Search

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), a high energy cosmic ray and $\gamma$-ray detector in space, has recently reported the new measurement of the total electron plus positron flux between 25 GeV and 4.6 TeV. A spectral softening at $\sim0.9$ TeV and a tentative peak at $\sim1.4$ TeV have been reported. We study the physical implications of the DAMPE data in this work. The presence of the spectral break significantly tightens the constraints on the model parameters to explain the electron/positron excesses. The spectral softening can either be explained by the maximum acceleration limits of electrons by astrophysical sources, or a breakdown of the common assumption of continuous distribution of electron sources at TeV energies in space and time. The tentive peak at $\sim1.4$ TeV implies local sources of electrons/positrons with quasi-monochromatic injection spectrum. We find that the cold, ultra-relativistic $e^+e^-$ winds from pulsars may give rise to such a structure. The pulsar is requird to be middle-aged, relatively slowly-rotated, mildly magnetized, and isolated in a density cavity. The annihilation of DM particles ($m_{\chi}\sim1.5$ TeV) into $e^+e^-$ pairs in a nearby clump or an over-density region may also explain the data. In the DM scenario, the inferred clump mass (or density enhancement) is about $10^7-10^8$ M$_\odot$ (or $17-35$ times of the canonical local density) assuming a thermal production cross section, which is relatively extreme compared with the expectation from numerical simulations. A moderate enhancement of the annihilation cross section via, e.g., the Sommerfeld mechanism or non-thermal production, is thus needed., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, and 3 tables

Searching for gamma rays from dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) is a promising approach to detect dark matter (DM) due to the high DM densities and low baryon components in dSphs. The Fermi-LAT observations from dSphs have set stringent constraints on the velocity independent annihilation cross section. However, the constraints from dSphs may change in velocity dependent annihilation scenarios because of the different velocity dispersions in galaxies. In this work, we study how to set constraints on the velocity dependent annihilation cross section from the combined Fermi-LAT observations of dSphs with the kinematic data. In order to calculate the gamma ray flux from the dSph, the correlation between the DM density profile and velocity dispersion at each position should be taken into account. We study such correlation and the relevant uncertainty from kinematic observations by performing a Jeans analysis. Using the observational results of three ultrafaint dSphs with large J-factors, including Willman 1, Reticulum II, and Triangulum II, we set constraints on the p-wave annihilation cross section in the Galaxy as an example., Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures

In this paper, we will give a general introduction to the project of Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT), which is a Sino-US joint project led by the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) and has involved many different institutes in China. It is the first ground-based Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization experiment in China and an integral part of China's Gravitational Waves Program. The main scientific goal of AliCPT project is to probe the primordial gravitational waves (PGWs) originated from the very early Universe. The AliCPT project includes two stages. The first stage referred to as AliCPT-1, is to build a telescope in the Ali region of Tibet with an altitude of 5,250 meters. Once completed, it will be the worldwide highest ground-based CMB observatory and open a new window for probing PGWs in northern hemisphere. AliCPT-1 telescope is designed to have about 7,000 TES detectors at 90GHz and 150GHz. The second stage is to have a more sensitive telescope (AliCPT-2) with the number of detectors more than 20,000. Our simulations show that AliCPT will improve the current constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ by one order of magnitude with 3 years' observation. Besides the PGWs, the AliCPT will also enable a precise measurement on the CMB rotation angle and provide a precise test on the CPT symmetry. We show 3 years' observation will improve the current limit by two order of magnitude., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Polarization plays an important role in current cosmological studies. CMB B-mode polarization is the most effective probe to primordial gravitational waves (PGWs) and a test of the inflation as well as other theories of the early universe such as bouncing and cyclic universe. So far, major ground-based CMB polarization experiments are located in the southern hemisphere.Recently, China has launched the Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT) in Tibetan Plateau to measure CMB B mode polarization and detect the PGWs in northern hemisphere. AliCPT include two stages, the first one is to build a telescope at the 5250m site (AliCPT-1) and the second one is to have a more sensitive telescope at a higher altitude of about 6000m (AliCPT-2). In this paper, we report the atmospherical conditions, sky coverage and the current infrastructure associated with AliCPT. We analyzed the reanalysis data from MERRA-2 together with radiosonde data from the Ali Meteorological Service and found that the amount of water vapor has a heavy seasonal variation and October to March is the suitable observation time. We also found 95/150 GHz to be feasible for AliCPT-1 and higher frequencies to be possible for AliCPT-2. Then we analyzed the observable sky and the target fields, and showed that Ali provides us a unique opportunity to observe CMB with less foreground contamination in the northern hemisphere and is complementary to the existed southern CMB experiments. Together with the developed infrastructure, we point out that Ali opens a new window for CMB observation and will be one of the major sites in the world along with Antarctic and Atacama., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures

