You are here: Home Webinars Elusives

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: Tuesday February 13th @16:00 (CET)  

Speaker: Guillem Domènech (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

Title: Gravitational waves from primordial fluctuations.

Abstract: Whenever there are fluctuations in the universe, there is inevitably a secondary production of GWs. And we know for a fact that the very early universe was filled with primordial fluctuations, most likely generated by cosmic inflation. Some of these fluctuations are the seeds of all the structure we see today in the universe, like stars and galaxies. Other larger fluctuations may have collapsed to form primordial black holes. The so-called secondary, or induced, gravitational waves are the cosmic messenger of primordial fluctuations on the smallest scales and a crucial signature of primordial black hole scenarios. In this talk, I will provide a general overview of my works on induced gravitational waves and discuss how we can use them to probe the primordial universe. At the end, I will focus on signals from the primordial black hole dominated early universe.

Slides: files/IGW_IFT_HIDDEN-Guillem-Domenech.pdf

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: Tuesday 7th November 2023 @16:00 (CET)  

Speaker: Kevin Zhou (Stanford University)

Title: Electromagnetism and Gravity with Continuous Spin.

Abstract: Powerful general arguments allow only a few families of long-range interactions, exemplified by gauge field theories of electromagnetism and gravity. However, all of these arguments presuppose that massless fields have zero spin scale and hence a single boost invariant helicity. I will present a Lagrangian formalism describing interactions of matter particles with bosonic "continuous spin" fields with nonzero spin scale, and thereby an infinite number of helicity modes. Remarkably, physical observables such as forces and radiation emission are well approximated by familiar theories in the ultraviolet, with calculable, universal, and observable deviations at low frequencies and long distances. Furthermore, scattering amplitudes feature novel, nontrivial analytic structures which ensure they remain finite and unitary. These infrared modifications to familiar forces, long thought impossible, may shed light on the hierarchy and cosmological constant problems.

Slides:  files/Slides-ZHOU.pdf

  

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: Tuesday April 18th, 2023 @16:00 (CEST) 

Speaker:  Nathaniel Craig (University of California Santa Bárbara) 

Title: Muon Colliders as Invisibles Factories. 

Abstract: Muon colliders have recently attracted considerable attention as potential successors to the LHC. In this talk, I’ll summarize the highlights and lowlights of high-energy muon colliders, emphasizing the sense in which these colliders are "invisibles factories” that can provide unprecedented access to dark sectors, dark matter, and neutrinos. In addition to presenting recent results, I’ll survey some of the many opportunities for further study. 

Slides:  soon

Date and time: April 5th @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker: Laura Lopez-Honorez (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Title:  Freeze-in, SuperWIMPs and Primordial Black holes as possible sources of Non-cold dark matter.

Abstract:  Dark matter (DM) represents 80% of the matter budget of the Universe and up until now its nature is unknown. Even if the DM would interact very feebly with the SM, even gravitationally only, it could leave a distinctive imprint on cosmology observables due to free-streaming at early times. In my talk in particular I will discuss the case of DM arising from Freeze-in and superWIMP production mechanisms as well as primordial black hole evaporation. I will detail how in the later cases one can easily recast existing constraints from Lyman-alpha forest observations on thermal warm dark matter into those (non thermal) Non Cold DM scenarios, and discuss the complementarity between such a bound with other particle physics or cosmology constraints.

Slides: files/HiDDen-LLH.pdf

Time and date: Tuesday December 1st @ 16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Julia Harz (TUM)

Title: Constraining lepton-number violating interactions in rare kaon decays.

Abstract: The nature of neutrinos and especially the origin of their masses are crucial open questions in particle physics. If neutrinos are of Majorana type, lepton-number violating (LNV) interactions areexpected. In this context, neutrinoless double beta decay is considered to be the most sensitive probe, however, it is sensitive to LNV interactions among first generation fermions only. I will
discuss the possibility to constrain lepton-number violating operators with the rare kaon decay K→πνν. Within the Standard Model effective field theory with only light active Majorana neutrinos, I will present limits on the scale of new physics based on the results of the past E949 experiment as well as on the currently operating experiments NA62 and KOTO. I will discuss the specific signature of scalar currents in K→πνν arising from the LNV nature of the operators and their implications on the experimental sensitivity, stressing the need for dedicated searches for beyond the SM currents.

Slides: files/Hidden2020_-Julia-Harz-TUM.pdf

Video: https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/8d58484b32bf4f26aef6f6a2127e4d19

Time and date: Tuesday November 17th @ 16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Juraj Klaric (EPFL)

Title: Uniting low-scale leptogeneses

Abstract: The origin of the light neutrino masses and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe remain some of the biggest open questions of particle physics. Both of these problems can be solved if we extend the standard model by two right-handed neutrinos. The light neutrino masses can be generated through the type-I seesaw mechanism, and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe through leptogenesis. In this talk we will demonstrate that what was previously considered as different mechanisms of baryon asymmetry generation involving two right-handed Majorana neutrinos with masses far below the GUT scale— leptogenesis via neutrino oscillations and resonant leptogenesis—are actually united. We show that the observed baryon asymmetry can be generated for all experimentally allowed values of the right-handed neutrino masses above M ~100 MeV. We will also show that leptogenesis is effective in a broad range of the parameters, including mass splitting between two right-handed neutrinos as big as ∆M/M ∼0.1, as well as mixing angles between the heavy and light neutrinos large enough to be accessible to planned intensity experiments or future colliders.

