arXiv subjects

A. D. Polosa

Publications and source records attributed to A. D. Polosa.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Compact X and Z and their Invisible Molecular Partners

We propose a model explaining the strong isospin violations observed in X(3872) decays. The X is assumed to be a compact isosinglet tetraquark and its charged partners to form an isotriplet, together with an additional neutral state mixing with the isosinglet. The isotriplet results from the loose binding of open charm mesons and, in isolation, has strongly suppressed production rates. However, its neutral component can still mix with the isosinglet and induce the large isospin violations observed. The compact-isosinglet/molecular-isotriplet pattern appears reversed when the Z(3900) resonances are considered. The Z particles observed correspond to a compact isotriplet and there is no evidence of a neutral isosinglet Z. We show that no isospin violation in the Z decays is expected.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

A New Look at the X Compositeness from its Lineshape

The existing analyses on the X(3872) lineshape are consistent with the hypothesis that it is a compact particle composed of four quarks. This conclusion follows from fitting available data with a Flatte' distribution derived from an effective Lagrangian in which X, D, and D* are all elementary fields. A molecular X, i.e., a deuteron-like bound state of D and Dbar*, must instead be described by an effective theory where the X field is initially absent or introduced as an auxiliary, unphysical, field, yielding a lineshape parametrization that differs significantly from the Flatte' one. We demonstrate, in the analogous theory of nucleons with an auxiliary deuteron field, that this parametrization gives a fully consistent description of np--> deuteron --> np scattering data, and motivate applying the same method to the X lineshape.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Towards Low-Energy Electron High-Resolution Spectroscopy with Transition-Edge Sensors

We present a study of the energy resolution of transition-edge sensors (TESs) for the detection of electrons in the 100 eV kinetic energy range. The TES is a Ti-Au bilayer with an active area of $(60 \times 60)$ $μ\text{m}^2$ and a critical temperature of $\sim$ 80 mK. The electron source is based on vertically-aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes located inside the cryostat, with electrons generated via field emission. For electrons in the (92 - 99) eV kinetic energy range, we obtain a Gaussian energy resolution for fully-absorbed electrons of (0.479 $\pm$ 0.041 $\pm$ 0.055) eV. When considering the full-width at half-maximum of the peak, the corresponding resolution is of (1.44 $\pm$ 0.17 $\pm$ 0.27) eV. The former represents an improvement of (46 - 60)% with respect to previous results, and is mainly attributed to the reduction in the TES active area. The latter is instead an improvement of over a factor of 20, and is mainly due to the reduction in the emitting area of the electron source, which significantly suppresses electron back-scattering in proximity of the TES. These results represent a major milestone toward high-precision spectroscopy on low-energy electrons, which is a key objective for the PTOLEMY experiment.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Ultra-high precision high voltage system for PTOLEMY

The PTOLEMY project is prototyping a novel electromagnetic filter for high-precision $β$ spectroscopy, with the ultimate and ambitious long-term goal of detecting the cosmic neutrino background through electron capture on tritium bound to graphene. Intermediate small-scale prototypes can achieve competitive sensitivity to the effective neutrino mass, even with reduced energy resolution. To reach an energy resolution better than \SI{500}{meV} at the tritium $β$-spectrum endpoint of \SI{18.6}{keV}, and accounting for all uncertainties in the filtering chain, the electrode voltage must be controlled at the level of a few parts per million and monitored in real time. In this work, we present the first results obtained in this effort, using a chain of commercial ultra-high-precision voltage references, read out by precision multimeters and a \emph{field mill} device. The currently available precision on high voltage is, in the conservative case, as low as \SI{0.2}{ppm} per \SI{1}{kV} single board and $\lesssim$ \SI{50}{mV} over the \SI{10}{kV} series, presently limited by field mill read-out noise. However, assuming uncorrelated Gaussian noise extrapolation, the real precision could in principle be as low as \SI{0.05}{ppm} over \SI{20}{kV}.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Light scalar mesons in D^+, D_s^+ decays into three pseudoscalars

