Working within the Standard Model effective field theory approach, we examine the possibility to test charged lepton flavour violating (cLFV) new physics (NP) by angular measurements of the outgoing electron and positrons in the polarised $μ^{+}\to e^{+}e^{+}e^{-}$ decay. This decay is planned to be studied with a sensitivity to the branching ratio of $B_{μ\to3e}\sim 10^{-15}$ by the Mu3e experiment at PSI. To illustrate the potential of these measurements, we consider a set of eight effective operators generating the decay at the tree level, including dimension-five dipole operators and dimension-six scalar and vector four-fermion operators of different chiralities. We show that if the polarised $μ^{+}\to e^{+}e^{+}e^{-}$ decay is observed and is induced by a single operator, data from three angular observables - two P-odd asymmetries and one T-odd asymmetry - can allow to discriminate between all considered operators with the exception of scalar and vector operators of opposite chirality. For these two types of operators, the P-odd asymmetry is maximal in magnitude; they can be distinguished, in principle, by measuring the helicities of the outgoing positrons. The observation of a non-zero T-odd asymmetry would indicate the presence in the decay rate of a dipole and vector operator interference term that is T (CP) violating.
U_A(1) dynamics have the potential to induce a polarised condensate inside a nucleon. The formation of this condensate is related to the realisation of U_A(1) symmetry breaking by tunneling processes such as instantons. If it is present, the polarised condensate induces a term in g_1 which has support only at x=0. Tunneling processes then induce a net transfer of ``spin'' from finite x to x=0. The polarised condensate may be measured by comparing the flavour-singlet axial charges which are extracted from polarised deep inelastic and nu p elastic scattering experiments.
We argue that the production of forward jets in polarised deep inelastic scattering can be a useful tool for probing the double $ln^2(1/x)$ resummation effects which control the polarised deep inelastic scattering for small values of the Bjorken parameter $x$. We solve the corresponding integral equations generating the double $ln^2(1/x)$ resummation and calculate the differential structure function describing the forward jet production in the small $x$ regime which can possibly be probed by the polarised HERA measurements. We show that these structure functions should exhibit the characterist…
We present the results of a detailed study of the large transverse momentum Drell-Yan process, pp --> (Gamma^*, Z^*)X --> l^+l^- X at collider energies, with either one or both protons polarised, allowing the study of single- and double-spin asymmetries respectively. We show how these asymmetries obtained from angular distributions of the leptons in the Gamma^* (or Z^*) rest-frame, can be used to get information on the polarised parton distributions. Numerical results for the asymmetries and the cross-sections are presented, and the sensitivity of the asymmetries to the initial parton distribu…
We estimate the cross-section and asymmetry relevant for the production of forward jets in polarised deep inelastic scattering in the region of small values of $x$ which can be probed at possible polarised HERA measurements. The kinematical cuts implemented in our analysis are the same as those which were used in the unpolarised deep inelastic scattering at HERA. The calculations are based on the double ln^2(1/x) resummation which controls the polarised deep inelastic scattering for small values of the Bjorken parameter x. We show that this resummation substantially enhances the corresponding …
Searches for new physics using muons are reviewed. Particular attention is paid to muon number non-conserving processes, like the decay muon-->e+gamma and muon-electron conversion in muonic atoms. Also, experimental determinations and theoretical predictions for the muon anomalous magnetic moment are reviewed.
Precision measurements in muon capture on 3He to the triton channel provide for interesting tests of the charged electroweak interaction, whether within the Standard Model or beyond it. Based on the statistical capture rate and the triton asymmetry, both the object of recent and on-going experiments using polarised 3He targets, examples of such tests are presented, and shown to lead to stringent complementary constraints for which further dedicated experimental as well as theoretical efforts are required.
