Proto-neutron stars forming a few seconds after core-collapse supernovae are hot and dense environments where hyperons can be efficiently produced by weak processes. By making use of various state-of-the-art supernova simulations combined with the proper extensions of the equations of state including $Λ$ hyperons, we calculate the cooling of the star induced by the emission of dark bosons $X^0$ through the decay $Λ\to n X^0$. Comparing this novel energy-loss process to the neutrino cooling of SN 1987A allows us to set stringent constraints on massless dark photons and axions with flavor-violating couplings to quarks. We find that this new supernova bound can be orders of magnitude stronger than other limits in dark-sector models.
Proto-neutron stars forming a few seconds after core-collapse supernovae are hot and dense environments where hyperons can be efficiently produced by weak processes. By making use of various state-of-the-art supernova simulations combined with the proper extensions of the equations of state including $Λ$ hyperons, we calculate the cooling of the star induced by the emission of dark particles $X^0$ through the decay $Λ\to n X^0$. Comparing this novel energy-loss process to the neutrino cooling of SN 1987A allows us to set a stringent upper limit on the branching fraction, BR$(Λ\to n X^0)\leq 8\…
We consider the effective field theory generated by a heavy mediator that connects Standard Model particles to a Dark Sector, considering explicitly the flavor structure of the operators. In particular, we study the model independent running and mixing between operators, as well as their matching at the electroweak scale. In addition to the explicit expression of the Renormalization Group Equations, we show the numerical solutions as well as some approximate analytical expressions that help understanding these solutions. At low energy, our results are particularly important in the case of ligh…
Neutrinos from core collapse supernovae can excite nuclei of some detector materials beyond their neutron emission thresholds. Detection of these neutrons can give valuable information about the supernova explosion mechanism and possibly also throw light on neutrino properties. In this article, we give a brief review of the basic physics of neutrino induced neutron emission and describe the results of some recent calculations of supernova neutrino induced neutrons for some specific target detector materials due to charged current (CC) interactions of the electron flavored neutrinos and antineu…
We construct a multiscalar and non-renormalizable model where the $\mathbf{S}_{3}$ flavor symmetry drives mainly the Yukawa couplings. In the quark sector, the Nearest Neighbor Interaction (NNI) textures are behind the CKM mixing matrix so that this is fitted in good agreement with the last available results. In the lepton sector, an almost diagonal charged lepton mass matrix and extended Fritzsch mass textures in the effective neutrino mass matrix, that comes from the type II see-saw mechanism, provide consistent values for the mixing angles where the normal hierarchy is favored. The model pr…
Orbifold grand unified theories (GUTs) solve several problems in GUT model building. Therefore, it is intriguing to investigate similar constructions in the flavor context. In this paper, we propose that a flavor symmetry might emerge due to orbifold compactification of one orbifold and broken by boundary conditions of another orbifold. The combination of the orbifold parities in gauge and flavor space determines the zero modes. We demonstrate the construction in a supersymmetric (SUSY) SO(10) x S_4 orbifold GUT model, which predicts the tribimaximal mixing at leading order in the lepton secto…
A complete study on the fermion masses and flavor mixing is presented in a non-minimal left-right symmetric model (NMLRMS) where the ${\bf S}_{3}\otimes {\bf Z}_{2}\otimes {\bf Z}^{e}_{2}$ flavor symmetry drives the Yukawa couplings. In the quark sector, the mass matrices possess a kind of the generalized Fritzsch textures that allow us to fit the CKM mixing matrix in good agreement to the last experimental data. In the lepton sector, on the other hand, a soft breaking of the $μ\leftrightarrow τ$ symmetry provides a non zero and non maximal reactor and atmospheric angles, respectively. The inv…
We consider the possibility that dark matter can communicate with the Standard Model fields via flavor interactions. We take the dark matter to belong to a "dark sector" which contains at least two types, or "flavors", of particles and then hypothesize that the Standard Model fields and dark matter share a common interaction which depends on flavor. As, generically, interaction eigenstates and mass eigenstates need not coincide, we consider both flavor-changing and flavor-conserving interactions. These interactions are then constrained by meson decays, kaon mixing, and current collider bounds,…
