arXiv subjects

E. Nardi

Publications and source records attributed to E. Nardi.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Testing the unitarity of the light neutrino mixing matrix

We propose a novel test of the unitarity of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) mixing matrix at collider experiments. Our approach exploits the incomplete cancellation between $t$-channel neutrino exchange and $s$-channel gauge-boson contributions that arises in the presence of violation of the flavor-diagonal PMNS unitarity conditions in weak boson pair production, leading to an anomalous growth of the cross section with energy. Such effects are generic in extensions of the Standard Model in which light neutrinos mix with heavier states, and can manifest at colliders as long as the characteristic energy of the process remains below the mass threshold of the new degrees of freedom. After briefly reviewing these scenarios, we employ our strategy to derive model-independent bounds on flavor diagonal unitarity-violating effects using LEP~II data. We then present sensitivity projections for future lepton and hadron colliders, demonstrating that they are well suited to probe the unitarity of the neutrino mixing matrix with this method.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dark sector searches with high-intensity positron beams in the CERN North Area

Dark sector models present a rich phenomenology that requires high-intensity beams and precision detectors for thorough exploration. The NA62 experiment has already published several constraints on dark sector models, leveraging proton beam dump and meson decay techniques. This proposal aims to demonstrate the NA62 detector discovery potential for dark sector candidates by using the positron-on-target technique. High-intensity secondary positron beams, reaching up to ~150 GeV energy, have already been produced at the North Area extracted beam lines. If a positron beam with an intensity in the range of 2$\times10^14$ positrons on target per year is delivered, the NA62 detector would be ideal for searches of dark sector particles in both visible and invisible decay channels. Additionally, positron on target collisions would enable precision measurements of key standard model observables, including a detailed scan of $\sigma(e^+e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-)$ and $\sigma(e^+e^- \to \mu^+\mu^-$) at the di-pion and di-muon production threshold, with discovery potential for the True Muonium ($\mu^+\mu^-$) bound state.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Axion Dark Matter

Axions are well-motivated dark matter candidates with simple cosmological production mechanisms. They were originally introduced to solve the strong CP problem, but also arise in a wide range of extensions to the Standard Model. This Snowmass white paper summarizes axion phenomenology and outlines next-generation laboratory experiments proposed to detect axion dark matter. There are vibrant synergies with astrophysical searches and advances in instrumentation including quantum-enabled readout, high-Q resonators and cavities and large high-field magnets. This white paper outlines a clear roadmap to discovery, and shows that the US is well-positioned to be at the forefront of the search for axion dark matter in the coming decade.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Light dark matter searches with positrons

We discuss two complementary strategies to search for light dark matter (LDM) exploiting the positron beam possibly available in the future at Jefferson Laboratory. LDM is a new compelling hypothesis that identifies dark matter with new sub-GeV "hidden sector" states, neutral under standard model interactions and interacting with our world through a new force. Accelerator-based searches at the intensity frontier are uniquely suited to explore it. Thanks to the high intensity and the high energy of the CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) beam, and relying on a novel LDM production mechanism via positron annihilation on target atomic electrons, the proposed strategies will allow us to explore new regions in the LDM parameters space, thoroughly probing the LDM hypothesis as well as more general hidden sector scenarios.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

KLASH Conceptual Design Report

The last decade witnessed an increasing interest in axions and axion-like particles with many theoretical works published and many new experimental proposals that started a real race towards their discovery. This paper is the Conceptual Design Report of the KLASH (KLoe magnet for Axion SearcH) experiment at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF). The idea of this experiment has been stimulated by the availability of the large volume superconducting magnet, with a moderate magnetic field of 0.6 T, used in the KLOE detector at the DAFNE collider. The main conclusion we draw from this report is the possibility to build and put in operation at LNF in 2-3 years a large haloscope with the sensitivity to KSVZ axions in the low mass range between 0.2 and 1 $μ$eV, complementary to that of other experiments. Timeline and cost are competitive with respect to other proposals in the same mass region thanks to the availability of most of the infrastructure, in particular the superconducting magnet and the cryogenics plant.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