A detailed study of the muonic analogue of neutrinoless double beta decay, (muon^-,muon^+) conversion, has been carried out for the A=44 nuclear system. We studied several lepton number violating (LNV) mechanisms potentially triggering this process: exchange by light and heavy Majorana neutrinos as well as exchange by supersymmetric particles participating in R-parity violating interactions. The nuclear structure has been taken into account within the renormalized Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation method. To our knowledge, this is the first realistic treatment of nuclear structure aspec…
A persistence of several anomalies in muon physics, such as the muon anomalous magnetic moment and the muonic hydrogen Lamb shift, hints at new light particles beyond the Standard Model. We address a subset of these models that have a new light scalar state with sizable couplings to muons and suppressed couplings to electrons. A novel way to search for such particles would be through muon beam-dump experiments by (1) missing momentum searches; (2) searches for decays with displaced vertices. The muon beams available at CERN and Fermilab present attractive opportunities for exploring the new sc…
Muon-induced di-tau production as a probe of new physics
University of Iowa（爱荷华大学）；National Centre for Nuclear Research（国家核研究中心）；Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文中心）
The experimental evidence that θ_{13} is large opens new opportunities to identify the neutrino mass spectrum. We outline a possibility to investigate this issue by means of conventional technology. The ideal setup turns out to be long baseline experiment: the muon neutrino beam, with 10^{20} protons on target, has an average energy of 6 (8) GeV; the neutrinos, after propagating 6000 (8000) km, are observed by a muon detector of 1 Mton and with a muon energy threshold of 2 GeV. The expected number of muon events is about 1000, and the difference between the two neutrino spectra is sizeable, ab…
We consider single charged Higgs ($H^{\pm}$) production in association with a $W^{\pm}$ boson at $μ^+μ^-$ colliders, in the context of the general CP violating Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM). We find that large cross-sections for the processes $μ^+μ^-\to H^+W^-,H^-W^+$ are possible, and offer an attractive way of producing $H^{\pm}$ at $μ^+μ^-$ colliders. The difference in the cross-sections for $H^+W^-$ and $H^-W^+$ may exceed 1000 fb, and this represents a novel way of probing CP violation in the Higgs sector.
Muon Bremsstrahlung as a New Probe of Dark Sector at Neutrino Experiments
Washington University（华盛顿大学）；Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz（美因茨约翰内斯古腾堡大学）；Texas A&M University（德克萨斯农工大学）；University of Michigan（密歇根大学）；University of Pittsburgh（匹兹堡大学）
Electric dipole moments (EDMs) of elementary particles are powerful probes of new physics with flavor-diagonal CP violation. The reported discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment motivates us to explore to what extent new physics with flavor-diagonal CP violation to address the discrepancy is probed by searches for the muon EDM. As a benchmark, we focus on a CP-violating two-Higgs-doublet model to explain the muon $g-2$ anomaly where the muon exclusively couples to one Higgs doublet. Since contributions to flavor violating processes as well as the electron EDM are suppressed, the muon…
The COMPASS experiment at CERN is one of the leading experiments studying the nucleon spin structure. Until 2012 the Parton Distribution Functions and the Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distribution Functions (TMDs) were extensively studied at COMPASS using Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering measurements. In 2015, the Drell-Yan measurements with a negative pion beam interacting with a transversely polarized ammonia target have started and will be continued through 2018. The goal is to access the TMDs of both pions and protons without any prior knowledge about fragmentation function…
The Extended Supersymmetric Standard Model (ESSM), motivated on several grounds, introduces two vectorlike families (16 + 16-bar) of SO(10)) with masses of order one TeV. It is noted that the successful predictions of prior work on fermion masses and mixings, based on MSSM embedded in SO(10), can be retained rather simply within the ESSM extension. These include an understanding of the smallness of V_{cb} ~ 0.04 and the largeness of nu_mu - nu_tau oscillation angle, sin^2 2 theta_{nu_mu nu_tau}^{osc} ~ 1. We analyze the new contributions arising through the exchange of the vectorlike families …
Quantum field theory predicts the vacuum to exhibit a non-linear response to strong electromagnetic fields. This fundamental tenet has remained experimentally challenging and is yet to be tested in the laboratory. We present proof of concept and detailed theoretical analysis of an experimental setup for precision measurements of the quantum vacuum signal generated by the collision of a brilliant x-ray probe with a high-intensity pump laser. The signal features components polarised parallel and perpendicularly to the incident x-ray probe. Our proof-of-concept measurements show that the backgrou…
Recently an upper bound on the rate of the lepton number violating decay $K^+\to μ^+μ^+π^-$ has been significantly reduced by the E865 experiment at BNL and further improvement is expected in the near future. We study this process as a possible source of information on neutrino masses and mixings. We find that it is insensitive to the light(eV domain) and heavy(GeV domain) neutrinos. However due to the effect of a resonant enhancement this decay is very sensitive to neutrinos $ν_j$ in the mass region $245{MeV}\leq m_{ν_j}\leq 389$ MeV. At present experimental sensitivity we deduce new stringen…
We compute deep-sea energy spectra and zenith-angle distributions of the atmospheric muons, both conventional and prompt. The prompt muon contribution to the muon flux underwater is calculated taking into consideration predictions of recent charm production models in which probed is the small-x behavior of the gluon distribution inside of a nucleon. We argue for a possibility to discriminate the PQCD models of the charm production differing in the slope of the gluon distribution, in measurements with neutrino telescopes of the muon flux at energies 10-100 TeV.
