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DOE OSTI2025

Quarkonium Spectroscopy in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

The properties of bound states are fundamental to hadronic spectroscopy and play a central role in the transition from hadronic matter to a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). In a strongly coupled QGP (sQGP), the interplay of temperature, binding energy, and large collisional widths of the partons poses formidable challenges in evaluating the in-medium properties of hadronic states and their eventual melting. In particular, the existence of heavy quarkonia in the QGP is a long-standing problem that is hard to solve by considering their spectral properties on the real-energy axis. Here, we address this problem by analyzing in-medium thermodynamic quarkonium 𝑇 matrices in the complex energy plane. We first validate this method in vacuum, where the 𝑇-matrix poles of observed states are readily identified. When deploying this approach to recent self-consistently calculated 𝑇 matrices in the QGP, we find that poles in the complex energy plane can persist to surprisingly large temperatures, depending on the strength of the in-medium interactions. While the masses and widths of the pole positions are precisely defined, the notion of a binding energy is not due to the absence of thresholds caused by the (large) widths of the underlying quark or anti-quark spectral functions. Our method thus provides a new and definitive quantum-mechanical criterion to determine the melting temperature of hadronic states in the sQGP while increasing the accuracy in the theoretical determination of transport parameters.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

M3SF-24LL010302052-Comprehensive Analysis of Radionuclide Interaction with Hydrothermally Altered Repository Materials

This progress report (Level 3 Milestone Number M3SF-24LL010302052) summarizes research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) within the Crystalline Work Package Number SF-24LL01030205. The research is focused on actinide and radionuclide sequestration in hydrothermally altered repository materials. In FY24, we completed a rigorous analysis of Se sorption to iron oxide phases using our L-SCIE sorption database. This effort explicitly accounts for surface titration behavior of oxide surfaces that was the subject of a recently published manuscript (Han et al., 2023). With this in mind, our Se sorption analysis now yields a more robust workflow for developing self-consistent surface complexation modeling approaches that can be adapted to specific SCM conceptual and numerical approaches (i.e. non-electrostatic, diffuse layer, triple layer models). In late FY24, we plan to publish the results of our comprehensive surface complexation modeling of Se(IV) and Se(VI) sorption to iron oxide mineral phases and provide a path forward to developing robust radionuclide sorption models for use in performance assessment. In FY24, we also submitted a manuscript summarizing our approach to integrating radionuclide sorption and coprecipitation phenomena and evaluation of radionuclide partitioning values across a range of radionuclides relevant to performance assessment. We demonstrated our approach in detail using Se sorption and coprecipitation with iron oxide minerals as a test case. This manuscript was recently accepted for publication in Applied Geochemistry (Balboni et al., Accepted). We also continued experiments to identify radionuclide interaction with hydrothermally altered crystalline repository and backfill materials. Recent research performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) has provided key insights regarding the hydrothermal alteration behavior of bentonite backfill in the presence of repository materials (steel, concrete, etc.). We are now examining how mineral alteration affects retardation behavior of a suite of radionuclides of interest to repository performance assessment. These experiments also allow us to test the predictive ability of our component additivity approach to surface complexation and ion exchange. Our guiding hypothesis is that a robust surface complexation/ion exchange model and associated database, developed using our L-SCIE approach, can effectively predict changes in radionuclide sorption behavior resulting from the hydrothermal alteration of mineralogy in a repository near field. A short update of results to date is presented below.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

