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DOE OSTI2025

Graph reinforcement learning for exploring model spaces beyond the standard model

We present a methodology for performing scans of beyond the standard model (BSM) parameter spaces with reinforcement learning. We identify a novel procedure using graph neural networks that is capable of exploring spaces of models without the user specifying a fixed particle content, allowing broad classes of BSM models to be explored—in theory, the technique is applicable to nearly any model space with a prespecified gauge group. We provide a generic procedure by which a suitable graph grammar can be developed for any BSM model that features user-specified symmetry groups and a finite number of different possible particle species, the use of which is applicable to a variety of machine learning tasks over the actions of BSM theories beyond our particular reinforcement learning use case. As a proof of concept, we construct the graph grammar for theories with vectorlike leptons that may or may not be charged under a dark U ( 1 ) group, inspired by portal matter extensions of the sub-GeV vector portal/kinetic mixing simplified dark matter models. We then use this graph grammar to create a reinforcement learning environment tasked with creating models with these vectorlike leptons that are consistent with a list of a variety of precision observables. The reinforcement learning agent succeeds in developing models that can address the observed muon anomalous magnetic moment discrepancy while remaining consistent with flavor violation and electroweak precision observables, including both constructions that have previously been studied as well as new models that have not, to our knowledge, previously been identified. By inspecting the resulting ensembles of models that the agent produces and experimenting with different configurations for our reinforcement learning environment and graph grammar, we also infer various lessons about the development of these environments that can be transferable to reinforcement learning scans of more complicated model spaces and comment on future directions for the development of this technique into a more mature tool. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Wojcik, George N.↗

DOE OSTI2017

Measurements of properties of the Higgs boson decaying into the four-lepton final state in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=13 $ TeV

Properties of the Higgs boson are measured in the H → ZZ → 4ℓ (ℓ = e, μ) decay channel. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=13 $ TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{−1}$ is used. The signal strength modifier μ, defined as the ratio of the observed Higgs boson rate in the H → ZZ → 4ℓ decay channel to the standard model expectation, is measured to be μ = 1.05$_{− 0.17}^{+ 0.19}$ at m$_{H}$ = 125.09 GeV, the combined ATLAS and CMS measurement of the Higgs boson mass. The signal strength modifiers for the individual Higgs boson production modes are also measured. The cross section in the fiducial phase space defined by the requirements on lepton kinematics and event topology is measured to be 2. 92$_{− 0.44}^{+ 0.48}$ (stat)$_{− 0.24}^{+ 0.28}$ (syst)fb, which is compatible with the standard model prediction of 2.76 ± 0.14 fb. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading associated jet. The Higgs boson mass is measured to be m$_{H}$ = 125.26 ± 0.21 GeV and the width is constrained using the on-shell invariant mass distribution to be Γ$_{H}$ < 1.10 GeV, at 95% confidence level.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Electroweak interactions in Nucleons and Nuclei

The neutrino oscillation experiments are being performed using detectors having moderate to heavy nuclear targets like $^{12}{C}$, $^{16}{O}$, $^{40}{Ar}$, $^{56}{Fe}$, $^{208}{Pb}$, etc. to get a reasonably good number of events. Many present-day neutrino experiments are taking data in the few GeV (1 $\leq$ E$_{\nu}$ $\leq$ 10 GeV) energy region of neutrinos and antineutrinos to which some of the neutrino oscillation parameters are sensitive and required to understand CP violation in the lepton sector. This is the energy region which is most intriguing as it receives the contribution from the Quasielastic Scattering~(QE), Inelastic Scattering(IE), Shallow Inelastic Scattering (SIS) and the Deep Inelastic Scattering~(DIS) processes. This thesis details three different studies: \begin{itemize} \item First, a DIS study was performed with the MINERvA experiment at the Fermilab. MINERvA is a dedicated neutrino and antineutrino cross-section measurement experiment and uses (anti)neutrino beams in the two energy runs {\it viz.} the low energy run~(the peak of which lies $\sim$ 3 GeV) and the medium energy run(the peak lies at $\sim$ 6 GeV). The MINERvA experiment is using several nuclear targets like $^{4}$He, $^{12}$C, $^{16}$O, $^{56}$Fe and $^{208}$Pb and the aim is to perform EMC~(European Muon Collaboration experiment using charged lepton beam on several nuclear targets) kind of measurements to understand the nuclear medium effects in both the neutrino and antineutrino modes in the wide region of Bjorken scaling variable $x$, and the four-momentum transfer squared $Q^2$, covering the quasielastic, inelastic, and the deep inelastic scattering regions. In the medium energy region, it is expected that more than 30\% of the events would arise due to DIS processes. \item Second part of the thesis includes the analysis of the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory(INO) atmospheric neutrino experiment. This work is dedicated to studying atmospheric neutrino and ant ineutrino oscillation parameters in the INO experiment. We present the ICAL sensitivity to confirm a non-zero value of the difference in atmospheric mass squared of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos i.e. ($|\Delta m^{2}_{32}|$-$|\Delta\overline{m^{2}}_{32}|$). \item Third, the theoretical work that was performed at the Aligarh Muslim University. This work has been performed keeping in mind the theoretical development of a model that will describe the associated particle production induced by photons, electrons, neutrinos, and antineutrinos. We have studied the associated particle production induced by photons which receive the contributions from the non-resonant terms and from the nucleon, hyperon, and kaon resonances. \end{itemize}

