arXiv subjects

Ashutosh Kumar Alok

Publications and source records attributed to Ashutosh Kumar Alok.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantifying Imaginarity in Neutrino Systems

It is a fundamental question why quantum mechanics employs complex numbers rather than solely real numbers. In this work, we conduct the first analysis of imaginarity quantification in neutrino flavor and spin-flavor oscillations. As quantum systems in coherent superposition, neutrinos are ideal candidates for quantifying imaginarity within the resource theoretic framework, using measures such as the $\ell_1$-norm and the relative entropy of imaginarity. We show that in the case of two-flavor mixing, these measures of imaginarity are nonzero. The measures of imaginarity reach their extreme values when the probabilistic features of quantum theory are fully maximized, i.e., both the transitional and survival probabilities are approximately equal. Our study reveals that the imaginarity, as a resource, can be harnessed not solely from the presence of a complex phase in the mixing matrix but also from the intrinsic quantum dynamics of time evolution itself. We further extend our analysis to explore the dynamics of three-flavor neutrino mixing, incorporating the effects of a nonzero $CP$ phase.

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arXiv2025

Impact of Scalar NSI on Spatial and Temporal Correlations in Neutrino Oscillations

Neutrino oscillation experiments are gradually approaching an era of precision, where subleading effects can also be tested. One such subleading effect is Non-Standard Interactions (NSI), which can play a crucial role in neutrino oscillations. Various works have typically discussed vector NSI in the context of quantum correlations. Recently, there have been improvements in the bounds on scalar NSI as well. In light of these developments, we aim to examine the impact of scalar NSI on quantum correlation measures. To analyze this impact, we are considering the strongest measure of quantum correlation, i.e., non-locality. Our study will encompass both spatial and temporal non-locality measures.

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arXiv2025

Quantum coherence in neutrino spin-flavor oscillations

Coherence, which represents the superposition of orthogonal states, is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics and can also be precisely defined within quantum resource theory. Thus exploring quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations can not only help in examining the intrinsic quantum nature but can also explore their potential applications in quantum information technologies. Previous studies on quantum coherence have focused on neutrino flavor oscillations (FO). However, FO imply that neutrinos have mass and this can lead to the generation of a tiny but finite magnetic dipole moment of neutrinos through quantum loop diagrams at higher orders of perturbative expansion of the interaction. This electromagnetic property of neutrinos can induce spin flavor oscillations (SFO) in the presence of an external magnetic field and hence is expected to enrich the study of coherence. In this work, we investigate quantum coherence in neutrino SFO with three flavor mixing within the interstellar as well as intergalactic magnetic fields, quantified by the $l_1$ norm and the relative entropy of coherence, and express these measures in terms of neutrino SFO probabilities. For FO, coherence measures can sustain higher values (say, within 50% of the maximum) over distances of several kilometers, which are relevant for terrestrial experiments like reactor and accelerator neutrinos. However, for SFO, we find that the coherence scale can extend to astrophysical distances, spanning from kiloparsecs to gigaparsecs.

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arXiv2025

Coherent dynamics of flavor mode entangled neutrinos

As the lynchpin of all quantum correlations, quantum coherence is fundamental for distinguishing quantum systems from classical ones and is essential for realizing quantum advantages in areas such as computation, communication, and metrology. In this study, we investigate the relationship between quantum coherence and neutrino oscillations within the two and three flavor-mode qubit frameworks. Our analysis extends beyond the commonly used $l_1$-norm and relative entropy of coherence to include all relevant measures of coherence such as robustness of coherence, coherence concurrence, trace-norm distance measure of coherence, coherence of formation, Schatten-$p$-norm-based functionals, geometric coherence and logarithmic coherence rank, each offering unique insights into the quantum correlations in these systems. Notably, while the $l_1$-norm and relative entropy-based measures apply to general quantum states, the other measures are particularly relevant for entangled systems, highlighting the critical role of entanglement in neutrino oscillations. We present a detailed methodology for calculating coherence measures in both two-flavor and three-flavor mixing scenarios, contributing to a deeper understanding of how quantum coherence manifests and evolves in mode-entangled neutrino systems. Our findings emphasize the potential of these systems as robust candidates for quantum information tasks, facilitated by the weak interaction nature of neutrinos.

