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Chao Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Chao Chen.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

Test of $CP$ Symmetry in the Neutral Decays of $Λ$ via $J/ψ\toΛ\barΛ$

Using $(10087\pm44)\times10^{6}$ $J/ψ$ events collected with the BESIII detector, a full angular distribution analysis is carried out on the process $J/ψ\rightarrowΛ\barΛ\rightarrow nπ^{0}\bar{p}π^{+}+c.c.$ The decay parameters $α_{0}$ for $Λ\rightarrow nπ^{0}$ and $\barα_{0}$ for $\barΛ\rightarrow \bar{n}π^{0}$ are measured to be $0.668\pm0.007\pm0.002$ and $-0.677\pm0.007\pm0.003$, respectively, yielding the most precise test for $CP$ symmetry of neutral decays of $Λ$, $A_{CP}^{0}=(α_{0}+\barα_{0})/(α_{0}-\barα_{0})$, to be $-0.006\pm0.007\pm0.002$. The ratios $α_{0}/α_{-}$ and $\barα_{0}/α_{+}$ are determined to be $0.884\pm0.013\pm0.006$ and $0.885\pm0.013\pm0.004$, where $α_{-}$ and $α_{+}$ are the decay parameters of $Λ\rightarrow pπ^{-}$ and $\barΛ\rightarrow\bar{p}π^{+}$, respectively. The ratios, found to be smaller than unity by more than $5σ$, confirm the presence of the $ΔI = 3/2$ transition in the $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ decays, which is expected to improve the theoretical calculations for strong and weak phases, and $A_{CP}$, in hyperon decays. In all results, the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

hep-ex↗

Measurements of the absolute branching fractions of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays $D^+\to K^+π^0$, $D^+\to K^+η$ and $D^+\to K^+η^{\prime}$

Using $20.3\,\rm fb^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 3.773\,GeV with the BESIII detector, we present the measurements of the absolute branching fractions of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays $D^+\to K^+π^0$, $D^+\to K^+η$ and $ D^+ \to K^+ η^{\prime}$ with the double-tag method, with significantly improved precision compared to the previous measurements. The statistical significance of each signal decay exceeds $10σ$. The branching fractions are determined to be ${\mathcal B}(D^+\to K^+ π^0) = (1.45 \pm 0.06 \pm 0.08)\times 10^{-4}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^+\to K^+ η) = (1.17 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.03)\times 10^{-4}$ and ${\mathcal B}(D^+\to K^+ η^{\prime}) = (1.88 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.11)\times 10^{-4}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The branching fractions of $D^+\to K^+η$ and $ D^+ \to K^+ η^{\prime}$ are consistent with the world average values. The reported branching fraction of $D^+\to K^+π^0$ deviates with the world average value by 3$σ$.

hep-ex↗

First observation of $Λ_{c}(2595)^{+} \to Λ^{+}_{c}π^0π^0$ and $Λ_{c}(2625)^{+}\to Λ^{+}_{c}π^0π^0$

By analysing $e^+e^-$ annihilation data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 368.48~pb$^{-1}$ collected at the centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s} = 4.918$ and $4.951$~GeV with the BESIII detector, we report the first observation of $Λ_{c}(2595)^{+}$ and $Λ_{c}(2625)^{+}\to Λ^{+}_{c}π^0π^0$ with statistical significances of 7.9$σ$ and 11.8$σ$, respectively. The branching fractions of $Λ_{c}(2595)^{+}$ and $Λ_{c}(2625)^{+}\to Λ^{+}_{c}π^0π^0$ are measured to be $(59.5 \pm 11.1_{\rm stat.} \pm 7.9_{\rm syst.}) \%$ and $(41.0 \pm 5.2_{\rm stat.} \pm 3.3_{\rm syst.}) \%$, respectively. The absolute branching fraction of $Λ_{c}(2595)^{+}$ is consistent with the expectation of the mechanism referred to as the threshold effect, proposed for the strong decays of $Λ_{c}(2595)^{+}$ within uncertainty.