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Implications of the first AMS-02 measurement for dark matter annihilation and decay

In light of the first measurement of the positron fraction by the AMS-02 experiment, we perform a detailed global analysis on the interpretation of the latest data of PAMELA, Fermi-LAT, and AMS-02 in terms of dark matter (DM) annihilation and decay in various propagation models. The allowed regions for the DM particle mass and annihilation cross section or decay life-time are obtained for channels with leptonic final states: 2e, 2μ, 2τ, 4e, 4μ and 4τ. We show that for the conventional astrophysical background the AMS-02 positron fraction data alone favour a DM particle mass ∼ 500(800) GeV if DM particles annihilate dominantly into 2μ(4μ) final states, which is significantly lower than that favoured by the Fermi-LAT data of the total flux of electrons and positrons. The allowed regions by the two experiments do not overlap at a high confidence level (99.99999%C.L.). We consider a number of propagation models with different halo height Z{sub h}, diffusion parameters D{sub 0} and δ{sub 1/2}, and power indices of primary nucleon sources γ{sub p1/p2}. The normalization and the slope of the electron background are also allowed to vary. We find that the tension between the two experiments can be only slightly reduced in the propagation model with large Z{sub h} and D{sub 0}. The consistency of fit is improved for annihilation channels with 2τ and 4τ final states which favour TeV scale DM particle with large cross sections above ∼ 10{sup −23} cm{sup 3}s{sup −1}. In all the considered leptonic channels, the current data favour the scenario of DM annihilation over DM decay. In the decay scenario, the charge asymmetric DM decay is slightly favoured.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

W ± -boson production in p–Pb collisions at $ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $ = 8.16 TeV and Pb–Pb collisions at $ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $ = 5.02 TeV

The production of the W ± bosons measured in p–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV and Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented. The W ± bosons are measured via their muonic decay channel, with the muon reconstructed in the pseudorapidity region -4 < η$_{lab}^{μ}$ < -2.5 with transverse momentum p$_{T}^{μ}$ > 10 GeV/c. While in Pb–Pb collisions the measurements are performed in the forward (2.5 < y$_{cms}^{μ}$ < 4) rapidity region, in p–Pb collisions, where the centre-of-mass frame is boosted with respect to the laboratory frame, the measurements are performed in the backward (-4.46 < y$_{cms}^{μ}$ < -2.96) and forward (2.03 < y$_{cms}^{μ}$ < 3.53) rapidity regions. The W - and W + production cross sections, lepton-charge asymmetry, and nuclear modification factors are evaluated as a function of the muon rapidity. In order to study the production as a function of the p–Pb collision centrality, the production cross sections of the W - and W + bosons are combined and normalised to the average number of binary nucleon–nucleon collision $\langle$N coll $\rangle$. In Pb–Pb collisions, the same measurements are presented as a function of the collision centrality. Study of the binary scaling of the W ± -boson cross sections in p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions is also reported. The results are compared with perturbative QCD calculations, with and without nuclear modifications of the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs), as well as with available data at the LHC. Significant deviations from the theory expectations are found in the two collision systems, indicating that the measurements can provide additional constraints for the determination of nuclear PDFs and in particular of the light-quark distributions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Polarized e-p elastic scattering in the collider frame