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arXiv2025

Experimental limits on quantum decoherence from $B$ meson systems

Neutral $B$-meson systems serve as critical tests of the Standard Model and play a key role in limiting its extensions. While these systems are typically studied under the assumption of perfect quantum coherence, interactions with the environment can lead to decoherence. Such decoherence effects can obscure the measured values of key parameters such as the oscillation frequency $ Δm $ and $CP$-violating parameter $ \sin 2β$. Using the experimental data, we present the first combined analysis of mixing asymmetry and $CP$-asymmetry measurements for $ B_d $-mesons, which indicates that $ λ_d $ is non-zero at approximately $ 6 \,σ$. We also establish the first experimental constraints on the decoherence parameter $ λ_s $ for $ B_s $-mesons, finding it to be non-zero at $ 3 \,σ$.

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arXiv2024

Finding flavons at colliders

We conduct a comprehensive investigation into the flavour phenomenology and collider signatures of flavon of $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm N} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm M}$ flavour symmetries for the soft symmetry-breaking scenario and a new symmetry-conserving mechanism at the high-luminosity LHC, high energy LHC, and a 100 TeV hadron collider. The flavour physics of quark and leptonic observables places different bounds on the parameter space of flavons of $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm N} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm M}$ flavour symmetries. On the collider side, the decay $t \rightarrow c a$ can be probed by the high-luminosity LHC, high energy LHC, and a 100 TeV hadron collider for the $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm 8} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm 22}$ flavour symmetry. The inclusive production signatures can be used to probe the flavon of all the $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm N} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm M} $ flavour symmetries for the soft symmetry-breaking scenario for a heavy flavon at a 100 TeV collider. Flavons of all the $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm N} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm M} $ flavour symmetries can be probed at high energy LHC and a 100 TeV collider for a low mass in the case of soft symmetry-breaking. The di-flavon production is within reach of the high-luminosity LHC, high energy LHC, and a 100 TeV collider only for a light flavon. The 14 TeV high-luminosity LHC can probe only the $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm 2} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm 5}$ and $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm 8} \times \mathcal{Z}_{\rm 22}$ flavour symmetries for a few specific inclusive signatures. The symmetry-conserving scenario remains beyond the detection capabilities of any collider.

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arXiv2024

Genuine lepton-flavor-universality-violating observables in the $τ-μ$ sector of $B \to (K,\,K^*) \ell \ell $ decays

It was previously shown that unlike the ratios $R_K^{μe} \equiv R_K \equiv Γ(B \to K μ^+ μ^-)/Γ(B \to K e^+ e^-)$ and $R_{K^*}^{μe} \equiv R_{K^*} \equiv Γ(B \to K^* μ^+ μ^-)/Γ(B \to K^* e^+ e^-)$, the ratios $R_K^{τμ}$ and $R_{K^*}^{τμ}$ can deviate from their Standard Model (SM) predictions even with universal new physics couplings. This observation highlights the critical need to identify and establish genuine lepton flavor universality violating (LFUV) observables in the $τ-μ$ sector. This work embarks on establishing genuine LFUV ratio observables in $B \to K \ell \ell$ and $B \to K^* \ell \ell$ decays through comprehensive analysis of their angular distributions. We find that like $R_{K^*}^{τμ}$, the ratios $R_{A_{FB}}^{τμ}$ and $R_{f_L}^{τμ}$ do not qualify as genuine LFUV observables, whereas the ratios of all optimized observables in $B \to K^* \ell \ell$ decays within the $τ-μ$ sector definitively do. In the case of $B \to K \ell \ell$ decays, similar to $R_K^{τμ}$, the ratio $R_{F_H}$ is influenced by mass effects and therefore cannot be considered a genuine LFUV observable in the $τ-μ$ sector. However, the ratio $Γ_τ(1-F_{H}^τ)/Γ_μ(1-F_{H}^μ)$ stands as the sole genuine LFUV observable in $B \to K \ell \ell$ decays. Furthermore, by making use of new physics Lorentz structures which provide a better fit to the current $b \to s \ell \ell$ data as compared to the SM, we demonstrate how the non-genuine LFUV ratios $R_{A_{FB}}^{τμ}$ and $R_{f_L}^{τμ}$ can be employed to distinguish between framework with solely universal lepton couplings and those with both universal and non-universal couplings.