hep-ex↗

Search for the charmonium weak decays $J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}ρ^{+}+c.c.$ and $J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}π^{+}+c.c.$

Based on $(10087\pm44)\times 10^6$ $J/ψ$ events recorded with the BESIII detector, we search for the rare charmonium weak decays $J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}ρ^{+}+c.c.$ and $J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}π^{+}+c.c.$ No signal is observed, and upper limits on the branching fractions at the $90\%$ confidence level are set as $\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}ρ^{+}+c.c.)<8.0\times10^{-7}$ and $\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\to D_{s}^{-}π^{+}+c.c.)<4.1\times10^{-7}$. Our results provide the most stringent experimental constraints on these decays.

hep-ex↗

Measurements of absolute branching fractions of $D^{0(+)}\to KKKπ$ decays

Using an $e^+e^-$ sample of $20.3\,\rm fb^{-1}$ collected at the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=$ 3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector, we report measurements of several four-body hadronic decays of the $D$ mesons. The absolute branching fractions are determined to be ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to K^0_S K^+K^-π^0 )=( 18.4^{+2.6}_{-2.5}\pm 2.4)\times 10^{-5}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to K^0_S K^0_S K^-π^+ )=( 12.9^{+1.7}_{-1.6}\pm 2.5)\times 10^{-5}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to K^0_S K^0_S K^+π^-)=(5.7^{+1.2}_{-1.1}\pm 1.3)\times 10^{-5}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to K^+K^-K^-π^+ )=(17.4^{+1.8}_{-1.7}\pm { 2.2})\times 10^{-5}$, and ${\mathcal B}(D^+\to K^0_S K^+K^-π^+)=(13.8^{+2.4}_{-2.2}\pm 2.5)\times 10^{-5}$. Furthermore, significant $ϕ$ signals are found in the decay channels involving $K^+K^-$ pair, and the corresponding branching fractions are measured as ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to ϕK^0_Sπ^0 )=( 22.7^{+5.4}_{-5.1}\pm 3.7)\times 10^{-5}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^0\to ϕK^-π^+ )=(25.2^{+3.5}_{-3.3}\pm 4.6)\times 10^{-5}$, ${\mathcal B}(D^+\to ϕK^0_Sπ^+)=(16.5 ^{+6.0}_{-5.3}\pm 2.6 )\times 10^{-5}$. The branching fractions of $D^0\to K^0_S K^+K^-π^0$, $D^0\to ϕK^0_Sπ^0$, and $D^+\to ϕK^0_S π^+$ are measured for the first time, and those of $D^0\to K^0_S K^0_SK^-π^+$, $D^0\to K^0_S K^0_SK^+π^-$, $D^0\to K^+K^-K^-π^+$, $D^0\to ϕK^-π^+$, and $D^+\to K^0_S K^+K^-π^+$ are measured with improved precision. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.

hep-ex↗

Search for the charged lepton flavor violating decay $ψ(3686)\to e^{\pm}μ^{\mp}$

By analyzing $(2367.0\pm11.1)\times10^6$ $ψ(3686)$ events collected in $e^+e^-$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=3.686~\rm GeV$ with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, we report the first search for the charged lepton flavor violating decay $ψ(3686)\to e^{\pm}μ^{\mp}$. No signal is found. An upper limit on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(ψ(3686)\to e^{\pm}μ^{\mp})$ is determined to be $1.4\times10^{-8}$ at the 90\% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

Observation of $D^+\to K^0_Sπ^0μ^+ν_μ$, Test of Lepton Flavor Universality and First Angular Analysis of $D^+\to \bar{K}^\ast(892)^0\ell^+ν_\ell$