Double polarization elastic e-vector-p-vector cross sections and asymmetries are considered in collider kinematics. Covariant expressions are derived for the general situation involving crossed beams; these are checked against the well-known results obtained when the proton is at rest. Results are given using modern models for the proton electromagnetic form factors for kinematics of interest in e-p colliders such as the Electron-Ion Collider facility which is in its planning stage. In context, parity-violating elastic e-vector-p scattering is compared and contrasted with these double-polarization (parity-conserving) results.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Demonstration of cooling by the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment

The use of accelerated beams of electrons, protons or ions has furthered the development of nearly every scientific discipline. However, high-energy muon beams of equivalent quality have not yet been delivered. Muon beams can be created through the decay of pions produced by the interaction of a proton beam with a target. Such ‘tertiary’ beams have much lower brightness than those created by accelerating electrons, protons or ions. High-brightness muon beams comparable to those produced by state-of-the-art electron, proton and ion accelerators could facilitate the study of lepton–antilepton collisions at extremely high energies and provide well characterized neutrino beams. Such muon beams could be realized using ionization cooling, which has been proposed to increase muon-beam brightness. Here we report the realization of ionization cooling, which was confirmed by the observation of an increased number of low-amplitude muons after passage of the muon beam through an absorber, as well as an increase in the corresponding phase-space density. The simulated performance of the ionization cooling system is consistent with the measured data, validating designs of the ionization cooling channel in which the cooling process is repeated to produce a substantial cooling effect. The results presented here are an important step towards achieving the muon-beam quality required to search for phenomena at energy scales beyond the reach of the Large Hadron Collider at a facility of equivalent or reduced footprint.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Muon Collider Forum report

A multi-TeV muon collider offers a spectacular opportunity in the direct exploration of the energy frontier. Offering a combination of unprecedented energy collisions in a comparatively clean leptonic environment, a high energy muon collider has the unique potential to provide both precision measurements and the highest energy reach in one machine that cannot be paralleled by any currently available technology. The topic generated a lot of excitement in Snowmass meetings and continues to attract a large number of supporters, including many from the early career community. In light of this very strong interest within the US particle physics community, Snowmass Energy, Theory and Accelerator Frontiers created a cross-frontier Muon Collider Forum in November of 2020. The Forum has been meeting on a monthly basis and organized several topical workshops dedicated to physics, accelerator technology, and detector R&D. Findings of the Forum are summarized in this report.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Collider signatures of the SO(5)xU(1) gauge-Higgs unification

Collider signatures of the SO(5)xU(1) gauge-Higgs unification model in the Randall-Sundrum warped space are explored. Gauge couplings of quarks and leptons receive small corrections from the fifth dimension whose effects are tested by the precision data. It is found that the forward-backward asymmetries in e{sup +}e{sup -} collisions on the Z pole are well explained in a wide range of the warp factor z{sub L}, but the model is consistent with the branching fractions of Z decay only for large z{sub L} > or approx. 10{sup 15}. Kaluza-Klein (KK) spectra of gauge bosons, quarks, and leptons as well as gauge and Higgs couplings of low-lying KK excited states are determined. Right-handed quarks and leptons have larger couplings to the KK gauge bosons than left-handed ones. Production rates of Higgs bosons and KK states at the Tevatron, LHC, and International Linear Collider are evaluated. The first KK Z has a mass 1130 GeV with a width 422 GeV for z{sub L}=10{sup 15}. The current limit on the Z' production at the Tevatron and LHC indicates z{sub L}>10{sup 15}. A large effect of parity violation appears in the difference between the rapidity distributions of e{sup +} and e{sup -} in the decay of the first KK Z. The first KK gauge bosons decay into light and heavy quarks evenly.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Optimization of Extinction Efficiency in the 8-GeV Mu2e Beam Line

A muon-to-electron conversion experiment at Fermilab, Mu2e, is being designed to probe for new physics beyond the standard model at mass scales up to 10{sup 4} TeV. For this experiment, the advance in experimental sensitivity will be four orders of magnitude when compared to existing data on charged lepton flavor violation. The muon beam will be produced by delivering a proton beam contained in short 100-ns bunches onto a muon production target, with an inter-bunch separation of about 1700 ns. A critical requirement of the experiment is to ensure a low level of background at the muon detector consistent with the required sensitivity. To meet the sensitivity requirement, protons that reach the target between bunches must be suppressed by an enormous factor, so that an extinction factor, defined as a number of background protons between main bunches per proton in such a bunch, should not exceed 10{sup -9}. This paper describes the advanced beam optics and results of numerical modeling with STRUCT and MARS codes for a beam line with a collimation system that allows us to achieve the experimental extinction factor of one per billion.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Hints for a nonstandard Higgs boson from the LHC

