arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Dmitry Gorbunov.
In $(3+1)$ spacetime dimensions, we numerically calculate the suppression exponent of the false vacuum decay probability in the presence of a thermal bath and a black hole.
Numerical simulations of gravitational waves (GW) production during violent evolution of matter inhomogeneities in the early Universe yield highly wiggle infrared parts of the spectra. Obtained directly from the two-point correlation function, these wiggles are nonphysical, corresponding to the parasitic, double frequency terms in naively averaged squared oscillation amplitudes of GW, and hence must be washed out. The deep infrared behavior can be predicted on general grounds, e.g. fixed by causality considerations. However, what matters for real observations, e.g. like that of NANOGrav, and what can be only inferred from numerical simulations, is the infrared slope near the maximum of the spectrum. It reflects the dynamics responsible for the GW production in its heyday, and hence must be accurately predicted. We illustrate the problem with numerical simulations of the Domain Wall network performed with the help of code CosmoLattice. We suggest a numerical procedure to smooth out these parasitic wiggles, which allows us to recover the true spectrum. Being quite generic, it may be applied to numerical simulations of other hypothetical sources of GW possibly operating in the early Universe. The procedure requires to extend the simulation by a few Hubble times after termination of the GW production. We checked with numerical simulations, that the technically natural long-time extension of simulations, which becomes available via artificial scaling of different parts in the scalar sector equations provided by PRS prescription, gives wrong GW spectra even if the source terms are properly rescaled.
We present constraints on the sum of neutrino masses $\sum m_\nu$ from a dataset incorporating the full SPT-3G 2018 TT/TE/EE+lensing spectra together with Planck PR4 lensing and low-$\ell$ parts of the Planck PR3 spectra. Using it as a baseline for the DESI DR2 BAO measurements, we arrive at a $95\%$ upper limit of $\sum m_\nu < 0.11$ eV, relaxing the tension between $\rm \Lambda$CDM and lower bounds on $\sum m_\nu$ based on neutrino oscillation experiments. When including DES Y1 weak lensing information and the Pantheon+ SNIa catalog, the limit is further loosened to $\sum m_\nu<0.138$ eV with a slight preference for $\sum m_\nu>0$. On contrast, replacing SPT-3G 2018 primary CMB and lensing spectra with ones from the SPT-3G 2019-2020 (D1) release tightens the overall constraint to $<0.082$ eV and pushes the $\sum m_\nu$ posterior mode value to zero, indicating a preference for quasi-negative neutrino masses in line with the D1 analysis. This is a curious shift within SPT-3G measurements of the same field taken in 2018 and in 2019-2020 and processed with different analysis pipelines.
We study the production of hypothetical vector portal mediators, dark photons $\gamma^\prime$, with masses in the range 0.4-3.5 GeV in the negatively charged pion-proton collisions $\pi^-p\rightarrow \gamma^\prime X$ via inelastic pion bremsstrahlung and QCD Drell-Yan-like process. In both cases we estimate the value of total dark photon production cross section and obtain the energy distribution for dark photons that could be produced in the NA64h experiment. We also present the mean energies of dark photons produced in the same way by the secondary pions with momenta typical for T2K, DUNE and SHiP experiments.
Dark matter mass density profiles and velocity distributions for a set of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) have recently been obtained (F.Bezrukov, D.Gorbunov, E.Koreshkova arXiv:2412.20585) by performing a multi-parametric fit to the stellar observations with the help of the GravSphere which solves the Jeans equation. We use these results to calculate the geometrical factors for estimation of the fluxes of cosmic rays expected from decay ($D$-factor) and annihilation ($J_s$-, $J_p$- and $J_d$-factors for $s$-, $p$- and $d$- wave processes) of dark matter particles in galaxies. The general novelty is the account for a possible anisotropy in velocities of dark matter particles. On the basis of this analysis we present empirical scaling approximations to these factors as functions of typical observables: distance to the galaxy $d$, it's half-radius $r_h$ and line-of-sight stellar velocity dispersion $\sigma_{LOS}$. They can be applied to any galaxy, and for $D$- and $J_s$-factors we refine the estimates of (Andrew B. Pace, Louis E. Strigari arXiv:1802.06811): the shifts in the central values remain within 1-2$\sigma$ error bars.
The project of a new accelerator complex at the Institute for Nuclear Research of RAS in Troitsk has recently been included in the Russian National Program ``Fundamental Properties of Matter". It will sustain a proton beam with a current of 300 (100) $μ$A and a proton kinetic energy of $T_p=423\,(1300)$ MeV at the first (second) stage of operation. The complex is multidisciplinary, and here we investigate its prospects in exploring new physics with light, feebly interacting particles. We find that TiMoFey can access new regions of parameter space of models with light axion-like particles and models with hidden photons, provided by a generic multipurpose detector installed downstream the proton beam dump. The signature to be exploited is the decay of a new particle into a pair of known particles inside the detector. Likewise, TiMoFey can probe previously unreachable ranges of parameters of models with millicharged particles obtained in measurements with detectors recognizing energy deposits associated with elastic scattering of new particles, passing through the detector volume. The latter detector may be useful for dark matter searches, as well as for studies of neutrino physics suggested at the facility in the Program framework.