A novel way to search for light dark matter in lepton beam-dump experiments

A novel mechanism to produce and detect Light Dark Matter in experiments making use of GeV electrons (and positrons) impinging on a thick target (beam-dump) is proposed. The positron-rich environment produced by the electromagnetic shower allows to produce an $A^\prime$ via non-resonant ($e^+ + e^- \to γ+ A^\prime$) and resonant ($e^+ + e^- \to A^\prime$) annihilation on atomic electrons. The latter mechanism, for some selected kinematics, results in a larger sensitivity with respect to limits derived by the commonly used $A^\prime-strahlung$. This idea, applied to Beam Dump Experiments and {\it active} Beam Dump Experiments pushes down the current limits by an order of magnitude.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Dark photon production through positron annihilation in beam-dump experiments

High energy positron annihilation is a viable mechanism to produce dark photons ($A^\prime$). This reaction plays a significant role in beam-dump experiments using experiments using multi-GeV electron-beams on thick targets by enhancing the sensitivity to $A^\prime$ production. The positrons produced by the electromagnetic shower can produce an $A^\prime$ via non-resonant ($e^+ + e^- \to γ+ A^\prime$) and resonant ($e^+ + e^- \to A^\prime$) annihilation on atomic electrons. For visible decays, the contribution of resonant annihilation results in a larger sensitivity with respect to limits derived by the commonly used $A^\prime$-strahlung in certain kinematic regions. When included in the evaluation of the E137 beam-dump experiment reach, positron annihilation pushes the current limit on $\varepsilon$ downwards by a factor of two in the range 33 MeV/c$^2<m_{A^\prime}<120$ MeV/c$^2$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Probing Leptogenesis

The focus of this chapter lies on the possible experimental tests of leptogenesis scenarios. We consider both leptogenesis generated from oscillations, as well as leptogenesis from out-of-equilibrium decays. As the Akhmedov-Rubakov-Smirnov (ARS) mechanism allows for heavy neutrinos in the GeV range, this opens up a plethora of possible experimental tests, e.g. at neutrino oscillation experiments, neutrinoless double beta decay, and direct searches for neutral heavy leptons at future facilities. In contrast, testing leptogenesis from out-of-equilibrium decays is a quite difficult task. We comment on the necessary conditions for having successful leptogenesis at the TeV-scale. We further discuss possible realizations and their model specific testability in extended seesaw models, models with extended gauge sectors, and supersymmetric leptogenesis. Not being able to test high-scale leptogenesis directly, we present a way to falsify such scenarios by focusing on their washout processes. This is discussed specifically for the left-right symmetric model and the observation of a heavy $W_R$, as well as model independently when measuring $ΔL = 2$ washout processes at the LHC or neutrinoless double beta decay.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quasi-Dirac neutrinos at the LHC

Lepton number violation is searched for at the LHC using same-sign leptons plus jets. The standard lore is that the ratio of same-sign lepton to opposite-sign lepton events, $R_{ll}$, is equal to $R_{ll}=1$ ($R_{ll}=0$) for Majorana (Dirac) neutrinos. We argue that for "quasi-Dirac" neutrinos, $R_{ll}$ can have any value between 0 and 1, the precise value being controlled by the mass splitting versus the width of the quasi-Dirac resonances. A measurement of $R_{ll}\neq 0,1$ would then contain valuable information about the origin of neutrino masses. We consider as an example the inverse seesaw mechanism in a left-right symmetric scenario, which is phenomenologically particularly interesting since all the heavy states in the high energy completion of the model could be within experimental reach. A prediction of this scenario is a correlation between the values of $R_{ll}$ and the ratio between the rates for heavy neutrino decays into standard model gauge bosons, and into three body final states $ljj$ mediated by off-shell $W_R$ exchange.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Flavor symmetries, leptogenesis and the absolute neutrino mass scale