We reconsider Higgs boson invisible decays into Dark Matter in the light of recent Higgs searches at the LHC. Present hints in the Compact Muon Solenoid and ATLAS data favor a nonstandard Higgs boson with approximately 50% invisible branching ratio, and mass around 143 GeV. This situation can be realized within the simplest thermal scalar singlet Dark Matter model, predicting a Dark Matter mass around 50 GeV and direct detection cross section just below present bound. The present runs of the Xenon100 and LHC experiments can test this possibility.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Search for Neutral Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model Higgs Bosons Decaying to Tau Pairs Produced in Association with b Quarks in pp Collisions at {radical}(s)=1.96 TeV

We report results from a search for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b quarks using data recorded by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7.3 fb{sup -1}. This production mode can be enhanced in several extensions of the standard model (SM) such as in its minimal supersymmetric extension (MSSM) at high tan{beta}. We search for Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs with one tau decaying to a muon and neutrinos and the other to hadrons. The data are found to be consistent with SM expectations, and we set upper limits on the cross section times branching ratio in the Higgs boson mass range from 90 to 320 GeV/c{sup 2}. We interpret our result in the MSSM parameter space, excluding tan{beta} values down to 25 for Higgs boson masses below 170 GeV/c{sup 2}.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Type-II seesaw dominance in nonsupersymmetric and split-supersymmetry SO(10) models and proton lifetime

Recently type-II seesaw in a supersymmetricSO(10) framework has been found useful in explaining large solar and atmospheric mixing angles as well as a larger value of {theta}{sub 13} while unifying quark and lepton masses. An important question in these models is whether there exists consistency between coupling unification and type-II seesaw dominance. Scenarios where this consistency can be demonstrated have been given in a SUSY framework. In this paper we give examples where type-II dominance occurs in SO(10) models without supersymmetry but with additional TeV-scale particles and also in models with split-supersymmetry. Grand unification is realized in a two step process via breaking of SO(10) to SU(5) and then to a TeV-scale standard model supplemented by extra fields and an SU(5) Higgs multiplet 15{sub H} at a scale of about 10{sup 12} GeV to give a type-II seesaw. The predictions for proton lifetime in these models are in the range {tau}{sub p}{sup 0}=2x10{sup 35} yrs. to 6x10{sup 35} yrs. A number of recent numerical fits to GUT-scale fermion masses can be accommodated within this model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Experimental and Phenomenological Investigations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly

This thesis covers a range of experimental and theoretical efforts to elucidate the origin of the $4.8\sigma$ MiniBooNE low energy excess (LEE). We begin with the follow-up MicroBooNE experiment, which took data along the BNB from 2016 to 2021. This thesis specifically presents MicroBooNE's search for $\nu_e$ charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) interactions consistent with two-body scattering. The two-body CCQE analysis uses a novel reconstruction process, including a number of deep-learning-based algorithms, to isolate a sample of $\nu_e$ CCQE interaction candidates with $75\%$ purity. The analysis rules out an entirely $\nu_e$-based explanation of the MiniBooNE excess at the $2.4\sigma$ confidence level. We next perform a combined fit of MicroBooNE and MiniBooNE data to the popular $3+1$ model; even after the MicroBooNE results, allowed regions in $\Delta m^2$-$\sin^2 2_{\theta_{\mu e}}$ parameter space exist at the $3\sigma$ confidence level. This thesis also demonstrates that the MicroBooNE data are consistent with a $\overline{\nu}_e$-based explanation of the MiniBooNE LEE at the $<2\sigma$ confidence level. Next, we investigate a phenomenological explanation of the MiniBooNE excess combining the $3+1$ model with a dipole-coupled heavy neutral lepton (HNL). It is shown that a 500 MeV HNL can accommodate the energy and angular distributions of the LEE at the $2\sigma$ confidence level while avoiding stringent constraints derived from MINER$\nu$A elastic scattering data. Finally, we discuss the Coherent CAPTAIN-Mills experiment--a 10-ton light-based liquid argon detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The background rejection achieved from a novel Cherenkov-based reconstruction algorithm will enable world-leading sensitivity to a number of beyond-the-Standard Model physics scenarios, including dipole-coupled HNLs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Probing CP violation in e + e - production of the Higgs boson and toponia