DOE OSTI2024

Interaction-enhanced nesting in spin-fermion and Fermi-Hubbard models

The spin-fermion (SF) model postulates that the dominant coupling between low-energy fermions in near critical metals is mediated by collective spin fluctuations (paramagnons) peaked at the Néel wave vector, Q N , connecting hot spots on opposite sides of the Fermi surface. It has been argued that strong correlations at hot spots lead to a Fermi surface deformation (FSD) featuring flat regions and increased nesting. This conjecture was confirmed in the perturbative self-consistent calculations when the paramagnon propagator dependence on momentum deviation from Q N is given by χ − 1 ∝ | Δ q | . Using diagrammatic Monte Carlo (diagMC) technique we show that such a dependence holds only at temperatures orders of magnitude smaller than any other energy scale in the problem, indicating that a different mechanism may be at play. Instead, we find that a χ − 1 ∝ | Δ q | 2 dependence yields a robust finite- T scenario for achieving FSD. To link phenomenological and microscopic descriptions, we applied the connected determinant diagMC method to the ( t − t ′ ) Hubbard model and found that at large U / t > 5.5 before the formation of electron and hole pockets (i) the FSD defined as a maximum of the spectral function is not very pronounced; instead, it is the lines of zeros of the renormalized dispersion relation that deforms toward nesting, and (ii) the static spin susceptibility is well described by χ − 1 ∝ | Δ q | 2 . Flat FS regions yield a nontrivial scenario for realizing a non-Fermi liquid state. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2025

Quasiparticle description of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy for SrCuO 2

SrCuO 2 has long been considered a near-archetypal realization of a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) system of interacting electrons with short-range interactions. Within this framework, experimental observations - interpreted through the lens of the 1D Hubbard model - suggest that electron and hole excitations decay into two types of (unphysical) collective bosonic modes: "spinons", which carry the spin degree of freedom, and "holons", which carry the charge degree of freedom. This model, known as spin-charge separation, is most directly evidenced by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), where a photo-induced hole decays into a continuum of these excitations. Here we present an alternative perspective grounded in first-principles, self-consistent, and parameter-free many-body perturbation theory. In this revised quasiparticle framework, ARPES can be understood as a one-body effect arising from mild disorder in a long-range antiferromagnetic ground state. the emergence of the so-called spinon branch arises naturally from spin disorder, the anomalous linewidths are accurately captured, and we provide a compelling explanation for the spectral weight observed at the non-magnetic zone boundary. This reinterpretation provides a unified explanation for key experimental signatures previously attributed to spin-charge separation, including features observed in optical conductivity. Additionally, we show that SrCuO 2 exhibits a nontrivial interchain coupling that significantly influences both its one-particle and two-particle spectral functions. By comparing the spectral features of SrCuO 2 with those of La 2 CuO 4 , we argue that SrCuO 2 shares notable similarities with the two-dimensional cuprates-both being rooted in a common CuO 4 plaquette-based molecular orbital framework.

1D cuprates↗

DOE OSTI2025

Impact of nitrogen molecular breakup on divertor conditions in JET L-mode plasmas using SOLPS-ITER

SOLPS-ITER simulations of nitrogen-seeded, low-confinement mode plasmas in the Joint European Torus (JET) predict that the electron temperature in the low-field side (LFS) divertor leg is reduced locally by up to an order of magnitude when nitrogen is assumed to recycle as molecules (N 2 ) instead of atoms using a fixed nitrogen injection rate. The LFS divertor temperature reduction under the assumption of molecular recycling occurs due to a three-step mechanism: (1) the plasma penetration of nitrogen atoms is increased due to the strong triple bond of the N 2 molecule and the kinetic energy release in the dissociation event, both mechanisms contributing equally, (2) the abundance of (particularly multiply-charged) nitrogen ions in the divertor is increased and (3) the electron temperature is reduced due to the increase in radiation (by up to a factor of 4) from nitrogen ions. Setting the volume-integrated nitrogen radiated power to a constant value (0.6 MW) instead of the nitrogen injection rate, SOLPS-ITER predicts under the molecular nitrogen recycling assumption that the peak line-integrated N II, N III and N IV intensities in the LFS divertor are approximately within 15%, 35% and 5%, respectively, of the reference atomic nitrogen recycling case. The predicted peak N II, N III and N IV intensities under either assumption are within 30%, 65% and 5%, respectively, of measurements using the vertically viewing mirror-link divertor spectrometer (Meigs et al., 2010) in nitrogen-seeded JET L-mode plasmas (Lomanowski et al., 2019). ERO2.0 simulations using a constant nitrogen seeding rate on static background plasma solutions from EDGE2D-EIRENE (previously presented in Mäenpää et al., (2022), revised here to include fast reflections) predict that N II to N IV line emission is increased by 20% to 30% when nitrogen is assumed to recycle as molecules, demonstrating the importance of considering the effect of molecular dissociation reactions on the divertor plasma in a self-consistent manner.

