The extension of the Standard Model with two gauge-singlet Majorana fermions can simultaneously explain two beyond-the-Standard-model phenomena: neutrino masses and oscillations, as well as the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. The parameters of such a model are constrained by the neutrino oscillation data, direct accelerator searches, big bang nucleosynthesis, and requirement of successful baryogenesis. We show that the combination of all these constraints still leaves an allowed region in the parameter space below the kaon mass. This region can be probed by the further searches of NA62, DUNE, or SHiP experiments.
We explore the possibility of lepton number violation (LNV) manifesting in the rare kaon decay $K\toπνν$, and its consequences for radiative neutrino mass generation and the washout of Lepton asymmetry in high-scale leptogenesis scenarios. We perform the analysis in a model-independent framework, the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), and discuss the possible LNV nature of the rare kaon decay in the context of the currently operating NA62 experiment at CERN. We find that, in case of a LNV interaction, its detection would put high-scale leptogenesis under tension and would hint to s…
We present a global analysis of leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays data, including all recent results by BNL-E865, KLOE, KTeV, ISTRA+, and NA48. Experimental results are critically reviewed and combined, taking into account theoretical (both analytical and numerical) constraints on the semileptonic kaon form factors. This analysis leads to a very accurate determination of Vus and allows us to perform several stringent tests of the Standard Model.
In framework of the chiral perturbation theory we obtain the phenomenological relations between decay branches of rare radiative kaon to pion and leptons $K^+ \to π^+ l^+ l^-$ and $K^0_S \to π^0 l^+ l^-$ and meson form factors. The comparison of these results with the present day experimental data shows us that the ChPT relations for a charge kaon can determine meson form factors from already measured decay rates at high precision level. However, in the case of the neutral kaon decays $K^0 \to π^0 e^+ e^- (μ^+ μ^-)$ the formfactor data are known to a high precision than data on the differentia…
In the Standard Model extended by sterile neutrinos, modified W-l-nu couplings arise, which are able to induce a tree-level enhancement to lepton flavour universality violation in kaon decays. The additional mixing between the active neutrinos and the sterile ones can generate deviations from unitarity in the leptonic mixing matrix for charged currents. We reconsidered this idea in the context of the inverse seesaw and evaluated its impact on the well measured ratio $R_K$. We show that the current experimental bound can be saturated in agreement with the different experimental and observationa…
Prospective searches for lepton flavor violation (LFV) in rare kaon decays at the existing and future intermediate-energy accelerators are considered. The proposed studies are complementary to LFV searches in muon-decay experiments and offer a unique opportunity to probe models with approximately conserved fermion-generation quantum number with sensitivity superior to that in other processes. Consequently, new searches for LFV in kaon decays are an important and independent part of the general program of searches for lepton flavor violation in the final states with charged leptons.
We calculate the signal rate of hypothetical heavy neutral leptons (HNL or sterile neutrinos) from kaon decays expected in the framework of the SHiP experiment. The kaons are produced in the hadronic shower initiated in the beam-dump mode by 400 GeV protons from CERN SPS. For a sufficiently light HNL (when the decays are kinematically allowed) we find kaon decays to be a noticeably richer source of HNL as compared to $D$-meson decays adopted in previous studies of the HNL phenomenology at SHiP. In particular, SHiP is capable of fully exploring the central part of the kinematically allowed regi…
We present a comprehensive analysis of low-energy signals of hypothetical scalar leptoquark interactions in lepton and kaon transitions. We derive the most general effective four-fermion Lagrangian induced by tree-level scalar leptoquark exchange and identify the Wilson coefficients predicted by the five possible types of scalar leptoquarks. The current constraints on the leptoquark Yukawa couplings arising from lepton and kaon processes are worked out, including also loop-induced transitions with only leptons (or quarks) as external states. In the presence of scalar leptoquark interactions, w…
Recent results from the LHC's first run have revealed intriguing departures from lepton flavour universality in the semi-leptonic decays of $B$-mesons. We discuss the complementary role that rare kaon decays can provide in testing new physics explanations of these flavour anomalies. In the framework of minimal flavour violation, we relate the chiral low-energy constants involved in $K\toπ\ell\ell'$ and $K\to\ell\ell'$ ($\ell = μ\mbox{ or } e$) with the new physics Wilson coefficients of the $b\to s$ effective Hamiltonian. We comment on the determination of these low-energy constants at NA62 an…