The coherent contribution of all neutrons in neutrino nucleus scattering due to the neutral current is examined considering the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) as a source of neutrinos. SNS is a prolific pulsed source of electron and muon neutrinos as well as muon antineutrinos.
We present the status and the prospects of the ongoing efforts to improve the measurements of the 1S-2S transition in positronium and muonium. These purely leptonic systems represent ideal objects to test bound-state QED to high precision and the Standard-Model Extension.
We study upward muon flux at neutrino detectors such as Super-Kamiokande resulting from high-energy neutrinos produced by the dark matter annihilation/decay at the Galactic center. In particular, we distinguish showering and non-showering muons as their energy loss processes inside the detector, and show that this information is useful for discriminating dark matter models.
Lepton Flavor Violation: From Muon Decays to Muon Colliders
University of California Santa Cruz（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校）；University of Oregon（俄勒冈大学）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Harvard University（哈佛大学）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；University of Pittsburgh（匹兹堡大学）；Cornell University（康奈尔大学）；Institute for Advanced Study（普林斯顿高等研究院）；New York University（纽约大学）
Recent theoretical claims not withstanding, muons can and do oscillate. Muons produced in association with neutrinos (if masses and mixing angles are nonzero) exhibit a joint oscillating spatial distribution. The possible use of muon oscillations as a probe of neutrino mass and mixing parameters is discussed using very simple physical arguments. Space-time oscillations in the secondary decay vertices of muons (produced by pion decay) persist after summing over all undetected neutrinos.
We suggest that $e\to μ$ conversion in low-energy electron-nucleus scattering is a new and potentially observable indirect signal of supersymmetry and should be searched for in experiment. We estimate the rate for this process in a straightforward calculation taking into account the existing constraint from non-observation of the $μ\to eγ$ decay and find the cross-section to be $σ< 10^{-8} $fb.
We discuss the model independent parameterization for a strongly interacting electroweak sector. Phenomenological studies are made to probe such a sector for future colliders such as the LHC, $e^+e^-$ Linear collider and a muon collider.
Positronium and Muonium are purely leptonic atoms and hence free of an internal sub-structure. This qualifies them as potentially well suited systems to probe the existence of physics beyond the Standard Model. We hence carry out a comprehensive study of the sensitivity of current Positronium and Muonium precision spectroscopy to several new physics scenarios. By taking properly into account existing experimental and astrophysical probes, we define clear experimental targets to probe new physics via precise spectroscopy. For Positronium we find that, in order for the spectroscopy bounds to rea…
Single hadron azimuthal asymmetries of positive and negative hadrons produced in muon semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering off longitudinally polarised deuterons are determined using the 2006 COMPASS data and also combined all deuteron COMPASS data. For each hadron charge, the dependence of the azimuthal asymmetry on the hadron azimuthal angle $ϕ$ is obtained by means of a five-parameter fitting function that besides a $ϕ$-independent term includes four modulations predicted by theory: $\sinϕ$, $\sin 2 ϕ$, $\sin 3ϕ$ and $\cosϕ$. The amplitudes of the five terms have been extracted, first, …
As a new and clean probe to the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP), we propose an azimuthal correlation of an electron and a muon which originate from the semileptonic decay of charm and bottom quarks. By solving the Langevin equation for the heavy quarks under the hydrodynamic evolution of the hot plasma, we show that substantial quenching of the away-side peak in the electron-muon correlation can be seen if the sQGP drag force acting on heavy quarks is large enough as suggested from the gauge/gravity correspondence. The effect could be detected in high-energy heavy-ion collisions…
We have examined the sensitivity to the axion-like particle (ALP) couplings to electroweak gauge bosons in the diphoton production at a future muon collider. The collisions at the $μ^+ μ^-$ energies of 3 TeV, 14 TeV, and 100 TeV are addressed. The differential cross sections versus the invariant mass of the final photons and total cross section versus minimal diphoton invariant mass are presented. We have derived the exclusion regions for the ALP-gauge boson coupling. The obtained bounds are much stronger than the current experimental bounds in the ALP mass region 10 GeV -- 10 TeV. The partial…
New light, weakly-coupled particles are commonly invoked to address the persistent $\sim 4σ$ anomaly in $(g-2)_μ$ and serve as mediators between dark and visible matter. If such particles couple predominantly to heavier generations and decay invisibly, much of their best-motivated parameter space is inaccessible with existing experimental techniques. In this paper, we present a new fixed-target, missing-momentum search strategy to probe invisibly decaying particles that couple preferentially to muons. In our setup, a relativistic muon beam impinges on a thick active target. The signal consists…
