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DOE OSTI2021

The physics potential of a reactor neutrino experiment with Skipper CCDs: Measuring the weak mixing angle

We analyze in detail the physics potential of an experiment like the one recently proposed by the vIOLETA collaboration: a kilogram-scale Skipper CCD detector deployed 12 meters away from a commercial nuclear reactor core. This experiment would be able to detect coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering from reactor neutrinos, capitalizing on the exceptionally low ionization energy threshold of Skipper CCDs. To estimate the physics reach, we elect the measurement of the weak mixing angle as a case study. We choose a realistic benchmark experimental setup and perform variations on this benchmark to understand the role of quenching factor and its systematic uncertainties, background rate and spectral shape, total exposure, and reactor antineutrino flux uncertainty. We take full advantage of the reactor flux measurement of the Daya Bay collaboration to perform a data driven analysis which is, up to a certain extent, independent of the theoretical un- certainties on the reactor antineutrino flux. We show that, under reasonable assumptions, this experimental setup may provide a competitive measurement of the weak mixing angle at few MeV scale with neutrino-nucleus scattering.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

New avenues for |∆ B | = 2 processes beyond neutron-antineutron oscillations

We explore baryon-number-violating (|∆ B | = 2) processes beyond the well-known neutron-antineutron ($n - \bar{n}$) oscillations, focusing on the $Λ - \bar{Λ}$ system. The presence of a strange quark in the Λ baryon introduces a new set of six-quark operators roughly of the form (uds) 2 , which are different from the (udd) 2 operators responsible for oscillations. Using the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), we classify all dimension-9 operators that cause |∆ B | = 2 transitions and study their UV completions mediated by exotic scalar fields with trilinear interactions. We demonstrate that in these models, oscillations can occur at tree level, with $n - \bar{n}$ mixing potentially appearing at higher loop levels. We employ a chiral effective theory to constrain the effective mass mixing δm Λ , deriving bounds from current experimental limits on $n - \bar{n}$ oscillations and dinucleon decays such as pp → K + K + . These bounds indicate that $Λ - \bar{Λ}$ oscillations probe a complementary parameter space, sensitive to baryon-number violation at scales up to 10 2 − 10 3 TeV. We show that the existing indirect bounds make it challenging to provide a competitive bound on δm Λ at BESIII.

Baryon/Lepton Number Violation↗
DOE OSTI2021

Light quark Yukawas in triboson final states

Triple heavy vector boson production, pp → VVV (V = W, Z), has recently been observed for the first time. We propose that precision measurements of this process provide an excellent probe of the first generation light quark Yukawa couplings. Modified quark interactions with the off-shell Higgs in this process lead to a rapid growth of the partonic cross sections with energy, which manifests in an enhanced p T distribution of the final state leptons and quarks. We quantify this effect and estimate the present and future 2σ sensitivity to the up, down, and strange Yukawas. In particular, we find that HL-LHC can reach $\mathscr{O}$(400) sensitivity to the down Yukawa relative to the Standard Model value, improving the current sensitivity in this process by a factor of 10, and which can be further improved to $\mathscr{O}$(30) at FCC-hh. This is competitive with and complementary to constraints from global fits and other on-shell probes of the first generation Yukawas. The triboson sensitivity at HL-LHC corresponds to probing dimension-6 SMEFT operators suppressed by an $\mathscr{O}$(1) TeV scale, similarly to other LHC Higgs probes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Prospects for strong coupling measurement at hadron colliders using soft-drop jet mass

We compute the soft-drop jet-mass distribution from pp collisions to NNLL accuracy while including nonperturbative corrections through a field-theory based formalism. Using these calculations, we assess the theoretical uncertainties on an αs precision measurement due to higher order perturbative effects, nonperturbative corrections, and PDF uncertainty. We identify which soft-drop parameters are well-suited for measuring αs, and find that higher-logarithmic resummation has a qualitatively important effect on the shape of the jet-mass distribution. We find that quark jets and gluon jets have similar sensitivity to αs, and emphasize that experimentally distinguishing quark and gluon jets is not required for an αs measurement. We conclude that measuring αs to the 10% level is feasible now, and with improvements in theory a 5% level measurement is possible. Getting down to the 1% level to be competitive with other state-of-the-art measurements will be challenging.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solar parameters in long-baseline accelerator neutrino oscillations