We investigate lepton-number-violating decays $K^\mp \rightarrow π^\pm l^\mp l^\mp$ in the presence of sterile neutrinos. We consider minimal interactions with Standard-Model fields through Yukawa couplings as well as higher-dimensional operators in the framework of the neutrino-extended Standard Model Effective Field Theory. We use $SU(3)$ chiral perturbation theory to match to mesonic interactions and compute the lepton-number-violating decay rate in terms of the neutrino masses and the Wilson coefficients of higher-dimensional operators. For neutrinos that can be produced on-shell, the deca…
We investigate the possibility to probe lepton number violating (LNV) operators in the rare kaon decay $K\toπνν$. Performing the analysis in the Standard Model effective field theory with only light active Majorana neutrinos, we determine the current limits on the corresponding LNV physics scale from the past E949 experiment at BNL as well as the currently operating experiments NA62 at CERN and KOTO at J-PARC. We focus on the specific signature of scalar currents in $K\toπνν$ arising from the LNV nature of the operators and study the effect on the experimental sensitivity, stressing the need f…
We present a global analysis of leptonic and semileptonic kaon decay data, including all recent results published by the BNL-E865, KLOE, KTeV, ISTRA+ and NA48 experiments. This analysis, in conjunction with precise lattice calculations of the hadronic matrix elements now available, leads to a very precise determination of |Vus| and allows us to perform several stringent tests of the Standard Model.
We present here a study of the impact of a heavy neutrino (or heavy neutral lepton) on leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays. We used a simplified model consisting of 3 light neutrinos responsible for neutrino oscillations and a heavy sterile neutrino. We found that it can lead to large deviations from the Standard Model predictions for leptonic decays, in conflict with experimental measurements of $K_{e2}$ and the lepton universality test $R_K$. This allows to derive new constraints on the leptonic mixing for heavy sterile neutrinos. No tension was found when considering the semileptonic deca…
We study single kaon production off the nucleon induced by electrons (positrons) i.e. $e^-(e^+) + N \rightarrow ν_e (\bar ν_e) + \bar K (K) + N^\prime$ at low energies. The possibility of observing these processes with the high luminosity beams available at TJNAF and Mainz is discussed, taking into account that the strangeness conserving electromagnetic reactions have a higher energy threshold for $\bar K (K)$ production. The calculations are done using a microscopic model that starts from the SU(3) chiral Lagrangians, includes background terms and the resonant mechanisms associated to the low…
The kaon sector is characterised by several processes which are under active investigation across different experiments. In this work, we present the global picture that emerges from a study of the different decay modes. We begin by revisiting the theoretical component of these decays and providing up-to-date predictions of the Standard Model as well as the corresponding uncertainties. Several new features emerge, in particular for $K_{S,L}\to μ\barμ$, and are presented in considerable detail. This offers an ideal platform for extracting the parameter space supported by the existing data. Moti…
With anomalies found in cosmic ray observations and unsolved questions of the Standard Model of particle physics like the discrepancy in the muon's anomalous magnetic moment, the idea of an U(1) extension of the Standard Model arose. This extension allows for the interaction of Dark Matter by exchange of a photon-like massive force carrier $A'$ not included in the Standard Model. We discuss the possibility to constrain the dark photon parameter space by using data taken from rare kaon decays. Therefore we analyze the decay $K\rightarrow μνA'$ as a signal process and calculate the expected Stan…
Recent anomalies in the decays of $B$ mesons and the Higgs boson provide hints towards lepton flavor (universality) violating physics beyond the Standard Model. We observe that four-fermion operators which can explain the $B$-physics anomalies have corresponding analogs in the kaon sector, and we analyze their impact on $K\toπ\ell \ell'$ and $K\to\ell \ell'$ decays $(\ell=μ,e)$. For these processes, we note the corresponding physics opportunities at the NA62 experiment. In particular, assuming minimal flavor violation, we comment on the required improvements in sensitivity necessary to test th…
We present an overview of searches fo violation of lepton flavor universality with focus on low energy precision probes using pions, kaons, tau leptons, and nuclear beta decays. The current experimental results are reviewed, the theoretical status within the context of the Standard Model is summarized, and future prospects (both experimental and theoretical) are discussed. We review the implications of these measurements for physics beyond the Standard Model by performing a global model-independent fit to modified $W$ couplings to leptons and four-fermion operators. We also discuss new physics…
The recent significant progress on both the experimental and theoretical sides on the study of leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays allows to precisely test the Standard Model. Here we present results for the determination of Vus from experimental data, the comparison between the values of Vus obtained from data on semileptonic and leptonic kaon decays, and tests of lepton universality in semileptonic kaon decays.
