arXiv subjects

Aurora Melis

Publications and source records attributed to Aurora Melis.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Hadronic susceptibilities for b to c transitions from two point correlation functions

We present a lattice determination of the hadronic susceptibilities that, thanks to unitarity and analyticity, constrain the form factors entering the semileptonic $b\rightarrow c$ transitions. We evaluate the transverse and longitudinal susceptibilities of the vector and axial polarization functions at zero momentum transfer from the moments of appropriate two-point correlation functions. The latter are obtained on the lattice employing gauge ensembles of the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f$=2+1+1 flavors of Wilson-clover twisted-mass quarks with masses of all the dynamical quark flavors tuned close to their physical values. The simulations are carried out at four values of the lattice spacing, $a \simeq (0.057,0.068, 0.080, 0.091)$ fm, with spatial lattice sizes up to $L \simeq 7.6$ fm. Heavy-quark masses up to $\approx 3.5$ times the physical charm mass are employed, allowing for a smooth extrapolation to the physical b-quark mass.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2023

One-Loop Integrals for Purely Virtual Particles

Quantum field theories with purely virtual particles, or fakeons, require suitable modifications in one-loop integrals. We provide the expressions for the modified scalar integrals in the case of the bubble, triangle and box diagrams. The new functions are defined by means of their difference with the `t Hooft-Veltman scalar integrals. The modifications do not affect the derivation of the Passarino-Veltman reduction and one-loop integrals with nontrivial numerators can be decomposed in the same fashion. Therefore, the new functions can be directly used to study the phenomenology of any models with standard particles and fakeons. We compare our results with standard amplitudes and show that the largest differences are often localized in relatively small energy ranges and are characterized by additional nonanalyticities. Finally, we give explicit examples in the context of a toy model, where cross sections and decay widths of standard particles are modified by the presence of fakeons.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Beyond the Inert Doublet: imprints of Scotogenic Yukawa interactions at FCC-ee

It is tempting to interpret the minuscule scale of neutrino masses as a symptom of its radiative origin. In light of the notable leap in precision expected at the Future Circular Collider, we explore areas of the parameter space that can simultaneously support the detectable Higgs-strahlung signal with parallel ones from forthcoming measurements in low-energy observables. We pinpoint the role that the extra fermions have in shaping a signal distinct from the pure Inert Doublet one. The details of the full one-loop computation and on-shell renormalization are presented. Both normal and inverted hierarchies for the radiatively generated neutrino masses and angles are investigated.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Anomaly-free ALP from non-Abelian flavor symmetry

Motivated by the Xenon1T excess in electron-recoil measurements, we investigate the prospects of probing axion-like particles (ALP) in lepton flavor violation experiments. In particular, we identify such ALP as a pseudo-Goldstone from the spontaneous breaking of the flavor symmetries that explain the mixing structure of the Standard Model leptons. We present the case of the flavor symmetries being a non-Abelian U(2) and the ALP originating from its U(1) subgroup, which is anomaly-free with the Standard Model group. We build two explicit realistic examples that reproduce leptonic masses and mixings and show that the ALP which is consistent with Xenon1T anomaly could be probed by the proposed LFV experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Constraining Low-Scale Flavor Models with $\boldsymbol{(g-2)_μ}$ and Lepton Flavor Violation

We present here two concrete examples of models where a sub-TeV scale breaking of their respective $\mathcal{T}_{13}$ and $A_5$ flavor symmetries is able to account for the recently observed discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment, $(g-2)_μ$. Similarities in the flavor structures of the charged-lepton Yukawa matrix and dipole matrix yielding $(g-2)_μ$ give rise to strong constraints on low-scale flavor models when bounds from lepton flavor violation (LFV) are imposed. These constraints place stringent limits on the off-diagonal Yukawa structure, suggesting a mostly (quasi-)diagonal texture for models with a low flavor breaking scale $Λ_f$. We argue that many of the popular flavor models in the literature designed to explain the fermion masses and mixings are not suitable for reproducing the observed discrepancy in $(g-2)_μ$, which requires a delicate balance of maintaining a low flavor scale while simultaneously satisfying strong LFV constraints.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Phenomenology of a Fake Inert Doublet Model

We introduce a new way of modeling the physics beyond the Standard Model by considering fake, strictly off-shell degrees of freedom: the fakeons. To demonstrate the approach and exemplify its reach, we re-analyze the phenomenology of the Inert Doublet Model under the assumption that the second doublet is a fakeon. Remarkably, the fake doublet avoids the most stringent $Z$-pole constraints regardless of the chosen mass scale, thereby allowing for the presence of new effects well below the electroweak scale. Furthermore, the absence of on-shell propagation prevents fakeons from inducing missing energy signatures in collider experiments. The distinguishing features of the model appear at the loop level, where fakeons modify the Higgs boson $h\toγγ$ decay width and the Higgs trilinear coupling. The running of Standard Model parameters proceeds as in the usual Inert Doublet Model case. Therefore, the fake doublet can also ensure the stability of the Standard Model vacuum. Our work shows that fakeons are a valid alternative to the usual tools of particle physics model building, with the potential to shape a new paradigm, where the significance of the existing experimental constraints towards new physics must necessarily be reconsidered.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Implications of the Muon g-2 result on the flavour structure of the lepton mass matrix