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arXiv2024

Majorana CP-violating phases and NSI effects in Neutrino Decay

In this work, we investigate the impact of neutrino decay in the presence of Non-Standard Interactions (NSI) along with the effects of the Majorana phase on neutrino decay in matter in the context of two-flavor neutrino oscillations. These effects are studied on neutrino oscillation probabilities $P_{αβ} \equiv P(ν_α \to ν_β)$, and the difference $ΔP_{αβ} \equiv P(ν_α \to ν_β) - P(\bar ν_α \to \barν_β)$ for several accelerator and reactor neutrino experiments. We find that for $P_{αβ}$, the influence of the Majorana phase on decay in matter can be replicated by the simultaneous presence of both decay and NSI. However, precise measurements of the $P_{αβ}$ and $ΔP_{αβ}$ observables have the potential to unequivocally identify the presence of the Majorana phase by discerning its effects from the concurrent presence of both decay and NSI.

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arXiv2024

Probing quantum decoherence at Belle II and LHCb

With the advent of Belle II and the LHCb upgrade, the precision measurements of various B-Physics observables are on cards. This holds significant potential for delving into physics beyond the standard model of electroweak interactions. These measurements can also serve as means to establish limits on phenomena occurring at much finer length scales, such as quantum decoherence, which may arise due to potential discreteness in space-time or non-trivial topological effects. In this work, we set up the formalism to investigate the impact of quantum decoherence on several potential observables in $B$ meson systems. The approach employs the trace-preserving Kraus operator formalism, extending unitary evolution to non-unitary dynamics while maintaining complete positivity. In this formalism, the decoherence effects are parametrized in terms of a single parameter. Through the analysis of purely leptonic, semileptonic, and non-leptonic decays of $B$ mesons, we identify observables that could, in principle, be influenced by decoherence. The theoretical expressions are provided without neglecting the impact of decay width difference ($ΔΓ$) and $CP$ violation in mixing. Considering that many of these observables can be measured with high precision using the abundant data collected by LHCb and Belle II, our formalism can be applied to establish constraints on the decoherence parameter through multiple decay channels. This offers an alternative set-up for such studies, which, at present, are predominantly conducted in the neutrino sector.

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arXiv2024

Spin-Flavor Oscillations of Relic Neutrinos in Primordial Magnetic Field

The neutrino magnetic moment operator clasps a tiny but non-zero value within the standard model (SM) of particle physics and rather enhanced values in various new physics models. This generation of the magnetic moment ($μ_ν$) is through quantum loop corrections which can exhibit spin-flavor oscillations in the presence of an external magnetic field. Also, several studies predict the existence of a primordial magnetic field (PMF) in the early universe, extending back to the era of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and before. The recent NANOGrav measurement can be considered as a strong indication of the presence of these PMFs. In this work, we consider the effect of the PMF on the flux of relic neutrinos. For Dirac neutrinos, we show that half of the active relic neutrinos can become sterile due to spin-flavor oscillations well before becoming non-relativistic owing to the expansion of the Universe and also before the timeline of the formation of galaxies and hence intergalactic fields, subject to the constraints on the combined value of $μ_ν$ and the cosmic magnetic field at the time of neutrino decoupling. For the upper limit of PMF allowed by the BBN, this can be true even if the experimental bounds on $μ_ν$ approaches a few times its SM value.

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arXiv2024

Correlating neutrino millicharge and muon $(g-2)$ in an abelian $L_μ-L_τ$ model

The inclusion of an additional $U(1)$ gauge symmetry is a common feature in many extensions of the Standard Model, revealing the intricate connections between particle physics and cosmology. The $L_μ - L_τ$ model stands as a prominent member of this distinguished family, characterized by its anomaly-free nature and resilience in the face of collider constraints. This framework provides a unique vantage point for investigating both the intriguing mystery of the muon $(g-2)$ anomaly and the puzzling issue of the Hubble tension. However, due to the presence of kinetic mixing between the photon and $Z'$ in this model, the neutrinos have the potential to acquire minuscule electric charges, often referred to as millicharges ($q_ν$) which is directly related to the strength of the new gauge couplings. A crucial question emerges: how does the model's inclusion of millicharges, while adhering to the stringent constraints imposed by experimental observations, influence its inherent ability to address the muon $(g-2)$ anomaly and the Hubble tension? We find the current upper bounds on $q_ν$ derived from experiments such as the beam dump, XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN experiments can impose strong constraints on the $U(1)_{L_μ - L_τ}$ coupling. Consequently, these constraints may limit the ability of the model to fully accommodate the current measurement of $(g-2)_μ$ while having a relatively minor impact on the resolution of the Hubble tension.

