Fri·Mar 18, 2022Friday·March 18, 2022

1. 01*

   ${\sin }^2{\theta }_W$ and neutrino electromagnetic interactions in CE${\bar{\nu }}_e$NS with different quenching factors

   Amir N. Khan🇩🇪

   Recently, evidence for the observation of about 2 keV and below nuclear recoils from the coherent scattering of reactor anti-neutrinos off the germanium nuclei has been reported. We analyze the observed data to estimate the value of the weak mixing angle and constrain the neutrino millicharge, magnetic moment, charge radius and anapole moment contributing to the coherent scattering process. Currently, there is no definite model available for the quenching factor at such low energies. To this end, we consider various models of the quenching factor and show how it affects the interpretation of the obtained results. We find that the bounds obtained are stronger in some cases while comparable or weaker in other cases which show a strong dependence on the choice and accuracy of a particular quenching factor model. The results are the first at such low-energy nuclear recoils. We present an exhaustive list of analytical functions for the different quenching factors corresponding to the existing models and to the data from various experiments. Such functions will be useful for any new physics study using the nuclear recoils due to the reactor neutrinos.

   hep-phhep-ex10 citations
2. 02*

   Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier White Paper:Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter

   Simeon Bird🇺🇸 · Andrea Albert🇺🇸 · Will Dawson🇺🇸 · Yacine Ali-Haimoud🇺🇸 · Adam Coogan🇨🇦 · Alex Drlica-Wagner🇺🇸 · Qi Feng🇺🇸 · Derek Inman🇯🇵 · Keisuke Inomata🇺🇸 · Ely Kovetz🇮🇱 · Alexander Kusenko🇺🇸 · Benjamin V. Lehmann🇺🇸 and 4 other authors

   Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are a viable candidate to comprise some or all of the dark matter and provide a unique window into the high-energy physics of the early universe. This white paper discusses the scientific motivation, current status, and future reach of observational searches for PBHs. Future observational facilities supported by DOE, NSF, and NASA will provide unprecedented sensitivity to PBHs. However, devoted analysis pipelines and theoretical modeling are required to fully leverage these novel data. The search for PBHs constitutes a low-cost, high-reward science case with significant impact on the high energy physics community.

   hep-phastro-ph.COPhys.Dark Univ.(2023)·86 citations
3. 03*

   A Natural Model of Spontaneous CP Violation

   Sudhakantha Girmohanta🇺🇸 · Seung J. Lee🇰🇷 · Yuichiro Nakai🇨🇳 · Motoo Suzuki🇨🇳

   We examine the possibility of building a natural non-supersymmetric model of spontaneous CP violation equipped with the Nelson-Barr (NB) mechanism to address the strong CP problem. Our approach is to utilize a doubly composite dynamics where the first confinement of the CFT occurs at the scale of spontaneous CP violation (SCPV) and the second confinement at the TeV scale. A holographic dual description of this 4D set-up via a warped extra dimension with three 3-branes provides an explicit realization of this idea.In this model, radiative corrections to the strong CP phase are well under control, and the coincidence of mass scales, which we generally encounter in NB models, is addressed. Our model also provides an explanation to the quark Yukawa hierarchies, and a solution to the gauge hierarchy problem just as in the usual Randall-Sundrum model with the Higgs being localized on the TeV brane.

   hep-phhep-thJHEP(2022)·24 citations
4. 04*

   Theoretical tools for neutrino scattering: interplay between lattice QCD, EFTs, nuclear physics, phenomenology, and neutrino event generators

   L. Alvarez Ruso🇪🇸 · A. M. Ankowski🇺🇸 · S. Bacca🇩🇪 · A. B. Balantekin🇺🇸 · J. Carlson🇺🇸 · S. Gardiner🇺🇸 · R. Gonzalez-Jimenez🇪🇸 · R. Gupta🇺🇸 · T. J. Hobbs🇺🇸 · M. Hoferichter🇨🇭 · J. Isaacson🇺🇸 · N. Jachowicz🇧🇪 and 49 other authors

