory is probed by a variety of different experiments and limits are set on a combination of the dark photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter. These limits can however be strongly modified by the presence of additional heavy degrees of freedom. Using the framework of dark effective field theory, we study how robust are the current experimental bounds when these new states are present. We focus in particular on the possible existence of a dark dipole interaction between the Standard Model leptons and the dark photon. We show that, under certain assumptions, the presence of a dark dipole modifies existing supernovæ bounds for cut-off scales up to O (10–100 TeV). On the other hand, terrestrial experiments, such as LSND and E137, can probe cut-off scales up to O (3 TeV). For the latter experiment we highlight that the bound may extend down to vanishing kinetic mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a systematic global analysis of dineutrino modes b → qν ν ¯ , q = d, s, and charged dilepton b → qℓ+ℓ− transitions. We derive improved or even entirely new limits on dineutrino branching ratios including decays B0→ (K0, Xs)ν ν ¯ , Bs→ ϕν ν ¯ and B0→ (π0, ρ0)ν ν ¯ from dineutrino modes which presently are best constrained: B+→ (K+, π+, ρ+)ν ν ¯ and B0→ K*0ν ν ¯ . Using SMEFT we obtain new flavor constraints from the dineutrino modes, which are stronger than the corresponding ones from charged dilepton rare b-decay or Drell-Yan data, for eτ and ττ final states, as well as for μτ ones in b → s processes. The method also allows to put novel constraints on semileptonic four-fermion operators with top quarks. Implications for ditau modes b → sτ+τ− and b → dτ+τ− are worked out. Even stronger constraints are obtained in simplified BSM frameworks such as leptoquarks and Z′-models. Furthermore, the interplay between dineutrinos and charged dileptons allows for concrete, novel tests of lepton universality in rare B-decays. Performing a global fit to b → sμ+μ−, sγ transitions we find that lepton universality predicts the ratio of the B0→ K*0ν ν ¯ to B0→ K0ν ν ¯ (B+→ K+ν ν ¯ ) branching fractions to be within 1.7 to 2.6 (1.6 to 2.4) at 1σ, a region that includes the standard model, and that can be narrowed with improved charged dilepton data. There is sizable room outside this region where universality is broken and that can be probed with the Belle II experiment. Using results of a fit to B0→ μ+μ−, B s 0 → K ¯ *0μ+μ− and B+→ π+μ+μ− data we obtain an analogous relation for |∆b| = |∆d| = 1 transitions: if lepton universality holds the ratio of the B0→ ρ0ν ν ¯ to B0→ π0ν ν ¯ (B+→ π+ν ν ¯ ) branching fractions is within 2.5 to 5.7 (1.2 to 2.6) at 1 σ. Putting upper limits on B (Bs→ ν ν ¯ ) at the level of 10−5 and B (B0→ ν ν ¯ ) below 10−6 would allow to control backgrounds from (pseudo-)scalar operators such as those induced by light right-handed neutrinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the existence of skyrmions in the presence of all the electroweak degrees of freedom, including a dynamical Higgs boson, with the electroweak symmetry being non-linearly realized in the scalar sector. For this, we use the formulation of the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT). In contrast with the linear realization, a well-defined winding number exists in HEFT for all scalar field configurations. We classify the effective operators that can potentially stabilize the skyrmions and numerically find the region in parameter spaces that support them. We do so by minimizing the static energy functional using neural networks. This method allows us to obtain the minimal-energy path connecting the vacuum to the skyrmion configuration and calculate its mass and radius. Since skyrmions are not expected to be produced at colliders, we explore the experimental and theoretical bounds on the operators that generate them. Finally, we briefly consider the possibility of skyrmions being dark matter candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive the scale of unitarity violation from the geometry of Effective Field Theory (EFT) extensions of the Standard Model Higgs sector. The high-energy behavior of amplitudes with more than four scalar legs depends on derivatives of geometric invariants with respect to the physical Higgs field h, such that higher-point amplitudes begin to reconstruct the scalar manifold away from our vacuum. In theories whose low-energy limit can be described by the Higgs EFT (HEFT) but not the Standard Model EFT (SMEFT), non-analyticities in the vicinity of our vacuum limit the radius of convergence of geometric invariants, leading to unitarity violation at energies below 4πv. Our results unify approaches to the HEFT/SMEFT dichotomy based on unitarity, analyticity, and geometry, and more broadly illustrate the sense in which observables probe the geometry of an EFT. Along the way, we provide novel basis-independent results for Goldstone/Higgs boson scattering amplitudes expressed in terms of geometric covariant quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the Standard Model Effective Field Theories (SMEFT) from purely on-shell arguments. Starting from few basics assumptions such as Poincaré invariance and locality, we