New gauge bosons at the MeV scale with tiny gauge couplings (so-called dark photons) can be responsible for the freeze-in production of dark matter and provide a clear target for present and future experiments. We study the effects of thermal mixing between dark photons and Standard Model gauge bosons and of the resulting plasmon decays on dark matter production before and after the electroweak phase transition. In the parameter regions preferred by the observed dark matter relic abundance, the dark photon is sufficiently long-lived to be probed with fixed-target experiments and light enough to induce direct detection signals. Indeed, current limits from XENON1T already constrain Dirac fermion dark matter in the GeV to TeV range produced via the freeze-in mechanism. We illustrate our findings for the case of a $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge extension and discuss possible generalisations.
The production and the observability of $Λ(1520)$, $K^0(892)$ $Φ$ and $Δ(1232)$ hadron resonances in central Pb+Pb collisions at 160 AGeV is addressed. The rescattering probabilities of the resonance decay products in the systems evolution are studied. Strong changes in the reconstructable particle yields and spectra between chemical and thermal freeze-out are estimated. Abundances and spectra of reconstructable resonances are predicted.
I)The production of multiple strange baryons in pp interactions is studied. Here on can directly probe the microscopic decay of color flux tubes, allowing to differentiate between different string models and a statistical description of the hadronization. II)To analyse the different stages of a heavy ion collision the time evolution of the elastic and inelastic collision rates in central Pb+Pb interactions are studied. The microscopic simulation supports the idea of separated phases (non-equilibrium -> chemical freeze-out -> kinetic freeze-out) in the evolution of the system. The spectra and a…
Collider searches for long-lived particles yield a promising avenue to probe the freeze-in production of Dark Matter via the decay of a parent particle. We analyze the prospects of probing the parameter space of Dark Matter freeze-in from the decay of neutral parent particles at the LHC and beyond, taking as a case study a freeze-in Dark Matter scenario via the Standard Model Higgs. We obtain the projected sensitivity of the proposed MATHUSLA surface detector (for MATHUSLA100 and MATHUSLA200 configurations) for long-lived particle searches to the freeze-in Dark Matter parameter space, and stud…
We calculate the first four moments of baryon number, electric charge and strangeness fluctuations within the hadron resonance gas model. Different moments and their ratios as well as skewness and kurtosis are evaluated on the phenomenologically determined freeze-out curve in the temperature, baryon chemical potential plane. The model results and its predictions as well as relations between different moments are compared with the first data on net proton fluctuations in Au-Au collisions obtained at RHIC by the STAR Collaboration. We find good agreement between the model calculations and experi…
We introduce a novel approach based on elastic and inelastic scattering rates to extract the hyper-surface of the chemical freeze-out from a hadronic transport model in the energy range from E$_\mathrm{lab}=1.23$ AGeV to $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=62.4$ GeV. For this study, the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) model combined with a coarse-graining method is employed. The chemical freeze-out distribution is reconstructed from the pions through several decay and re-formation chains involving resonances and taking into account inelastic, pseudo-elastic and string excitation reacti…
Probing displaced (dark)photons from low reheating freeze-in at the LHC
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad San Sebastián（塞巴斯蒂安大学工程学院）；Millennium Institute for Subatomic Physics at the High-Energy Frontier (SAPHIR)（高能前沿亚原子物理千年研究所（SAPHIR））；Instituto de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile（智利天主教大学物理研究所）；Instituto de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República（共和国大学理学院物理研究所）；Sección Física, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú（秘鲁天主教大学科学院物理组）
We consider a $U(1)_{B-L}$ model with a $Z^\prime$ portal Dirac fermion dark matter (DM) $χ$ of low mass which couples very weakly to the $B - L$ gauge boson $Z^\prime$. An arbitrary $B-L$ charge $Q\neq \pm1, \pm 3$ of the DM $χ$ ensures its stability. Motivated by the sensitivity reach of forthcoming "Lifetime Frontier" experiments, we focus on the $Z^\prime$ mass, $m_{Z^\prime}$, in the sub-GeV to few GeV range. To evaluate the DM relic abundance, we examine both the freeze-out and freeze-in DM scenarios. For the freeze-out scenario, we show that the observed DM abundance is reproduced near …