   Maximizing the discovery potential of increasingly precise neutrino experiments will require an improved theoretical understanding of neutrino-nucleus cross sections over a wide range of energies. Low-energy interactions are needed to reconstruct the energies of astrophysical neutrinos from supernovae bursts and search for new physics using increasingly precise measurement of coherent elastic neutrino scattering. Higher-energy interactions involve a variety of reaction mechanisms including quasi-elastic scattering, resonance production, and deep inelastic scattering that must all be included to reliably predict cross sections for energies relevant to DUNE and other accelerator neutrino experiments. This white paper discusses the theoretical status, challenges, required resources, and path forward for achieving precise predictions of neutrino-nucleus scattering and emphasizes the need for a coordinated theoretical effort involved lattice QCD, nuclear effective theories, phenomenological models of the transition region, and event generators.

   hep-phhep-exhep-latnucl-th+1J.Phys.G(2025)·104 citations
5. 05*

   Weaker yet again: mass spectrum-consistent cosmological constraints on the neutrino lifetime

   Joe Zhiyu Chen🇦🇺 · Isabel M. Oldengott🇧🇪 · Giovanni Pierobon🇦🇺 · Yvonne Y. Y. Wong🇦🇺

   We consider invisible neutrino decay ${\nu }_H\to {\nu }_l+\varphi$ in the ultra-relativistic limit and compute the neutrino anisotropy loss rate relevant for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. Improving on our previous work which assumed massless ${\nu }_l$ and $\varphi$, we reinstate in this work the daughter neutrino mass $m_{\nu l}$ in a manner consistent with the experimentally determined neutrino mass splittings. We find that a nonzero $m_{\nu l}$ introduces a new phase space factor in the loss rate ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{T}}$ proportional to $(\Delta m_{\nu }^2/m_{{\nu }_H}^2{)}^2$ in the limit of a small squared mass gap between the parent and daughter neutrinos, i.e., ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{T}}\sim (\Delta m_{\nu }^2/m_{\nu H}^2{)}^2(m_{\nu H}/E_{\nu }{)}^5(1/{\tau }_0)$, where ${\tau }_0$ is the ${\nu }_H$ rest-frame lifetime. Using a general form of this result, we update the limit on ${\tau }_0$ using the Planck 2018 CMB data. We find that for a parent neutrino of mass $m_{\nu H}\lesssim 0.1\mathrm{eV}$, the new phase space factor weakens the constraint on its lifetime by up to a factor of 50 if $\Delta m_{\nu }^2$ corresponds to the atmospheric mass gap and up to $10^5$ if the solar mass gap, in comparison with naive estimates that assume $m_{\nu l}=0$. The revised constraints are (i) ${\tau }^0\gtrsim (6\to 10)\times 10^5\mathrm{s}$ and ${\tau }^0\gtrsim (400\to 500)\mathrm{s}$ if only one neutrino decays to a daughter neutrino separated by, respectively, the atmospheric and the solar mass gap, and (ii) ${\tau }^0\gtrsim (2\to 3)\times 10^7\mathrm{s}$ in the case of two decay channels with one near-common atmospheric mass gap. In contrast to previous, naive limits which scale as $m_{\nu H}^5$, these mass spectrum-consistent ${\tau }_0$ constraints are remarkably independent of the parent mass and open up a swath of parameter space within the projected reach of IceCube and other neutrino telescopes in the next two decades.

   hep-phastro-ph.COEPJC(2022)·57 citations
6. 06*

   Nuclear Modified Transverse Momentum Distributions and 3D Imaging in Nuclei

   Mishary Alrashed🇺🇸 · Daniele Anderle🇨🇳 · Zhong-Bo Kang🇺🇸 · John Terry🇺🇸 · Hongxi Xing🇨🇳

   In this proceeding, we review our recent work in which we performed the first global analysis of nuclear modified Transverse Momentum Distribution Functions (TMDs). We demonstrate for the first time that the global set of TMD experimental data from HERMES, E866, E772, RHIC, ATLAS, and CMS, can be described using a simple model which accounts for the nuclear modifications for the TMDs as a non-perturbative correction. Using this model, we extract the nuclear modified TMDs for the first time.