It is known that the linearly polarized photons can partly transform to circularly polarized ones via forward Compton scattering in a background such as the external magnetic field or noncommutative space time. Based on this fact we explore the effects of the NC-background on the scattering of a linearly polarized laser beam from an intense beam of charged leptons. We show that for a muon/electron beam flux $\bar\varepsilon_{μ,e}\sim 10^{12}/10^{10}\,{\rm TeV}\,{\rm cm}^{-2}\,{\rm sec}^{-1}$ and a linearly polarized laser beam with energy $k^0\sim $1 eV and average power $\bar{P}_{\rm laser}\s…
In the polarised Drell-Yan experiment at the COMPASS facility at CERN the beam of negatively-charged pions with 190 GeV/c momentum and intensity about $10^8$ pions/s interacted with transversely polarised NH$_3$ target. Muon pairs produced in Drell-Yan process (DY) were detected. Recently, the first ever Transverse Spin Asymmetries (TSAs) measurement in DY has been presented by COMPASS. A complementary analysis of the TSAs weighted by powers of the dimuon transverse momentum $q_T$ are presented. In the Transverse Momentum Dependent (TMD) PDF formalism, the $q_T$-weighted TSAs can be written in…
Large numbers of muons will be produced at facilities developed to probe lepton flavor violating process $μ\to eγ$. We show that by constructing a suitable asymmetry, radiative muon decay $μ\to e γν_μ\barν_e$ can also be used to test the $WWγ$ vertex at such facilities. The process has two missing neutrinos in the final state and on integrating their momenta, the partial differential decay rate shows no radiation-amplitude-zero. We establish, however, that an easily separable part of the normalized differential decay rate, odd under the exchange of photon and electron energies, does have a zer…
INFN Sezione di Roma（罗马国家核物理研究所）；INFN, Sezione di Trieste（的里雅斯特国家核物理研究所）；Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE)（高能物理研究所）；The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST)（巴塞罗那科学技术研究所）；ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats（加泰罗尼亚研究与高级研究所）
An electron-muon collider with an asymmetric collision profile targeting multi-ab$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity is proposed. This novel collider, operating at collisions energies of e.g. 20-200 GeV, 50-1000 GeV and 100-3000 GeV, would be able to probe charged lepton flavor violation and measure Higgs boson properties precisely. The collision of an electron and muon beam leads to less physics background compared with either an electron-electron or a muon-muon collider, since electron-muon interactions proceed mostly through higher order vector boson fusion and vector boson scattering processes. …
Models of gauged $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ can provide a solution to the long-standing discrepancy between the theoretical prediction for the muon anomalous magnetic moment and its measured value. The extra contribution is due to a new light vector mediator, which also helps to alleviate an existing tension in the determination of the Hubble parameter. In this article, we explore ways to probe this solution via the scattering of solar neutrinos with electrons and nuclei in a range of experiments and considering high and low solar metallicity scenarios. In particular, we reevaluate Borexino constraints …
The production of a mu+mu- pair from the scattering of a muon-neutrino off the Coulomb field of a nucleus, known as neutrino trident production, is a sub-weak process that has been observed in only a couple of experiments. As such, we show that it constitutes an exquisitely sensitive probe in the search for new neutral currents among leptons, putting the strongest constraints on well-motivated and well-hidden extensions of the Standard Model gauge group, including the one coupled to the difference of the lepton number between the muon and tau flavor, L_mu-L_tau. The new gauge boson, Z', increa…
The intensity of TeV atmospheric muons and neutrinos depends on the temperature in the stratosphere. We show that the energy-dependence in the 100 TeV range of the correlation with temperature is sensitive to the fraction of muons and neutrinos from decay of charmed hadrons. We discuss the prospects for using the temperature effect as observed in gigaton neutrino detectors to measure the charm contribution.
The muon-proton and muon-deuteron inclusive deep inelastic scattering cross sections were measured in the kinematic range 0.002 < x < 0.60 and 0.5 < Q2 < 75 GeV2 at incident muon energies of 90, 120, 200 and 280 GeV. These results are based on the full data set collected by the New Muon Collaboration, including the data taken with a small angle trigger. The extracted values of the structure functions F2p and F2d are in good agreement with those from other experiments. The data cover a sufficient range of y to allow the determination of the ratio of the longitudinally to transversely polarised …