We report a study of the semileptonic decays $D^+\to K_S^0π^0\ell^+ν_\ell$ ($\ell = e, μ$) based on $20.3\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collision data collected at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector. The $D^+\to K_S^0π^0μ^+ν_μ$ decay is observed for the first time, with a branching fraction of $(0.896\pm0.017_{\rm stat}\pm0.008_{\rm syst})\%$, and the branching fraction of $D^+\to K_S^0π^0e^+ν_e$ is determined with the improved precision as $(0.943\pm0.012_{\rm stat}\pm0.010_{\rm syst})\%$. From the analysis of the dynamics, we observe that the dominant $\bar{K}^\ast(892)^0$ component is accompanied by an $S$-wave contribution, which accounts for $(7.10 \pm 0.68_{\rm stat} \pm 0.41_{\rm syst})\%$ of the total decay rate of the $μ^+$ channel and $(6.39 \pm 0.17_{\rm stat} \pm 0.14_{\rm syst})\%$ of the $e^+$ channel. Assuming a single-pole dominance parameterization, the hadronic form factor ratios are extracted to be $r_V=V(0)/A_1(0)=1.42 \pm\, 0.03_{\rm stat} \pm\, 0.02_{\rm syst}$ and $r_2=A_2(0)/A_1(0)=0.75 \pm\, 0.03_{\rm stat} \pm\, 0.01_{\rm syst}$. Based on the first comprehensive angular and the decay-rate $CP$ asymmetry analysis, the full set of averaged angular and $CP$ asymmetry observables are measured as a function of the momentum-transfer squared; they are consistent with expectations from the Standard Model. No evidence for violation of $μ-e$ lepton-flavor universality is observed in either the full range or the five chosen bins of momentum-transfer squared.

hep-ex↗

Study of $ϕ\to K\bar{K}$ and $K_{S}^{0}-K_{L}^{0}$ Asymmetry in the Amplitude Analysis of $D_{s}^{+} \to K_{S}^{0}K_{L}^{0}π^{+}$ Decays

Using $e^+e^-$ annihilation data corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 7.33 $\rm fb^{-1}$ collected at center-of-mass energies between 4.128 and 4.226~GeV with the BESIII detector, we provide the first amplitude analysis and absolute branching fraction measurement of the hadronic decay $D_{s}^{+} \to K_{S}^{0}K_{L}^{0}π^{+}$. The branching fraction of $D_{s}^{+} \to K_{S}^{0}K_{L}^{0}π^{+}$ is determined to be $(1.86\pm0.06_{\rm stat}\pm0.03_{\rm syst})\%$. Combining the $\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to ϕ(\to K_{S}^0K_{L}^0) π^+]$ obtained in this work and the world average of $\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to ϕ(\to K^+K^-) π^+]$, we measure the relative branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(ϕ\to K_S^0K_L^0)/\mathcal{B}(ϕ\to K^+K^-)$=($0.593 \pm 0.023_{\rm stat} \pm 0.014_{\rm syst} \pm 0.016_{ϕπ}$), where the third error is due to the uncertainty of the $\mathcal{B}(D_s^+ \to ϕπ^+,ϕ\to K^+K^-)$. Our result deviates from the Particle Data Group value by more than 3$σ$. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the branching fractions of $D^+_s\to K_{S}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}$ and $D^+_s\to K_{L}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}$, $\frac{\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to K_{S}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}]-\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to K_{L}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}]}{\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to K_{S}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}]+\mathcal{B}[D_{s}^{+} \to K_{L}^0K^{*}(892)^{+}]}$, is determined to be $(-14.5\pm 5.1_{\rm stat}\pm 1.8_{\rm syst})\%$.

hep-ex↗

Single Inclusive $π^\pm$ and $K^\pm$ Production in $e^+e^-$ Annihilation at center-of-mass Energies from 2.000 to 3.671GeV

Using data samples with a total integrated luminosity of 253 $\rm pb^{-1}$ collected by the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, the differential cross-sections of inclusive $π^\pm$ and $K^\pm$ production, as a function of momentum and normalized by the total hadronic cross-section, are measured at center-of-mass energies from 2.000 to 3.671 GeV. The measured $π^{\pm}$ cross sections are consistent with the previously reported $π^{0}$ cross-sections by BESIII, while the $K^{\pm}$ cross sections are systematically higher than the $K^0_S$ cross sections by a factor of approximately 1.4. These new results are in agreement with state-of-the-art QCD analyses at next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy, particularly in the large hadron momentum region at energy scales down to 3 GeV. These findings support the validity of isospin symmetry in parton fragmentation processes.