We discuss rare kaon decays that violate charged-lepton flavour conservation in supersymmetric theories with and without R parity, in view of possible experiments using an intense proton source as envisaged for a neutrino factory. In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, such decays are generated by box diagrams involving charginos and neutralinos, but the limits from μ-> e γ, μ-e conversion and Δm_K constrain the branching ratios to challengingly small values. However, this is no longer the case in R-violating theories, where such decays may occur at tree level at rates close to the pres…
The confinement mechanism proposed earlier by the author is employed for to compute the decay constants $f_P$ corresponding to leptonic decays $P\to l^\pm+ν_l$, $l=μ, e$, where $P$ stands for any meson from $π^\pm$, $K^\pm$. For this aim the weak axial form factor of $P$-meson is nonperturbatively calculated. The study entails estimates for parameters of the confining SU(3)-gluonic field in charged pions and kaons. The corresponding estimates of the gluon concentrations, electric and magnetic colour field strengths are also adduced for the mentioned field at the scales of the mesons under cons…
Heavy neutral leptons ($N$) below the kaon mass are severely constrained by cosmology and lab-based searches for their decays in flight. If $N$ interacts via an additional force, $N\toνe^+e^-$ decays are enhanced and cosmological limits can be avoided. We show that the T2K and MicroBooNE neutrino experiments provide the best limits on the mixing of $N$ with muon-neutrinos, outperforming past-generation experiments, previously thought to dominate. We constrain models with electromagnetically-decaying and long-lived $N$, such as in a transition-magnetic-moment portal and in a leptophilic axion-l…
I review lattice calculations and results for hadronic parameters relevant for kaon physics, in particular the vector form factor f+(0) of semileptonic kaon decays, the ratio fK/fpi of leptonic decay constants and the kaon bag parameter BK. For each lattice calculation a colour code rating is assigned, by following a procedure which is being proposed by the Flavianet Lattice Averaging Group (FLAG), and the following final averages are obtained: f+(0)=0.962(3)(4), fK/fpi = 1.196(1)(10) and \hat BK = 0.731(7)(35). In the last part of the talk, the present status of lattice studies of non-leptoni…
Conventionally for observable $n-{\bar n}$ oscillation through Pati-Salam intermediate gauge symmetry in $SO(10)$, the canonical seesaw mechanism is also constrained by $M_R \sim M_C \le 10^6$ GeV which yields light neutrino masses much larger than the neutrino oscillation data. Recently, this difficulty has been evaded via inverse seesaw mechanism, but with proton lifetime far beyond the experimentally accessible limits. In the present work, adopting the view that we may have only a TeV scale $Z^{\prime}$ gauge boson, we show how a class of non-SUSY $SO(10)$ models allow experimentally verifi…
We present a determination of the ratio of kaon and pion leptonic decay constants in isosymmetric QCD (isoQCD), $f_K / f_π$, making use of the gauge ensembles produced by the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavors of Wilson-clover twisted-mass quarks, including configurations close to the physical point for all dynamical flavors. The simulations are carried out at three values of the lattice spacing ranging from $\sim 0.068$ to $\sim 0.092$ fm with linear lattice size up to $L \sim 5.5$~fm. The scale is set by the PDG value of the pion decay constant, $f_π^{i…
A calculation of the semi--leptonic decays of the kaon ($K_{l3}$) is presented. The results are direct predictions of a covariant model of the pion and kaon introduced earlier by Ito, Buck, Gross. The weak form factors for $K_{l3}$ are predicted with absolutely no parameter adjustments of the model. We obtained for the form factor parameters: $f_-(q^2=m_l^2)/f_+(q^2=m_l^2)=-0.28$ and $λ_+$= 0.028, both within experimental error bars. Connections of this approach to heavy quark symmetry will also be discussed.