Divertor↗

DOE OSTI2025

Polaron Delocalization and Transport in Doped Graphene Nanoribbon Thin Films

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are quantum-confined π-conjugated monolayer semiconductors with attractive properties for optoelectronic applications. However, the ground- and excited-state properties of charge carriers in GNRs are still poorly understood, particularly with regards to the coupling between charges and the GNR lattice and the degree to which this coupling impacts local and macroscopic charge transport. To address this issue, we systematically correlate carrier density-dependent charge transport with spectroscopic modulations in chemically doped thin films of armchair graphene nanoribbons (9-aGNRs). This study combines Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet−visible−near-infrared (UV−vis−NIR) spectroscopy with both local and macroscopic conductivity measurements to arrive at a full and self-consistent picture of transport in doped GNR thin films. Using three different molecular p-type dopants (i.e., oxidants), we demonstrate that hole polarons are the dominant quasi-particle determining charge transport in GNRs and that the degree of polaron delocalization depends sensitively on the dopant and the hole density. For all three dopants, the local conductivity probed by microwave spectroscopy substantially exceeds the long-range conductivity obtained by four-point probe measurements. Interestingly, the dopant size substantially influences charge transport at high hole densities. We ascribe this effect to different propensities for forming bipolarons with lower mobilities than polarons. Comparison of GNR transport and spectral properties to other prototypical π-conjugated semiconductors (e.g., semiconducting polymers or carbon nanotubes) benchmark the charge transport properties of GNR thin films for optoelectronic devices and applications.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Design Initiative for a 10 TeV pCM Wakefield Collider

This document outlines a community-driven Design Study for a 10 TeV pCM Wakefield Accelerator Collider. The 2020 ESPP Report emphasized the need for Advanced Accelerator R&D, and the 2023 P5 Report calls for the ``delivery of an end-to-end design concept, including cost scales, with self-consistent parameters throughout." This Design Study leverages recent experimental and theoretical progress resulting from a global R&D program in order to deliver a unified, 10 TeV Wakefield Collider concept. Wakefield Accelerators provide ultra-high accelerating gradients which enables an upgrade path that will extend the reach of Linear Colliders beyond the electroweak scale. Here, we describe the organization of the Design Study including timeline and deliverables, and we detail the requirements and challenges on the path to a 10 TeV Wakefield Collider.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Shape evolution in neutron-rich Rh isotopes: First measurement of negative-parity isomers in 117,119 Rh

The β-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy of neutron-rich 117,119 Rh isotopes has been investigated at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of RIKEN. The 1/2 − isomers in 117,119 Rh have been identified for the first time. The systematics of energy differences between the 9/2 + and 1/2 − states have been extended up to N = 74, which shows a tendency to first increase with the neutron number N, then reach a maximum at N ≈ 68, and subsequently decrease. Self-consistent triaxial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (TRHB) calculations highlight the crucial role of triaxial deformation, particularly in the positive-parity states, in driving the observed evolution of energy differences. A shape transition from axially symmetric to triaxial and back to symmetric deformation is suggested along the Rh isotopic chain. These findings provide new insights into the structure of neutron-rich nuclei in the A ∼ 110 region and motivate further studies of exotic isotopes in this region to explore the interplay between triaxiality and shell evolution.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

High precision tests of QCD without scale or scheme ambiguities: The 40th anniversary of the Brodsky–Lepage–Mackenzie method