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arXiv2023

Leptonic Operators for Cabbibo Angle Anomaly with SMEFT RG Evolution

The measurements of the Cabibbo--Kobayashi--Maskawa (CKM) elements can be contaminated by new-physics effects. We point out that purely leptonic operators at the high scale can influence semileptonic $K$ decays and nuclear beta decay through renormalization group (RG) running, and hence can influence the measurements of $V_{us}$. Interestingly, through this mechanism, a single six-dimensional effective operator $O_{\ell\ell}$ at the high scale can alleviate the tension due to the Cabibbo angle anomaly, by generating the desired operators at the low scale through RG running. When generated as a result of a $Z'$ model, the non-universal leptonic couplings of this operator can also contribute to the lepton flavor universality violating ratios such as $R_{K^{(*)}}$, which would act as stringent constraints on such scenarios. By performing a global fit of the $Z'$ model, we find that it is essential to have non-universal couplings of such a $Z'$ boson to all three generations of leptons.

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arXiv2023

Investigating the potential of $R_{K^{(*)}}^{τμ}$ to probe lepton flavor universality violation

In this work we study the potential of the lepton flavor ratios $R_{K}^{τμ} \equiv Γ(B \to K τ^+ τ^-)/ Γ(B \to K μ^+ μ^-)$ and $ R_{K^{*}}^{τμ} \equiv Γ(B \to K^* τ^+ τ^-)/ Γ(B \to K^* μ^+ μ^-)$ to probe lepton flavor universality (LFU) violation in $τ-μ$ sector. We show that these ratios can deviate from their SM values even if the new physics couplings are universal in nature, i.e., having equal couplings to $e$, $μ$ and $τ$ leptons. Therefore in order to utilize these observables to probe LFU violation, we need to compare the allowed range of $R_{K^{(*)}}^{τμ}$ for class of solutions with only universal couplings to leptons and solutions having both universal and non-universal components. For the current $b \to s \ell \ell$ ($\ell=e,\,μ$) data, we find that these two class of solutions can be discriminated provided the measured value of $ R_{K^{*}}^{τμ} $ is greater than the SM prediction.

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arXiv2023

Imprints of flavor anomalies on neutrino oscillations through dark matter halo

In this work we study the impact of new physics, stimulated by flavor anomalies, on neutrino oscillations through dense dark matter halo. Inspired by a model where a Majorana dark matter fermion and two new scalar fields contribute to $b \to s μ^+ μ^-$ transition at the one loop level, we study the impact of neutrino-dark matter interaction on the oscillation patterns of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos passing through this muonphilic halo located near the center of Milky Way. We find that due to this interaction, the flavor ratios of neutrinos reaching earth would be different from that of vacuum oscillations. We also consider a $Z'$ model driven by $L_μ-L_τ$ symmetry and containing a vector-like fermion as a dark matter candidate. It was previously shown that for such a model, the three flavors of neutrinos decouple from each other. This will render a flavor ratio similar to that of vacuum oscillations. Therefore, the interaction of neutrinos with dense dark matter halo can serve as an important tool to discriminate between flavor models with a dark connection.

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arXiv2023

Cosmic neutrino flux and spin flavor oscillations in intergalactic medium

The ultra high energy (UHE) cosmic neutrinos are expected to play a pivotal role in the disquisition of physics beyond the standard model of particle physics as well as serve as an ideal cosmic messengers. This epitomizes the selling point of several currently running or planned neutrino telescopes. The UHE cosmic neutrinos usually perambulate gargantuan scales in the extragalactic universe having a magnetic field. If neutrinos have a finite magnetic moment ($μ_ν$) owing to quantum loop corrections, this may result in spin-flavor oscillations, which can affect the cosmic neutrino flux. Using the current limit and assuming neutrinos to be Dirac particles, we show that the flux of cosmic neutrinos will reduce by half if they traverse few Mpcs through the intergalactic magnetic field, in the range of $\rm μG$ to $nG$. Moreover, one can safely neglect the effect of $μ_ν$ if the current upper bound is improved by a few orders of magnitude even if the neutrinos travel through the size of the visible universe.