   hep-phJPS Conf.Proc.(2022)·0 citations
7. 07*

   $Z_3$ Scalar Dark Matter with Strong Positron Fluxes

   Bastián Díaz Sáez🇩🇪 · Karim Ghorbani🇮🇷

   We explore a class of simplified extensions to the Standard Model containing a complex singlet scalar as a dark matter candidate accompanied by a vector-like lepton as a mediator, both charged under a new $Z_3$ symmetry. In its simplest form, the new physics couples only to right-handed electrons, and the model is able to accommodate the correct dark matter relic abundance around the electroweak scale up to several TeV evading the strongest constraints from perturbativity, collider and dark matter searches. Furthermore, the model is capable to enhance naturally positron fluxes by several orders of magnitude presenting a box-shape spectra. This framework opens up a lot of phenomenological possibilities depending on the quantum charge assignments of the new fields.

   hep-phastro-ph.HEJCAP(2023)·9 citations
8. 08*

   Fractional Analytic QCD beyond Leading Order

   A.V. Kotikov🇷🇺 · I.A. Zemlyakov🇷🇺

   Fractional analytic QCD is constructed beyond leading order using the standard inverse logarithmic expansion. It is shown that, contrary to the usual QCD coupling constant, for which this expansion can be used only for large values of its argument, in the case of analytic QCD, the inverse logarithmic expansion is applicable for all values of the argument of the analytic coupling constant. We present four different views, two of which are based primarily on Polylogarithms and generalized Euler $\zeta$-functions, and the other two are based on dispersion integrals. The results obtained up to the 5th order of perturbation theory, have a compact form and do not contain complex special functions that were used to solve this problem earlier. As an example, we apply our results to study the polarized Bjorken sum rule, which is currently measured very accurately.

   hep-phJ.Phys.G(2023)·24 citations
9. 09*

   Production and backreaction of massive fermions during axion inflation with non-Abelian gauge fields

   Peter Adshead🇺🇸 · Aike Liu🇺🇸 · Kaloian D. Lozanov🇺🇸

   We study the production and backreaction of massive vector-like fermions in the background of a classical SU(2) gauge field during axion-driven inflation. We demonstrate all ultraviolet divergences due to the interactions with the fermions can be absorbed by renormalization of the axion wavefunction and the gauge coupling. The effects of the fermion-axion interaction vanish in the massless limit as required by symmetry. For very massive fermions, contact interactions are induced between the axion, the gauge field and the gravitational field. In this massive limit, we find the usual axion-gauge field interactions are induced, however, in addition we observe the appearance of axion self-interactions, as well as kinetic braiding of the axion with the Einstein tensor. These new axion derivative interactions present intriguing opportunities for model building and phenomenology.

   hep-phastro-ph.COgr-qcJCAP(2022)·8 citations
10. 10*

    The Result of the Neutrino-4 Experiment and the Cosmological Constraints on the Sterile Neutrino

    A.P. Serebrov🇷🇺 · R.M. Samoilov🇷🇺 · M.E. Chaikovskii🇷🇺 · O.M. Zherebtsov🇷🇺

    We present a short discussion of the Neutrino-4 experimental results and the results of other experiments searching for the sterile neutrino. We estimated the contribution of the sterile neutrino with parameters $\Delta m_{14}^2=7.3{\text{eV}}^2$ and ${\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{14}=0.36$ obtained in the Neutrino-4 experiment to the energy density of the Universe. We address the contradiction between the measured sterile neutrino parameters and the constraints on the sterile neutrino from cosmology. With this article, we want to draw attention to the problem of the contradiction between experiment and theory, in order to inspire the search for theoretical models that include a sterile neutrino with mass in the region of several eV, and to the necessity to sufficiently increase the precision of the experiment.

    hep-phhep-exJETP Lett.(2022)·12 citations
11. 11*

    Universality aspects of quantum corrections to transverse momentum broadening in QCD media

    Paul Caucal🇺🇸 · Yacine Mehtar-Tani🇺🇸

    We study non-linear quantum corrections to transverse momentum broadening (TMB) of a fast parton propagating in dense QCD matter in the leading logarithmic approximation. These non-local corrections yield an anomalous super-diffusive behavior characterized by a heavy tailed distribution which is associated with Lévy random walks. Using a formal analogy with the physics of traveling waves, we show that at late times the transverse momentum distribution tends to a universal scaling regime. We derive analytic solutions in terms of an asymptotic expansion around the scaling limit for both fixed and running coupling. We note that our analytic approach yields a good agreement with the exact numerical solutions down to realistic values of medium length. Finally, we discuss the interplay between system size and energy dependence of the diffusion coefficient $\hat{q}$ and its connection with the gluon distribution function that is manifest at large transverse momentum transfer.