The freeze-in production of Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter in the early universe is an appealing alternative to the well-known - and constrained - Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) paradigm. Although challenging, the phenomenology of FIMP dark matter has been receiving growing attention and is possible in a few scenarios. In this work, we contribute to this endeavor by considering a $Z^\prime$ portal to fermionic dark matter, with the $Z^\prime$ having both vector and axial couplings and a mass ranging from MeV up to PeV. We evaluate the bounds on both freeze-i…
Two-particle femtoscopy reveals the space-time substructure of the freeze-out configuration from heavy ion collisions. Detailed fingerprints of bulk collectivity are evident in space-momentum correlations, which have been systematically measured as a function of particle type, three-momentum, and collision conditions. A clear scenario, dominated by hydrodynamic-type flow emerges. Reproducing the strength and features of the femtoscopic signals in models involves important physical quantities like the Equation of State, as well as less fundamental technical details. An interesting approximate "…
We extend the usual treatment of two-particle momentum correlations to include the possibility of non-chaotic or correlated particle emission from the hadronic freeze-out surface in heavy-ion collisions. We adopt a modified two-particle emission density which permits the description of nontrivial differences between pair autocorrelations for different pair types. If different pair types sample nuclear radial or Hubble flow in different ways we predict a unique signature in two-particle momentum distributions. Analysis of such effects may provide detailed information on the small-scale structur…
Many new physics models predict the existence of TeV-scale charged gauge boson $W^\prime$ together with Higgs boson(s). We study the $W^\prime WH$ interaction and explore the angular distribution of charged lepton to distinguish $W_R^\prime WH$ from $W_L^\prime WH$ in $pp\to HW\to b \bar b l ν$ process at the LHC. It is found that a new type forward-backward asymmetry($A_{FB}$) relating to the angle between the direction of the charged lepton in $W$ rest frame and that of the reconstructed $W^\prime$ in laboratory frame is useful to investigate the properties of $W^\prime W H$ interaction. We …
Detecting dark matter (DM) relic via freeze-in is difficult in laboratories due to smallness of the couplings involved. However, a non-standard cosmological history of the Universe, prior to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), can dramatically change this scenario. In this context, we study the freeze-in production of dark matter in classically scale invariant $U(1)_X$ gauge extension of the Standard Model (SM), recently dubbed as the \textit{Scale Invariant FIMP Miracle}. We assume an additional species dominates the energy density of the Universe at early times, causing the expansion rate at a g…
In the 5-dimensional braneworld cosmology, the Friedmann equation of our 4-dimensional universe on a brane is modified at high temperatures while the standard Big Bang cosmology is reproduced at low temperatures. Based on two well-known scenarios, the Randall-Sundrum and Gauss-Bonnet braneworld cosmologies, we investigate the braneworld cosmological effect on the relic density of a non-thermal dark matter particle whose interactions with the Standard Model particles are so weak that its relic density is determined by the freeze-in mechanism. For dark matter production processes in the early un…
Exponential suppression or commonly known as the Boltzmann suppression in the number density of dark matter is the key ingredient for creating chemical imbalance prior to the usual thermal freeze-out. A degenerate/quasi-degenerate dark sector can experience a different exponential suppression in the number density analogous to the radioactive decay law leading to a delayed freeze-out mechanism of dark matter known as the co-decaying dark matter. In this work, we study the dynamics of a multicomponent dark matter from thermally decoupled degenerate dark sector in a hidden U$(1)_{X}$ extension o…
Probing the Phenomenology of Dark Matter from Decoupled Freeze-Out
LAPTh, USMB, CNRS（LAPTh，萨瓦大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT（艾克斯马赛大学，土伦大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Department of Physics, Durham University（杜伦大学物理系粒子物理现象学研究所）；Mathabhanga College, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University（科奇比哈尔潘查南巴尔马大学马塔班加学院）；Laboratoire de Physique de l’École Normale Supérieure, Mines Paris - PSL, Inria, CNRS, ENS- PSL, Sorbonne Université, PSL Research University（巴黎高等师范学院物理实验室，巴黎矿业学院-PSL，法国国家信息与自动化研究所，法国国家科学研究中心，巴黎文理研究大学）
We study the LHC sensitivity to a $W'$ produced via bottom and charm quarks and decaying to $τ$ flavor leptons in the mass range 200-1000 GeV. We show that the extra $b$ quarks necessitated by the production mechanism can improve the background rejection compared to an inclusive analysis relying solely on $τ$-tagging and $E_{T}^{\text{miss}}$. We present prospective limits on the couplings and compare them to the best fit to the $R(D^{(\ast)})$ anomalies in $B$ meson decays.