Slides: files/UnitingLeptogneses.pdf

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3z3hhecnbdt8584/AACDXL_XDKerhRYJvcXXHN5Ra/17_11_2020_JurajKlarik?dl=0&preview=collab-recording.mp4&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

Speaker: Ivan Esteban (University of the Basque Country - UPV/EHU)

Title: Accreting neutron stars: the potential third MeV astrophysical neutrino source.

Abstract: Common-envelope evolution — where a star is engulfed by a companion — is critical for, e.g., the formation of gravitational-wave sources. However, it remains poorly understood theoretically, and it has been extremely challenging to identify observable signatures. In this talk, I will show that for systems involving a neutron star, the hypothesized super-Eddington accretion onto the neutron star produces MeV-range, months-long neutrino signals within reach of present and planned detectors. While there are substantial uncertainties on the rate of such event and the total neutrino luminosity, this signal can only be found if dedicated new searches are developed. If detected, the neutrino signal would lead to significant new insights into the astrophysics of common-envelope evolution and, potentially, into particle physics too.

Slides: files/Ivan-Esteban.pdf

Speaker: Isabel Oldengott ( Louvain U., CP3.)

Title: Cosmic QCD epoch at large lepton flavour asymmetries.

Abstract: The new era of gravitational waves measurements offers a way to obtain insight into the evolution the Universe before big bang nucleosynthesis. Of particular interest are the electroweak (EW) epoch at roughly 100 GeV and the epoch of quantum-chromodynamics (QCD) at roughly 150 MeV.  While according to the standard model of particle physics both transitions are expected to be cross-overs, there are many non-standard scenarios leading to a first-order cosmic EW transition but only a few that could lead to a first-order cosmic QCD transition. I will discuss how large lepton flavour asymmetries impact the cosmic trajectory during the QCD epoch. Lepton asymmetry is one of the key parameters to understand the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry but also one of the most poorly constrained cosmological parameters. I will introduce two different methods to calculate the cosmic trajectory including large lepton flavour asymmetries, one using results from lattice QCD and another one using results from functional QCD.

Slides: files/Oldengott.pdf

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR:  5th December 2023 @16:00 (CET)  

Speaker: Alejandro Jenkins (Gdansk and Costa Rica) 

Title: Cosmology without scalars: Inflation, reheating, and baryogenesis in a superfluorescent Universe. 

Abstract: Based on the Markovian master equation for a localized system embedded in de Sitter (dS) space, we find that the dS vacuum acts as a thermal bath at the Gibbons-Hawking temperature h / 2 \pi, where h is the Hubble parameter.  An observer in the "cosmic rest frame" measures a background energy density proportional to h^4 (Stefan-Boltzmann law).  By extending this result adiabatically to non-constant h and including the bath's contribution in the Friedmann equations, we arrive at a picture of the irreversible relaxation of the cosmological constant (h -> 0) and a graceful exit to inflation.  Thermal particle production during inflation gives adiabatic, Gaussian, and approximately scale-invariant cosmological perturbations.  No separate reheating phase is needed and the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry can be obtained with fewer parameters than in previous models of gravitational baryogenesis.  This offers a simple and viable cosmology for the very early Universe without requiring any scalar fields, not even an inflaton. 

Slides: files/Cosmo-HIDDeN-23.key-Jenkins.pdf

  

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR:  September 19th, 2023 @16:00 (CEST)  

Speaker: Valerie Domcke (CERN & EPFL, Lausanne)

Title: Gravitational waves from metastable cosmic strings.

Abstract: Many symmetry breaking patterns in grand unified theories (GUTs) give rise to cosmic strings that eventually decay when pairs of GUT monopoles spontaneously nucleate along the string cores. These strings are known as metastable cosmic strings and have intriguing implications for particle physics and cosmology. In this talk, I discuss the current status of metastable cosmic strings, with a focus on possible GUT embeddings and connections to inflation, neutrinos, and gravitational waves (GWs). The GW signal emitted by a network of metastable cosmic strings in the early universe differs, in particular, from the signal emitted by topologically stable strings by a suppression at low frequencies. Therefore, if the underlying symmetry breaking scale is close to the GUT scale, the resulting GW spectrum can be accessible at current ground-based interferometers as well as at future space-based interferometers, such as LISA, and at the same time account for the signal in the most recent pulsar timing data sets. Metastable cosmic strings thus nourish the hope that future GW observations might shed light on fundamental physics close to the GUT scale.

Slides: files/invisibles_metastable_strings-V-Domcke.pdf

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: June 13th, 2023 @16:00 (CEST)  

 

Speaker: Manibrata Sen (Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg) 

   

Title: Opening the chamber of secrets to revive the sterile neutrino dark matter.

   

Abstract: Sterile neutrinos with masses around a few keV have been postulated to be viable dark matter candidates. This is, however, mostly in tension with various astrophysical observations, the most stringent being the X-ray bounds. In this talk, I would like to present a testable sterile neutrino dark matter production mechanism in the early universe. The idea is to introduce a light scalar particle that mediates self-interactions among the Standard Model neutrinos. Such interactions enable the sterile neutrinos to be more efficiently produced in the early universe, thus alleviating the tensions. These new interactions are stronger than the weak interactions and hence can be tested in future neutrino experiments. Apart from laboratory bounds, these interactions also lead to exciting signatures in the early Universe as well as core-collapse supernovae. 