We examine the sterile neutrino dark matter production in the primordial plasma with lepton asymmetry unequally distributed over different neutrino flavors. We argue that with the specific flavor fractions, one can mitigate limits from the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis on the sterile-active neutrino mixing angle and sterile neutrino mass. It happens due to cancellation of the neutrino flavor asymmetries in active neutrino oscillations, which is more efficient in the case of inverse hierarchy of active neutrino masses and does not depend on the value of CP-phase. This finding opens a window of lower sterile-active mixing angles. Likewise, we show that, with lepton asymmetry disappearing from the plasma at certain intermediate stages of the sterile neutrino production, the spectrum of produced neutrinos becomes much colder, which weakens the limits on the model parameter space from observations of cosmic small-scale structures (Ly-$α$ forest, galaxy counts, etc.). This finding reopens the region of lighter sterile neutrinos. The new region may be explored with the next generation of X-ray telescopes searching for the inherent peak signature provided by the dark matter sterile neutrino radiative decays in the Galaxy.
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are recognized as being highly dominated by Dark Matter (DM), making them excellent targets for testing DM models through astrophysical observations. One effective method involves estimating the coarse-grained phase-space density (PSD) of the galactic DM component. By comparing this PSD with that of DM particles produced in the early Universe, it is possible to establish lower bounds on the DM particle mass. These constraints are particularly relevant for models of warm DM, such as those involving sterile neutrinos. Utilizing the GravSphere code, we obtain a fit of the DM PSD based on the latest reliable stellar dynamics data for twenty of the darkest dSphs, refining earlier lower bounds on sterile neutrino masses in non-resonant production scenarios. Additionally, we introduce an alternative approach involving the Excess Mass Function (EMF), which yields even tighter constraints. Specifically, using the maximum PSD, we derive a lower bound of $m>1.02\,$keV at 95% confidence level, while the EMF method provides a stronger limit of $m>1.98\,$keV at 95% CL. For the general thermal relic fermion dark matter mass the limits translate into $m>0.28\,$keV and $m>0.49\,$keV, respectively. Both methods are versatile and can be extended to more complex DM production mechanisms in the early Universe. For the first time, we also constrain parameters of models involving non-standard cosmologies during the epoch of neutrino production. Our analysis yields $m>2.54\,$keV for models with kination domination and $m>4.71\,$keV for scenarios with extremely low reheating temperature.
We study the production of hypothetical vector particles, dark photons $γ^\prime$, with masses in the range 0.4--1.8 GeV via inelastic proton bremsstrahlung. We further develop the approach of arXiv:2409.11089 and refs. [2-3], where for the first time we considered the contributions to the cross section that are associated with the Pauli form factor in $ppγ^\prime$ vertex and obtained new splitting functions. We demonstrate numerically the importance of these corrections to full inelastic proton bremsstrahlung cross section and refine the sensitivity of the ongoing and future fixed-target experiments T2K, DUNE and SHiP to the parameters of dark photon model. A dedicated experiment on measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factors in the time-like region below the proton-antiproton threshold, like those suggested in PANDA at FAIR, would help to obtain the robust predictions for the dark photon production by a proton beam at fixed target.
We study the production of vector portal mediators, dark photons, with masses in the range 0.4--1.8\,GeV in proton-proton collisions via the process of inelastic proton bremsstrahlung. In contrast to previous studies, we take into account the contribution of Pauli electromagnetic form factor to differential cross section and introduce two new splitting functions of the proton. We show that their contributions can become leading in the mass region 0.9--1.8\,GeV and present the updated estimate for the sensitivity of the future SHiP experiment to visible decays of dark photons.
In extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics a light scalar from a hidden sector can interact with known particles via mixing with the SM Higgs boson. If the scalar mass is of GeV scale, this coupling induces the scalar decay into light hadrons, that saturates the scalar width. Searches for the light scalars are performed in many ongoing experiments and planned for the next generation projects. Applying dispersion relations changes the leading order estimate of the scalar decay rate into pions by a factor of about a hundred indicating the strong final state interaction. This subtlety for about thirty years prevented any reliable inference of the model parameters from experimental data. In this Letter we use the gravitational form factor for neutral pion extracted from analysis of $γ^*γ\toπ^0π^0$ processes to estimate the quark contribution to scalar decay into two pions. We find a factor of two uncertainty in this estimate and argue that the possible gluon contribution is of the same order. The decay rate to pions smoothly matches that to gluons dominating for heavier scalars. With this finding we refine sensitivities of future projects to the scalar-Higgs mixing. The accuracy in the calculations can be further improved by performing similar analysis of $γ^*γ\to K K$ and $γ^*γ\toηη$ processes and possibly decays like $J/ψ\toγ+ππ$.