    hep-phcond-mat.stat-mechnucl-thJHEP(2022)·22 citations
12. 12*

    High Precision Higgs from High Energy Muon Colliders

    Matthew Forslund🇺🇸 · Patrick Meade🇺🇸

    Muon colliders are an exciting possibility for reaching the highest energies possible on the shortest timescale. They potentially combine the greatest strengths of $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ and $pp$ colliders by bridging the energy versus precision dichotomy. In this paper we study the sensitivity of Higgs properties that can be achieved with a future 3 or 10 TeV muon collider from single Higgs production. The results presented here represent the first comprehensive picture for the precision achievable including backgrounds and using fast detector simulation with Delphes. Additionally, we compare the results of fast detector simulation with available full simulation studies that include the muon collider specific Beam Induced Background, and show the results are largely unchanged. We comment on some of the strengths and weaknesses of a high energy muon collider for Higgs physics alone, and demonstrate the complementarity of such a collider with the LHC and $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Higgs factories. Furthermore, we discuss some of the exciting avenues for improving future results from both theoretical and detector R&D that could be undertaken.

    hep-phJHEP(2022)·81 citations
13. 13*

    CURTAINs for your Sliding Window: Constructing Unobserved Regions by Transforming Adjacent Intervals

    John Andrew Raine🇨🇭 · Samuel Klein🇨🇭 · Debajyoti Sengupta🇨🇭 · Tobias Golling🇨🇭

    We propose a new model independent technique for constructing background data templates for use in searches for new physics processes at the LHC. This method, called CURTAINs, uses invertible neural networks to parametrise the distribution of side band data as a function of the resonant observable. The network learns a transformation to map any data point from its value of the resonant observable to another chosen value. Using CURTAINs, a template for the background data in the signal window is constructed by mapping the data from the side-bands into the signal region. We perform anomaly detection using the CURTAINs background template to enhance the sensitivity to new physics in a bump hunt. We demonstrate its performance in a sliding window search across a wide range of mass values. Using the LHC Olympics dataset, we demonstrate that CURTAINs matches the performance of other leading approaches which aim to improve the sensitivity of bump hunts, can be trained on a much smaller range of the invariant mass, and is fully data driven.

    hep-phFront.Big Data(2023)·83 citations
14. 14*

    Theory, phenomenology, and experimental avenues for dark showers: a Snowmass 2021 report

    Guillaume Albouy🇫🇷 · Jared Barron🇨🇦 · Hugues Beauchesne🇹🇼 · Elias Bernreuther🇺🇸 · Marcella Bona🇬🇧 · Cesare Cazzaniga🇨🇭 · Cari Cesarotti🇺🇸 · Timothy Cohen🇺🇸 · Annapaola de Cosa🇨🇭 · David Curtin🇨🇦 · Zeynep Demiragli🇺🇸 · Caterina Doglioni🇸🇪 and 42 other authors

    In this work, we consider the case of a strongly coupled dark/hidden sector, which extends the Standard Model (SM) by adding an additional non-Abelian gauge group. These extensions generally contain matter fields, much like the SM quarks, and gauge fields similar to the SM gluons. We focus on the exploration of such sectors where the dark particles are produced at the LHC through a portal and undergo rapid hadronization within the dark sector before decaying back, at least in part and potentially with sizeable lifetimes, to SM particles, giving a range of possibly spectacular signatures such as emerging or semi-visible jets. Other, non-QCD-like scenarios leading to soft unclustered energy patterns or glueballs are also discussed. After a review of the theory, existing benchmarks and constraints, this work addresses how to build consistent benchmarks from the underlying physical parameters and present new developments for the PYTHIA Hidden Valley module, along with jet substructure studies. Finally, a series of improved search strategies is presented in order to pave the way for a better exploration of the dark showers at the LHC.

    hep-phhep-exEPJC(2022)·87 citations
15. 15*

    Snowmass 2021 White Paper: Higgs Coupling Sensitivities and Model-Independent Bounds on the Scale of New Physics

    Fayez Abu-Ajamieh🇮🇳 · Spencer Chang🇺🇸 · Miranda Chen🇺🇸 · Da Liu🇺🇸 · Markus A. Luty🇺🇸