  

Slides: files/KeVSterileDM_Hidden_Sen.pdf

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: Tuesday May 23rd 2023 @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker: Camilo García-Cely (IFIC, Valencia)

Title: Selection rules for the detection of gravitational waves in axion haloscopes.

Abstract:  Gravitational waves generate oscillating electromagnetic effects in the vicinity of external electric and magnetic fields. I will show how this phenomenon allows to use certain axion haloscopes as detectors of gravitational waves in the 100 kHz - 100 MHz range. Then, I will discuss a set of selection rules which determine the parametric sensitivity of different detector geometries to axions and gravitational waves. In particular, I will argue that optimizing for the axion signal in detectors with cylindrical symmetry eliminates the leading-order contribution of the gravitational-wave signal, and show how small modifications can remedy this.

Slides: files/hiddenWebinar_Camilo_Garcia-Cely.pdf

HIDDeN & ASYMMETRY WEBINAR: Tuesday March 7th, 2023 @16:00 (CET)

Speaker:  Marco Gorghetto (Weizmann Institute)

Title: Post-inflationary axions: gravitational waves, targets for haloscopes, and substructure

Abstract: If the Peccei-Quinn symmetry associated to an axion-like particle has ever been restored after inflation, axion strings and domain walls inevitably form. I will argue that these topological defects can have interesting experimental and observational consequences. In particular, if the axion decay constant is larger than 10^14 GeV, the strings produce an observable stochastic gravitational wave background. In other theories, the contribution to the relic abundance from domain walls allows an axion with a relatively small decay constant, and therefore a possibly large coupling to photons, to comprise the full dark matter abundance. The relic axions are produced with a spatial distribution that might lead to the formation of dark matter small-scale structure, which, in some cases, forms in a regime such that quantum pressure is relevant.

Slides:  files/Gorghetto.pdf

HIDDeN WEBINAR: Tuesday January 31st, 2023 @16:00 (CET)

Speaker:  Isabel García García (IAS Princeton & NYU)

Title: "Reflections on Bubble Walls"

Abstract: We discuss the dynamics of expanding bubble walls in the presence of massive dark photons whose mass changes as they cross the wall. For sufficiently thin walls, we show that there exists a transient kinematic regime characterized by a constant reflection probability of longitudinal -- but not transverse -- modes. This effect can have important implications for the dynamics of expanding vacuum bubbles in the early Universe. Most notably, it leads to a new source of pressure on the expanding interface, featuring a non-monotonic dependence on the γ-factor of the bubble walls and reaching a peak at intermediate γ-factors that we dub Maximum Dynamic Pressure. When this pressure is large enough to halt the acceleration of the bubble walls, the difference in vacuum energy densities goes into making a fraction of the dark photons relativistic, turning them into dark radiation. If the dark radiation remains relativistic until late times, an observable contribution to ΔN is possible for phase transitions with strength α ∼ 0.01 - 0.1.

Slides:  soon

HIDDeN WEBINAR: Tuesday  November 29th, 2022 @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: David Marzocca (INFN Trieste)

Title: What did the flavour anomalies teach us?

Abstract: In this talk I will discuss some lessons we learned working on new physics explanations for the flavour anomalies. After a review of the most relevant anomalies, I will briefly present some new physics scenarios that provide combined explanations, stressing the novel aspects and the main predictions they led to, both in flavour physics and at high-pT. Then, I will discuss some ideas that arose when trying to combine solutions of the flavour anomalies with outstanding puzzles of the Standard Model.

Slides: files/Marzocca.pdf

Date and time: Tuesday July 5th, 2022 @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker: Susanne Westhoff (Radboud University)

Title: Dark matter and long-lived particles.

Abstract:  Long-lived particles are a frequent prediction in realistic scenarios for dark matter. In this webinar I will explain how we search for long-lived particles at laboratory experiments and what these searches tell us about dark matter. My focus will be on dark sectors around the MeV-GeV scale, which leave signatures at colliders, at fixed-target experiments and even in cosmic air showers. I will show how particle physics and cosmology play together to probe the hypothesis of feebly interacting dark matter.

Slides:files/HIDDeN-westhoff.pdf

Date and time: Tuesday October 25th, 2022 @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker: Clara Murgui (Caltech)

Title: "Atom Interferometer Tests of Dark Matter"

Abstract:  Direct detection experiments for dark matter are increasingly ruling out large parameter spaces. However, light dark matter models with particle masses << GeV are still largely unconstrained. Here we examine a proposal to use atom interferometers to detect a light dark matter subcomponent at sub-GeV masses. We describe the decoherence and phase shifts caused by dark matter scattering off of one "arm" of an atom interferometer using a generalized dark matter direct detection framework. This allows us to consider multiple channels: nuclear recoils, hidden photon processes, and axion interactions. We apply this framework to several proposed atom interferometer experiments. Because atom interferometers are sensitive to extremely low momentum deposition and their coherent atoms give them a boost in sensitivity, these experiments will be highly competitive and complementary to other direct detection methods.

Slides: files/CLara_Murgui_AIsHidden-compressed.pdf

Date and time: Tuesday 31st May @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker:  Ennio Salvioni (CERN & Padua U.)