classify all the renormalisable and non-renormalisable interactions at lowest order in the couplings. From these building blocks, we review how locality and unitarity enforce Lie algebra structures to appear in the S-matrix elements together with relations among couplings (and hypercharges). Furthermore, we give a fully on-shell algorithm to compute any higher-point tree-level amplitude (or form factor) in generic EFTs, bypassing BCFW-like recursion relations which are known to be problematic when non-renormalisable interactions are involved. Finally, using known amplitudes techniques we compute the mixing matrix of SMEFT marginal interactions up to mass dimension 8, to linear order in the effective interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study charged lepton flavor violation associated with a light leptophilic axion-like particle (ALP), X, at the B-factory experiment Belle II. We focus on production of the ALP in the tau decays τ → Xl with l = e, μ, followed by its decay via X → l−l+. The ALP can be either promptly decaying or long-lived. We perform Monte-Carlo simulations, recasting a prompt search at Belle for lepton-flavor-violating τ decays, and propose a displaced-vertex (DV) search. For both types of searches, we derive the Belle II sensitivity reaches in both the product of branching fractions and the ALP coupling constants, as functions of the ALP mass and lifetime. The results show that the DV search exceeds the sensitivity reach of the prompt search to the relevant branching fractions by up to about a factor of 40 in the long decay length regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study dark matter interacting via a massive spin-2 mediator. To have a consistent effective theory for the spin-2 particle, we work in a warped extra-dimensional model such that the mediator(s) are the Kaluza-Klein (KK) modes of the 5D graviton. We pay close attention to dark matter annihilations into KK-gravitons. Due to the high energy behavior of longitudinal modes of spin-2 fields, these channels exhibit a tremendous growth at large center of mass energies s if only one spin-2 mediator is considered. For the first time, we include the full KK-tower in this dark matter production process and find that this growth is unphysical and cancels once the full field content of the extra-dimensional theory is taken into account. Interestingly, this implies that it is not possible to approximate the results obtained in the full theory with a reduced set of effective interactions once s is greater than the first graviton mass. This casts some doubt on the universal applicability of previous studies with spin-2 mediators within an EFT framework and prompts us to revisit the phenomenological allowed parameter space of gravitationally interacting scalar dark matter in warped extra-dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a set of exact formulae for computing Dirac masses, mixings, and CP-violation parameter(s) from 3×3 Yukawa matrices Y valid when YY† → U†YY†U under global U 3 Q L flavour symmetry transformations U. The results apply to the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) and its 'geometric' realization (geoSMEFT). We thereby complete, in the Dirac flavour sector, the catalogue of geoSMEFT parameters derived at all orders in the 2 H † H /Λ expansion. The formalism is basis-independent, and can be applied to models with decoupled ultraviolet flavour dynamics, as well as to models whose infrared dynamics are not minimally flavour violating. We highlight these points with explicit examples and, as a further demonstration of the formalism's utility, we derive expressions for the renormalization group flow of quark masses, mixings, and CP-violation at all mass dimension and perturbative loop orders in the (geo)SM(EFT) and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We obtain the complete and independent bases of effective operators at mass dimension 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in both standard model effective field theory with light sterile right-handed neutrinos (νSMEFT) and low energy effective field theory with light sterile neutrinos (νLEFT). These theories provide systematical parametrizations on all possible Lorentz-invariant physical effects involving in the Majorana/Dirac neutrinos, with/without the lepton number violations. In the νSMEFT, we find that there are 2 (18), 29 (1614), 80 (4206), 323 (20400), 1358 (243944) independent operators with sterile neutrinos included at the dimension 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 for one (three) generation of fermions, while 24, 5223, 3966, 25425, 789426 independent operators in the νLEFT for two generations of up-type quarks and three generations of all other fermions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New-physics (NP) constraints on first-generation quark-lepton interactions are particularly interesting given the large number of complementary processes and observables that have been measured. Recently, first hints for such NP effects have been observed as an apparent deficit in first-row CKM unitarity, known as the Cabibbo angle anomaly, and the CMS excess in q q ¯ → e+e−. Since the same NP would inevitably enter in