Long-baseline (LBL) accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments, such as NOvA and T2K in the current generation, and DUNE-LBL and HK-LBL in the coming years, will measure the remaining unknown oscillation parameters with excellent precision. These analyses assume external input on the so-called “solar parameters,” θ 12 and $Δm^{2}_{21}$, from solar experiments such as SNO, SK, and Borexino, as well as reactor experiments like KamLAND. Here we investigate their role in long-baseline experiments. We show that, without external input on $Δm^{2}_{21}$ and θ 12 , the sensitivity to detecting and quantifying CP violation is significantly, but not entirely, reduced. Thus long-baseline accelerator experiments can actually determine $Δm^{2}_{21}$ and θ 12 , and thus all six oscillation parameters, without input from any other oscillation experiment. In particular, $Δm^{2}_{21}$ can be determined; thus DUNE-LBL and HK-LBL can measure both the solar and atmospheric mass splittings in their long-baseline analyses alone. While their sensitivities are not competitive with existing constraints, they are very orthogonal probes of solar parameters and provide a key consistency check of a less probed sector of the three-flavor oscillation picture. Furthermore, we also show that the true values of $Δm^{2}_{21}$ and θ 12 play an important role in the sensitivity of other oscillation parameters such as the CP violating phase δ.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The pp → W(→ lν) + γ process at next-to-next-to-leading order

We present details of the calculation of the pp → W(→ lν)γ process at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD, calculated using the jettiness slicing method. The calculation is based entirely on analytic amplitudes. Because of the radiation zero, the NLO QCD contribution from the gq channel is as important as the contribution from the Born $ q\overline{q} $ process, disrupting the normal counting of leading and sub-leading contributions. We also assess the importance of electroweak (EW) corrections, including the EW corrections to both the six-parton channel 0 →$ \overline{u} d\nu {e}^{+}\gamma g $ and the five-parton channel 0 →$ \overline{u} d\nu {e}^{+}\gamma $. Previous experimental results have been shown to agree with theoretical predictions, taking into account the large experimental errors. With the advent of run II data from the LHC, the statistical errors on the data will decrease, and will be competitive with the error on theoretical predictions for the first time. We present numerical results for $ \sqrt{s} $ = 7 and 13 TeV. Analytic results for the one-loop six-parton QCD amplitude and the tree-level seven-parton QCD amplitude are presented in appendices.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Global analysis of $μ → e$ interactions in the SMEFT

We study current experimental bounds on charged lepton flavor violating (CLFV) μ – e interactions in the model-independent framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). Assuming a generic flavor structure in the quark sector, we consider the contributions of CLFV operators to low-energy observables, including μ → eγ and μ → e conversion for quark-flavor conserving operators and CLFV meson decays for quark-flavor violating operators. At high energy, we consider limits on CLFV decays of the Higgs and Z bosons and of the top quark, and obtain bounds on operators with light quarks by recasting searches for production of eμ pairs in pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We connect observables at low- and high-energy by taking into account renormalization group running and matching between CLFV operators. We also discuss the sensitivity of the future Electron-Ion Collider, where the prospective bounds are derived by imposing simple cuts on final state particles. We find that, in a single operator scenario, bounds on purely leptonic operators are dominated by μ → eγ and μ → e conversion. Semileptonic operators with down-type quarks are also dominantly constrained by low-energy observables, while LHC searches lead the bounds on up-type quark-flavor violating operators. Taking simplified multiple-coupling scenarios, we show that it is easy to evade the strongest low-energy bounds from spin-independent μ → e conversion, and that collider searches are competitive and complementary to constraints from spin-dependent μ → e conversion and other low-energy probes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Probing lepton flavor violation at Circular Electron-Positron Colliders