Title: Gegenbauer Goldstones

Abstract: I will discuss a new class of potentials for pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGBs) arising from the spontaneous breaking of a non-Abelian SO(N) global symmetry. These potentials take the form of Gegenbauer polynomials and are radiatively stable. I will use them to build new pNGB Higgs scenarios, “Gegenbauer Higgs” and “Gegenbauer’s Twin”, that can significantly reduce the fine-tuning compared to previous constructions. In particular, the second model can realize fully natural electroweak symmetry breaking consistently with current LHC measurements, and predicts large corrections to the Higgs cubic coupling that may be observed at the High-Luminosity phase of the LHC.

Slides: files/Ennio_Salvioni_Talk_HiddeN.pdf

Date and time: May 3rd @16:00 (CEST)

Speaker: Martin Bauer (IPPP & Durham University)

Title: ALP searches with Flavour and Collider observables.

Abstract:  Pseudo Nambu Goldstone bosons or axionlike particles (ALPs) can be light remnants of a heavy new physics sector.

The UV structure of this sector determines the coupling structure of the ALPs. Light ALPs are strongly constrained from beam-dump searches and astrophysical observables and ALPs with masses close to the electroweak scale can be discovered with resonance searches.

I will discuss different techniques to discover ALPs in the intermediate mass range with a special focus on long-lived ALPs.  Flavour observables can be particularly relevant in this mass region and I will discuss the RGE running of ALP couplings from the UV scale to the low energy scale to show how flavor violating couplings are generated.

Slides: 

Date and time: Tuesday,  February 15th @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Tracy Slatyer (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Title: Thermal Squeezeout for Strongly Interacting Dark Matter

Abstract:  I will discuss the potential importance of a dark-sector phase transition in the early universe in setting the measured relic abundance, for a simple model of strongly interacting dark matter. Enhancement of the dark matter density within shrinking pockets of the high-temperature phase leads to a dramatic reduction in the late-time dark matter abundance, allowing for much heavier dark matter than in the standard thermal freezeout scenario.

Slides: files/Squeezeout_HiDDeN_Feb2022_Slatyer.pdf

Date and time: Tuesday,  January 11th @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Zahra Tabrizi (Northwestern U.)

Title: EFT at FASERv: An experiment to probe them all.

Abstract: We will discuss how to systematically study physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in the neutrino experiments within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) framework. In this way, the analysis of the data can capture large classes of models, where the new degrees of freedom have masses well above the relevant energy of the experiment. Moreover, it allows us to compare several experiments in a unified framework and in a systematic way. Our proposed approach could be applied to several short- and long baseline neutrino experiments. We will show the results of this approach at the FASERv experiment, which will be soon installed 480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point. For some coupling structures, we find that these neutrino detectors will be able to constrain interactions that are almost three orders of magnitude weaker than the Standard Model weak interactions, implying that they will be indirectly probing new physics at the 10 TeV scale.

Slides: files/HiDDeNJan2022.pdf

Date and time: Tuesday,  December 14th @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Mikhail Shaposhnikov, EPFL Lausanne

Title: Quantum field theories without infinities and naturalness

Abstract: The standard way to do computations in Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is plagued by infinities and fine-tunings leading to the conception of "naturalness", which requires the cancellation of quadratic divergences by new particles with masses right above the Fermi scale. At the same time, the ultimate outcome of any QFT (the Standard Model in particular) is the prediction of all kinds of finite particle cross-sections in terms of a few finite input parameters (such as the mass of an electron and fine-structure constant in quantum electrodynamics). In this talk, I will describe how to relate the parameters of the theory to observables without running into divergences in Feynman diagrams. The existence of such a technique suggests that the "hierarchy problem" is not really physical, but rather an artifact of the conventional procedure of renormalisation of QFTs.

Slides: files/HiDDen_-Mikhail-Shaposhnikov.pdf

 

Date and time: Tuesday, November 30th @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Daniele Teresi, CERN

Title: Sliding Naturalness

Abstract: I will present a novel framework to solve simultaneously the electroweak hierarchy problem and the strong-CP problem. A small but finite Higgs vacuum expectation value and a small \thetaθ-angle are selected after the QCD phase transition, without relying on the Peccei-Quinn mechanism or other traditional solutions. This novel solution predicts a distinctive pattern of correlated signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter and axion experiments. I will then discuss other incarnations of the mechanism in more generality, with different phenomenology, and attempt to draw a (relatively) unified picture of cosmological approaches to the Higgs hierarchy problem.

Slides: files/Hidden--Daniele-Teresi-CERN.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7cRNHEA1qA&ab_channel=HIDDeNITN

Date and time: Tuesday November 16th @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Josef Pradler, Institute of High Energy Physics, Vienna, Austria

Title: The sunny side of dark matter direct detection

Abstract: The direct detection of light dark matter particles that are gravitationally bound to the galaxy represent an experimental challenge as their kinetic energy can fall below the energy scale for generating a visible signal, typically at the order of eV. In this talk I will review the idea that there is an irreducible contribution to the flux that got accelerated in the solar interior to keV energies, opening up the prospects of probing MeV-scale DM masses with the largest and cleanest direct detection constraints such as XENON1T.

Slides: files/2021HiddenWebinarPradler.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR0R1RnTwfQ&ab_channel=HIDDeNITN

Date and time: Tuesday, November 2nd @16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Vedran Brdar, Fermilab and Northwester U.

Title: Energy-Dependent Neutrino Mixing Parameters at Oscillation Experiments.

