Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Agrawal, Prateek

Publications and source records attributed to Agrawal, Prateek.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Searching for axion forces with spin precession in atoms and molecules

We propose to use atoms and molecules as quantum sensors of axion-mediated monopole-dipole forces. We show that electron spin precession experiments using atomic and molecular beams are well-suited for axion searches thanks to the presence of co-magnetometer states and single-shot temporal resolution. Experimental strategies to detect axion gradients from localised sources and the earth are presented, taking ACME III as a prototype example. Other possibilities including atomic beams, and laser-cooled atoms and molecules are discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systematizing the effective theory of self-interacting dark matter

If dark matter has strong self-interactions, future astrophysical and cosmological observations, together with a clearer understanding of baryonic feedback effects, might be used to extract the velocity dependence of the dark matter scattering rate. To interpret such data, we should understand what predictions for this quantity are made by various models of the underlying particle nature of dark matter. In this paper, we systematically compute this function for fermionic dark matter with light bosonic mediators of vector, scalar, axial vector, and pseudoscalar type. We do this by matching to the nonrelativistic effective theory of self-interacting dark matter and then computing the spin-averaged viscosity cross section nonperturbatively by solving the Schrödinger equation, thus accounting for any possible Sommerfeld enhancement of the low-velocity cross section. In the pseudoscalar case, this requires a coupled-channel analysis of different angular momentum modes. We find, contrary to some earlier analyses, that nonrelativistic effects only provide a significant enhancement for the cases of light scalar and vector mediators. Scattering from light pseudoscalar and axial vector mediators is well described by tree-level quantum field theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Strategic Search Plan for Axions and Axion-like-particles

Axions are one of the most promising candidates to constitute the DarkMatter in our universe. The benchmark QCD axion covers a narrowparameter space, but many well-motivated extensions of the StandardModel predict Axion-like-Particles in wide parameter regions. In thissupport note we detail on searches covering the extended axion-like particle parameter space proposed to the European strategy

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Factoring the strong CP problem

We present a new mechanism to solve the strong CP problem using $N\geq2$ axions, each dynamically relaxing part of the $\bar\theta$ parameter. At high energies $M\gg\Lambda_{QCD}$ the $SU(3)_{c}$ group becomes the diagonal subgroup of an $SU(3)^{N}$ gauge group, and the non-perturbative effects in each individual $SU(3)$ factor generate a potential for the corresponding axion. The vacuum is naturally aligned to ensure $\bar\theta=0$ at low energies, and the masses of these axions can be much larger than for the standard QCD axion. This mechanism avoids the introduction of a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry and associated 'mirror' copies of the SM fermions, and also avoids the introduction and stabilization of new light colored states to modify the running of the QCD gauge coupling found in other heavy axion models. This strengthens the motivation for axion-like particles solving the strong CP problem at points beyond the standard QCD axion curve in the $(m_a, f_a)$ plane.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

A flavorful factoring of the strong CP problem

Motivated by the intimate connection between the strong CP problem and the flavor structure of the Standard Model, we present a flavor model that revives and extends the classic ${m_u=0}$ solution to the strong CP problem. QCD is embedded into a $SU(3)_1\times SU(3)_2 \times SU(3)_3$ gauge group, with each generation of quarks charged under the respective $SU(3)$. The non-zero value of the up-quark Yukawa coupling (along with the strange quark and bottom-quark Yukawas) is generated by contributions from small instantons at a new scale $M \gg \Lambda_{QCD}$. The Higgsing of $SU(3)^3\to SU(3)_c$ allows dimension-5 operators that generate the Standard Model flavor structure and can be completed in a simple renormalizable theory. The smallness of the third generation mixing angles can naturally emerge in this picture, and is connected to the smallness of threshold corrections to $\bar\theta$. Remarkably, $\bar\theta$ is essentially fixed by the measured quark masses and mixings, and is estimated to be close to the current experimental bound and well within reach of the next generation of neutron and proton EDM experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Clockwork axions in cosmology. Is chromonatural inflation chrononatural?