Lepton flavor violation is one of the cleanest probes of physics beyond the standard model. In this work, we explore the sensitivity of the process e + e – → τμ to new physics above the TeV scale at the proposed circular electron-positron colliders FCC-ee and CEPC. We compute the e + e – → τμ cross-section in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory and assess the relevant backgrounds. We compare our sensitivity projections to existing and expected constraints from tau decays and Z decays and find that the future electron-positron colliders provide competitive probes of new physics. We highlight the complementarity of searches for resonant e + e – → Z → τμ production on the Z pole and searches for non-resonant e + e – → τμ at higher center-of-mass energies.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evidence for the charge asymmetry in $pp$ → $t\bar{t}$ production at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Inclusive and differential measurements of the top–antitop ($t\bar{t}$) charge asymmetry ${A}_{C}^{t\bar{t}}$ and the leptonic asymmetry ${A}_{C}^{\ell\bar{\ell}}$ are presented in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement uses the complete Run 2 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 , combines data in the single-lepton and dilepton channels, and employs reconstruction techniques adapted to both the resolved and boosted topologies. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to correct for detector resolution and acceptance effects. The combined inclusive $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry is measured to be ${A}_{C}^{t\bar{t}}$ = 0.0068 ± 0.0015, which differs from zero by 4.7 standard deviations. Differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the $t\bar{t}$ system. Both the inclusive and differential measurements are found to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions, at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The measurements are interpreted in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory, placing competitive bounds on several Wilson coefficients.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

One-loop analysis of β decays in SMEFT

We perform a loop-level analysis of charged-current (CC) processes involving light leptons and quarks within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). This work is motivated by the high precision reached in experiment and Standard Model calculations for CC decays of mesons, neutron, and nuclei, and by a lingering tension in the Cabibbo universality test. We identify the SMEFT operators that induce the largest loop-level contributions to CC processes. These include four-quark and four-fermion semileptonic operators involving two third-generation quarks. We discuss the available constraints on the relevant effective couplings and along the way we derive new loop-level bounds from K → πν$\overline{v}$ on four-quark operators involving two top quarks. We find that low-energy CC processes are quite competitive with other probes, set constraints that do not depend on flavor-symmetry assumptions, and probe operators involving third-generation quarks up to effective scales of Λ ≃ 8 TeV. Finally, we briefly discuss single-field ultraviolet completions that could induce the relevant operators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Expected sensitivity of the Light Dark Matter eXperiment to long-lived dark photons and axion-like particles

The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) is an electron-beam fixed-target experiment primarily designed to achieve world-leading, model-independent sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter particles. LDMX aims to identify dark sector particle production through the detection of events with substantial missing energy and momentum, a signature of invisible particles escaping detection. Beyond this primary objective, LDMX offers a complementary search strategy for long-lived, visibly decaying particles, such as dark photons and axion-like particles. We present the first detailed evaluation of the ability of LDMX to identify visibly decaying, long-lived particles that couple to electrons using a detailed simulation, based on the Geant 4-toolkit, that incorporates realistic detection efficiencies and background levels. We demonstrate that LDMX can achieve a sensitivity that is competitive with other experiments that are currently running. The models explored in this paper are distinct and complementary to those probed in the LDMX flagship missing-momentum analysis. Through searching for both invisible dark matter and visibly decaying long-lived signatures, LDMX will significantly advance the search for light dark matter and provide a broad exploration of the sub-GeV dark sector.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Akesson, Torsten [Lund U.] (ORCID:0000000341415408↗
DOE OSTI2020