We study the effects on oscillations in the neutral-Kaon system from lepton and hadron self-energy loops in the W-boson propagators. The corresponding W box diagrams are evaluated by attaching the external quark lines to covariant vertex functions for the composite Kaons, integrating over all off-shell momenta. We find that the ratio of the imaginary and real parts of the amplitude is of the same size as with the experimental value of the modulus of the CP-violating parameter epsilon.
An extension of the Standard Model by three singlet fermions with masses smaller than the electroweak scale allows to explain simultaneously neutrino oscillations, dark matter and baryon asymmetry of the Universe. We discuss the properties of neutral leptons in this model and the ways they can be searched for in particle physics experiments. We establish, in particular, a lower and an upper bound on the strength of interaction of neutral leptons coming from cosmological considerations and from the data on neutrino oscillations. We analyse the production of neutral leptons in the decays of diff…
A calculation of the semi--leptonic decays of the kaon ($K_{l3}$) is presented. The results are direct predictions of a covariant model of the pion and kaon introduced earlier by Ito, Buck, Gross. The weak form factors for $K_{l3}$ are predicted with absolutely no parameter adjustments of the model. We obtained for the form factor parameters: $f_-(q^2=m_l^2)/f_+(q^2=m_l^2)=-0.28$ and $λ_+$= 0.028, both within experimental error bars. Connections of this approach to heavy quark symmetry will also be discussed.
For the entangled neutral kaon system we formulate a Bell inequality sensitive to CP violation in mixing. Via this Bell inequality we obtain a bound on the leptonic CP asymmetry which is violated by experimental data. Furthermore, we connect the Bell inequality with a decoherence approach and find a lower bound on the decoherence parameter which practically corresponds to Furry's hypothesis.
Standard lattice calculations in kaon physics are based on the evaluation of matrix elements of local operators between two single-hadron states or a single-hadron state and the vacuum. Recent progress in lattice QCD has gone beyond these standard observables. I will review the status and prospects of lattice kaon physics with an emphasis on non-leptonic $K\toππ$ decay and long-distance processes including $K^0$-$\overline{K^0}$ mixing and rare kaon decays.
The rare kaon decay $K^+ \ra π^- μ^+ μ^+$ is violating lepton number by two units and is investigated within the context of Majorana neutrino masses. Using a new upper bound for this decay from E865 an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass term $\m_{μμ} < 500$ GeV could be obtained. This is improving existing bounds by about one order of magnitude. Implications on heavy neutrinos are discusse d as well as future possibilities to improve limits on this as well as other elements of the Majorana m ass matrix are investigated.
This paper focuses on hadron mass effects in calculations of semi-inclusive kaon production in lepton-Deuteron deeply inelastic scattering at HERMES and COMPASS kinematics. In the collinear factorization framework, the corresponding cross section is shown to factorize, at leading order and leading twist, into products of parton distributions and fragmentation functions evaluated in terms of kaon- and nucleon-mass-dependent scaling variables, and to respect gauge invariance. It is found that hadron mass corrections for integrated kaon multiplicities sizeably reduce the apparent large discrepanc…
A sterile neutrino at GeV mass scale is of particular interest in this work. Though not take part in neutrino oscillation, the sterile neutrino can induce flavor violating semileptonic and leptonic decay of $K, D$ and $B$ mesons. We calculated a box diagram contribution in these processes. By making use of current experiment limit of lepton flavor violating decays $M^+_h\to M_l^+\ell_1^+\ell_2^-$ and $M^0\to \ell_1^-\ell_2^+$, we explore the allowed parameter space of $U_{e4}$ and $U_{μ4}$ in different mass ranges. Generally speaking, both channels give a limit to the product of $U_{e4}$ and $…
Recent results and future prospects of the particle physics experiments with neutral and charged K-meson (kaon) decays are reviewed. Topics include CP violation, rare decays, leptons in kaon decays, tests of CPT and quantum mechanics, radiative decays, hadrons in kaon decays, basic observables, Vus and CKM unitarity, and exotic searches. Experimental techniques developed for the kaon decay experiments are discussed.