    In this Snowmass white paper, we describe how unitarity bounds can convert sensitivities for Higgs couplings at future colliders into sensitivities to the scale of new physics. This gives a model-independent consequence of improving these sensitivities and illustrate the impact they would have on constraining new physics. Drawing upon past successful applications of unitarity as a guide for future colliders (e.g. the Higgs mass bound and discovering it at the LHC), we hope this data will be useful in the planning for next generation colliders.

    hep-phhep-ex6 citations
16. 16*

    Constraining Dark Matter Inside Stars Using Spectroscopic Binaries and a Modified Mass-Luminosity Relation

    Gil Peled🇮🇱 · Tomer Volansky🇮🇱

    The presence of a dissipative dark matter (DM) sector may allow for the trapping of a significant DM mass inside stars, either during structure formation or by accretion over their lifetime, influencing stellar behavior well into the Main Sequence stage. Motivated by this scenario, we place an upper bound on the fractional DM mass within current-day Main Sequence stars. Using double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2 stars), gravitational masses are extracted and contrasted with luminous masses, derived using a modified mass-luminosity relation which accounts for the effect of DM. High-accuracy mass and luminosity data from a sample of 486 binary stars in the $0.18<M/M_{\odot }<31$ mass range are partitioned into appropriate mass domains and analyzed. A 95% C.L. upper limit of sub-5% is found for the subset of 263 stars in the $1<M/M_{\odot }<2.4$ regime.

    hep-phastro-ph.SR5 citations
17. 17*

    On the Importance of Rare Kaon Decays: A Snowmass 2021 White Paper

    Jason Aebischer🇨🇭 · Andrzej J. Buras🇩🇪 · Jacky Kumar🇩🇪

    We stress the importance of precise measurements of rare decays $K^{+}\to {\pi }^{+}\nu \bar{\nu }$, $K_L\to {\pi }^0\nu \bar{\nu }$, $K_{L,S}\to {\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$ and $K_{L,S}\to {\pi }^0{\ell }^{+}{\ell }^{-}$ for the search of new physics (NP). This includes both branching ratios and the distributions in $q^2$, the invariant mass-squared of the neutrino system in the case of $K^{+}\to {\pi }^{+}\nu \bar{\nu }$ and $K_L\to {\pi }^0\nu \bar{\nu }$ and of the ${\ell }^{+}{\ell }^{-}$ system in the case of the remaining decays. In particular the correlations between these observables and their correlations with the ratio ${\epsilon }^{\prime }/\epsilon$ in $K_L\to \pi \pi$ decays, the CP-violating parameter ${\epsilon }_K$ and the $K^0-{\bar{K}}^0$ mass difference $\Delta M_K$, should help to disentangle the nature of possible NP. We stress the strong sensitivity of all observables with the exception of $\Delta M_K$ to the CKM parameter $|V_{cb}|$ and list a number of $|V_{cb}|$-independent ratios within the SM which exhibit rather different dependences on the angles $\beta$ and $\gamma$ of the unitarity triangle. The particular role of these decays in probing very short distance scales far beyond the ones explored at the LHC is emphasized. In this context the role of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) is very important. We also address briefly the issue of the footprints of Majorana neutrinos in $K^{+}\to {\pi }^{+}\nu \bar{\nu }$ and $K_L\to {\pi }^0\nu \bar{\nu }$.

    hep-phhep-exhep-lat35 citations
18. 18*

    Field redefinitions, perturbative unitarity and Higgs inflation

    Georgios K. Karananas🇩🇪 · Mikhail Shaposhnikov🇨🇭 · Sebastian Zell🇨🇭

    For inflation driven by the Higgs field coupled non-minimally to gravity, we study the cutoff energy scale above which perturbation theory breaks down. Employing the metric formulation, we first give an overview of known results and then provide a new way to calculate a lower bound on the cutoff. Our approach neither relies on a gauge choice nor does it require any calculation of amplitudes. Instead, it exploits the fact that the S-matrix is invariant under field redefinitions. In agreement with previous findings, we demonstrate that the cutoff is significantly higher during inflation than in vacuum, which ensures the robustness of semi-classical predictions. Along the way, we generalize our findings to the Palatini formulation and comment on a useful parametrization of the Higgs doublet in both scenarios.