searches for low-energy parity violation, such as atomic parity violation, parity-violating electron scattering, and coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering, as well as electroweak precision observables, a combined analysis is required to assess the viability of potential NP interpretations. In this article we investigate the interplay between LHC searches, the Cabibbo angle anomaly, electroweak precision observables, and low-energy parity violation by studying all simplified models that give rise to tree-level effects related to interactions between first-generation quarks and leptons. Matching these models onto Standard Model effective field theory, we derive master formulae in terms of the respective Wilson coefficients, perform a complete phenomenological analysis of all available constraints, point out how parity violation can in the future be used to disentangle different NP scenarios, and project the constraints achievable with forthcoming experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high energy muon collider can provide new and complementary discovery potential to the LHC or future hadron colliders. Leptoquarks are a motivated class of exotic new physics models, with distinct production channels at hadron and lepton machines. We study a vector leptoquark model at a muon collider with s = 3, 14 TeV within a set of both UV and phenomenologically motivated flavor scenarios. We compute which production mechanism has the greatest reach for various values of the leptoquark mass and the coupling between leptoquark and Standard Model fermions. We find that we can probe leptoquark masses up to an order of magnitude beyond s with perturbative couplings. Additionally, we can also probe regions of parameter space unavailable to flavor experiments. In particular, all of the parameter space of interest to explain recent low-energy anomalies in B meson decays would be covered even by a s = 3 TeV collider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study gamma-ray line signatures from electroweakly interacting non-abelian spin-1 dark matter (DM). In this model, Z2-odd spin-1 particles including a DM candidate have the SU(2)L triplet-like features, and the Sommerfeld enhancement is relevant in the annihilation processes. We derive the annihilation cross sections contributing to the photon emission and compare with the SU(2)L triplet fermions, such as Wino DM in the supersymmetric Standard Model. The Sommerfeld enhancement factor is approximately the same in both systems, while our spin-1 DM predicts the larger annihilation cross sections into γγ/Zγ modes than those of the Wino by 38 9 . This is because a spin-1 DM pair forms not only J = 0 but also J = 2 partial wave states where J denotes the total spin angular momentum. Our spin-1 DM also has a new annihilation mode into Z2-even extra heavy vector and photon, Z′γ. For this mode, the photon energy depends on the masses of DM and the heavy vector, and thus we have a chance to probe the mass spectrum. The latest gamma-ray line search in the Galactic Center region gives a strong constraint on our spin-1 DM. We can probe the DM mass for ≲ 25.3 TeV by the Cherenkov Telescope Array experiment even if we assume a conservative DM density profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We calculate the one-loop correction to the static potential induced by γ, W and Z-exchange at tree-level for arbitrary heavy standard model multiplets. We find that the result obeys a "Casimir-like" scaling, making the NLO correction to the potential a "low-energy" property of the electroweak gauge bosons. Furthermore, we discuss the phenomenology of the NLO potentials, the analytically known asymptotic limits and provide fitting functions in position space for easy use of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the measurement of Higgs boson self-couplings through 2 → 3 vector boson scattering (VBS) processes in the framework of Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) at both proton and lepton colliders. The SMEFT contribution to the amplitude of the 2 → 3 VBS processes, taking WLWL → WLWLh and WLWL → hhh as examples, exhibits enhancement with the energy A BSM A SM ~ E 2 Λ 2 , which indicates the sensitivity of these processes to the related dimension-six operators in SMEFT. Simulation of the full processes at both hadron and lepton colliders with a variety of collision energies are performed to estimate the allowed region on c6 and c Φ 1 . Especially we find that, with the help of exclusively choosing longitudinal polarizations in the final states and suitable pT cuts, WWh process is as important as the more widely studied triple Higgs production (hhh) in the measurement of Higgs self-couplings. Our analysis indicates that these processes can play important roles in the measurement of Higgs self-couplings at future 100 TeV pp colliders and muon colliders. However, their cross sections are generally tiny at low energy machines, which makes them much more challenging to explore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the status of past and future experiments on lepton flavor violating (LFV) muon and tau decays into a light, invisible, axion-like particle (ALP), a. We propose