Abstract: One of the most important achievements in the field of particle physics was the discovery of neutrino oscillations. Despite already awarded Nobel Prize, neutrino oscillation experiments still have a lot to offer, primarily the discovery of CP violation in the lepton sector is anticipated. The expression for neutrino oscillation probabilities is composed of neutrino mixing parameters and mass squared differences. In this seminar, we argue that mixing parameters at the scale of neutrino production and detection do not necessarily need to coincide since such parameters are subject to renormalization group evolution and the two processes occur at different energies.

We discuss this in the frame of a particular UV compete realization and demonstrate that quantum effects can yield relevant observable effects at various neutrino experiments. As an example, we consider high-energy astrophysical neutrinos at IceCube and show that neutron decay production mechanism that is considered to be strongly disfavored by present data becomes viable if significant renormalization group effects are present. We also scrutinize terrestrial experiments and show that the mismatch between neutrino parameters at production and detection can induce large effects at T2K and NOvA.

Slides: files/Vedran.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmvOlxqoMgE&ab_channel=HIDDeNITN

Date and time: Tuesday, October 19th at 16:00 CET

Speaker: Mark Ross-Lonergan, Columbia University

Title: Search for anomalous single-photon production in MicroBooNE as a first test of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess.

Abstract: We report first results from a search for neutrino-induced neutral current (NC) resonant ∆(1232) baryon production followed by ∆ radiative decay. Data corresponding to MicroBooNE’s first three years of operations (6.80×1020protons on target) are used to select single-photon events with one or zero protons and without charged leptons in the final state. The background is constrained via an in-situ high-purity measurement of NC π0 events. This provides the world’s most sensitive search for NC Delta→Ngamma below 1 GeV, and a first test of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess under a single photon hypothesis.

Slides: files/HiDDENS_Webinar_Oct19_markrosslonergan.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-rhrXQpVX8&ab_channel=HIDDeNITN

Date and time: Tuesday, October 5th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Ilaria Brivio (Heidelberg University)

Title: The Neutrino Option

Abstract: The core idea of the Neutrino Option is that the Higgs potential of the SM could be naturally generated by loops of right-handed neutrinos, starting from a nearly-conformal condition in a very minimal type-I seesaw model. After introducing the generalities of this framework, I will discuss its compatibility with leptogenesis and I will give an overview of the plausible UV completions.

Slides: files/slides_HIDDeN_-I-Brivio.pdf

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_HYg-GIrIQ&ab_channel=HIDDeNITN

Date and time: Tuesday, June 8th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Gregorio Herdoiza (Institute for Theoretical Physics (IFT) UAM-CSIC)

Title: Hadronic contributions to the muon g-2

Abstract: The calculation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon involve sizable contributions from hadronic physics, whose uncertainties dominate the total error of the Standard Model prediction. In this talk, I will present the current status of the computations of these effects, based on data-driven dispersive methods and on lattice QCD+QED simulations. I will also indicate some of the ongoing consistency checks of these methods, and their prospects, aiming at consolidating the Standard Model result in view of the upcoming muon g-2 measurement updates by the Fermilab experiment.

Slides: files/herdoiza_hidden.pdf

Video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjDMzUFmHwE&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=9

 

Date and time: Tuesday, April 27th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Andreas Crivellin (CERN & University of Zurich & Paul Scherrer Institut)

Title: Discovering Lepton Flavour Universality Violating New Physics

Abstract: While the LHC has not discovered any new particles directly yet, hints for the violation of lepton flavour universality  (satisfied within the SM) accumulated in recent years. In particular, deviations from the SM predictions were observed in semi-leptonic B decays (b->sll and b->ctau), in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g-2), in leptonic tau decays and di-electron searches. Furthermore, also the deficit in first row CKM unitarity, known as the Cabibbo Angle Anomaly, can be interpreted as a sign of lepton flavour universality violation. In this talk I review the status of these anomalies and give an overview of the possible interpretations in terms of new physics models. 

Slides: files/Madrid2021_-Andreas-Crivellin.pdf

Video: https://zoom.us/rec/share/yq6qsdSq6z51sOhDKtQtynkYjbo7x6ULoowG-47JPDZIQ-sWMJ-yWZErudz-TuPG.nlyEl5dHxlyCqG1u

 

Date and time: Tuesday, April 13th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Jorge Martin Camalich (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)

Title: Implications of the new measurements of  b → sµµ decays

Abstract: I will give an overview of the current status of discrepancies with the SM that appear in  b > s mumu decays and which would imply a breakdown of lepton universality in nature. In particular, I will describe the implications of the new measurements of RK and Bq > mumu.

Slides: files/talkCamalich.pdf

Video: https://zoom.us/rec/share/TzW2_ctEDM4V63BbveyLQSwLWYOwTfhj6Ixx7Yy2aWZkWS7jwZgyg0x-7rXgvLsu.OPDDBDiIZL712aVB

 

Date and time: Tuesday, March 30th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Rick. S. Gupta (IPPP Durham)

Title: A heavy axion 'massless up' from partial compositeness

Abstract: We show that QCD instantons can generate large effects at small length scales in the ultraviolet in standard composite Higgs models that utilise partial compositeness. This has important implications for possible solutions of the strong CP problem in these models. First, we show that in the simplest known UV completions of composite Higgs models, if an axion is also present, it can have a mass much larger than the usual QCD axion. Even more remarkable is the case where there are no axions, but the strong CP problem can be solved by generating the up-quark mass entirely from the contribution of instantons thus reviving the massless up-quark solution for these models. In both cases no additional field content is required apart from what is required to realize partial compositeness.