We fully explore the thermal freezeout histories of a vector-portal dark matter model, in the region of parameter space in which the ratio of masses of the dark photon $A^{\prime}$ and dark matter $χ$ is in the range $1 \lesssim m_{A^{\prime}}/m_χ \lesssim 2$. In this region $2 \rightarrow 2$ and $3 \rightarrow 2$ annihilation processes within the dark sector, as well as processes that transfer energy between the dark sector and the Standard Model, play important roles in controlling the thermal freezeout of the dark matter. We carefully track the temperatures of all species, relaxing the assu…
We consider a scenario where the dark sector includes two Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMPs), with couplings to the Standard Model particles that allow their production in the Early Universe via thermal freeze-in. These couplings generically lead to the decay of the heavier dark matter component into the lighter, possibly leading to observable signals of the otherwise elusive FIMPs. Concretely, we argue that the loop induced decay $ψ_2\rightarrowψ_1γ$ for fermionic FIMPs, or $ϕ_2\rightarrowϕ_1γγ$ for scalar FIMPs, could have detectable rates for model parameters compatible with the o…
We investigate the minimal $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ model with extra heavy vector-like leptons or charged scalars. By studying the kinetic mixing between $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ gauge boson $Z^\prime$ and standard model photon, which is absent at tree level and will arise at one loop level due to $μ$, $τ$ and new heavy charged leptons or scalars, the interesting behavior is shown. It can provide possibility for visible signatures of new heavy particles. We propose to search for $Z^\prime$ at electron collider experiments, such as Belle II, BESIII and future Super Tau Charm Factory (STCF), using the monophoto…
We consider a U(1)$_X$ gauge symmetry extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a $Z^\prime$-portal Majorana fermion dark matter that allows for a relatively light gauge boson $Z^\prime$ with mass of 10 MeV$-$ a few GeV and a much heavier dark matter through the freeze-in mechanism. In a second scenario the roles are reversed, and the dark matter mass, in the keV range or so, lies well below the $Z^\prime$ mass, say, $\sim 1$ GeV. We outline the parameter space that can be explored for these two scenarios at the future Lifetime Frontier experiments including Belle-II, FASER, LDMX and SHiP.