If neutrinos are massive, `lepton flavour eigenstates' are absent from the amplitudes of all Standard Model processes. Measurements of $Γ(π\to e ν)/Γ(π\to μν)$ and of the MNS matrix are shown to exclude the existence of such states. Incoherent production of neutrinos of different flavour modifies the usual oscillation phase derived assuming production of a lepton flavour eigenstate. The new prediction can be tested in long line-base experiments by comparison of `$ν_μ$ disappearance' of neutrinos from pion and kaon decay.
In the presence of photons, the neutral $K_{\ell 4}$ decay, $K^0\toπ^0π^-\ell^+ν_\ell$, can be parameterized in terms of three vectorial, one anomalous, and one tensorial form factors. We present here analytic expressions of two vectorial form factors, $f$ and $g$, calculated at one-loop level in the framework of chiral perturbation theory based on the effective Lagrangian including mesons, photons, and leptons. These expressions may then be used to disentangle the Isospin breaking part from the measured form factors and hence improve the accuracy in the determination of $ππ$ scattering parame…
Kaon decays have played a key role in the construction of the Standard Model and continue to be an important testing ground of the electroweak flavour theory. They can provide new signals of CP-violation phenomena and, perhaps, a window into physics beyond the Standard Model. The interplay of long-distance QCD effects in strangeness-changing transitions can be analyzed, combining the short-distance Operator Product Expansion with Chiral Perturbation Theory techniques. A brief overview is presented, focusing on a few selected decay modes. A more detailed and comprehensive review can be found in…
In composite Higgs (CH) models, large mixings between the top quark and the new strongly interacting sector are required to generate its sizeable Yukawa coupling. Precise measurements involving top as well as left-handed bottom quarks therefore offer an interesting opportunity to probe such new physics scenarios. We study the impact of third-generation-quark pair production at future lepton colliders, translating prospective effective-field-theory sensitivities into the CH parameter space. Our results show that one can probe a significant fraction of the natural CH parameter space through the …
A comprehensive overview of kaon decays is presented. The Standard Model predictions are discussed in detail, covering both the underlying short-distance electroweak dynamics and the important interplay of QCD at long distances. Chiral perturbation theory provides a universal framework for treating leptonic, semileptonic and nonleptonic decays including rare and radiative modes. All allowed decay modes with branching ratios of at least 10^(-11) are analyzed. Some decays with even smaller rates are also included. Decays that are strictly forbidden in the Standard Model are not considered in thi…
The dependence of the semileptonic kaon decay form factors on the 4-momentum transfer to the lepton pair causes certain changes in the differential decay rates and, hence, it should affect the conventional atmospheric neutrino flux and neutrino flavour ratio. As a case in point, we included these rates into the calculation of the atmospheric neutrino flux at energies 1 to 100 TeV. The calculated neutrino spectra are between the earlier predictions while the neutrino flavor ratio, R, is somewhat affected by the kaon form factors. The R proves to be very sensitive to the contribution of neutrino…
In this work we investigate the implication of $K\to πν\barν$ from the recent KOTO and NA62 measurements for generic neutrino interactions and the new physics scale in effective field theories. The interactions between quarks and left-handed Standard Model (SM) neutrinos are first described by the low energy effective field theory (LEFT) below the electroweak scale. We match them to the chiral perturbation theory ($χ$PT) at the chiral symmetry breaking scale to calculate the branching fractions of Kaon semi-invisible decays and match them up to the SM effective field theory (SMEFT) to constrai…
Physics from beyond the Standard Model, such as leptoquarks, can induce four fermion operators involving a quark, an anti-quark, a lepton and an anti-lepton. We update the (flavour dependent) constraints on the coefficients of such interactions, arising from collider searches for contact interactions, meson decays and other rare processes. We then make naive estimates for the magnitude of the coefficients, as could arise in texture models or from inverse hierarchies in the kinetic term coefficients. These estimates suggest that rare Kaon decays could be a good place to look for such operators.