a new experimental setup for MEG II, the MEGII-fwd, with a forward calorimeter placed downstream from the muon stopping target. Searching for μ → ea decays MEGII-fwd is maximally sensitive to LFV ALPs, if these have nonzero couplings to right-handed leptons. The experimental set-up suppresses the (left-handed) Standard Model background in the forward direction by controlling the polarization purity of the muon beam. The reach of MEGII-fwd is compared with the present constraints, the reach of Mu3e and the Belle-II reach from τ → ℓa decays. We show that a dedicated experimental campaign for LFV muon decays into ALPs at MEG II and Mu3e will be able to probe the ALP parameter space in an unexplored region well beyond the existing astrophysical constraints. We study the implications of these searches for representative LFV ALP models, where the presence of a light ALP is motivated by neutrino masses, the strong CP problem and/or the SM flavor puzzle. To this extent we discuss the majoron in low-scale seesaw setups and introduce the LFV QCD axion, the LFV axiflavon and the leptonic familon, paying particular attention to the cases where the LFV ALPs constitute cold dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a program at B-factories of inclusive, multi-track displaced vertex searches, which are expected to be low background and give excellent sensitivity to non-minimal hidden sectors. Multi-particle hidden sectors often include long-lived particles (LLPs) which result from approximate symmetries, and we classify the possible decays of GeV-scale LLPs in an effective field theory framework. Considering several LLP production modes, including dark photons and dark Higgs bosons, we study the sensitivity of LLP searches with different number of displaced vertices per event and track requirements per displaced vertex, showing that inclusive searches can have sensitivity to a large range of hidden sector models that are otherwise unconstrained by current or planned searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an expected rate of about one event per 100,000 top-quark pairs, four top-quark final states very rarely arise at the LHC. Though scarce, they offer a unique window onto top-quark compositeness, self-interactions and more generically, onto any top-philic new physics. By employing simplified models featuring heavy resonances, we study the range of validity of effective theory interpretations of current four top-quark analyses at the LHC and establish their future reach at the HL-LHC. We find that for the class of models under consideration, the effective field theory interpretations are not applicable. We therefore present the most up-to-date limits obtained from public CMS analyses using simplified models. Finally, we put forward a novel recasting strategy for the experimental results based on the production of top quarks with large transverse momentum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the calculation of bosonic dark matter absorption via electronic excitations. Working in an effective field theory framework and consistently taking into account in-medium effects, we clarify the relation between dark matter and photon absorption. As is well-known, for vector (dark photon) and pseudoscalar (axion-like particle) dark matter, the absorption rates can be simply related to the target material's optical properties. However, this is not the case for scalar dark matter, where the dominant contribution comes from a different operator than the one contributing to photon absorption, which is formally next-to-leading-order and does not suffer from in-medium screening. It is therefore imperative to have reliable first-principles numerical calculations and/or semi-analytic modeling in order to predict the detection rate. We present updated sensitivity projections for semiconductor crystal and superconductor targets for ongoing and proposed direct detection experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discrepancy between the muon g − 2 measurement and the Standard Model prediction points to new physics around or below the weak scale. It is tantalizing to consider the loop effects of a heavy axion (in the general sense, also known as an axion-like particle) coupling to leptons and photons as an explanation for this discrepancy. We provide an updated analysis of the necessary couplings, including two-loop contributions, and find that the new physics operators point to an axion decay constant on the order of 10s of GeV. This poses major problems for such an explanation, as the axion couplings to leptons and photons must be generated at low scales. We outline some possibilities for how such couplings can arise, and find that these scenarios predict new charged matter at or below the weak scale and new scalars can mix with the Higgs boson, raising numerous phenomenological challenges. These scenarios also all predict additional contributions to the muon g−2 itself, calling the initial application of the axion effective theory into question. We conclude that there is little reason to favor an axion explanation of the muon g – 2 measurement relative to other models postulating new weak-scale matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]