A More flavored Higgs boson arises when the flavor structure encoded in SUSY extensions of the SM is transmited to the Higgs sector. The flavor-Higgs transmition mechanism can have a radiative or mixing origin, as it is illustrated with several examples, and can produce interesting Higgs signatures that can be probed at future high-energy colliders. Within the MSSM, the flavor mediation mechanism can be of radiative type, as it is realized trhough gaugino-slepton loops, which transmit the flavor structture of the soft-breaking sector to the Higgs bosons. In particular we focus on evaluating th…
We propose a next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) extended by an $\mathbb{A}_{4}\times \boldsymbol{Z}_{3}$ flavor symmetry and three right-handed neutrinos providing a detailed study of the neutrino sector and a solution to the domain wall problem. In this proposal, neutrino masses are generated through Type I seesaw mechanism while the mixing angles are described by the trimaximal mixing realized using the NMSSM singlet S and only two flavon fields. The phenomenology of neutrino parameters is studied for normal and inverted mass hierarchies. In particular, we numerically eval…
In the standard model (SM), lepton flavor violating (LFV) Higgs decay is absent at renormalizable level and thus it is a good probe to new physics. In this article we study a type of new physics that could lead to large LFV Higgs decay, i.e., a lepton-flavored dark matter (DM) model which is specified by a Majorana DM and scalar lepton mediators. Different from other similar models with similar setup, we introduce both left-handed and right-handed scalar leptons. They allow large LFV Higgs decay and thus may explain the tentative Br$(h\raτμ)\sim1\%$ experimental results from the LHC. In partic…
The CP-violating phenomenology of the MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV) in the lepton sector is revisited. To this end, the most general parametrizations of the slepton soft-breaking terms are constructed assuming a seesaw mechanism of type I. After a critical reassessment of how the CP-symmetry is broken within the MFV framework, all possible CP-violating phases are introduced. From the strong hierarchy of their contributions to the Electric Dipole Moments (EDMs), these phases are split into three classes: flavor-blind, flavor-diagonal and flavor off-diagonal. In particular, the phases…
We study constraints from LHC run I on squark and gluino masses in the presence of squark flavor violation. Inspired by the concept of `flavored naturalness', we focus on the impact of a non-zero stop-scharm mixing and mass splitting in the right-handed sector. To this end, we recast four searches of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, dedicated either to third generation squarks, to gluino and squarks of the first two generations, or to charm-squarks. In the absence of extra structure, the mass of the gluino provides an additional source of fine tuning and is therefore important to consider wit…
We examine the constraints on sub-GeV dark sector particles set by the proto-neutron star cooling associated with the core-collapse supernova event SN1987a. Considering explicitly a dark photon portal dark sector model, we compute the relevant interaction rates of dark photon ($A'$) and dark fermion ($χ$) with the Standard Model particles as well as their self-interaction inside the dark sector. We find that even with a small dark sector fine structure constant $α_D\ll 1$, dark sector self-interactions can easily lead to their own self-trapping. This effect strongly limits the energy luminosit…
We investigate the phenomenology of flavored dark matter (DM). DM stability is guaranteed by an accidental ${\mathcal Z}_3$ symmetry, a subgroup of the standard model (SM) flavor group that is not broken by the SM Yukawa interactions. We consider an explicit realization where the quark part of the SM flavor group is fully gauged. If the dominant interactions between DM and visible sector are through flavor gauge bosons, as we show for Dirac fermion flavored DM, then the DM mass is bounded between roughly $0.5$ TeV and $5$ TeV if the DM multiplet mass is split only radiatively. In general, howe…
In this work, we address two paradoxes. The first is that the measured dark-matter relic density can be satisfied with new physics at O(100 GeV - 1 TeV), while the null results from direct-detection experiments place lower bounds of O(10 TeV) on a new-physics scale. The second puzzle is that the severe suppression of lepton-flavor-violating processes involving electrons, e.g. mu->3e, tau->e mu mu, etc., implies that generic new-physics contributions to lepton interactions cannot exist below O(10 - 100 TeV), whereas the 3.6sigma deviation of the muon g-2 from the standard model can be explained…