hep-ex↗

First measurement of the cross sections for $e^{+}e^{-}\to K^{0}K^{-}π^{+}J/ψ+c.c.$ at $\sqrt{s}$ from 4.396 to 4.951 GeV

Using $e^+e^-$ collision data at 19 center-of-mass energies ranging from $4.396$ to $4.951~\mathrm{GeV}$ corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of $8.86~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ collected by the BESIII detector, the process $e^+e^-\to K^{0}K^-π^+ J/ψ+c.c.$ is observed for the first time, with a statistical significance of $9.4σ$ summing up all the data samples. For this process, the cross section and the upper limit at the $90\%$ confidence level are reported at each of the 19 center-of-mass energies.~No statistically significant vector structures are observed in the cross section line shape, nor are any intermediate states of $Kπ$, $K\bar{K}$, $K\bar{K}π$, $KJ/ψ$, $πJ/ψ$, and $KπJ/ψ$ seen at individual energy points or in the combined data sample.

hep-ex↗

E-ICL: Enhancing Fine-Grained Emotion Recognition through the Lens of Prototype Theory

In-context learning (ICL) achieves remarkable performance in various domains such as knowledge acquisition, commonsense reasoning, and semantic understanding. However, its performance significantly deteriorates for emotion detection tasks, especially fine-grained emotion recognition. The underlying reasons for this remain unclear. In this paper, we identify the reasons behind ICL's poor performance from the perspective of prototype theory and propose a method to address this issue. Specifically, we conduct extensive pilot experiments and find that ICL conforms to the prototype theory on fine-grained emotion recognition. Based on this theory, we uncover the following deficiencies in ICL: (1) It relies on prototypes (example-label pairs) that are semantically similar but emotionally inaccurate to predict emotions. (2) It is prone to interference from irrelevant categories, affecting the accuracy and robustness of the predictions. To address these issues, we propose an Emotion Context Learning method (E-ICL) on fine-grained emotion recognition. E-ICL relies on more emotionally accurate prototypes to predict categories by referring to emotionally similar examples with dynamic labels. Simultaneously, E-ICL employs an exclusionary emotion prediction strategy to avoid interference from irrelevant categories, thereby increasing its accuracy and robustness. Note that the entire process is accomplished with the assistance of a plug-and-play emotion auxiliary model, without additional training. Experiments on the fine-grained emotion datasets EDOS, Empathetic-Dialogues, EmpatheticIntent, and GoEmotions show that E-ICL achieves superior emotion prediction performance. Furthermore, even when the emotion auxiliary model used is lower than 10% of the LLMs, E-ICL can still boost the performance of LLMs by over 4% on multiple datasets.

cs.LG↗

Improved Measurements of $D^+ \to ηe^+ν_e$ and $D^+ \to ημ^+ν_μ$

Using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collision data collected at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector, we measure the branching fractions of $D^+\to ηe^+ν_e$ and $D^+\to ημ^+ν_μ$ to be $(9.75\pm0.29\pm0.28)\times10^{-4}$ and $(9.08\pm0.35\pm0.23)\times10^{-4}$, where the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. From a simultaneous fit to their partial decay rates, we determine the product of the hadronic form factor $f^η_+(0)$ and the modulus of the $c\to d$ Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{cd}|$ to be $f^η_+(0)|V_{cd}|=0.078\pm0.002\pm0.001$. Taking the $|V_{cd}|$ value from the Standard Model global fit as input, we obtain $f^η_+(0)=0.345\pm0.008\pm0.003$. The ratio between the measured branching fractions of $D^+\toη^+μ^+ν_μ$ and $D^+\toηe^+ν_e$, is determined to be $0.93\pm0.05_{\rm stat.}\pm0.02_{\rm syst.}$, indicating no violation of lepton flavor universality.

