arXiv subjects

Arcadi Santamaria

Publications and source records attributed to Arcadi Santamaria.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An EFT approach to baryon number violation: lower limits on the new physics scale and correlations between nucleon decay modes

Baryon number is an accidental symmetry of the Standard Model at the Lagrangian level. Its violation is arguably one of the most compelling phenomena predicted by physics beyond the Standard Model. Furthermore, there is a large experimental effort to search for it including the Hyper-K, DUNE, JUNO, and THEIA experiments. Therefore, an agnostic, model-independent, analysis of baryon number violation using the power of Effective Field Theory is very timely. In particular, in this work we study the contribution of dimension six and seven effective operators to $|Δ(B-L)|=0, \, 2$ nucleon decays taking into account the effects of Renormalisation Group Evolution. We obtain lower limits on the energy scale of each operator and study the correlations between different decay modes. We find that for some operators the effect of running is very significant.

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arXiv2022

Sterile neutrino portals to Majorana dark matter: effective operators and UV completions

Stringent constraints on the interactions of dark matter with the Standard Model suggest that dark matter does not take part in gauge interactions. In this regard, the possibility of communicating between the visible and dark sectors via gauge singlets seems rather natural. We consider a framework where the dark matter talks to the Standard Model through its coupling to sterile neutrinos, which generate active neutrino masses. We focus on the case of Majorana dark matter, with its relic abundance set by thermal freeze-out through annihilations into sterile neutrinos. We use an effective field theory approach to study the possible sterile neutrino portals to dark matter. We find that both lepton-number-conserving and lepton-number-violating operators are possible, yielding an interesting connection with the Dirac/Majorana character of active neutrinos. In a second step, we open the different operators and outline the possible renormalisable models. We analyse the phenomenology of the most promising ones, including a particular case in which the Majorana mass of the sterile neutrinos is generated radiatively.

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arXiv2021

Dark matter from a complex scalar singlet: The role of dark CP and other discrete symmetries

We study the case of a pseudo-scalar dark matter candidate which emerges from a complex scalar singlet, charged under a global U(1) symmetry, which is broken both explicitly and spontaneously. The pseudo-scalar is naturally stabilized by the presence of a remnant discrete symmetry: dark CP. We study and compare the phenomenology of several simplified models with only one explicit symmetry breaking term. We find that several regions of the parameter space are able to reproduce the observed dark matter abundance while respecting direct detection and invisible Higgs decay limits: in the resonances of the two scalars, featuring the known as forbidden or secluded dark matter, and through non-resonant Higgs-mediated annihilations. In some cases, combining different measurements would allow one to distinguish the breaking pattern of the symmetry. Moreover, this setup admits a light DM candidate at the sub-GeV scale. We also discuss the situation where more than one symmetry breaking term is present. In that case, the dark CP symmetry may be spontaneously broken, thus spoiling the stability of the dark matter candidate. Requiring that this does not happen imposes a constraint on the allowed parameter space. Finally, we consider an effective field theory approach valid in the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson limit and when the U(1) breaking scale is much larger than the electroweak scale.

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arXiv2019

Composite Higgs bosons from neutrino condensates in an inverted see-saw scenario

We present a realization of the idea that the Higgs boson is mainly a bound state of neutrinos induced by strong four-fermion interactions. The conflicts of this idea with the measured values of the top quark and Higgs boson masses are overcome by introducing, in addition to the right-handed neutrino, a new fermion singlet, which, at low energies, implements the inverse see-saw mechanism. The singlet fermions also develop a scalar bound state which mixes with the Higgs boson. This allows us to obtain a small Higgs boson mass even if the couplings are large, as required in composite scalar scenarios. The model gives the correct masses for the top quark and Higgs boson for compositeness scales below the Planck scale and masses of the new particles above the electroweak scale, so that we obtain naturally a low-scale see-saw scenario for neutrino masses. The theory contains additional scalar particles coupled to the neutral fermions, which could be tested in present and near future experiments.

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arXiv2018

A model of neutrino mass and dark matter with large neutrinoless double beta decay

We propose a model where neutrino masses are generated at three loop order but neutrinoless double beta decay occurs at one loop. Thus we can have large neutrinoless double beta decay observable in the future experiments even when the neutrino masses are very small. The model receives strong constraints from the neutrino data and lepton flavor violating decays, which substantially reduces the number of free parameters. Our model also opens up the possibility of having several new scalars below the TeV regime, which can be explored at the collider experiments. Additionally, our model also has an unbroken $Z_2$ symmetry which allows us to identify a viable Dark Matter candidate.