Slides: files/Hidden-ITN-seminar_gupta.pdf

Video: https://zoom.us/rec/share/FrPN8GQqKNmMO-hfn2fIUJiZOQdtkbaT9LRzwtV4GVOJxNVFz-Utuy7IN6jlzcaL.fO6MWGZTh4M9IRZm

 

Date and time: Tuesday, March 16th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Jeff Dror (UC Santa Cruz)

Title: The Cosmic Axion Background

Abstract: Existing searches for cosmic axions relics have relied heavily on the axion being non-relativistic and making up dark matter. However, light axions can be copiously produced in the early Universe and remain relativistic today, thereby constituting a Cosmic axion Background (CaB).  In this talk I will discuss the production and detection of a CaB. Prototypical examples of axion sources are thermal production, dark-matter decay, parametric resonance, and topological defect decay. Each of these has a characteristic frequency spectrum that can be searched for in axion direct detection experiments. I will focus on the axion-photon coupling and study the sensitivity of current and future versions of ADMX, HAYSTAC, DMRadio, and ABRACADABRA to a CaB, finding that the data collected in search of dark matter can be repurposed to detect axion energy densities below limits set by measurements of the energy budget of the Universe. In this way, direct detection of relativistic relics offers a powerful new opportunity to learn about the early Universe and, potentially, discover the axion.

Slides: files/SeminarTalk_HiDDeN_Jeff_Dror.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4QTJbUMoDU&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=1

 

Date and time: Tuesday, March 2nd at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Tongyan Lin (UC San Diego)

Title: Dark matter scattering in dielectrics

Abstract: Direct detection experiments are rapidly advancing in the search for sub-GeV dark matter. As energy thresholds become lower, the many-body physics of a target material becomes increasingly important to understand in determining the dark matter signal. In this talk, I will show how dark matter scattering in dielectric materials can be understood in terms of the dielectric response. This provides both a useful conceptual framing, and also allows us to calculate several new effects. I will then discuss two applications: screening effects for dark matter electron scattering, and the Migdal effect in semiconductors.

Slides: files/2021_03_02_Tongyan-Lin.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vJgpLa4p2c&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=6

 

Date and time: Tuesday, February 16th at 16:00 CET

Speaker:  Jordi Salvado (Universidad de Barcelona)

Title: Long Range Interactions in Cosmology: Implications for Neutrinos

Abstract: Cosmology is well suited to study the effects of long range interactions due to the large densities in the early Universe. In this talk, we explore how the energy density and equation of state of a fermion system diverge from the commonly assumed ideal gas form under the presence of scalar long range interactions with a range much smaller than cosmological scales. In this scenario, “small”-scale physics can impact our largest-scale observations. As a benchmark, we apply the formalism to self-interacting neutrinos, performing an analysis to present and future cosmological data. Our results show that the current cosmological neutrino mass bound is fully avoided in the presence of a long range interaction, opening the possibility for a laboratory neutrino mass detection in the near future. We also demonstrate an interesting complementarity between neutrino laboratory experiments and the future EUCLID survey.

Slides: files/Long-Range-cosmo-nus.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlN5pRP0QxM&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=3

 

Time and date:  Tuesday, February 2nd @ 16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Matheus Hostert (University of Minnesota & Perimeter Institute)

Title: A Dark Seesaw at Low Energy Experiments

Abstract: Generic dark sectors can have a rich interplay with the origin of neutrino masses. In this talk, I will discuss an example, where heavy neutrinos in a low-scale seesaw are part of a secluded U(1)' sector. The interplay between the dark photon, heavy neutrinos, and scalars leads to a set of unexplored signatures in neutrino scattering, e+e− colliders, and kaon decay experiments. I will highlight applications of a renormalizable model to low-energy anomalies, including MiniBooNE and the (g-2) of the muon.

Slides: files/hidden_mhostert.pdf 

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJZeOc-cV0Q&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=8

 

Time and date:  Tuesday January 19th @ 16:00 (CET)

Speaker: Gilly Elor (University of Washington)

Title: Making the Universe at 20 MeV

Abstract: We present a testable mechanism of low-scale baryogenesis and dark matter production in which neither baryon nor lepton number are violated. Charged D mesons are produced out-of-equilibrium at tens of MeV temperatures. The D mesons quickly undergo CP-violating decays to charged pions, which then decay into dark-sector leptons without violating lepton number. To transfer this lepton asymmetry to the baryon asymmetry, the dark leptons scatter on additional dark-sector states charged under lepton and baryon number. Amusingly, this transfer proceeds without electroweak sphalerons, which are no longer active at such low scales. We present two example models which can achieve this transfer while remaining consistent with current limits. The required amount of CP violation in charged D meson decays, while currently allowed, will be probed by colliders. Additionally, the relevant decays of charged pions to dark-sector leptons have been constrained by the PIENU experiment and will be further explored in upcoming experiments.