hep-ex↗

Precision Measurement of the Branching Fraction of $D^{+}\to μ^{+}ν_μ$

Using $20.3~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of $E_{\rm c.m.}=3.773$ GeV with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, we determine the branching fraction of the leptonic decay $D^+\toμ^+ν_μ$ to be $(4.034\pm0.080_{\rm stat}\pm0.040_{\rm syst})\times10^{-4}$. Interpreting our measurement with knowledge of the Fermi coupling constant $G_F$, the masses of the $D^+$ and $μ^+$ as well as the lifetime of the $D^+$, we determine $f_{D^+}|V_{cd}|=(48.02\pm0.48_{\rm stat}\pm0.24_{\rm syst}\pm0.12_{\rm input}\pm0.15_{\rm EM})~\mathrm{MeV}$ after taking into account necessary radiative corrections. This result is a factor of 2.3 more precise than the previous best measurement. Using the value of the magnitude of the $c\to d$ Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{cd}|$ given by the global standard model fit, we obtain the $D^+$ decay constant $f_{D^+}=(213.5\pm2.1_{\rm stat}\pm1.1_{\rm syst}\pm0.8_{\rm input}\pm0.7_{\rm EM})$\,MeV. Alternatively, using the value of $f_{D^+}$ from a precise lattice quantum chromodynamics calculation, we extract $|V_{cd}|=0.2265\pm0.0023_{\rm stat}\pm0.0011_{\rm syst}\pm0.0009_{\rm input}\pm0.0007_{\rm EM}$.

hep-ex↗

Fine-Grained Emotion Recognition via In-Context Learning

Fine-grained emotion recognition aims to identify the emotional type in queries through reasoning and decision-making processes, playing a crucial role in various systems. Recent methods use In-Context Learning (ICL), enhancing the representation of queries in the reasoning process through semantically similar examples, while further improving emotion recognition by explaining the reasoning mechanisms. However, these methods enhance the reasoning process but overlook the decision-making process. This paper investigates decision-making in fine-grained emotion recognition through prototype theory. We show that ICL relies on similarity matching between query representations and emotional prototypes within the model, where emotion-accurate representations are critical. However, semantically similar examples often introduce emotional discrepancies, hindering accurate representations and causing errors. To address this, we propose Emotion In-Context Learning (EICL), which introduces emotionally similar examples and uses a dynamic soft-label strategy to improve query representations in the emotion reasoning process. A two-stage exclusion strategy is then employed to assess similarity from multiple angles, further optimizing the decision-making process. Extensive experiments show that EICL significantly outperforms ICL on multiple datasets.

cs.AI↗

Decipher the Modality Gap in Multimodal Contrastive Learning: From Convergent Representations to Pairwise Alignment

Multimodal contrastive learning (MCL) aims to embed data from different modalities in a shared embedding space. However, empirical evidence shows that representations from different modalities occupy completely separate regions of embedding space, a phenomenon referred to as the modality gap. Moreover, experimental findings on how the size of the modality gap influences downstream performance are inconsistent. These observations raise two key questions: (1) What causes the modality gap? (2) How does it affect downstream tasks? To address these questions, this paper introduces the first theoretical framework for analyzing the convergent optimal representations of MCL and the modality alignment when training is optimized. Specifically, we prove that without any constraint or under the cone constraint, the modality gap converges to zero. Under the subspace constraint (i.e., representations of two modalities fall into two distinct hyperplanes due to dimension collapse), the modality gap converges to the smallest angle between the two hyperplanes. This result identifies \emph{dimension collapse} as the fundamental origin of the modality gap. Furthermore, our theorems demonstrate that paired samples cannot be perfectly aligned under the subspace constraint. The modality gap influences downstream performance by affecting the alignment between sample pairs. We prove that, in this case, perfect alignment between two modalities can still be achieved via two ways: hyperplane rotation and shared space projection.