    hep-phastro-ph.COgr-qchep-thJHEP(2022)·33 citations
19. 19*

    Velocity-dependent annihilation radiation from dark matter subhalos in cosmological simulations

    Erin Piccirillo🇺🇸 · Keagan Blanchette🇨🇦 · Nassim Bozorgnia🇨🇦 · Louis E. Strigari🇺🇸 · Carlos S. Frenk🇬🇧 · Robert J. J. Grand🇪🇸 · Federico Marinacci🇮🇹

    We use the suite of Milky Way-like galaxies in the Auriga simulations to determine the contribution to annihilation radiation from dark matter subhalos in three velocity-dependent dark matter annihilation models: Sommerfeld, p-wave, and d-wave models. We compare these to the corresponding distribution in the velocity-independent s-wave annihilation model. For both the hydrodynamical and dark-matter-only simulations, only in the case of the Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation does the total annihilation flux from subhalos exceed the total annihilation flux from the smooth halo component within the virial radius of the halo. Progressing from Sommerfeld to the s, p, and d-wave models, the contribution from the smooth component of the halo becomes more dominant, implying that for the p-wave and d-wave models the smooth component is by far the dominant contribution to the radiation. Comparing to the Galactic center excess observed by Fermi-LAT, for all simulated halos the emission is dominated by the smooth halo contribution. However, it is possible that for Sommerfeld models, extrapolation down to mass scales below the current resolution limit of the simulation would imply a non-negligible contribution to the gamma-ray emission from the Galactic Center region.

    ↳ astro-ph.COastro-ph.GAhep-phJCAP(2022)·14 citations
20. 20*

    Limits to gauge coupling in the dark sector set by the non-observation of instanton-induced decay of Super-Heavy Dark Matter in the Pierre Auger Observatory data

    The Pierre Auger Collaboration: P. Abreu🇵🇹 · M. Aglietta🇮🇹 · J.M. Albury🇦🇺 · I. Allekotte🇦🇷 · K. Almeida Cheminant🇵🇱 · A. Almela🇦🇷 · J. Alvarez-Muñiz🇪🇸 · R. Alves Batista🇳🇱 · J. Ammerman Yebra🇪🇸 · G.A. Anastasi🇮🇹 · L. Anchordoqui🇺🇸 · B. Andrada🇦🇷 and 364 other authors

    Instantons, which are non-perturbative solutions to Yang-Mills equations, provide a signal for the occurrence of quantum tunneling between distinct classes of vacua. They can give rise to decays of particles otherwise forbidden. Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory, we search for signatures of such instanton-induced processes that would be suggestive of super-heavy particles decaying in the Galactic halo. These particles could have been produced during the post-inflationary epoch and match the relic abundance of dark matter inferred today. The non-observation of the signatures searched for allows us to derive a bound on the reduced coupling constant of gauge interactions in the dark sector: ${\alpha }_X\lesssim 0.09$, for $10^9\lesssim M_X/\mathrm{GeV}<10^{19}$. Conversely, we obtain that, for instance, a reduced coupling constant ${\alpha }_X=0.09$ excludes masses $M_X\gtrsim 3\times 10^{13}$GeV. In the context of dark matter production from gravitational interactions alone, we illustrate how these bounds are complementary to those obtained on the Hubble rate at the end of inflation from the non-observation of tensor modes in the cosmological microwave background.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEastro-ph.COhep-phPRL(2023)·39 citations
21. 21*

    Cosmological structure formation in complex scalar field dark matter versus real ultralight axions: a comparative study using CLASS