We consider a class of flavored dark matter (DM) theories where dark matter interacts with the Standard Model lepton fields at the renormalizable level. We allow for a general coupling matrix between the dark matter and leptons whose structure is beyond the one permitted by the minimal flavor violation (MFV) assumption. It is assumed that this is the only new source of flavor violation in addition to the Standard Model (SM) Yukawa interactions. The setup can be described by augmenting the SM flavor symmetry by an additional $\mathrm{SU}(3)_χ$, under which the dark matter $χ$ transforms. This f…
In both scotogenic neutrino and flavor dark matter models, the dark sector communicates with the standard model fermions via Yukawa portal couplings. We propose an economic scenario that scotogenic neutrino and flavored mediator share the same inert Higgs doublet and all are charged under a hidden gauged $U(1)$ symmetry. The dark Z2 symmetry in dark sector is regarded as the remnant of this hidden $U(1)$ symmetry breaking. In particular, we investigate a dark $U(1)_D$ (and also a $U(1)_{B-L}$) model which unifies scotogenic neutrino and top-flavored mediator. In this model dark tops and dark n…
We study a mechanism where the dark matter number density today arises from asymmetries generated in the dark sector in the early universe, even though total dark matter number remains zero throughout the history of the universe. The dark matter population today can be completely symmetric, with annihilation rates above those expected from thermal WIMPs. We give a simple example of this mechanism using a benchmark model of flavored dark matter. We discuss the experimental signatures of this setup, which arise mainly from the sector that annihilates the symmetric component of dark matter.
Theories with dark forces and dark sectors are of interest for dark matter models. In this paper we find the region in parameter space that is constrained by supernova cooling constraints when the models include dark sector particles with masses around 100 MeV or less. We include only interactions with electrons and positrons. The constraint is important for small mixing parameters.
Dark matter direct detection experiments have poor sensitivity to a galactic population of dark matter with mass below the GeV scale. However, such dark matter can be produced copiously in supernovae. Since this thermally-produced population is much hotter than the galactic dark matter, it can be observed with direct detection experiments. In this paper, we focus on a dark sector with fermion dark matter and a heavy dark photon as a specific example. We first extend existing supernova cooling constraints on this model to the regime of strong coupling where the dark matter becomes diffusively t…
We derive new bounds on hidden sector gauge bosons which could produce new energy loss mechanisms in supernovae, enlarging the excluded region in mass-coupling space by a significant factor compared to earlier estimates. Both considerations of trapping and possible decay of these particles need to be incorporated when determining such bounds, as does scattering on both neutrons and protons. For masses and couplings near the region which saturates current bounds, a significant background of such gauge bosons may also be produced due to the cumulative effects of all supernovae over cosmic histor…
The presence of a colored scalar that is a weak doublet with fractional electric charges of $|Q|=2/3$ and $|Q|=5/3$ with mass below 1,TeV can provide an explanation of the observed branching ratios in $B \to D^{(*)} τ\bar ν$ decays. The required combination of scalar and tensor operators in the effective Hamiltonian for $b \to c τ\bar ν$ is generated through the $t$-channel exchange. We focus on a scenario with a minimal set of Yukawa couplings that can address a semitauonic puzzle and show that its resolution puts a nontrivial bound on the product of the scalar couplings to $\bar τb$ and $\ba…
The constraints on non-minimal dark sectors involving ensembles of unstable dark-matter species are well established and quite stringent in cases in which these species decay to visible-sector particles. However, in cases in which these ensembles decay exclusively to other, lighter dark-sector states, the corresponding constraints are less well established. In this paper, we investigate how information about the expansion rate of the universe at low redshifts gleaned from observations of Type Ia supernovae can be used to constrain ensembles of unstable particles which decay primarily into dark…
The lack of information before Big Bang Neucleosynthesis (BBN) allow us to assume the presence of a new species $ϕ$ whose energy density redshifts as $a^{-(4+n)}$ where $n>0$ and $a$ is the scale factor. This non-standard cosmological setup facilitates a larger portal coupling $(ε)$ between the dark and the visible sectors even when the two sectors are not in thermal equilibrium. Here, we have considered $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}\otimes U(1)_X$ gauge extension of the Standard Model (SM) and studied different phases of the cosmological evolution of a thermally decoupled dark sector such as leak-in, freez…