Searching for the Higgsino-Bino sector at the LHC

We study the search for electroweakinos at the 13 TeV LHC in the case of heavy scalar superpartners. We consider both the direct production mode and the one associated with the decay of heavy Higgs bosons, and concentrate on the case of light Higgsinos and Binos. In this case, the direct production searches becomes more challenging than in the light Wino scenario. In the direct production mode, we use the current experimental searches to set the reach for these particles at larger luminosities, and we emphasize the relevance of considering both the neutral gauge boson and the neutral Higgs decay modes of the second and third lightest neutralino. We show the complementarity of these searches with the ones induced by the decay of the heavy Higgs bosons, which are dominated by the associated production of the lightest neutralino with the second and third lightest ones, with the latter decaying into gauge bosons. We show that, depending on the value of tan β , the Higgs boson decay channel remains competitive with the direct production channel up to heavy Higgs boson masses of about 1 TeV. Moreover, this search is not limited by the same kinematic considerations as the ones in the direct production mode and can cover masses up to the kinematic threshold for the decay of the heavier electroweakinos into the lightest neutralino. This decay mode provides also an alternative way of looking for heavy Higgs bosons in this range of masses and hence should be a high priority for future LHC analyses.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Collisions of localized shocks and quantum circuits

We study collisions between localized shockwaves inside a black hole interior. We give a holographic boundary description of this process in terms of the overlap of two growing perturbations in a shared quantum circuit. The perturbations grow both exponentially as well as ballistically. Due to a competition between different physical effects, the circuit analysis shows dependence on the transverse locations and exhibits four regimes of qualitatively different behaviors. On the gravity side we study properties of the post-collision geometry, using exact calculations in simple setups and estimations in more general circumstances. We show that the circuit analysis offers intuitive and surprisingly accurate predictions about gravity computations involving non-linear features of general relativity.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Radon-induced backgrounds in the NEXT-100 experiment

The NEXT-100 detector at the LSC aims at the first competitive search for the 0νββ decay using a high-pressure $^{136}$Xe electroluminescent time projection chamber. The first low-background run of NEXT-100 at 3.95 bar has been devoted to the measurement of the radon-induced backgrounds impacting this search. The contributions from both the internal and external airborne radon have been evaluated. The internal $^{222}$Rn activity is found to be (0.95±0.04(stat)±0.09(sys)) Bq/m$^{3}$, while no traces of $^{220}$Rn have been observed. Most of the $^{222}$Rn progeny plate-out on the surface of the cathode of the detector, leading to a rate of Rn-induced $^{214}$Bi of (0.97±0.05(stat)±0.10(sys)) Hz for visible energies above 400 keV. The corresponding background index in the 0νββ region of interest is evaluated as (7.3±1.5(stat)±0.8(sys))×10$^{−4}$ counts/(keV·kg·yr) after selection of the fully contained events. This background index is reduced to ∼4×10$^{−5}$ counts/(keV·kg·yr) by applying a topological selection requiring only one double-electron-like track in the events. This value is one order of magnitude below the total radiogenic background expectation in NEXT-100. By analyzing the correlation of the airborne radon activity and the measured rate of events in NEXT-100, it is concluded that the detector operates in a virtually radon-free environment thanks to the radon abatement system of the LSC.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Cortes-Parra, C. [Valencia U., IFIC] (ORCID:000000↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using DUNE to shed light on the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos

We study future DUNE sensitivity to various electromagnetic couplings of neutrinos, including magnetic moments, milli-charges, and charge radii. The DUNE PRISM capabilities play a crucial role in constraining the electron flavored couplings. We find that DUNE will be able to place the strongest beam based constraint on the muon-neutrino magnetic moment by improving on LSND’s bounds by roughly a factor of two, although Borexino’s constraint from solar neutrinos will be stronger. For the muon neutrino millicharge DUNE can place the leading beam based bound, with two orders of magnitude improvement compared to the existing COHERENT constraint, suggesting that DUNE can be useful for light mediators more generally. Despite this strength, the millicharge bounds are not competitive with strong bounds from stellar cooling, beta-decay, and matter stability. Finally, DUNE may be able to test the SM prediction for the muon neutrino charge radius, by placing a constraint two times better than CHARM-II and CCFR experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Aligned yet large dipoles: a SMEFT study