We study the CP violation in the Higgs boson and toponia production process at the ILC where the toponia are produced near the threshold. With the approximation that the production vertex of the Higgs boson and toponia is contact, and neglecting the P-wave toponia, we analytically calculated the density matrix for the production and decay of the toponia. Under these assumptions, the production spectrum of the toponia is solely determined by the spin quantum number, therefore the toponia can be either singlet or triplet. We find that the production rate of the singlet toponium is highly suppressed, and behaves just like the production of a P-wave toponia. In the case of the triplet toponium, three completely independent CP observables, namely azimuthal angles of lepton and antilepton in the toponium rest-frame as well as their sum, are predicted based on our analytical results, and checked by using the tree-level event generator. The non-trivial correlations come from the longitudinal-transverse interferences for the azimuthal angles of leptons, and the transverse-transverse interference for their sum. These three observables are well defined at the ILC, where the rest frame of the toponium can be reconstructed directly. Furthermore, the QCD-strong corrections, which are important near the threshold region, are also studied with the approximation of spin-independent QCD-Coulomb potential. While the total cross section is enhanced, the spin correlations predicted in this paper are not affected.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2015

An emerging class of gamma-ray flares from blazars: Beyond one-zone models

Blazars radiate from relativistic plasma jets with bulk Lorentz factors Γ∼10, closely aligned along our line of sight. In a number of blazars of the flat-spectrum radio quasar type, such as 3C 454.3 and 3C 279, gamma-ray flares have recently been detected with very high luminosity and few or no counterparts in the optical and soft X-ray bands. They challenge the current one-zone leptonic models of emissions from within the broad-line region (BLR). The latter envisage the optical/X-ray emissions to be produced as synchrotron radiation by the same population of highly relativistic electrons in the jet that would also yield the gamma rays by inverse Compton upscattering of surrounding soft photons. To meet the challenge, we present here a model based on primary synchrotron photons emitted in the BLR by a plasmoid moving out with the jet and scattered back toward the incoming plasmoid by an outer plasma clump acting as a mirror. We consider both a scenario based on a static mirror located outside the BLR and an alternative provided by a moving mirror geometry. We show that mirroring phenomena can locally enhance the density and anisotropy with associated relativistic boosting of soft photons within the jet, so as to trigger bright inverse Compton gamma-ray transients from nearly steady optical/X-ray synchrotron emissions. In this picture we interpret the peculiarly asymmetric light curves of the recently detected gamma-ray flares from 3C 279. Our scenario provides a promising start to understanding the widening class of bright and transient gamma-ray activities in blazars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Recent highlights from GENIE v3

Abstract The release of GENIE v3.0.0 was a major milestone in the long history of the GENIE project, delivering several alternative comprehensive neutrino interaction models, improved charged-lepton scattering simulations, a range of beyond the Standard Model simulation capabilities, improved experimental interfaces, expanded core framework capabilities, and advanced new frameworks for the global analysis of neutrino scattering data and tuning of neutrino interaction models. Steady progress continued following the release of GENIE v3.0.0. New tools and a large number of new physics models, comprehensive model configurations, and tunes have been made publicly available and planned for release in v3.2.0. This article highlights some of the most recent technical and physics developments in the GENIE v3 series.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Future Muon Colliders, Higgs and Neutrino Factories

Over the past two decades there has been significant progress in developing the concepts and technologies needed to produce, capture, accelerate and collide high intensity beams of muons. At present, a high-luminosity multi-TeV muon collider presents an attractive and very cost-effective option for the next generation lepton-lepton collider, which can allow to fully explore the energy frontier of high energy particle physics in the era following the LHC discoveries. Of growing interest is also a low-energy μ+μ- collider – Higgs factory - at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}$=125 GeV that will produce copious number of Higgs particles and explore their properties in greater detail. Synergetic to the collider is the neutrino factory concept that is based on racetrack type muon-decay ring production of the neutrinos. Below we briefly review the concepts and feasibility of the muon accelerator facilities for particle physics research, discuss the status of the corresponding accelerator R&D, and outline directions of the future work.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