Many cosmological models rely on large couplings of axions to gauge fields. Examples include theories of magnetogenesis, inflation on a steep potential, chiral gravitational waves, and chromonatural inflation. Such theories require a mismatch between the axion field range and the mass scale appearing in the aFF~ coupling. This mismatch suggests an underlying monodromy, with the axion winding around its fundamental period a large number of times. We investigate the extent to which this integer can be explained as a product of smaller integers in a UV completion: in the parlance of our times, can the theory be “clockworked”? We argue that a clockwork construction producing a potential μ4cos(ajFa) for an axion of fundamental period Fa will obey the constraint μ < Fa. For a some applications, including chromonatural inflation with sub-Planckian field range, this constraint obstructs a clockwork UV completion. Alternative routes to a large coupling include fields of large charge (an approach limited by strong coupling) or kinetic mixing (requiring a lighter axion). Our results suggest that completions of axion cosmologies that explain the large parameter in the theory potentially alter the phenomenological predictions of the model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Opening up the QCD axion window

We present a new mechanism to deplete the energy density of the QCD axion, making decay constants as high as f a ≃ 10 17 GeV viable for generic initial conditions. In our setup, the axion couples to a massless dark photon with a coupling that is moderately stronger than the axion coupling to gluons. Dark photons are produced copiously through a tachyonic instability when the axion field starts oscillating, and an exponential suppression of the axion density can be achieved. For a large part of the parameter space this dark radiation component of the universe can be observable in upcoming CMB experiments. Such dynamical depletion of the axion density ameliorates the isocurvature bound on the scale of inflation. The depletion also amplifies the power spectrum at scales that enter the horizon before particle production begins, potentially leading to axion miniclusters.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Experimental targets for photon couplings of the QCD axion

The QCD axion’s coupling to photons is often assumed to lie in a narrow band as a function of the axion mass. We demonstrate that several simple mechanisms, in addition to the photophilic clockwork axion already in the literature, can significantly extend the allowed range of couplings. Some mechanisms we present generalize the KNP alignment scenario, widely studied as a model of inflation, to the phenomenology of a QCD axion. In particular we present KSVZ-like realizations of two-axion KNP alignment and of the clockwork mechanism. Such a “confinement tower” realization of clockwork may prove useful in a variety of model-building contexts. We also show that kinetic mixing of the QCD axion with a lighter axion-like particle can dramatically alter the QCD axion’s coupling to photons, differing from the other models we present by allowing non-quantized couplings. The simple models that we present fully cover the range of axion-photon couplings that could be probed by experiments. They motivate growing axion detection efforts over a wide space of masses and couplings.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Dark catalysis

Recently it was shown that dark matter with mass of order the weak scale can be charged under a new long-range force, decoupled from the Standard Model, with only weak constraints from early Universe cosmology. Here we consider the implications of an additional charged particle C that is light enough to lead to significant dissipative dynamics on galactic times scales. We highlight several novel features of this model, which can be relevant even when the C particle constitutes only a small fraction of the number density (and energy density). We assume a small asymmetric abundance of the C particle whose charge is compensated by a heavy X particle so that the relic abundance of dark matter consists mostly of symmetric X and X-bar , with a small asymmetric component made up of X and C . As the universe cools, it undergoes asymmetric recombination binding the free C s into ( XC ) dark atoms efficiently. Even with a tiny asymmetric component, the presence of C particles catalyzes tight coupling between the heavy dark matter X and the dark photon plasma that can lead to a significant suppression of the matter power spectrum on small scales and lead to some of the strongest bounds on such dark matter theories. We find a viable parameter space where structure formation constraints are satisfied and significant dissipative dynamics can occur in galactic haloes but show a large region is excluded. Our model shows that subdominant components in the dark sector can dramatically affect structure formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Deciphering the MSSM Higgs mass at future hadron colliders

Here, future hadron colliders will have a remarkable capacity to discover massive new particles, but their capabilities for precision measurements of couplings that can reveal underlying mechanisms have received less study. In this work we study the capability of future hadron colliders to shed light on a precise, focused question: is the higgs mass of 125 GeV explained by the MSSM? If supersymmetry is realized near the TeV scale, a future hadron collider could produce huge numbers of gluinos and electroweakinos. We explore whether precision measurements of their properties could allow inference of the scalar masses and tan β with sufficient accuracy to test whether physics beyond the MSSM is needed to explain the higgs mass. We also discuss dark matter direct detection and precision higgs physics as complementary probes of tan β. For concreteness, we focus on the mini-split regime of MSSM parameter space at a 100 TeV pp collider, with scalar masses ranging from 10s to about 1000 TeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Make dark matter charged again