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arXiv2018

Fitting flavour symmetries: the case of two-zero neutrino mass textures

We present a numeric method for the analysis of the fermion mass matrices predicted in flavour models. The method does not require any previous algebraic work, it offers a $χ^{2}$ comparison test and an easy estimate of confidence intervals. It can also be used to study the stability of the results when the predictions are disturbed by small perturbations. We have applied the method to the case of two-zero neutrino mass textures using the latest available fits on neutrino oscillations, derived the available parameter space for each texture and compared them. Textures $A_{1}$ and $A_{2}$ seem favoured because they give a small $χ^{2}$, allow for large regions in parameter space and give neutrino masses compatible with Cosmology limits. The other "allowed" textures remain allowed although with a very constrained parameter space, which, in some cases, could be in conflict with Cosmology. We have also revisited the "forbidden" textures and studied the stability of the results when the texture zeroes are not exact. Most of the forbidden textures remain forbidden, but textures $F_{1}$ and $F_{3}$ are particularly sensitive to small perturbations and could become allowed.

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arXiv2018

Can measurements of 2HDM parameters provide hints for high scale supersymmetry?

Two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs) are minimal extensions of the Standard Model (SM) that may still be discovered at the LHC. The quartic couplings of their potentials can be determined from the measurement of the masses and branching ratios of their extended scalar sectors. We show that the evolution of these couplings through renormalization group equations can determine whether the observed 2HDM is a low energy manifestation of a more fundamental theory, as for instance, supersymmetry, which fixes the quartic couplings in terms of the gauge couplings. At leading order, the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM (MSSM) dictates all the quartic couplings, which can be translated into a predictive structure for the scalar masses and mixings at the weak scale. Running these couplings to higher scales, one can check if they converge to their MSSM values, and more interestingly, whether one can infer the supersymmetry breaking scale. Although we study this question in the context of supersymmetry, this strategy could be applied to any theory whose ultraviolet completion unambiguously predicts all scalar quartic couplings.

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arXiv2017

LHC signals of radiatively-induced neutrino masses and implications for the Zee-Babu model

Contrary to the see-saw models, extended Higgs sectors leading to radiatively-induced neutrino masses do require the extra particles to be at the TeV scale. However, these new states have often exotic decays, to which experimental LHC searches performed so far, focused on scalars decaying into pairs of same-sign leptons, are not sensitive. In this paper we show that their experimental signatures can start to be tested with current LHC data if dedicated multi-region analyses correlating different observables are used. We also provide high-accuracy estimations of the complicated Standard Model backgrounds involved. For the case of the Zee-Babu model, we show that regions not yet constrained by neutrino data and low-energy experiments can be already probed, while most of the parameter space could be excluded at the 95 % C.L. in a high-luminosity phase of the LHC.

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arXiv2016

Updated scalar sector constraints in Higgs triplet model

We show that in the Higgs triplet model, after the Higgs discovery, the mixing angle in the CP-even sector can be strongly constrained from unitarity. We also discuss how large quantum effects in $h\toγγ$ may arise in a SM-like scenario and a certain part of the parameter space can be ruled out from the diphoton signal strength. Using $T$-parameter and diphoton signal strength measurements, we update the bounds on the nonstandard scalar masses.

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arXiv2016

Higgs lepton flavour violation: UV completions and connection to neutrino masses

We study lepton violating Higgs (HLFV) decays, first from the effective field theory (EFT) point of view, and then analysing the different high-energy realizations of the operators of the EFT, highlighting the most promising models. We argue why two Higgs doublet models can have a $\mathrm{BR}(h\rightarrow τμ)\sim 0.01$, and why this rate is suppressed in all other realizations including vector-like leptons. We further discuss HLFV in the context of neutrino mass models: in most cases it is generated at one loop giving always $\mathrm{BR}(h\rightarrow τμ) < 10^{-4}$ and typically much less, which is beyond experimental reach. However, both the Zee model and extended left-right symmetric models contain extra ${\rm SU(2)}$ doublets coupled to leptons and could in principle account for the observed excess, with interesting connections between HLFV and neutrino parameters.

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arXiv2014

Testing the Zee-Babu model via neutrino data, lepton flavour violation and direct searches at the LHC

We discuss how the Zee-Babu model can be tested combining information from neutrino data, low-energy experiments and direct searches at the LHC. We update previous analysis in the light of the recent measurement of the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$, the new MEG limits on $μ\rightarrow e γ$, the lower bounds on doubly-charged scalars coming from LHC data, and, of course, the discovery of a 125 GeV Higgs boson by ATLAS and CMS. In particular, we find that the new singly- and doubly-charged scalars are accessible at the second run of the LHC, yielding different signatures depending on the neutrino hierarchy and on the values of the phases. We also discuss in detail the stability of the potential.