Supernova (SN) neutrinos can excite the nuclei of various detector materials beyond their neutron emission thresholds through charged current (CC) and neutral current (NC) interactions. The emitted neutrons, if detected, can be a signal for the supernova event. Here we present the results of our study of SN neutrino detection through the neutron channel in lead ($^{208} {\rm Pb}$) and iron ($^{56} {\rm Fe}$) detectors for realistic neutrino fluxes and energies given by the recent Basel/Darmstadt simulations for a 18 solar mass progenitor SN at a distance of 10 kpc. We find that, in general, th…
It has been intensively discussed if modifications in the dynamics of the Universe at late times is able or not to solve the $H_0$ tension. On the other hand, it has also been argued that the $H_0$ tension is actually a tension on the supernova absolute magnitude $M_B$. In this work, we robustly constraint $M_B$ using Pantheon Supernovae Ia (SN) sample, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) data, and assess the $M_B$ tension by comparing three theoretical models, namely the standard $Λ$CDM, the $w$CDM and a non-gravitational interaction (IDE) between dark energ…
Recently H. Georgi suggested that a scale invariant unparticle ${\mathcal{U}}$ sector with an infrared fixed point at high energy can couple with the SM matter via a higher-dimensional operator suppressed by a high cut-off scale. Intense phenomenological search of this unparticle sector in the collider and flavour physics context has already been made. Here we explore it's impact in cosmology, particularly it's possible role in the supernovae cooling. We found that the energy-loss rate (and thus the cooling) is strongly dependent on the effective scale \LdaU and the anomalous dimension \dU of …
A dark photon is a well-motivated new particle which, as a component of an associated dark sector, could explain dark matter. One strong limit on dark photons arises from excessive cooling of supernovae. We point out that even at couplings where too few dark photons are produced in supernovae to violate the cooling bound, they can be observed directly through their decays. Supernovae produce dark photons which decay to positrons, giving a signal in the 511 keV annihilation line observed by SPI/INTEGRAL. Further, prompt gamma-ray emission by these decaying dark photons gives a signal for gamma-…
We consider the constraints from Supernova 1987A on particles with small couplings to the Standard Model. We discuss a model with a fermion coupled to a dark photon, with various mass relations in the dark sector; millicharged particles; dark-sector fermions with inelastic transitions; the hadronic QCD axion; and an axion-like particle that couples to Standard Model fermions with couplings proportional to their mass. In the fermion cases, we develop a new diagnostic for assessing when such a particle is trapped at large mixing angles. Our bounds for a fermion coupled to a dark photon constrain…
Light dark matter($\simeq 1-30~\rm{MeV}$) particles pair produced in electron-positron annihilation $ e^-e^+ \stackrelγ{\longrightarrow} χ\barχ$ inside the supernova core can take away the energy released in the supernova SN1987A explosion. Working within the formalism of $q$-deformed statistics (with the average value of the supernovae core temperature(fluctuating) being $T_{SN} = 30~\rm{MeV}$) and using the Raffelt's criterion on the emissivity for any new channel $\dot{\varepsilon}(e^+ e^- \to χ\overlineχ) \le 10^{19}~{erg~g^{-1}s^{-1}}$, we find that as the deformation parameter $q$ change…
We propose a predictive $Q_4$ flavored 2HDM model, where the scalar sector is enlarged by the inclusion of several gauge singlet scalars and the fermion sector by the inclusion of right handed Majorana neutrinos. In our model, the $Q_4$ family symmetry is supplemented by several auxiliary cyclic symmetries, whose spontaneous breaking produces the observed pattern of SM charged fermion masses and quark mixing angles. The light active neutrino masses are generated from an inverse seesaw mechanism at one loop level thanks to a remnant preserved $Z_2$ symmetry. Our model succesfully reproduces the…
We present the supernova constraints on an axion-photon-dark photon coupling, which can be the leading coupling to dark sector models and can also lead to dramatic changes to axion cosmology. We show that the supernova bound on this coupling has two unusual features. One occurs because the scattering that leads to the trapping regime converts axions and dark photons into each other. Thus, if one of the two new particles is sufficiently massive, both production and scattering become suppressed and the bounds from bulk emission and trapped (area) emission both weaken exponentially and do not int…