In response to recent experimental findings from the BES III and LHCb collaborations concerning the decay of open charm mesons into three pseudoscalars, we present evidence suggesting that the lightest scalar mesons can be characterized as diquark-antidiquark states mixed with the next-to-light, q\bar q, scalar mesons through six-fermion, instanton-induced interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

A Demonstration of Slowed Electron ${\bf E} \times {\bf B}$ Drift for PTOLEMY

To resolve the effective neutrino mass $m_β$ with an energy resolution of 50~meV, the PTOLEMY experiment has proposed a novel transverse electromagnetic filtering process. Substantially reducing the kinetic energy of tritium $β$-decay electrons by counteracting motion from ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ and $\nabla{\rm B}$ drift, the PTOLEMY filter requires an input of emitted electron kinematic information to generate a tailored, suitable electric field for each candidate. The collaboration proposes to extract these quantities by using antennae to observe the relativistic frequency shift of emitted cyclotron radiation as an electron transits by ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ drift through a uniform magnetic field region preceding the filter. Electrons must be contained within this region long enough such that an adequate integrated radiated power signal is received to accurately estimate these kinematics. This necessitates a controlled, slowed drift speed. This paper presents the experimental design to vary ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ drift speed of carbon-14 $β$-decay electrons using a custom electrode field cage situated between the pole faces of an electromagnet. Matching our results with high-fidelity simulation, we deduce a capacity to increase particle time of flight by a factor of 5 in the field cage's slow drift region. Limited only by the dimensions of our system, we assert drift speed can be arbitrarily slowed to meet the needs of PTOLEMY's future detector. Actualizing such a system is a crucial milestone in developing the detector, enabling future cyclotron radiation measurements, filter implementation, and source injection.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

Open charm tetraquarks in broken SU(3)_F symmetry

Prompted by a recent lattice QCD calculation, we review the SU(3) light quark flavor structure of charmed tetraquarks with spin-0 diquarks. Fermi statistics forces the three light quarks to be in the representation 3*x3*= 3+6*. This agrees with the weak repulsion in the 15 of the 3x8 in Dbar K scattering studied on the lattice. We analyze the 3+6* multiplet broken by the strange quark mass and determine the five independent masses from the known masses of diquarks. The mass of D^* _{s0}(2317) is predicted within 50 MeV accuracy. The recently observed D_s^{--}(2900) and D_s^{0}(2900), likely part of a I=1 multiplet, with flavor composition c* q* q' s and X_0(2900), an isosinglet with flavor composition c*s* ud, fit naturally in a 3+6* structure as the first radial excitations. We discuss also the decay modes of D^* _{s0}(2317), of the radial excitations and of the predicted particles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Radiative decays of X(3872) discriminate between the molecular and compact interpretations

Radiative decays X --> psi(1S) + gamma and X --> psi(2S) + gamma might be expected to have a ratio of branching fractions following the phase space volumes ratio. However data suggest the opposite, indicating a value for R=B(X --> psi^prime + gamma) / B(X --> psi +gamma) consistently larger than one. In this paper we present a calculation of R for both a compact Born-Oppenheimer cc-bar q-qbar state and a DD^* molecule. In the former case R~1 or larger is found, a value to be confronted with forthcoming high statistics data analyses. In the molecular picture, with D and D^* mesons described by the universal wave function used by Voloshin, Braaten and Kusunoki, we find that R would be of order 10^-2. A more precise experimental measure would be extremely helpful in clarifying the true nature of the X(3872).