We study the experimental constraints on dark sector CP violation that enters the visible sector through a Higgs portal coupling $H^{\dagger} H Z^{\prime}_{μν} \widetilde Z^{\prime μν}$, where the $Z^{\prime}$ is from a new U(1) gauge symmetry which is assumed to couple to lepton number. We compute explicitly the leading two-loop contribution of this effective operator to the electron electric dipole moment (EDM) and show that the resulting constraints are comparable to those from direct $Z^{\prime}$ searches at electron-positron colliders when the effective operator is generated at tree level…
We study impacts of dimension-five lepton-number violating operators associated with two same-sign weak bosons, $\ell^\pm \ell^{\prime \pm} W^\mp W^\mp$, on current and future experiments for neutrino oscillation, lepton-number violating rare processes and high-energy collider experiments. These operators can contain important information on the origin of tiny neutrino masses, which is independent of that from the so-called Weinberg operator. We examine constraints on the coefficients of the operators by the neutrino oscillation data. Upper bounds on the coefficients are also investigated by u…
The nature of dark matter is one of the most thrilling riddles for both cosmology and particle physics nowadays. While in the typical models the dark sector is composed only by weakly interacting massive particles, an arguably more natural scenario would include a whole set of gauge interactions which are invisible for the standard model but that are in contact with the dark matter. We present a method to constrain the number of massless gauge bosons and other relativistic particles that might be present in the dark sector using current and future cosmic microwave background data, and provide …
The potential for probing extra neutral gauge boson mediators ($Z^\prime$) from low-energy measurements is comprehensively explored. Our study mainly focuses on $Z^\prime$ mediators present in string-inspired $E_6$ models and left-right symmetry. We estimate the sensitivities of coherent-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) and neutrino-electron scattering experiments. Our results indicate that such low-energy high-intensity measurements can provide a valuable probe, complementary to high-energy collider searches and electroweak precision measurements.
Probing a $\mathrm{Z}^{\prime}$ with non-universal fermion couplings through top quark fusion, decays to bottom quarks, and machine learning techniques
Based on the coalescence model for light nuclei production, we show that the yield ratio $\mathcal{O}_\text{p-d-t} = N_{^3\text{H}} N_p / N_\text{d}^2$ of $p$, d, and $^3$H in heavy-ion collisions is sensitive to the neutron relative density fluctuation $Δn= \langle (δn)^2\rangle/\langle n\rangle^2$ at kinetic freeze-out. From recent experimental data in central Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=6.3$~GeV, $7.6$~GeV, $8.8$~GeV, $12.3$~GeV and $17.3$~GeV measured by the NA49 Collaboration at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), we find a possible non-monotonic behavior of $Δn$ as a function…
$SU(2)_L$-invariance links charged dilepton $\bar q\,q^\prime\,\ell^+\,\ell^-$ and dineutrino $\bar q\, q^\prime\, \barν\,ν$ couplings. This connection can be established using the Standard Model Effective Field Theory framework, and allows to perform complementary experimental tests of lepton universality and charged lepton flavor conservation with flavor-summed dineutrino observables. We present its phenomenological implications for the branching ratios of rare charm decays $c\to u\,ν\,\barν$ and rare $B$ decays $b\to s\,\barν\,ν$ decays.
We study general freeze-out scenarios where an arbitrary number of initial and final dark matter particles participate in the number-changing freeze-out interaction. We consider a simple sector with two particle species undergoing such a thermal freeze-out; one of the relics is stable and gives rise to the dark matter today, while the other one decays to the Standard Model, injecting significant entropy into the thermal bath that dilutes the dark matter abundance. We show that this setup can lead to a stable relic population that reproduces the observed dark matter abundance without requiring …
In this conference, I have talked about two scenarios in which the out-of-equilibrium production of dark matter (DM) particles in the early universe is unavoidable. In the first one \cite{bhattacharyya_freezing-dark_2018}, we extend the standard model (SM) of particle physics by an extra $U(1)$ gauge group under which all the SM particles are neutral. We then consider DM candidates interacting only with the new spin-1 gauge boson, a heavy $Z^\prime$. We assume the presence of heavy beyond the SM fermions charged under both extra $U(1)$ and SM $SU(3)_c$, allowing for a feeble connection between…