We present first estimates of NICA sensitivity to Standard Model extensions with light hypothetical particles singlet under the known gauge transformations. Our analysis reveals that NICA can explore new regions in the parameter spaces of models with a hidden vector and models with an axion-like particle of masses about 30-500\,MeV. Some of these regions seem unreachable by other ongoing and approved future projects. NICA has good prospects in discovery ($5σ$) of the new physics after 1 year of data taking.
We explore hypothetical vector particles, dark photons $γ'$, which mix with the Standard Model photons and thus mediate interactions with charged particles into the hidden sector. We study the elastic proton bremsstrahlung of dark photons with masses 0.4-1.8 GeV, relevant for direct searches with proton accelerators. A key feature of our calculation is that it explicitly considers the non-zero momentum transfer between protons in the process $pp\rightarrow ppγ'$. We compare the obtained differential and full bremsstrahlung cross sections with the results of other authors. Our calculation agrees well (up to 3-9 % corrections) with the Weizsacker-Williams approximation that confirms its applicability for proton beams. Then we refine predictions for the dark photon production with proton beams of energy 30 GeV, 70 GeV, 120 GeV and 400 GeV relevant for past, present and future experiments considered in literature.
We present new cosmological constraints in a set of motivated extensions of the $Λ$CDM model using the polarization and gravitational lensing measurements from the South Pole Telescope and the Planck CMB temperature observations at large angular scales. In all cosmological scenarios, this CMB data brings the clustering measurements into agreement with the low-redshift probes of large-scale structure. Combining the SPT-3G, SPTpol and Planck large-scale temperature data with the latest full-shape BOSS and BAO measurements, information from the weak lensing and photometric galaxy clustering, and Pantheon supernova set we find a $4σ$ evidence for nonzero neutrino mass, $\sum m_ν=0.22\pm0.06\,{\rm eV}$.Breaking the CMB degeneracies between $\sum m_ν$ and the cosmological parameters by the BOSS data is a major contribution to our neutrino mass measurement. The future CMB data would allow for investigating this measurement. Then we explore the possibility of dynamical dark energy with two model-independent approaches: one introduces a phantom crossing in dark energy equation of state, another provides with a sharp transition in the dark energy evolution. For the combination of all data considered, the both models predict $H_0\simeq68\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}Mpc^{-1}}$ being in a $\sim3σ$ tension with the SH0ES constraint. However, when the local Type Ia supernovae are calibrated by Cepheids, the late Universe scenarios suggest significantly higher values of $H_0$ consistent with SH0ES. Our work draws attention to the supernova absolute magnitude calibration as one of the issues on the way to reconcile the $H_0$ tension.
Hypothetical particles with tiny electric charges (millicharged particles or MCPs) can be produced in electron-positron annihilation if kinematically allowed. Typical searches for them at $e^+e^-$ colliders exploit a signature of a single photon with missing energy carried away by the undetected MCP pair. We put forward an idea to look alternatively for MCP energy deposits inside a tracker, which is a direct observation. The new signature is relevant for non-relativistic MCPs, and we illustrate its power on the example of the $c$-$τ$ factory, where we argued that the corresponding searches may be background-free. We find that it can probe the MCP charge down to $3\times10^{-3}$ of the electron charge for the MCP masses in ${\cal O}(5)$ MeV vicinity of each energy beam value where the factory will collect a luminosity of 100 fb$^{-1}$ in one year. This mass region is unreachable with the searches for missing energy and single photon.
Future $c$-$τ$ factories are natural places to study extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) with new long-lived feebly interacting particles light enough to be produced in electron-positron collisions. We investigate prospects of these machines in exploring such extensions emphasizing the role of polarized beams in getting rid of the SM irreducible background for the missing energy signature. We illustrate this on example of $c$-$τ$ project in Novosibirsk, where the electron beam is designed to be polarized to achieve much higher sensitivity to hadronic resonances and $τ$-leptons. We investigate models with hidden photons, with millicharged particles (fermions and scalars), with $Z'$ bosons and with axion-like particles. We find that the electron beam polarization of 80\% significantly improves the chances to observe the signal, especially with large statistics. We outline the regions of the model parameter space which can be reached at this factory in one year and in ten years of operation according with the scientific schedule of tuning the energy of colliding beams.
We investigate FASER@LHC perspectives in searches for light ($0.1-5$ GeV) sgoldstinos in models with low energy ($10-10^4$ TeV) supersymmetry breaking. We consider flavor conserving and flavor violating couplings of sgoldstinos to Standard Model fermions and find the both options to be testable at FASER. Even the first FASER run allows one to probe interesting patches in the model parameter space, while the second run, FASER-II, with significantly larger detector fiducial volume, gives a possibility to thoroughly explore a wide class of supersymmetric extensions of particle physics complementary to those probed at LHC with ATLAS and CMS detectors.
We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the sterile neutrino signal at the fixed target experiment PS191 operated on a proton beam of 19.2\,GeV at CERN in the eighties. We find that the strongest bounds the PS191 could obtain are significantly lower than what they published, and now are obsolete being surpassed by recent T2K, NA62, E949, TRIUMF and PIENU experiments.