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in the PTOLEMY project: a theory update

We discuss the consequences of the quantum uncertainty on the spectrum of the electron emitted by the $β$-processes of a tritium atom bound to a graphene sheet. We analyze quantitatively the issue recently raised in [Cheipesh et al., Phys. Rev. D 104, 116004 (2021)], and discuss the relevant time scales and the degrees of freedom that can contribute to the intrinsic spread in the electron energy. We perform careful calculations of the potential between tritium and graphene with different coverages and geometries. With this at hand, we propose possible avenues to mitigate the effect of the quantum uncertainty.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Implementation and Optimization of the PTOLEMY Transverse Drift Electromagnetic Filter

The PTOLEMY transverse drift filter is a new concept to enable precision analysis of the energy spectrum of electrons near the tritium beta-decay endpoint. This paper details the implementation and optimization methods for successful operation of the filter. We present the first demonstrator that produces the required magnetic field properties with an iron return-flux magnet. Two methods for the setting of filter electrode voltages are detailed. The challenges of low-energy electron transport in cases of low field are discussed, such as the growth of the cyclotron radius with decreasing magnetic field, which puts a ceiling on filter performance relative to fixed filter dimensions. Additionally, low pitch angle trajectories are dominated by motion parallel to the magnetic field lines and introduce non-adiabatic conditions and curvature drift. To minimize these effects and maximize electron acceptance into the filter, we present a three-potential-well design to simultaneously drain the parallel and transverse kinetic energies throughout the length of the filter. These optimizations are shown, in simulation, to achieve low-energy electron transport from a 1 T iron core (or 3 T superconducting) starting field with initial kinetic energy of 18.6 keV drained to <10 eV (<1 eV) in about 80 cm. This result for low field operation paves the way for the first demonstrator of the PTOLEMY spectrometer for measurement of electrons near the tritium endpoint to be constructed at the Gran Sasso National Laboratary (LNGS) in Italy.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Confronting $B$ anomalies with low energy parity violation

Indirect searches have the potential to probe scales beyond the realm of direct searches. In this letter we consider the implications of two parity violating experiments: weak charge of proton $Q_W^p$ and the Caesium atom $Q_W^{Cs}$ on the solutions to lepton flavour non-universality violations (LFUV) in the decay of $B$ mesons. Working in a generic implementation of a minimal $Z^\prime$ model, we assume the primary contribution being due to the electron to facilitate comparison with the low $q^2$ parity violating experiments. We demonstrate that the conclusion is characterized by different limiting behavior depending on the chirality of the lepton current. The correlation developed in this study demonstrates the effectiveness in studying the synergy between different experiments leading to a deeper understanding of the interpretation of the existing data. It is shown that a possible future improvement in the parity violating experiments can have far reaching implications in the context of direct searches. We also comment on the prospect of addition of the muon to the fits and the role it plays in ameliorating the constraints on models of $Z'$. This offers a complimentary understanding of the pattern of the coupling of the NP to the leptons, strongly suggesting either a muon only or a combination of solutions to the anomalies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Dark Matter, Dark Photon and Superfluid He-4 from Effective Field Theory

We consider a model of sub-GeV dark matter whose interaction with the Standard Model is mediated by a new vector boson (the dark photon) which couples kinetically to the photon. We describe the possibility of constraining such a model using a superfluid He-4 detector, by means of an effective theory for the description of the superfluid phonon. We find that such a detector could provide bounds that are competitive with other direct detection experiments only for ultralight vector mediator, in agreement with previous studies. As a byproduct we also present, for the first time, the low-energy effective field theory for the interaction between photons and phonons.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Neutrino physics with the PTOLEMY project: active neutrino properties and the light sterile case

The PTOLEMY project aims to develop a scalable design for a Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB) detector, the first of its kind and the only one conceived that can look directly at the image of the Universe encoded in neutrino background produced in the first second after the Big Bang. The scope of the work for the next three years is to complete the conceptual design of this detector and to validate with direct measurements that the non-neutrino backgrounds are below the expected cosmological signal. In this paper we discuss in details the theoretical aspects of the experiment and its physics goals. In particular, we mainly address three issues. First we discuss the sensitivity of PTOLEMY to the standard neutrino mass scale. We then study the perspectives of the experiment to detect the CNB via neutrino capture on tritium as a function of the neutrino mass scale and the energy resolution of the apparatus. Finally, we consider an extra sterile neutrino with mass in the eV range, coupled to the active states via oscillations, which has been advocated in view of neutrino oscillation anomalies. This extra state would contribute to the tritium decay spectrum, and its properties, mass and mixing angle, could be studied by analyzing the features in the beta decay electron spectrum.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