cs.LG↗

First Measurement of the $D_s^+\rightarrow K^0μ^+ν_μ$ Decay

We report the first measurement of the semileptonic decay $D^+_s \rightarrow K^0μ^+ν_μ$, using a sample of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $7.33~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected at center-of-mass energies between 4.128 to 4.226~GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The branching fraction of the decay is measured to be $\mathcal{B}(D^+_s\rightarrow K^0μ^+ν_μ) = (2.89 \pm 0.27_{\rm stat} \pm 0.12_{\rm syst})\times 10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. Based on a simultaneous fit to the partial decay rates in $q^2$ intervals measured in $D^+_s \rightarrow K^0μ^+ν_μ$ and $D^+_s \rightarrow K^0e^+ν_{e}$ decays, the product value of the form factor $f^{K^0}_{+}(0)$ and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{cd}|$ is measured to be $f^{K^0}_{+}(0)|V_{cd}|=0.140\pm0.008_{\rm stat}\pm0.002_{\rm syst}$. Using $|V_{cd}|=0.22486\pm0.00068$ as an input, the hadronic form factor is determined to be $f^{K^0}_{+}(0)=0.623\pm0.036_{\rm stat} \pm 0.009_{\rm syst}$ at $q^2=0$. This is the most precise determination of $f^{K^0}_{+}(0)$ in the $D^+_s \rightarrow K^0$ transition to date. The measured branching fraction and form factor presented in this work provide the most stringent test on various non-perturbative theoretical calculations. Taking $f^{K^0}_{+}(0)=0.6307\pm0.0020$ from lattice calculations as an input, we obtain $|V_{cd}|=0.220\pm0.013_{\rm stat}\pm0.003_{\rm syst}\pm0.001_{\rm LQCD}$, which is the most precise determination of $|V_{cd}|$ using the $D_s^+\rightarrow K^0\ell^+ν_{\ell}$ decays. In addition, lepton flavor universality is tested for the first time with $D^+_s \rightarrow K^0\ell^+ν_{\ell}$ decays in full and separate $q^2$ intervals. No obvious violation is found.

hep-ex↗

Efficient Whole Slide Pathology VQA via Token Compression

Whole-slide images (WSIs) in pathology can reach up to 10,000 x 10,000 pixels, posing significant challenges for multimodal large language model (MLLM) due to long context length and high computational demands. Previous methods typically focus on patch-level analysis or slide-level classification using CLIP-based models with multi-instance learning, but they lack the generative capabilities needed for visual question answering (VQA). More recent MLLM-based approaches address VQA by feeding thousands of patch tokens directly into the language model, which leads to excessive resource consumption. To address these limitations, we propose Token Compression Pathology LLaVA (TCP-LLaVA), the first MLLM architecture to perform WSI VQA via token compression. TCP-LLaVA introduces a set of trainable compression tokens that aggregate visual and textual information through a modality compression module, inspired by the [CLS] token mechanism in BERT. Only the compressed tokens are forwarded to the LLM for answer generation, significantly reducing input length and computational cost. Experiments on ten TCGA tumor subtypes show that TCP-LLaVA outperforms existing MLLM baselines in VQA accuracy while reducing training resource consumption by a substantial margin.

cs.CV↗

Can asteroid-mass PBHDM be compatible with catalyzed phase transition interpretation of PTA?

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can catalyze first-order phase transitions (FOPTs) in their vicinity, potentially modifying the gravitational wave (GW) signals from PTs. In this study, we investigate the GWs from strong PTs catalyzed by PBHs. We consider high PBH number densities, corresponding to asteroid-mass PBH dark matter (DM) when the GWs from FOPTs peak in the nanohertz band. We calculate the PBH-catalyzed FOPT GWs from both bubble collision GWs and scaler-induced gravitational waves (SIGWs). We find that while low PBH number densities amplify the GW signals due to the formation of large bubbles, high PBH number densities suppress them, as the accelerated phase transition proceeds too rapidly. This suppression renders the signals unable to explain pulsar timing array (PTA) observations. By conducting data fitting with the NANOGrav 15-year dataset, we find that the PBH catalytic effect significantly alters the estimation of PT parameters. Notably, our analysis of the bubble collision GWs reveals that, the asteroid-mass PBHs ($10^{-16} - 10^{-12} M_\odot$) as the whole dark matter is incompatible with the PT interpretation of pulsar timing array signals. However, incorporating SIGWs can reduce this incompatibility for PBHs in the mass range $10^{-14} - 10^{-12} M_\odot$.

astro-ph.CO↗