A key issue in making precise predictions in QCD is the uncertainty in setting the renormalization scale μ r and thus determining the correct values of the QCD running coupling α s (μ r ) at each order in the perturbative expansion of a QCD observable. It has often been conventional to simply set the renormalization scale to the typical scale of the process Q and vary it in the range μ r $\in$ [Q/2, 2Q] in order to estimate the theoretical error. This is the practice of Conventional Scale Setting (CSS). The resulting CSS prediction will however depend on the theorist’s choice of renormalization scheme and the resulting pQCD series will diverge factorially. It will also disagree with renormalization scale setting used in QED and electroweak theory thus precluding grand unification. A solution to the renormalization scale-setting problem is offered by the Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC), which provides a systematic way to eliminate the renormalization scale-and-scheme dependence in perturbative calculations. The PMC method has rigorous theoretical foundations, it satisfies Renormalization Group Invariance (RGI) and preserves all self-consistency conditions derived from the renormalization group. The PMC cancels the renormalon growth, reduces to the Gell-Mann–Low scheme in the N c → 0 Abelian limit and leads to scale- and scheme-invariant results. The PMC has now been successfully applied to many high-energy processes. In this article we summarize recent developments and results in solving the renormalization scale and scheme ambiguities in perturbative QCD. In particular, we present a recently developed method the PMC ∞ and its applications, comparing the results with CSS. The method preserves the property of renormalizable SU(N)/U(1) gauge theories defined as Intrinsic Conformality (iCF). This property underlies the scale invariance of physical observables and leads to a remarkably efficient method to solve the conventional renormalization scale ambiguity at every order in pQCD. This new method reflects the underlying conformal properties displayed by pQCD at NNLO, eliminates the scheme dependence of pQCD predictions and is consistent with the general properties of the PMC. A new method to identify conformal and β-terms, which can be applied either to numerical or to theoretical calculations is also shown. We present results for the thrust and C-parameter distributions in e + e - annihilation showing errors and comparison with the CSS. We also show results for a recent innovative comparison between the CSS and the PMC ∞ applied to the thrust distribution investigating both the QCD conformal window and the QED N c → 0 limit. In order to determine the thrust distribution along the entire renormalization group flow from the highest energies to zero energy, we consider the number of flavors near the upper boundary of the conformal window. In this flavor-number regime the theory develops a perturbative infrared interacting fixed point. These results show that PMC ∞ leads to higher precision and introduces new interesting features in the PMC. In fact, this method preserves with continuity the position of the peak, showing perfect agreement with the experimental data already at NNLO. We also show a detailed comparison of the PMC ∞ with the other PMC approaches: the multi-scale-setting approach (PMCm) and the single-scale-setting approach (PMCs) by comparing their predictions for three important fully integrated quantities R e+e- , R$_Τ$ and Γ (H→$b\bar{b}$) up to the four-loop accuracy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Electron kinetics in a high- Z plasmoid

The problem of the electron dynamics on a closed magnetic field line passing through a high-Z plasmoid is considered. The electron kinetic equation is integrated over bounce motion and pitch angle, reducing the independent variables to a single adiabatic invariant plus time. Integration of the full Landau self-collision operator is carried out exactly, resulting in a nonlinear integro-differential operator in the new invariant. Conservation laws and the H theorem of the integrated self-collision operator are proven. Numerical solutions of the integrated kinetic equation are obtained with a self-consistent quasineutral electric potential, given the initial condition of a cold plasmoid immersed in a hot ambient plasma. The fact that cold electrons are deeply trapped in a potential with a parabolic peak leads to exactly 3/4 the usual rate of collisional heating by the ambient plasma, independent of any other parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Spin-crossover complexes: Self-interaction correction vs density correction

Complexes containing a transition metal atom with a 3d 4 –3d 7 electron configuration typically have two low-lying, high-spin (HS) and low-spin (LS) states. The adiabatic energy difference between these states, known as the spin-crossover energy, is small enough to pose a challenge even for electronic structure methods that are well known for their accuracy and reliability. In this work, we analyze the quality of electronic structure approximations for spin-crossover energies of iron complexes with four different ligands by comparing energies from self-consistent and post-self-consistent calculations for methods based on the random phase approximation and the Fermi–Löwdin self-interaction correction. Considering that Hartree–Fock densities were found by Song et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 14, 2304 (2018), to eliminate the density error to a large extent, and that the Hartree–Fock method and the Perdew–Zunger-type self-interaction correction share some physics, we compare the densities obtained with these methods to learn their resemblance. Here, we find that evaluating non-empirical exchange-correlation energy functionals on the corresponding self-interaction-corrected densities can mitigate the strong density errors and improves the accuracy of the adiabatic energy differences between HS and LS states.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2023