We study a non-universal flavor scenario at the level of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, according to which the matrix of Wilson coefficients cuW of an up-type electroweak quark dipole operator is aligned with the up-type Yukawa coupling. Such an alignment usually follows from the assumption of Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV), away from which we step by allowing the entries of cuW to be sizable along the first quark generations. A particular example, which we refer to as “inverse hierarchy MFV”, features Wilson coefficients inversely proportional to quark masses, and arises from BSM models respecting MFV and containing heavy fields that replicate the mass hierarchy of SM quarks. We then analyze the phenomenology driven by cuW at colliders and at lower-energy flavor experiments. We show that precision measurements of the process pp → Wh → γγℓν at FCC-hh could set an upper bound on |cuW| ≲ O (10 -2 )(Λ/TeV) 2 , with Λ the cutoff of the effective field theory. This bound is an order of magnitude stronger than the existing LHC bounds. Moreover, we estimate that Wh → b$\overline{b}$ℓν at HL-LHC could also give competitive bounds. In the low-energy regime, we consider bounds arising from rare kaon decays, which turn out to be loose, |c$_{uW}^{11}$ | < O (1)(Λ/TeV) 2 . We finally demonstrate that our flavor and operator assumptions can be derived from a weakly-coupled UV model, which we choose to simultaneously illustrate the UV origin of inverse hierarchy MFV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for direct production of GeV-scale resonances decaying to a pair of muons in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV

A search for direct production of low-mass dimuon resonances is performed using $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment during the 2017–2018 operation of the CERN LHC with an integrated luminosity of 96.6 fb$^{−1}$. The search exploits a dedicated high-rate trigger stream that records events with two muons with transverse momenta as low as 3 GeV but does not include the full event information. The search is performed by looking for narrow peaks in the dimuon mass spectrum in the ranges of 1.1–2.6 GeV and 4.2–7.9 GeV. No significant excess of events above the expectation from the standard model background is observed. Model-independent limits on production rates of dimuon resonances within the experimental fiducial acceptance are set. Competitive or world’s best limits are set at 90% confidence level for a minimal dark photon model and for a scenario with two Higgs doublets and an extra complex scalar singlet (2HDM+S). Values of the squared kinetic mixing coefficient ε$^{2}$ in the dark photon model above 10$^{−6}$ are excluded over most of the mass range of the search. In the 2HDM+S, values of the mixing angle sin(θ$_{H}$) above 0.08 are excluded over most of the mass range of the search with a fixed ratio of the Higgs doublets vacuum expectation tan β = 0.5.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Coral and Seawater Metagenomes Reveal Key Microbial Functions to Coral Health and Ecosystem Functioning Shaped at Reef Scale

The coral holobiont is comprised of a highly diverse microbial community that provides key services to corals such as protection against pathogens and nutrient cycling. The coral surface mucus layer (SML) microbiome is very sensitive to external changes, as it constitutes the direct interface between the coral host and the environment. Here, we investigate whether the bacterial taxonomic and functional profiles in the coral SML are shaped by the local reef zone and explore their role in coral health and ecosystem functioning. The analysis was conducted using metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) associated with the coral Pseudodiploria strigosa and the water column from two naturally distinct reef environments in Bermuda: inner patch reefs exposed to a fluctuating thermal regime and the more stable outer reefs. The microbial community structure in the coral SML varied according to the local environment, both at taxonomic and functional levels. The coral SML microbiome from inner reefs provides more gene functions that are involved in nutrient cycling (e.g., photosynthesis, phosphorus metabolism, sulfur assimilation) and those that are related to higher levels of microbial activity, competition, and stress response. In contrast, the coral SML microbiome from outer reefs contained genes indicative of a carbohydrate-rich mucus composition found in corals exposed to less stressful temperatures and showed high proportions of microbial gene functions that play a potential role in coral disease, such as degradation of lignin-derived compounds and sulfur oxidation. The fluctuating environment in the inner patch reefs of Bermuda could be driving a more beneficial coral SML microbiome, potentially increasing holobiont resilience to environmental changes and disease.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