Particle Physics

Non-gaussianity of primordial density perturbations can be sensitive to very heavy particles at the inflationary Hubble scale (H < 10^(13) GeV). However, the window of observability is often constrained to masses close to H. In this talk, I will discuss a mechanism (dubbed “chemical potential”) for heavy complex scalar fields that can extend this window to masses as large as 60H. The mechanism utilizes the large kinetic energy of the inflaton to enhance particle production, and can impart observable non-gaussianity, f_NL~ O(0.01-10). In the second part of the talk, I will discuss another mechanism where the distinct signature of a heavy field can be imprinted at the level of the power spectrum by violating scale-invariance. This can be achieved through the onset of classical oscillations of the heavy field during inflation, instead of quantum production. We consider the possibility of observing such a signal in the stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background originating from a first-order phase transition in a hidden sector. The signal can be observably large in the GW map while being completely hidden in the standard curvature perturbations such as those of the CMB.

Sterile neutrinos have been proposed to tackle a number of outstanding questions in physics, including the phenomena of dark matter, neutrino masses and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. I will review current limits on GeV-, MeV- and keV-scale sterile neutrinos from cosmology and astrophysics. In particular, I will focus on how primordial abundance determinations, Cosmic Microwave Background observations and stellar kinematic inferences from dwarf spheroidal galaxies allow us to set robust constraints across this mass scale. I will then end with a short discussion on how sterile neutrinos could relax cosmological bounds on neutrino masses and what implications this would have for experiments like KATRIN.
 

Finding cosmological models that are consistent with a wide range of observations, including those that indicate a high Hubble constant (the current rate of expansion of space), has proved to be very challenging. In this talk I explore why. Our exploration leads us to fundamental sources of length scales in cosmological models: gravitational collapse time scales and photon electron-scattering mean free paths. We find that scaling down these quantities leaves cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps, and many other cosmological observables, nearly invariant, while boosting up the expansion rate. I then introduce a model that takes advantage of this symmetry to boost up model predictions of the Hubble constant given CMB and other cosmological data. Gravitational collapse time scales are scaled down from standard cosmological values by the introduction of a `mirror world' dark sector, and photon mean free paths are scaled down by reducing the amount of helium, thereby freeing up more electrons. I speculate about alternative ways to reduce photon mean free paths, as consistency with the Riess et al. (2021) measurement of the Hubble constant requires there to be less helium in the universe than is observed. 

Cosmic inflation provides an environment similar to particle colliders that can produce new particles and record the resulting signal. In this talk, I will describe a scenario in which new particles much heavier than the Hubble scale are produced during inflation via couplings to the inflaton. These heavy particles propagate classically and give rise to localized spots on the cosmic microwave background following their production. Momentum conservation during particle production dictates that these localized spots come in pairs. I will discuss the properties of such pairs of CMB spots and the prospect of their detection from the thermal fluctuation background in a position space search.

The COHERENT collaboration made the first measurement of coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering(CEvNS) in 2017 using a low-background, 14.6-kg CsI[Na] detector at the SNS. Since initial detection, this detector has opened a new era of precision CEvNS measurements by doubling the detector exposure and improving understanding of the detector response. We these improvements, we now use CsI[Na] data to make competitive constraints of beyond-the-standard-model physics.
We will focus on our recent search for dark matter particles produced at the SNS. With our experience measuring CEvNS, we are sensitive to analogous coherent dark matter induced recoils in our detector. This is a novel approach for accelerator-based dark matter experiments. Searching in this channel is also very powerful, allowing relatively small detectors to explore new parameter space inaccessible to much larger detectors. We will briefly discus other BSM opportunities with COHERENT, showing current results from CsI[Na] along with future sensitivity.

 The existence of right-handed neutrinos may shed light on the origin of neutrino masses. It is also conceivable that if these particles exist, they may have a new set of interactions and symmetries of their own. In this talk, I will discuss "lamppost" models where MeV to GeV heavy neutrinos interact with a dark photon, and discuss some novel experimental signatures at neutrino detectors, e+e− colliders, and kaon decays. I will also comment on some connections to MiniBooNE and the (g-2) of the muon.

I will discuss a set of calculations of dark matter interactions with low threshold semi-conductor detectors such as SENSEI and superCDMS. As a warm-up, I'll show how to rephrase traditional DM-electron scattering calculations in terms of the energy loss function of the material. We will then apply this framework to compute the rate for the Migdal effect in semi-conductor targets. This is needed because the traditional calculations of the Migdal effect do not apply in low threshold semi-conductor detectors, as the delocalized nature of the valence electrons is not taken into account.

Several anomalies have been recently reported by different laboratory experiments: the flavor anomalies involving B meson semileptonic and leptonic decays by the LHCb and B-factories, as well as the anomalous muon (g-2) by the Fermilab (g-2) collaboration. These deviations, if not coming from underestimated experimental or theoretical uncertainties, are pointing to new degrees of freedom around the few TeV scale. Enlarging the field content of the Standard Model may lead to baryon number violation, whose aggressive experimental constraints can rule out a wide range of attractive candidates. Motivated by its safeness under unacceptable baryon number violation and the possibility for having TeV scale physics, I will introduce the simplest theory for matter (leptons-quarks) unification based on the Pati-Salam symmetry and show how this theory can address both the flavor anomalies and the muon (g-2) with the scalar leptoquarks that it predicts.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95090784229?pwd=Q21oQUVkeXFiSmt5S3hKcGJ3SlEyZz09

A high energy muon collider complex can provide new and complementary discovery potential to the LHC or future hadron colliders. New spin-1 bosons are a motivated class of exotic new physics models. In particular leptoquarks, dark photons, and Lμ — Lτ models have 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. We also consider other applications of a muon collider complex in the hunt for new physics.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/97081554839?pwd=bFBmdUExV0VSdm4vcm5iMTVtaTFrUT09

Cosmic strings arise as remnants of phase transitions in the early Universe, often related to theories of grand unification (GUTs). If such a phase transitions occurs at high energies, the resulting cosmic string network generates a sizable amount of gravitational waves. Most work so far has focused on the gravitational wave signal from topologically stable cosmic strings. In this talk I will introduce metastable cosmic strings, which are a generic consequence of many GUTs. I will discuss how this idea can be probed in various ongoing and upcoming gravitational wave experiments, from pulsar timing arrays to space- and ground-based interferometers. In the final part of my talk I will discuss a recent proposal on using the radio telescopes to probe this and other sources of ultra high frequency gravitational waves.

Abstract: TBD

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96516977019?pwd=WVlpZG5WTTUwbFJVZ2wvcXdNWUR5Zz09