Self-consistent implementation of locally scaled self-interaction-correction method

Recently proposed local self-interaction correction (LSIC) method is a one-electron self-interaction-correction (SIC) method that uses an iso-orbital indicator to apply the SIC at each point in space by scaling the exchange–correlation and Coulomb energy densities. The LSIC method is exact for the one-electron densities, also recovers the uniform electron gas limit of the uncorrected density functional approximation, and reduces to the well-known Perdew–Zunger SIC (PZSIC) method as a special case. This article presents the self-consistent implementation of the LSIC method using the ratio of Weizsäcker and Kohn–Sham kinetic energy densities as an iso-orbital indicator. The atomic forces as well as the forces on the Fermi-Löwdin orbitals are also implemented for the LSIC energy functional. Results show that LSIC with the simplest local spin density functional predicts atomization energies of the AE6 dataset better than some of the most widely used generalized-gradient-approximation (GGA) functional and barrier heights of the BH6 database better than some of the most widely used hybrid functionals. The LSIC method [a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.008 Å] predicts bond lengths of a small set of molecules better than the PZSIC-LSDA (MAE 0.042 Å) and LSDA (0.011 Å). Furthermore, this work shows that accurate results can be obtained from the simplest density functional by removing the self-interaction-errors using an appropriately designed SIC method.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2023

Assessing the source of error in the Thomas–Fermi–von Weizsäcker density functional

We investigate the source of error in the Thomas–Fermi–von Weizsäcker (TFW) density functional relative to Kohn–Sham density functional theory (DFT). In particular, through numerical studies on a range of materials, for a variety of crystal structures subject to strain and atomic displacements, we find that while the ground state electron density in TFW orbital-free DFT is close to the Kohn–Sham density, the corresponding energy deviates significantly from the Kohn–Sham value. Here, we show that these differences are a consequence of the poor representation of the linear response within the TFW approximation for the electronic kinetic energy, confirming conjectures in the literature. In so doing, we find that the energy computed from a non-self-consistent Kohn–Sham calculation using the TFW electronic ground state density is in very good agreement with that obtained from the fully self-consistent Kohn–Sham solution.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2024

Self-consistent optimization of the z expansion for B -meson decays

We discuss the self-consistency imposed by the analyticity of regular parts of form factors, appearing in the z expansion for semileptonic B -meson decays, when fitted in different kinematic regions. Relying on the uniqueness of functions defined by analytic continuation, we propose four metrics which measure the departure from the ideal analytic self-consistency. We illustrate the process using Belle data for B → D ℓ ν ℓ with the two kinematic regions chosen as the five low- z and the five high- z bins. For this specific example, the metrics provide consistent indications that some choices (order of truncation, Boyd-Grinstein-Lebed or Bourrely-Caprini-Lellouch) made in the form of the z expansion can be optimized. However, other choices ( z origin, location of isolated poles and threshold constraints) appear to have very little effect on these metrics. On the other hand, changing the kinetic regions affects the results and should also be considered in the optimization process. We briefly discuss the implication for optimization of the z expansion for nucleon form factors relevant for neutrino oscillation experiments. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Self-Consistent Simulation of the Excitation of Compressional Alfvén Eigenmodes and Runaway Electron Diffusion in Tokamak Disruptions