The confirmation of the discrepancy with the Standard Model predictions in the anomalous magnetic moment by the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab points to a low scale of new physics. Flavour symmetries broken at low energies can account for this discrepancy but these models are much more restricted, as they would also generate off-diagonal entries in the dipole moment matrix. Therefore, if we assume that the observed discrepancy in the muon $g-2$ is explained by the contributions of a low-energy flavor symmetry, lepton flavour violating processes can constrain the structure of the lepton mass matrices and therefore the flavour symmetries themselves predicting these structures. We apply these ideas to several discrete flavour symmetries popular in the leptonic sector, such as $Δ(27)$, $A_4$, and $A_5 \ltimes {\rm CP}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

A fake doublet solution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment

Extensions to the Standard Model that use strictly off-shell degrees of freedom - the fakeons - allow for new measurable interactions at energy scales usually precluded by the constraints that target the on-shell propagation of new particles. Here we employ the interactions between a new fake scalar doublet and the muon to explain the recent Fermilab measurement of its anomalous magnetic moment. Remarkably, unlike in the case of usual particles, the experimental result can be matched for fakeon masses below the electroweak scale without contradicting the stringent precision data and collider bounds on new light degrees of freedom. Our analysis, therefore, demonstrates that the fakeon approach offers unexpected viable possibilities to model new physics naturally at low scales.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Controlled fermion mixing and FCNCs in a $Δ(27)$ 3+1 Higgs Doublet Model

We propose a 3+1 Higgs Doublet Model based on the $Δ(27)$ family symmetry supplemented by several auxiliary cyclic symmetries leading to viable Yukawa textures for the Standard Model fermions, consistent with the observed pattern of fermion masses and mixings. The charged fermion mass hierarchy and the quark mixing pattern is generated by the spontaneous breaking of the discrete symmetries due to flavons that act as Froggatt-Nielsen fields. The tiny neutrino masses arise from a radiative seesaw mechanism at one loop level, thanks to a preserved $Z_2^{\left( 1\right)}$ discrete symmetry, which also leads to stable scalar and fermionic dark matter candidates. The leptonic sector features the predictive cobimaximal mixing pattern, consistent with the experimental data from neutrino oscillations. For the scenario of normal neutrino mass hierarchy, the model predicts an effective Majorana neutrino mass parameter in the range $3$~meV$\lesssim m_{ββ}\lesssim$ $18$ meV, which is within the declared range of sensitivity of modern experiments. The model predicts Flavour Changing Neutral Currents which constrain the model, for instance Kaon mixing and $μ\to e$ nuclear conversion processes, the latter which are found to be within the reach of the forthcoming experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Muon and electron $g-2$ and lepton masses in flavor models

The stringent experimental bound on $μ\rightarrow e γ$ is compatible with a simultaneous and sizable new physics contribution to the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments $(g-2)_\ell$ ($\ell=e,\,μ$), only if we assume a non-trivial flavor structure of the dipole operator coefficients. We propose a mechanism in which the realization of the $(g-2)_\ell$ correction is manifestly related to the mass generation through a flavor symmetry. A radiative flavon correction to the fermion mass gives a contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment. In this framework, we introduce a chiral enhancement from a non-trivial $\mathcal{O}(1)$ quartic coupling of the scalar potential. We show that the muon and electron anomalies can be simultaneously explained in a vast region of the parameter space with predicted vector-like mediators of masses as large as $M_χ\in [0.6,2.5]$~TeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

LFV and g-2 in non-universal SUSY models with light higgsinos

We consider a supersymmetric type-I seesaw framework with non-universal scalar masses at the GUT scale to explain the long-standing discrepancy of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. We find that it is difficult to accommodate the muon g-2 while keeping charged-lepton flavor violating processes under control for the conventional SO(10)-based relation between the up sector and neutrino sector. However, such tension can be relaxed by adding a Georgi-Jarlskog factor for the Yukawa matrices, which requires a non-trivial GUT-based model. In this model, we find that both observables are compatible for small mixings, CKM-like, in the neutrino Dirac Yukawa matrix.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Lepton Flavor Violation and Neutrino Masses from $A_5$ and CP in the Non-Universal MSSM