In order to probe the factorization hypothesis in color-suppressed $B \rightarrow ψ(2S) + K (K^*)$ decays we have studied three ratios: $ R \equiv B (B \rightarrow ψK) / B (B \rightarrow ψ(2S) K)$, $ R' \equiv B (B \rightarrow ψK^*) / B (B \rightarrow ψ(2S) K^*)$ and $ P_L^\prime \equiv Γ_L (B \rightarrow ψ(2S) K^*)/Γ(B \rightarrow ψ(2S) K^*)$ in several scenarios for the $ q^2$-dependence of the form factors involved. We find that measurements of R and $R' $, which exist, do not yield scenario-independent tests of factorization. However, the predicted range of $ P_L^\prime$ in all scenarios l…
Recent results from PAMELA and ATIC hint that O(TeV) dark matter (DM) is annihilating, in our galactic neighborhood, predominantly to leptons. The annihilation rate is much larger now than during freeze-out, one possible explanation of this is a low-velocity enhancement of the annihilation cross section. In a model independent fashion, we show that in this case the rate of neutrino emission from the Earth, due to DM annihilation, may be greatly enhanced while the rate from the Sun is unaltered. There is potential for IceCube to see these earthborn neutrinos while the same parameter space will …
We investigate models of a heavy neutral gauge boson Z' which could explain anomalies in B meson decays reported by the LHCb experiment. In these models, the Z' boson couples mostly to third generation fermions. We show that bottom quarks arising from gluon splitting can fuse into Z' as an essential production mechanism at the LHC, thereby allowing to probe these models. The study is performed within a generic framework for explaining the B anomalies that can be accommodated in well motivated models. The flavor violating b s coupling associated with Z' in such models produces lower bound on th…
While charged lepton flavor violation (cLFV) with taus is often expected to be largest in many extensions of the Standard Model (SM), it is currently much less constrained than cLFV with electrons and muons. We study the sensitivity of the LHeC to $e$-$τ$ (and $e$-$μ$) conversion processes $p e^- \to τ^- + j$ (and $p e^- \to μ^- + j$) mediated by a $Z'$ with flavor-violating couplings to charged leptons in the $t$-channel. Compared to current tests at the LHC, where cLFV decays of the $Z'$ (produced in the s-channel) are searched for, the LHeC has sensitivity to much higher $Z'$ masses, up to …
We analyse the signatures at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the scotogenic model, when the lightest Z2-odd particle is a singlet fermion and a feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP). We further assume that the singlet fermion constitutes the dark matter and that it is produced in the early Universe via the freeze-in mechanism. The small couplings required to reproduce the observed dark matter abundance translate into decay-lengths for the next-to-lightest Z2-odd particle which can be macroscopic, potentially leading to spectacular signatures at the LHC. We characterize the possible sig…
We discuss the prospects of probing the $L_μ- L_τ$ gauge boson at the MUonE experiment. The $L_μ- L_τ$ gauge boson $Z^\prime$ with a mass of $\lesssim 200$ MeV, which can explain the discrepancy between the measured value of the muon $g-2$ and the value calculated in the Standard Model, can be produced at the MUonE experiment through the process $μe \to μe Z^\prime$. The $Z^\prime$ in the final state decays into a pair of neutrinos, and therefore we cannot observe the decay of $Z^\prime$ directly. It is, however, still possible to probe this signature by searching for events with a large scatt…
We use a hybrid model which relies on QCD effective kinetic theory -- K\oMP\oST -- to dynamically bridge the gap between IP-Glasma initial states and viscous hydrodynamics, for the theoretical interpretation of heavy-ion collision results. The hydrodynamic phase is then followed by dynamical freeze-out handled by UrQMD. It is observed that the new pre-equilibrium/pre-hydro phase does influence the extraction of transport coefficients. We also show how the early dynamics is reflected in photon observables.
Dark photon not only provides a portal linking dark sector particles and ordinary matter but also is a well-motivated dark matter candidate. We propose to detect the dark photon dark matter through the inverse Compton-like scattering process $p+γ^\prime \to p+γ$. Thanks to the ultra-high energy primary cosmic rays, we find that such a method is able to probe the dark photon mass from $10^{-2}$ eV down to $10^{-19}$ eV with the expected sensitivity of eROSITA $X$-ray telescope, which can extend the current lower limit of dark photon mass from Jupiter's magnetic fields experiment by about three …