Alfvénic modes in the current quench (CQ) stage of the tokamak disruption have been observed in experiments. In DIII-D the excitation of these modes is associated with the presence of high-energy runaway electrons (REs), and a strong mode excitation is often associated with the failure of RE plateau formation. In this work we present results of self-consistent kinetic-MHD simulations of RE-driven compressional Alfvén eigenmodes (CAEs) in DIII-D disruption scenarios, providing an explanation of the CQ modes. Simulation results reveal that high energy trapped REs can have resonance with the Alfvén mode through their toroidal precession motion, and the resonance frequency is proportional to the energy of REs. The mode frequencies and their relationship with the RE energy are consistent with experimental observations. Further, the perturbed magnetic fields from the modes can lead to spatial diffusion of REs including the nonresonant passing ones, thus providing the theoretical basis for a potential approach for RE mitigation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Theoretical Coupling of Free-Flowing Ions and Magnetically Insulated Electrons

Magnetic insulation of electrons prevents losses and can be applied to generating radiation or electron sources for high current and high power applications. Ion emission from the anode may degrade magnetic insulation. We develop equilibrium theory, self-consistently coupling magnetically insulated electron flow with free-flowing injected ions. Generally, ion injection is self-limiting from space charge; however, once insulation strength drops below about 1.2x the magnetic insulation threshold, ion space-charge limits vanish. Further, the gap effectively short-circuits and the electron flow layer asymptotically approaches the anode. In this regime a quasineutral, nonthermal plasma manifests, effectively reducing gap distance and suggesting quasiequilibrium gap closure evolution.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Quasiparticle self-consistent GW band structures and phase transitions of LiAlO 2 in tetrahedrally and octahedrally coordinated structures

In this work, a first-principles computational study is presented of various phases of LiAlO 2 . The relative total energies and equations of state of the α, β, and γ phases are determined after structural relaxation of each phase. The β and γ tetrahedral phases are found to be very close in energy and lattice volume with the γ phase having the lowest energy. The octahedral α phase is a high-pressure phase and the transition pressure from the γ and β phases to α is determined to be about 1 GPa. The electronic band structures of each phase at their own equilibrium volume are determined using the quasiparticle self-consistent (QS) GW method as well as using the 0.8 Σ approach in which the QS GW self-energy is reduced by a factor of 0.8 to correct for the underscreening of W in QS GW. The effective masses of the band edges and the nature of the band gaps are presented. The lowest energy γ phase is found to have a pseudodirect gap of 7.69 eV. The gap is direct at Γ but corresponds to a dipole forbidden transition. The imaginary part of the dielectric function and the absorption coefficient are calculated in the long-wavelength limit and the random phase approximation, without local field or electron-hole interaction effects for each phase, and their anisotropies are discussed. Si doping on the Al site is investigated as a possible n-type dopant in γ-LiAlO 2 using a 128-atom supercell corresponding to 3.125% Si on the Al sublattice in the generalized gradient approximation and a smaller 16-atom cell with 25% Si in the QS GW approximation. The Si is found to significantly perturb the conduction band and lower the gap but a clearly separated deep donor defect level is not found. However, the donor binding energy is still expected to be relatively deep, on the order of a few tenths eV in the hydrogenic effective mass approximation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Signals of a New Gauge Boson from IceCube and Muon $g-2$

A $Z'$ boson associated with a broken $U(1)_{L_{\mu} - L_{\tau}}$ gauge symmetry offers an economical solution to the long-standing $g_\mu-2$ anomaly, confirmed and strengthened by recent measurements at Fermilab. Here, we revisit the impact of such a $Z'$ on the spectrum of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, as measured by the IceCube experiment. This spectrum has been observed to exhibit a dip-like feature at $E_{\nu} \sim 0.2-1 \, {\rm PeV}$, which could plausibly arise from the physics of the sources themselves, but could also be the consequence of high-energy neutrinos resonantly scattering with the cosmic neutrino background, mediated by a $Z'$ with a mass on the order of $m_{Z'} \sim 10 \, {\rm MeV}$. In this study, we calculate the impact of such a $Z'$ on the high-energy neutrino spectrum for a variety of model parameters and source distributions. For couplings that can resolve the $g_{\mu}-2$ anomaly, we find that this model could self-consistently produce a spectral feature that is consistent with IceCube's measurement, in particular if the neutrinos observed by IceCube predominantly originate from high-redshift sources.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