The Hydrogen Bond of QCD in Doubly Heavy Baryons and Tetraquarks

In this paper we present in greater detail previous work on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation to treat the hydrogen bond of QCD, and add a similar treatment of doubly heavy baryons. Doubly heavy exotic resonances X and Z can be described as color molecules of two-quark lumps, the analogue of the H_2 molecule, and doubly heavy baryons as the analog of the H_2^+ ion, except that the two heavy quarks attract each other. We compare our results with constituent quark model and lattice QCD calculations and find further evidence in support of this upgraded picture of compact tetraquarks and baryons.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

The Belle II Physics Book

We present the physics program of the Belle II experiment, located on the intensity frontier SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. Belle II collected its first collisions in 2018, and is expected to operate for the next decade. It is anticipated to collect 50/ab of collision data over its lifetime. This book is the outcome of a joint effort of Belle II collaborators and theorists through the Belle II theory interface platform (B2TiP), an effort that commenced in 2014. The aim of B2TiP was to elucidate the potential impacts of the Belle II program, which includes a wide scope of physics topics: B physics, charm, tau, quarkonium, electroweak precision measurements and dark sector searches. It is composed of nine working groups (WGs), which are coordinated by teams of theorist and experimentalists conveners: Semileptonic and leptonic B decays, Radiative and Electroweak penguins, phi_1 and phi_2 (time-dependent CP violation) measurements, phi_3 measurements, Charmless hadronic B decay, Charm, Quarkonium(like), tau and low-multiplicity processes, new physics and global fit analyses. This book highlights "golden- and silver-channels", i.e. those that would have the highest potential impact in the field. Theorists scrutinised the role of those measurements and estimated the respective theoretical uncertainties, achievable now as well as prospects for the future. Experimentalists investigated the expected improvements with the large dataset expected from Belle II, taking into account improved performance from the upgraded detector.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

The Hydrogen Bond of QCD

Using the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, we show that exotic resonances, X and Z, may emerge as QCD molecular objects made of colored two-quark lumps, states with heavy-light diquarks spatially separated from antidiquarks. With the same method we confirm that doubly heavy tetraquarks are stable against strong decays. Tetraquarks described here provide a new picture of exotic hadrons, as formed by the QCD analog of the hydrogen bond of molecular physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

A Theory of X and Z Multiquark Resonances

We introduce the hypothesis that diquarks and antidiquarks in tetraquarks are separated by a potential barrier. We show that this notion can answer satisfactorily long standing questions challenging the diquark-antidiquark model of exotic resonances. The tetraquark description of X and Z resonances is shown to be compatible with present limits on the non-observation of charged partners X^+-, of the X(3872) and the absence of a hyperfine splitting between two different neutral states. In the same picture, Z_c and Z_b particles are expected to form complete isospin triplets plus singlets. It is also explained why the decay rate into final states including quarkonia are suppressed with respect to those having open charm/beauty states.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detection with Electron Recoils in Carbon Nanotubes

Directional detection of Dark Matter particles (DM) in the MeV mass range could be accomplished by studying electron recoils in large arrays of parallel carbon nanotubes. In a scattering process with a lattice electron, a DM particle might transfer sufficient energy to eject it from the nanotube surface. An external electric field is added to drive the electron from the open ends of the array to the detection region. The anisotropic response of this detection scheme, as a function of the orientation of the target with respect to the DM wind, is calculated, and it is concluded that no direct measurement of the electron ejection angle is needed to explore significant regions of the light DM exclusion plot. A compact sensor, in which the cathode element is substituted with a dense array of parallel carbon nanotubes, could serve as the basic detection unit.

hep-ph↗