Probing Majorana Neutrinos and their CP Violation in Decays of Charged Scalar Mesons π, K, D, Ds, B, Bc
Some of the outstanding questions of particle physics today concern the neutrino sector, in particular whether there are more neutrinos than those already known and whether they are Dirac or Majorana particles. There are different ways to explore these issues. In this article we describe neutrino-mediated decays of charged pseudoscalar mesons such as π±,K± and B±, in scenarios where extra neutrinos are heavy and can be on their mass shell. We discuss semileptonic and leptonic decays of such kinds. We investigate possible ways of using these decays in order to distinguish between the Dirac and Majorana character of neutrinos. Further, we argue that there are significant possibilities of detecting CP violation in such decays when there are at least two almost degenerate Majorana neutrinos involved. This latter type of scenario fits well into the known neutrino minimal standard model (νMSM) which could simultaneously explain the Dark Matter and Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe.
Quasi-Dirac neutrinos in the linear seesaw model
We implement a minimal linear seesaw model (LSM) for addressing the Quasi-Dirac (QD) behaviour of heavy neutrinos, focusing on the mass regime of MN . MW . Here we show that for relatively low neutrino masses, covering the few GeV range, the same-sign to opposite-sign dilepton ratio, R`` , can be anywhere between 0 and 1, thus signaling a Quasi-Dirac regime. Particular values of R`` are controlled by the width of the QD neutrino and its mass splitting, the latter being equal to the light-neutrino mass mν in the LSM scenario. The current upper bound on mν1 together with the projected sensitivities of current and future |UN` | 2 experimental measurements, set stringent constraints on our low-scale QD mass regime. Some experimental prospects of testing the model by LHC displaced vertex searches are also discussed.
Bounds on lepton flavor violating physics and decays of neutral mesons from τ (μ) →3â.,", â.,"γγ -decays
We study two- and three-body lepton flavor violating (LFV) decays involving leptons and neu- tral vector bosons V = ρ0, ω, φ, J/ψ, Υ, Z0, as well as pseudoscalar P = π0, η, η′, ηc and scalar S = f0(500), f0(980), a0(980), χc0(1P ) mesons, without referring to a specific mechanism of LFV realization. In particular, we relate the rates of the three-body LFV decays τ (μ) → 3`, where ` = μ or e, to the two-body LFV decays (V, P ) → τ μ(τ e, μe), where V and P play the role of intermediate resonances in the decay process τ (μ) → 3`. From the experimental upper bounds for the branching ratios of τ (μ) → 3` decays, we derive upper limits for the branching ratios of (V, P ) → τ μ(τ e, μe). We compare our results to the available experimental data and known theoretical upper limits from previous studies of LFV processes and find that some of our limits are several orders of magnitude more stringent. Using the idea of quark-hadron duality, we extract limits on various quark-lepton dimension-six LFV operators from data on lepton decays. Some of these limits are either new or stronger than those existing in the literature.
Majorana vs. Dirac sterile neutrinos at the LHC
We study leptonic decays W± → e±e±μ∓ν and W± → μ±μ±e∓ν which would occur at the LHC if there exist sterile neutrinos with masses below MW . We also study ways to discriminate their Majorana or Dirac character, a rather non trivial task, because lepton number conservation cannot be checked due to the missing neutrino in the final state. We find that it is indeed possible to discriminate between Majorana vs. Dirac sterile neutrinos by comparing the production of e±e±μ∓ vs. μ±μ±e∓ if the N-e and N-μ mixings are sufficiently different. Alternatively, one could also distinguish the Majorana vs. Dirac character by studying the energy spectra of the opposite charge lepton, a method that works even for equal N-e and N-μ mixings.
Search for light sterile neutrinos from W± decays at the LHC
We study the feasibility to observe sterile neutrinos with masses in the range 5 GeV
Composite Resonances effects on EWPT and Higgs diphoton decay rate
In scenarios of strongly coupled electroweak symmetry breaking, heavy composite particles of different spin and parity may arise and cause observable effects on signals that appear at loop levels. The recently observed process of Higgs to γγ at the LHC is one of such signals. We study the new constraints that are imposed on composite models from , together with the existing constraints from the high precision electroweak tests. We use an effective chiral Lagrangian to describe the effective theory that contains the Standard Model spectrum and the extra composites below the electroweak scale. Considering the effective theory cutoff at , consistency with the T and S parameters and the newly observed can be found for a rather restricted range of masses of vector and axial-vector composites from 1.5 TeV to 1.7 TeV and 1.8 TeV to 1.9 TeV, respectively, and only provided a non-standard kinetic mixing between the and fields is included.
Triple photon production at the Tevatron in technicolor models
We study the process pp¯ → γγγ as a signal for associated photon–technipion production at the Tevatron. This is a clean signature with relatively low background. Resonant and non-resonant contributions are included and we show that technicolor models can be effectively probed in this mode
The effect of composite resonances on Higgs decay into two photons
In scenarios of strongly coupled electroweak symmetry breaking, heavy composite particles of different spin and parity may arise and cause observable effects on signals that appear at loop levels. The recently observed process of Higgs to $\gamma \gamma$ at the LHC is one of such signals. We study the new constraints that are imposed on composite models from $H\to \gamma\gamma$, together with the existing constraints from the high precision electroweak tests. We use an effective chiral Lagrangian to describe the effective theory that contains the Standard Model spectrum and the extra composites below the electroweak scale. Considering the effective theory cutoff at $\Lambda = 4\pi v \sim 3 $ TeV, consistency with the $T$ and $S$ parameters and the newly observed $H\to \gamma \gamma$ can be found for a rather restricted range of masses of vector and axial-vector composites from $1.5$ TeV to $1.7$ TeV and $1.8$ TeV to $1.9$ TeV, respectively, and only provided a non-standard kinetic mixing between the $W^{3}$ and $B^{0}$ fields is included.
Simple hadronic cascade simulations
We obtain results for the average number of muons at sea level in a proton-initiated vertical atmospheric cascade using a simple model of hadronic interactions based on the Hillas splitting algorithm. We study the muon yield at sea level as a function of the proton primary energy, varying the parameters of the interaction model in order to see the behavior of our results. We find that our results are in agreement with experimental data and with those of more sophisticated simulation models for some particular values of the model parameters.
ANDES: An Underground Laboratory in South America
ANDES (Agua Negra Deep Experiment Site) is an underground laboratory, proposed to be built inside the Agua Negra road tunnel that will connect Chile (IV Region) with Argentina (San Juan Province) under the Andes Mountains. The Laboratory will be 1750 meters under the rock, becoming the 3rd deepest underground laboratory of this kind in the world, and the first in the Southern Hemisphere. ANDES will be an international Laboratory, managed by a Latin American consortium. The laboratory will host experiments in Particle and Astroparticle Physics, such as Neutrino and Dark Matter searches, Seismology, Geology, Geophysics and Biology. It will also be used for the development of low background instrumentation and related services. Here we present the general features of the proposed laboratory, the current status of the proposal and some of its opportunities for science.