We analyze the phenomenological consequences of embedding a flavor symmetry based on the groups $A_5$ and CP in a supersymmetric framework. We concentrate on the leptonic sector, where two different residual symmetries are assumed to be conserved at LO for charged and neutral leptons. All possible realizations to generate neutrino masses at tree level are investigated. Sizable flavor violating effects in the charged lepton sector are unavoidable due to the non-universality of soft-breaking terms determined by the symmetry. We derive testable predictions for the neutrino spectrum, lepton mixing and flavor changing processes with non-trivial relations among observables.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Leptogenesis in $Δ(27)$ with a Universal Texture Zero

We investigate the possibility of viable leptogenesis in an appealing $Δ(27)$ model with a universal texture zero in the (1,1) entry. The model accommodates the mass spectrum, mixing and CP phases for both quarks and leptons and allows for grand unification. Flavoured Boltzmann equations for the lepton asymmetries are solved numerically, taking into account both $N_1$ and $N_2$ right-handed neutrino decays. The $N_1$-dominated scenario is successful and the most natural option for the model, with $M_1 \in [10^9, 10^{12}]$ GeV, and $M_1/M_2 \in [0.002, 0.1]$, which constrains the parameter space of the underlying model and yields lower bounds on the respective Yukawa couplings. Viable leptogenesis is also possible in the $N_2$-dominated scenario, with the asymmetry in the electron flavour protected from $N_1$ washout by the texture zero. However, this occurs in a region of parameter space which has a stronger mass hierarchy $M_1/M_2 < 0.002 $, and $M_2$ relatively close to $M_3$, which is not a natural expectation of the $Δ(27)$ model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Controlled flavor violation in the MSSM from a unified $Δ(27)$ flavor symmetry

We study the phenomenology of a unified supersymmetric theory with a flavor symmetry $Δ(27)$. The model accommodates quark and lepton masses, mixing angles and CP phases. In this model, the Dirac and Majorana mass matrices have a unified texture zero structure in the $(1,1)$ entry that leads to the Gatto-Sartori-Tonin relation between the Cabibbo angle and ratios of the masses in the quark sectors, and to a natural departure from zero of the $θ_{13}^\ell$ angle in the lepton sector. We derive the flavor structures of the trilinears and soft mass matrices, and show their general non-universality. This causes large flavor violating effects. As a consequence, the parameter space for this model is constrained, allowing it to be (dis)proven by flavor violation searches in the next decade. Although the results are model specific, we compare them to previous studies to show similar flavour effects (and associated constraints) are expected in general in supersymmetric flavor models, and may be used to distinguish them.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

HQE parameters from unquenched lattice data on pseudoscalar and vector heavy-light meson masses

We present a new lattice determination of some of the parameters appearing both in the Operator Product Expansion (OPE) analysis of the inclusive semileptonic $B$-meson decays and in the Heavy Quark Expansion (HQE) of the pseudoscalar (PS) and vector (V) heavy-light meson masses. We perform a lattice QCD (LQCD) computation of PS and V heavy-light meson masses for heavy-quark masses $m_h$ in the range from $m_c^{\rm phys}$ to $\simeq 4m_b^{\rm phys}$. We employed the $N_f = 2+1+1$ gauge configurations of the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) at three values of the lattice spacing $a \simeq (0.062, 0.082, 0.089)$ fm with pion masses in the range $M_π\simeq (210 - 450)$ MeV. The heavy-quark mass is simulated directly on the lattice up to $\simeq 3m_c^{\rm phys}$. The interpolation to the physical $m_b^{\rm phys}$ is performed using the ETMC ratio method and adopting the kinetic mass scheme. We obtain $m_b^{\rm kin}(1~\mbox{GeV}) = 4.61 (20)$ GeV ($\overline{m}_b(\overline{m}_b) = 4.26 (18)$ GeV in the $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme). The lattice data are analyzed in terms of the HQE and the matrix elements of dimension-4 and dimension-5 operators are extracted with good precision, namely: $\overlineΛ = 0.552 (26)$ GeV, $μ_π^2 = 0.321 (32)$ GeV$^2$ and $μ_G^2(m_b) = 0.253 (25)$ GeV$^2$. The data also allow for an estimate of the dimension-6 operator matrix elements.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2017

Slepton Non-Universality in the Flavor-Effective MSSM

Supersymmetric theories supplemented by an underlying flavor-symmetry $\mathcal{G}_f$ provide a rich playground for model building aimed at explaining the flavor structure of the Standard Model. In the case where supersymmetry breaking is mediated by gravity, the soft-breaking Lagrangian typically exhibits large tree-level flavor violating effects, even if it stems from an ultraviolet flavor-conserving origin. Building on previous work, we continue our phenomenological analysis of these models with a particular emphasis on leptonic flavor observables. We consider three representative models which aim to explain the flavor structure of the lepton sector, with symmetry groups $\mathcal{G}_f = Δ(27)$, $A_4,$ and $S_3$.

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