A simple way of explaining dark matter without modifying known Standard Model physics is to require the existence of a hidden (dark) sector, which interacts with the visible one predominantly via gravity. We consider a hidden sector containing two stable particles charged under an unbroken $U(1)^{'}$ gauge symmetry, hence featuring dissipative interactions. The massless gauge field associated with this symmetry, the dark photon, can interact via kinetic mixing with the ordinary photon. In fact, such an interaction of strength $ε\sim 10 ^{-9}$ appears to be necessary in order to explain galacti…
The annihilation of pairs of very weakly interacting particles in the neibourghood of gamma-ray sources is introduced here as a plausible mechanism to overcome the baryon load problem. This way we can explain how these very high energy gamma-ray bursts can be powered at the onset of very energetic events like supernovae (collapsars) explosions or coalescences of binary neutron stars. Our approach uses the weak-scale hidden sector models in which the Higgs sector of the standard model is extended to include a gauge singlet that only interacts with the Higgs particle. These particles would be pr…
The existence of an unparticle sector, weakly coupled to the standard model, would have a profound impact on supernova (SN) physics. Emission of energy into the unparticle sector from the core of SN1987A would have significantly shortened the observed neutrino burst. The unparticle interaction with nucleons, neutrinos, electrons and muons is constrained to be so weak that it is unlikely to provide any missing-energy signature at colliders. One important exception are models where scale invariance in the hidden sector is broken by the Higgs vacuum expectation value. In this case the SN emission…
Dissipative dark matter, where dark matter particle properties closely resemble familiar baryonic matter, is considered. Mirror dark matter, which arises from an isomorphic hidden sector, is a specific and theoretically constrained scenario. Other possibilities include models with more generic hidden sectors that contain massless dark photons (unbroken $U(1)$ gauge interactions). Such dark matter not only features dissipative cooling processes, but is also assumed to have nontrivial heating sourced by ordinary supernovae (facilitated by the kinetic mixing interaction). The dynamics of dissipat…
We consider a simple generic dissipative dark matter model: a hidden sector featuring two dark matter particles charged under an unbroken $U(1)'$ interaction. Previous work has shown that such a model has the potential to explain dark matter phenomena on both large and small scales. In this framework, the dark matter halo in spiral galaxies features nontrivial dynamics, with the halo energy loss due to dissipative interactions balanced by a heat source. Ordinary supernovae can potentially supply this heat provided kinetic mixing interaction exists with strength $ε\sim 10^{-9}$. This type of ki…
We investigate phenomenological interactions between dark matter and dark energy and constrain these models by employing the most recent cosmological data including the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropies from Planck 2015, Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, the Hubble constant and redshift-space distortions. We find that the interaction in the dark sector parameterized as an energy transfer from dark matter to dark energy is strongly suppressed by the whole updated cosmological data. On the other hand, an interaction between dark sectors with the energy flow from …
We present a general model-independent approach to study the coupled dark energy and the string Swampland criteria. We show how the dark sector interaction is degenerated with the equation of state of dark energy in the context of the expansion of the Universe. With priors for either of them, the dynamics of dark energy and the dark sector interactions can be reconstructed together with the bounds of the Swampland criteria. Combining cosmic chronometers, baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), and Type Ia supernovae our results suggest a mild $1 σ$ significance of dark sector interactions at low re…
We consider an interacting field theory model that describes the dark energy - dark matter interaction. Only for a specific interaction term, this interacting field theory description has an equivalent interacting fluid description. For inverse power law potentials and linear interaction function, we show that the interacting dark sector model with field-fluid mapping is consistent with \textit{four cosmological data sets} -- Hubble parameter measurements (Hz), Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation data (BAO), Supernova Type Ia data (SN), and High redshift HII galaxy measurements (HIIG). More specific…
Beyond $w_0-w_a$ and Phantom Crossing: Testing Models of Coupled Dark Sector
Instituto de Física Teórica da Universidade Estadual Paulista(圣保罗州立大学理论物理研究所);ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research(国际理论物理中心南美基础研究所);Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory, University of Arizona(亚利桑那大学天文学系/斯图尔德天文台)