We revisit the search for heavy neutral leptons with the Big European Bubble Chamber in the 1982 proton beam dump experiment at CERN, focussing on those heavier than the kaon and mixing only with the tau neutrino, as these are far less constrained than their counterparts with smaller mass or other mixings. Recasting the previous search in terms of this model and including additional production and decay channels yields the strongest bounds to date, up to the tau mass. This applies also to our updated bounds on the mixing of heavy neutral leptons with the electron neutrino.
It has recently been shown that by measuring the transverse polarization of the final particles in the LFV processes $μ\to eγ$, $μ\to eee$ and $μN\to e N$, one can derive information on the CP-violating phases of the underlying theory. We derive formulas for the transverse polarization of the final particles in terms of the couplings of the effective potential leading to these processes. We then study the dependence of the polarizations of $e$ and $γ$ in the $μ\to e γ$ and $μN \to e N$ on the parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We show that combining the information…
We consider the $ν$MSM which is an extension of the Standard Model by three right-handed neutrinos with masses below the electroweak scale, in which the origins of neutrino masses, dark matter, and baryon asymmetry of the universe are simultaneously explained. Among three heavy neutral leptons, $N_2$ and $N_3$, which are responsible to the seesaw mechanism of active neutrino masses and the baryogenesis via flavor oscillation, can induce sizable contributions to various lepton universality in decays of charged mesons. It is then investigated the possible deviations of the universality in the $ν…
In this paper we study the Lepton Flavor Violating $Z$ boson decays $Z \to τμ$ and $Z \to τe$ in the context of low scale seesaw models with new heavy Majorana neutrinos whose masses could be reachable at the LHC. Our computations of the decay rates are done in the particular realization given by the Inverse Seesaw Model with six extra heavy neutrinos which are quasi-degenerate in three pseudo-Dirac pairs. In particular, we focus on scenarios that are built ad-hoc to produce suppressed rates in all the processes involving $μ$-$e$ transitions, given the fact that these are by far the most stron…
In this study, we have investigated the two-body hadronic decay of the charged kaon, $ K^{+}\rightarrowπ^{+}+π^{0} $, in the presence of a laser field with circular polarization. We have derived, by analytical techniques, the laser-assisted decay width and the branching ratio of the charged kaon decay via the two-body hadronic channel. We have also taken into consideration the impressive results obtained for the laser-assisted charged kaon decay via the leptonic mode in order to understand more clearly the effect of the laser field on the quantities related to the charged kaon decay such as th…
We explore a novel possibility that dark matter has a light mass below 1GeV in a lepton portal dark matter model. There are Yukawa couplings involving dark matter, left-handed leptons and an extra scalar doublet in the model. In the light mass region, dark matter is thermally produced via its annihilation into neutrinos. In order to obtain the correct relic abundance and avoid collider bounds, a neutral scalar is required to be light while charged scalars need to be heavier than the electroweak scale. Such a mass spectrum is realized by adjusting quartic couplings in the scalar potential or in…
We present a detailed investigation to establish that lepton-number (L) violating supersymmetry (SUSY) can be effectively probed at the LHC in the practically background-free same-sign trilepton (SS3l) and same-sign four-lepton (SS4l) channels. With this in view, we extend our earlier analysis of SS3l and SS4l signals by considering situations based on minimal supergravity as well as a phenomenological SUSY model. We find that the R-parity violating scenario predicts large event rates, for both the 7 and 14 TeV runs. Furthermore, we show that it is extremely unlikely to ever achieve similar ra…
Heavy neutral leptons are predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model with massive neutrinos. If kinematically accessible, they can be copiously produced from kaon and pion decays in atmospheric showers, and subsequently decay inside large neutrino detectors. We perform a search for these long-lived particles using Super-Kamiokande multi-GeV neutrino data and derive stringent limits on the mixing with electron, muon and tau neutrinos as a function of the long-lived particle mass. We also present the limits on the branching ratio versus lifetime plane, which are helpful in determining th…