We study the electroweak phase transition in three scalar extension models beyond the Standard Model. Assuming new scalars are decoupled at some heavy scale, we use the covariant derivative expansion method to derive all of the dimension-6 effective operators, whose coefficients are highly correlated in a specific model. We provide bounds to the complete set of dimension-6 operators by including the electroweak precision test and recent Higgs measurements. We find that the parameter space of strong first-order phase transitions (induced by the $|H|^6$ operator) can be probed extensively in $Zh$ production at future electron-positron colliders., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; published version of Chinese Physics C; English typo corrected

Taking the 3-3-1 models (with $SU(3)_c \otimes SU(3)_L \otimes U(1)_Y$ gauge group) as examples, we study that a class of new physics models with extended gauge group could undergo one or several first-order phase transitions associated with the spontaneously symmetry breaking processes during the evolution of the universe, which can produce detectable phase transition gravitational wave (GW) signals at future GW experiments, such as LISA, BBO, DECIGO, SKA and aLIGO. These GW signals can provide new sources of GWs with different peak frequencies, and can be used to probe the evolution history of the universe., Comment: Published version for Physics Letters B

Recently, a novel idea has been proposed to relax the electroweak hierarchy problem through the cosmological inflation and the axion periodic potential. Here, we further assume that only the attractive inflation is needed to explain the light mass of the Higgs boson, where we do not need a specified periodic potential of the axion field. Attractive inflation during the early universe drives the Higgs boson mass from the large value in the early universe to the small value at present, where the Higgs mass is an evolving parameter of the Universe. Thus, the small Higgs mass can technically originate from the cosmological evolution rather than dynamical symmetry or anthropics. Further, we study the possible collider signals or constraints at future lepton collier and the possible constraints from the muon anomalous magnetic moment. A concrete attractive relaxion model is also discussed, which is consistent with the data of Planck 2015., Comment: version published in Chinese Physics C

This is a research highlight invited by SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy., Comment: Research highlight invited by SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy; 3 pages, 1 figure

We report on the first joint analysis of observational signatures from the electroweak baryogenesis in both gravitational wave (GW) detectors and particle colliders. With an effective extension of the Higgs sector in terms of the dimension-6 operators, we derive a strong first-order phase transition in associated with a sizable CP violation to realize a successful electroweak baryogenesis. We calculate the GW spectrum resulting from the bubble nucleation, plasma transportation, and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence of this process that occurred after the big bang, and find that it yields GW signals testable in Evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory and Big Bang Observer. We further identify collider signals from the same mechanism that are observable at the planning Circular Electron Positron Collider. Our analysis bridges astrophysics/cosmology with particle physics by providing significant motivation for searches for GW event peaking at the $(10^{-4}, 1)$ Hz range, which are associated with signals at colliders, and highlights the possibility of an interdisciplinary observational window into baryogenesis. The technique applied in analyzing early universe phase transitions may enlighten the study of phase transitions in applied science., Comment: version published in the Rapid Communication of Phys.Rev.D