We revisit constraints on dark matter that is charged under a U(1) gauge group in the dark sector, decoupled from Standard Model forces. We find that the strongest constraints in the literature are subject to a number of mitigating factors. For instance, the naive dark matter thermalization timescale in halos is corrected by saturation effects that slow down isotropization for modest ellipticities. The weakened bounds uncover interesting parameter space, making models with weak-scale charged dark matter viable, even with electromagnetic strength interaction. This also leads to the intriguing possibility that dark matter self-interactions within small dwarf galaxies are extremely large, a relatively unexplored regime in current simulations. Such strong interactions suppress heat transfer over scales larger than the dark matter mean free path, inducing a dynamical cutoff length scale above which the system appears to have only feeble interactions. These effects must be taken into account to assess the viability of darkly-charged dark matter. Future analyses and measurements should probe a promising region of parameter space for this model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Skew-flavored dark matter

We explore a novel flavor structure in the interactions of dark matter with the Standard Model. We consider theories in which both the dark matter candidate, and the particles that mediate its interactions with the Standard Model fields, carry flavor quantum numbers. The interactions are skewed in flavor space, so that a dark matter particle does not directly couple to the Standard Model matter fields of the same flavor, but only to the other two flavors. This framework respects minimal flavor violation and is, therefore, naturally consistent with flavor constraints. We study the phenomenology of a benchmark model in which dark matter couples to right-handed charged leptons. In large regions of parameter space, the dark matter can emerge as a thermal relic, while remaining consistent with the constraints from direct and indirect detection. The collider signatures of this scenario include events with multiple leptons and missing energy. In conclusion, these events exhibit a characteristic flavor pattern that may allow this class of models to be distinguished from other theories of dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A couplet from flavored dark matter

We show that a couplet, a pair of closely spaced photon lines, in the X-ray spectrum is a distinctive feature of lepton flavored dark matter models for which the mass spectrum is dictated by Minimal Flavor Violation. In this scenario, mass splittings between different dark matter flavors are determined by Standard Model Yukawa couplings and can naturally be small, allowing all three flavors to be long-lived and contribute to the observed abundance. Then, in the presence of a tiny source of flavor violation, heavier dark matter flavors can decay via a dipole transition on cosmological timescales, giving rise to three photon lines. Two of these lines are closely spaced, and constitute the couplet. Provided the flavor violation is sufficiently small, the ratios of the line energies are determined in terms of the charged lepton masses, and constitute a prediction of this framework. Furthermore, for dark matter masses of order the weak scale, the couplet lies in the keV-MeV region, with a much weaker line in the eV-keV region. This scenario constitutes a potential explanation for the recent claim of the observation of a 3.5 keV line. As a result, the next generation of X-ray telescopes may have the necessary resolution to resolve the double line structure of such a couplet.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

WIMPs at the galactic center

Simple models of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) predict dark matter annihilations into pairs of electroweak gauge bosons, Higgses or tops, which through their subsequent cascade decays produce a spectrum of gamma rays. Intriguingly, an excess in gamma rays coming from near the Galactic center has been consistently observed in Fermi data. A recent analysis by the Fermi collaboration confirms these earlier results. Taking into account the systematic uncertainties in the modelling of the gamma ray backgrounds, we show for the first time that this excess can be well fit by these final states. In particular, for annihilations to (WW, ZZ, hh, tt{sup -bar}), dark matter with mass between threshold and approximately (165, 190, 280, 310) GeV gives an acceptable fit. The fit range for bb{sup -bar} is also enlarged to 35 GeV≲m{sub χ}≲165 GeV. These are to be compared to previous fits that concluded only much lighter dark matter annihilating into b, τ, and light quark final states could describe the excess. We demonstrate that simple, well-motivated models of WIMP dark matter including a thermal-relic neutralino of the MSSM, Higgs portal models, as well as other simplified models can explain the excess.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