Slides: soon

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORRTdCagqLo&list=PL8qaKDyx77Z2s7HrTROgoKguzyHG23a4n&index=2

 

Date and time: Monday December 14th at 11:00 CET

Speaker: Federica Pompa (UVEG ESR)

Title: Neutrino physics with the XENONnT experiment

Abstract: One of the most active fields in physics is the search for Dark Matter, for which the XENON Project is one of the main protagonists. The new XENONnT experiment, upgrade of the previous XENON1T, will be operative soon in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, in Italy. It is a multi-ton detector for direct search of Dark Matter, consisting of a double phase liquid-gas xenon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) containing about 6 tons of liquid xenon target mass. This TPC is enclosed into a Cryostat surrounded by two Veto systems instrumented with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) for muon and neutron tagging. The whole setup is inserted into a tank containing Gd-doped water, to suppress further the background in the TPC. Its aim, as that of its precursor, is to detect WIMPs elastic scattering on xenon nuclei through the measure of the light and charge signals produced by recoils in liquid xenon.Thanks to the large masses of water and xenon used, the XENONnT potential can be extended also to a different topics of particle and astroparticle physics, in particular to test its capabilities to detect neutrinos coming from Supernova explosions and to observe the Standard Model forbidden neutrinoless double beta decay.I will present the results of a Monte Carlo simulation to predict the XENONnT detection efficiencies for Supernova neutrino events as inverse beta decay interactions in the neutron and muon Vetoes.Then I will investigate the XENONnT power to detect neutrinoless double beta decay of the Xe-136 isotope by evaluating the electronic recoil background rate from Cryostat and PMTs in the energy region where we expect to observe this nuclear transition.

Slides:  files/HIDDeN_webinar_FP.pdf

Video: https://rediris.zoom.us/rec/share/weS1UskhhP5sorGqdOHfeDjOu3zP1FXCJD_TWIYE37BpZiGaCE8PGcaRRBst3yWx.JP7HNqTGXNBSZFWS 

Passcode: A=$0aVxS

 

Date and time: Monday, January 11th at 11:30 CET

Speaker: Gioacchino Piazza (CNRS ESR)

Title: Axion hot dark matter bound, reliably

Abstract: Axions originally emerged as low-energy remnants of the Peccei Quinn solution to the strong CP problem, but they also unavoidably contribute to the energy density of the Universe. The thermal axion population contributes to the effective number of extra relativistic degrees of freedom, whose value is constrained by cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments.

In the talk I will discuss axion thermalization at temperatures below 150 MeV, where the main thermalization channel is the axion-pion scattering. Based on the leading order (LO) axion-pion chiral effective field theory (EFT),  the highest attainable axion mass is approximately below the eV. However, this bound is found to be not reliable, since in a heat bath of 100 MeV the axion-pion scattering happens at center of mass energies above the validity of the 2-flavour chiral EFT.

To prove this, I will provide the full axion-pion thermalization rate to next-to-leading order, and show that the LO bound is indeed obtained by extrapolating the chiral expansion in a region of temperatures where the effective field theory breaks down.

Thus, in order to set targets for future CMB experiments, new strategies are required to obtain a reliable bound.

Slides:  files/Webinar_Gioacchino-Piazza.pdf

Video: http://ific.uv.es/~omena/HIDDEN_ESR/110121/

 

Date and time:  Monday January 24th @15:00 PM CET

Speaker: Salvador Rosauro ( CNRS ESR)

Title: Neutrino Electroweak Baryogenesis

Abstract: We investigate if the CP violation necessary for successful electroweak baryogenesis may be sourced by the neutrino Yukawa couplings. In particular, we consider an electroweak scale Seesaw realization with sizable Yukawas where the new neutrino singlets form (pseudo)-Dirac pairs, as in the linear or inverse Seesaw variants. We find that the baryon asymmetry obtained strongly depends on how the neutrino masses vary within the bubble walls. Moreover, we also find that flavour effects critically impact the final asymmetry obtained and that, taking them into account, the observed value may be obtained in some regions of the parameter space. This source of CP violation naturally avoids the strong constraints from electric dipole moments and links the origin of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe with the mechanism underlying neutrino masses. Interestingly, the mixing of the active and heavy neutrinos needs to be sizable and could be probed at the LHC or future collider experiments.

Slides:  files/nuEWBG_-Salvador-Rosauro.pdf

Date and time: Monday, December 20th at 11:00 AM CET.

Speaker:  Xavier Ponce INFN ESR

Title: ΔEFT: an Effective Field Theory of the Type-2 Seesaw Mechanism.

Abstract: In the Standard Model there are several unsolved puzzles that motivate different extensions with new fields. For instance, the Type-2 Seesaw Mechanism is introduced to explain why neutrino masses are so tiny, however, this model cannot explain other issues of the SM, e.g. Dark Matter. Thus, this theory could also be regarded as incomplete, needing another (heavy) field to solve other open questions of the SM. This motivates the construction of an expansion of the Type-2 Seesaw model to allow for dimension 5 and 6 operators. In this, talk I will present the basis of operators of SM fields + Type-2 Seesaw up to dimension 6 and show different ways of constraining this parameter space, discussing phenomenological pros and cons that this kind of extension can offer us.

Slides: files/PresentacionHiddenESR_PonceDiaz_Xavier.pdf

Date and time: Monday, October 25th, at 11:00 CEST

Speaker:  Maria Ramos (UAM)

Title: Composite signals of new physics

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss the phenomenology of several composite Higgs models where new pseudo-Nambu Goldstone bosons emerge at the electroweak scale, along with the Higgs boson, after the spontaneous breaking of a global symmetry. These exotic particles can explain several problems in particle physics, from dark matter to the flavour anomalies, leading to specific signatures at high energy facilities. After combining astrophysical and collider probes, I will show that large regions of the parameter space of the composite theories where the interesting phenomena can be addressed have not been probed by the experimental collaborations, therefore requiring significant efforts in order to be constrained.