    Horst Foidl🇦🇹 · Tanja Rindler-Daller🇦🇹

    (abridged) We continue the study of $\Lambda$SFDM cosmologies, which differ from $\Lambda$CDM in that CDM is replaced by scalar field dark matter (SFDM) by calculating the evolution of the background Universe, as well as linear perturbations, focusing on scalar modes. We consider models with complex scalar field with a repulsive, quartic self-interaction (SI), and models without SI, referred to as fuzzy dark matter (FDM). To this end, we modify the Boltzmann code CLASS, to incorporate the physics of complex SFDM which has as one of its characteristics that its equation of state is maximally stiff in the very early Universe, dominating then over all the other cosmic components, even over radiation. We calculate CMB and matter power spectra as well as unconditional Press-Schechter halo mass functions for various models, expanding previous literature that were limited either to the background, or to a semi-analytical approach to SFDM density perturbations neglecting the early stiff phase. Comparing our results of each, SFDM and FDM, with real-field ultralight axion models (ULAs) without SI, we characterize the differences between the respective background evolution and linear structure growth. Our calculations confirm previous results of recent literature, implying that SFDM models with $\gtrsim$ kpc-size halo cores are disfavored, questioning their ability to explain the small-scale problems on dwarf-galactic scales. Also we find that the kinetic energy due to the phase of the complex field leads to marked differences between SFDM/FDM versus ULAs. The mild falloff in the SFDM power spectrum toward high k is similar to that of CDM but based on different effects, namely the rapidly shrinking Jeans mass for SFDM as opposed to the Meszaros effect for CDM. In addition, we find that the sharp cutoff in the ULA power spectrum is also followed by a mild falloff, albeit at very small power.

    ↳ astro-ph.COastro-ph.GAhep-phPRD(2022)·18 citations
22. 22*

    Cosmic Birefringence from Monodromic Axion Dark Energy

    Silvia Gasparotto🇩🇪 · Ippei Obata🇩🇪

    The recently reported non-zero isotropic birefringence angle in Planck 2018 polarization data provides a tantalizing hint for new physics of axions. In this paper, we explain this by a string theory motivated axion with a monodromy potential that plays the role of dark energy. Upon using the birefringence measurement and the constraint on the equation of state for dark energy in this scenario, we find an upper bound on the axion decay constant as $f_a\lesssim 10^{16}$ GeV. This naturally gives an energy scale of order GUT and can resolve the theoretical issue of super-Planckian field range of the conventional axion dark energy model. We further study the implications of cosmic birefringence for the underlying theory and its consequences for the string swampland conjectures. We finally discuss oscillatory features in the dark energy sector and the expected cosmic birefringence tomography.

    ↳ astro-ph.COhep-phJCAP(2022)·52 citations
23. 23*

    Superconductors and gravity

    Antonio Gallerati🇮🇹 · Giovanni Ummarino🇷🇺

    We review and discuss some recent developments on the unconventional interaction between superconducting systems and the local gravitational field. While it is known that gravitational perturbations (such as gravitational waves) can affect supercondensates and supercurrents dynamics, here we want to focus on the more subtle superfluid back-reaction acting on the surrounding gravitational field, analysing some specific favourable situations. To this end, we will consider suitable quantum macrosystems in a coherent state, immersed in the static weak Earth's gravitational field, investigating possible slight local alterations of the latter not explained in terms of classical physics.

    ↳ gr-qccond-mat.supr-conhep-phhep-th+1Symmetry(2022)·11 citations
24. 24*

    Quantum Sensors for High Precision Measurements of Spin-dependent Interactions

    Dmitry Budker🇩🇪 · Thomas Cecil🇺🇸 · Timothy E. Chupp🇺🇸 · Andrew A. Geraci🇺🇸 · Derek F. Jackson Kimball🇺🇸 · Shimon Kolkowitz🇺🇸 · Surjeet Rajendran🇺🇸 · Jaideep T. Singh🇺🇸 · Alexander O. Sushkov🇺🇸

    The applications of spin-based quantum sensors to measurements probing fundamental physics are surveyed. Experimental methods and technologies developed for quantum information science have rapidly advanced in recent years, and these tools enable increasingly precise control and measurement of spin dynamics. Theories of beyond-the-Standard-Model physics predict, for example, symmetry violating electromagnetic moments aligned with particle spins, exotic spin-dependent forces, coupling of spins to ultralight bosonic dark matter fields, and changes to the local environment that affect spins. Spin-based quantum sensors can be used to search for these myriad phenomena, and offer a methodology for tests of fundamental physics that is complementary to particle colliders and large scale particle detectors. Areas of technological development that can significantly enhance the sensitivity of spin-based quantum sensors to new physics are highlighted.

    ↳ quant-phhep-exhep-phphysics.atom-ph+19 citations

* Reconstructed cohort: no mailing for this day survives in the archive. Papers are grouped by their submission times and arXiv's announcement cut-off, assuming announcement without delay; positions follow identifier order. Validated at ~91% exact-day agreement against the archived era.