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arXiv2014

The Zee-Babu Model revisited in the light of new data

We update previous analyses of the Zee-Babu model in the light of new data, e.g., the mixing angle $θ_{13}$, the rare decay $μ\to e γ$ and the LHC results. We also analyse the possibility of accommodating the deviations in $Γ(H\to γγ)$ hinted by the LHC experiments, and the stability of the scalar potential. We find that neutrino oscillation data and low energy constraints are still compatible with masses of the extra charged scalars accessible to LHC. Moreover, if any of them is discovered, the model can be falsified by combining the information on the singly and doubly charged scalar decay modes with neutrino data. Conversely, if the neutrino spectrum is found to be inverted and the CP phase $δ\neq π$, the masses of the charged scalars will be well outside the LHC reach.

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arXiv2013

Lepton Number Violation and Scalar Searches at the LHC

We review the SM extensions with scalar multiplets including doubly-charged components eventually observable as di-leptonic resonances at the LHC. Special emphasis is payed to the limits on LNV implied by doubly-charged scalar searches at the LHC, and to the characterization of the multiplet doubly-charged scalars belong to if they are observed to decay into same-sign charged lepton pairs.

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arXiv2013

Discriminating between lepton number violating scalars using events with four and three charged leptons at the LHC

Many Standard Model extensions predict doubly-charged scalars; in particular, all models with resonances in charged lepton-pair channels with non-vanishing lepton number; if these are pair produced at the LHC, the observation of their decay into $l^\pm l^\pm W^\mp W^\mp$ will be necessary in order to establish their lepton-number violating character, which is generally not straightforward. Nonetheless, the analysis of events containing four charged leptons (including scalar decays into one or two taus as well as into W bosons) makes it possible to determine whether the doubly-charged excitation belongs to a multiplet with weak isospin T = 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2 or 2 (assuming there are no excitations with charge > 2); though discriminating between the isosinglet and isodoublet cases is possible only if charged-current events cannot produce the doubly-charged isosinglet.

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arXiv2013

Distinguishing between lepton number violating scalars at the LHC

Scalars with lepton number violating interactions decaying into lepton pairs, as those mediating the see-saw of type II, always include doubly-charged components. If these are observed at the LHC, their electro-weak quantum numbers can be determined through their leptonic decays in pair and single production.

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arXiv2012

On the nature of the fourth generation neutrino and its implications

We consider the neutrino sector of a Standard Model with four generations. While the three light neutrinos can obtain their masses from a variety of mechanisms with or without new neutral fermions, fourth-generation neutrinos need at least one new relatively light right-handed neutrino. If lepton number is not conserved this neutrino must have a Majorana mass term whose size depends on the underlying mechanism for lepton number violation. Majorana masses for the fourth generation neutrinos induce relative large two-loop contributions to the light neutrino masses which could be even larger than the cosmological bounds. This sets strong limits on the mass parameters and mixings of the fourth generation neutrinos.

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arXiv2012

Effective Lagrangian approach to neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino masses

Neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay can in general produce electrons of either chirality, in contrast with the minimal Standard Model (SM) extension with only the addition of the Weinberg operator, which predicts two left-handed electrons in the final state. We classify the lepton number violating (LNV) effective operators with two leptons of either chirality but no quarks, ordered according to the magnitude of their contribution to \znbb decay. We point out that, for each of the three chirality assignments, $e_Le_L, e_Le_R$ and $e_Re_R$, there is only one LNV operator of the corresponding type to lowest order, and these have dimensions 5, 7 and 9, respectively. Neutrino masses are always induced by these extra operators but can be delayed to one or two loops, depending on the number of RH leptons entering in the operator. Then, the comparison of the $0νββ$ decay rate and neutrino masses should indicate the effective scenario at work, which confronted with the LHC searches should also eventually decide on the specific model elected by nature. We also list the SM additions generating these operators upon integration of the heavy modes, and discuss simple realistic examples of renormalizable theories for each case.

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arXiv2012

A realistic model of neutrino masses with a large neutrinoless double beta decay rate

The minimal Standard Model extension with the Weinberg operator does accommodate the observed neutrino masses and mixing, but predicts a neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay rate proportional to the effective electron neutrino mass, which can be then arbitrarily small within present experimental limits. However, in general $0νββ$ decay can have an independent origin and be near its present experimental bound; whereas neutrino masses are generated radiatively, contributing negligibly to $0νββ$ decay. We provide a realization of this scenario in a simple, well defined and testable model, with potential LHC effects and calculable neutrino masses, whose two-loop expression we derive exactly. We also discuss the connection of this model to others that have appeared in the literature, and remark on the significant differences that result from various choices of quantum number assignments and symmetry assumptions. In this type of models lepton flavor violating rates are also preferred to be relatively large, at the reach of foreseen experiments. Interestingly enough, in our model this stands for a large third mixing angle, $\sin^2θ_{13} \gtrsim 0.008$, when $μ\rightarrow eee$ is required to lie below its present experimental limit.

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