Slides:  files/Hidden_MariaRamos.pdf

Date and time: Monday, June 14th at 11:30 CEST

Speaker:  Virgile Dandoy (KIT)

Title: Self-Consistent Dark Matter Halo from Axion Particles

Abstract: Instead of describing them through non-relativistic particles, axions have the very interesting property to be described by the non-relativistic approximation of the axion field itself. When coupled to their own gravitational field, their dynamic follows the Schrodinger-Poisson system. This wave dark matter (ψDM) once submitted to numerical simulations is able to probe some features of the dark matter halos and solve the disagreements between their observations and the cold dark matter (CDM) simulations. However, being more and more computationally challenging, ψDM halo simulations have their limitations. We illustrate here an analytical method to construct wave-halo solutions by making the link with collisionless particle distribution function. This analytic expression turns out to be very useful to probe the halo small scales and the other properties of the dark matter halos.

Slides:  files/HIDDeN_Webinar-Dandoy.pdf

 

 

Date and time: Monday, May 10th at 11:00 CET

Speaker:  Valentina Montoya (UHEI ESR)

Title: Cold Dark Matter Production. Non instantaneous reheating.

Abstract: We studied the perturbative decay of a massive scalar in the reheating era not necessarily identified as the inflaton. We explored how to produce dark matter relic density in both WIMP and FIMP scenarios and the coupling parameter space to obtain under a non standard cosmological model the right dark matter abundance. In particular for the FIMP case, we studied the relation between the dark matter mass and the reheating temperature to check the conditions under which the relic density can be kept unchanged during a subsequent radiation dominated era.
Finally we treated the massive scalar as a mixture between the inflaton and dark matter, and calculated its observables to restrict its vacuum expectation value (vev). We consider a reheating period produced through a dark portal for which we found a coupling between the visible and the dark sector of $\delta \approx 10^{-12}$ to achieve the right dark matter abundance.

Slides:  files/SlidesValentina_MontoyaESR.pdf

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4mcgjdenfzxwxy/zoom_0.mp4?dl=0

 

Date and time: Monday, March 22nd at 11:00 CET

Speaker:  Mario Fernández Navarro  (SOTON ESR)

Title: Active-sterile neutrino oscillations in very low reheating scenarios

Abstract: Most neutrino oscillation experiments are well explained through the mixing of the three standard neutrino flavours of the SM, but some anomalies in short baseline oscillation experiments remain unexplained. These anomalies may be explained by the existence of an extra, sterile neutrino state, leading to the so-called 3+1 framework. However, this 3+1 scenario is highly constrained by cosmological observations, which favour the standard three-neutrino case. Here we present a way to accommodate the 3+1 scenario with the cosmological observations by suppressing the thermalisation of the sterile neutrino in the early Universe. We address this problem by considering an exotic cosmological scenario where we assume that a very late reheating process took place before BBN. In this scenario, the radiation epoch starts at temperatures of order MeV, in such a way that neutrinos may decouple from the cosmic plasma before they are fully thermalised.

Slides:  files/HIDDeN_Webinar_MFN.pdf

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9or4qh84g90joge/Webinar_ESR_Mario-Fdez-Navarro.mp4?dl=0

 

Date and time: Monday, February 15th at 12:00 CET

Speaker:  Francesco Costa  (UGOE ESR)

Title: Heavy field correction to the primordial power spectrum during inflation

Abstract: Nearly scale-invariant primordial power spectrum is one of the key features of cosmic inflation. To date, no sign of deviations from the simplest single-field inflation models has been observed. On the other hand, realistic models of inflation, meaning particle physics-based models, contain multiple fields other than the inflaton. The presence of heavy fields coupled to the inflaton may alter the predictions of the single-field inflation models.
In this project we consider the effects of heavy fields on the primordial power spectrum, studying a generic model that contains massive scalar and fermion fields coupled to the inflaton. 
The radiative corrections introduce the presence in the power spectrum of time-dependent features of two types. One arises from the evolution of the background. The other is an oscillatory feature. The scalar and fermion contributions produce a constant shift and this peculiar oscillatory effects on top of the tree-level primordial power spectrum. Future improvements of CMB measurements may refine our current understanding of the primordial power spectrum and lead to a possible detection of these effects.

Slides:  files/ESR-seminar-Heavy-field-correction-during-inflation.pdf

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zb6vri20tv4myom/zoom_0.mp4?dl=0

 

Neutrino probes of New Physics (Joachim Kopp): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3784/#20220613

Primordial Black Holes and Dark Matter (Joseph Silk): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3785/#20220613

SMEFT (Adam Falkowski): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3793/#20220615

MC Tools for LHC (Eleni Vryonidou): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3791/#20220615

Axions (Giovanni Villadoro): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3790/#20220617

Flavor physics (Svjetlana Fajfer): https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/7654/sessions/3797/#20220617

Topical Seminar: Sterile Neutrinos - Challenges and Status of Experimental Searches: files/Presentation_invisibles_Licciardi.pdf

Invisibles21 School lecture notes: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1019282/

Invisibles21 School lecture videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmjgtR6aH7eph8u_WQkzRBg/playlists

 

Webinar

Lectures

© Hidden Virtual Institute 2024