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arXiv2022

A global analysis of $b \to s \ell \ell$ data in heavy and light $Z'$ models

We perform a model-independent global fit to all $b \to s \ell \ell$ data in the light of recent measurements of the lepton flavour universality violating (LFUV) observables $R_{K_S^0}$ and $R_{K^{*+}}$ as well as the updated measurements of observables in $B_s \to ϕμ^+ μ^-$ decay, by the LHCb collaboration. We obtain new physics (NP) solutions to the current anomalies in the data, assuming NP in the muon sector only. We find that the 1D NP scenarios $C_9^{\rm NP} <0 $ and $C_{9}^{\rm NP}=-C_{10}^{\rm NP}$ continue to be the most favoured ones. However, the significance of the then favoured scenario $C_{9}^{\rm NP}=-C'_{9}$ has reduced and the updated data now marginally prefers $C_{10}^{\rm NP}$ scenario over $C_{9}^{\rm NP}=-C'_{9}$. The 2D scenarios $(C_9^{\rm NP}, C_{10}^{\prime} )$, $(C_9^{\rm NP}, C_{9}^{\prime} )$ and $(C_9^{\rm NP}, C_{10}^{\rm NP} )$, continue to be favoured by the data in the listed order. We also analyse generic TeV scale $Z'$ models which can generate the favored 1D scenarios, $C_9^{\rm NP} $ and $C_9^{\rm NP} = -C_{10}^{\rm NP}$ along with the 2D NP scenarios $(C_9^{\rm NP}, C_{9}^{\prime} )$ and $(C_9^{\rm NP}, C_{10}^{\rm NP} )$. Using the additional constraints from $B_s -\bar{B_s}$ mixing and neutrino trident data, we find that all four models provide an equally good fit to the data. Further, we consider a model with a 25 MeV $Z'$ that couples to muons and has a $q^2$ dependent $b - s$ coupling. We also study the implications of the current data on the LFUV observable $R_ϕ$, $Q_{4,5}$ along with $R_{K^{(*)}}$ in the high $q^2$. We find that a precise measurements of these observables can provide a good discrimination between a few favored model-independent solutions, and have a potential to disentangle different heavy and light $Z'$ scenarios considered in this work.

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arXiv2022

Effects of non-standard interaction on microscopic black holes from ultra-high energy neutrinos

If the universe has more than 4-dimensions, the TeV scale gravity theories predict formation of microscopic black holes due to interaction of ultra high energy neutrinos coming from some extragalactic origin with the nucleons present in the Earth's atmosphere. The decay of these black holes can generate high multiplicity events which can be detected through neutrino telescopes. Ultra high energy neutrinos can also produce events without the formation of black holes which can be distinguished from the black hole events depending on their topological structure. In this work we study the effects of non-standard interaction on the production of these shower events. We find that new physics has inconsequential impact on the number of events produced through the generation of black holes. For events produced without the formation of black holes, new physics can only provide a marginal deviation. Therefore a large enhancement in the number of shower events over the standard model prediction can provide unambiguous signatures of TeV scale gravity in the form of microscopic black hole production.

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arXiv2022

Can neutron star discriminate between Dirac and Majorana neutrinos?

Any observable repercussion of electromagnetic properties of neutrinos will provide a perspicuous signature of new physics. This includes the phenomenon of neutrino spin flip in the propinquity of an external magnetic field. In this work, we study the inklings of spin flip in a neutron star with a radially varying magnetic field and matter density, known as a magnetar, which is also a source of profuse production of neutrinos during its initial stage of thermal evolution. We find that a precise measurement of neutrino flux emerging from a neutron star would reeducate discrimination between Dirac and Majorana neutrinos as the flux reduction due to spin flip oscillations are different for both types of neutrinos. Further, the reduction of flux is more preeminent near the surface as compared to the core of a neutron star.

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