We study the interplay between flavor symmetries and leptogenesis in the case when the scale of flavor symmetry breaking is higher than the scale at which lepton number is violated. We show that when the heavy Majorana neutrinos belong to an irreducible representation of the flavor group, all the leptogenesis CP asymmetries vanish in the limit of exact symmetry. In the case of reducible representations we identify a general condition that, if satisfied, guarantees the same result. We then focus on the case of a model in which an $A_4$ flavor symmetry yields a drastic reduction in the number of free parameters, implying that at leading order several quantities are only a function of the lightest neutrino mass $m_l$, which in turn is strongly constrained. For normal ordering (NO) we find m_l\simeq (0.0044 ÷0.0056) eV while for inverted ordering (IO) m_l\gtrsim 0.017 eV. For the 0\nu2βdecay parameter this yields |m_{ee}|\simeq (0.006÷0.007) eV (NO) and |m_{ee}|\gsim 0.017 eV (IO). We show that the leptogenesis CP asymmetries only depend on m_l, on a single non-hierarchical Yukawa coupling y, and on two parameters that quantify the flavor symmetry breaking effects, and we argue that the unflavored regime for leptogenesis is strongly preferred in our model, thus realizing a rather predictive scenario. Performing a calculation of the matter-antimatter asymmetry we find that for NO the observed value is easily reproduced for natural values of the symmetry breaking parameters. For IO successful leptogenesis is possible for a limited choice of the parameters implying rather large reheating temperatures T_reh\gtrsim 5*10^13 GeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2000

Bilinear R-parity Violation and Small Neutrino Masses: a Self-consistent Framework

We study extensions of supersymmetric models without R-parity which include an anomalous U(1)_H horizontal symmetry. Bilinear R-parity violating terms induce a neutrino mass at tree level of approximately $(θ^2)^δ$ eV where $θ\approx 0.22$ is the U(1)_H breaking parameter and $δ$ is an integer number that depends on the horizontal charges of the leptons. For $δ=1$ a unique self-consistent model arises in which i) all the superpotential trilinear R-parity violating couplings are forbidden by holomorphy; ii) the tree level neutrino mass falls in the range suggested by the atmospheric neutrino problem; iii) radiative contributions to neutrino masses are strongly suppressed resulting in a squared solar mass difference of few 10^{-8} eV^2 which only allows for the LOW (or quasi-vacuum) solution to the solar neutrino problem; iv) the neutrino mixing angles are not suppressed by powers of $θ$ and can naturally be large.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2000

Effects of a general set of interactions on neutrino propagation in matter

This talk is based on the article hep-ph/9903517 written in collaboration with Sven Bergmann and Yuval Grossman. An analysis of the effective potential for neutrino propagation in matter, assuming a generic set of Lorentz invariant non-derivative interactions is presented. In addition to vector and axial vector couplings, also tensor interactions can give coherent effects if the medium is polarized, and the components of a tensor potential transverse to the direction of neutrino propagation can induce a neutrino spin-flip.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1996

R_b and New Physics: A Comprehensive Analysis

We survey the implications for new physics of the discrepancy between the LEP measurement of $R_b$ and its Standard Model prediction. Two broad classes of models are considered: ($i$) those in which new $Z\bbar b$ couplings arise at tree level, through $Z$ or $b$-quark mixing with new particles, and ($ii$) those in which new scalars and fermions alter the $Z \bbar b$ vertex at one loop. We keep our analysis as general as possible in order to systematically determine what kinds of features can produce corrections to $R_b$ of the right sign and magnitude. We are able to identify several successful mechanisms, which include most of those which have been recently been proposed in the literature, as well as some earlier proposals (\eg\ supersymmetric models). By seeing how such models appear as special cases of our general treatment we are able to shed light on the reason for, and the robustness of, their ability to explain $R_b$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1994

Limits on Neutrino Mixing with new Heavy Particles

We study the effects induced by new neutral fermions below their mass threshold, due to their possible mixing with the standard neutrinos. We use as experimental constraints the recent results on lepton universality, together with the measurement of the $μ$ decay rate and the updated LEP data. In particular, the inclusion in our data set of the most recent determinations of the $τ$ branching fractions, mass and lifetime implies that a previous indication of a non-vanishing mixing for $ν_τ$ is no longer present. We obtain new stringent limits on the mixing parameters between $ν_e$, $ν_μ$, $ν_τ$ and heavy neutral states of different weak isospin. If no assumption on the type of neutrinos involved in the mixing is made, we find $\snue^2<0.0071$, $\snumu^2<0.0014$ and $\snutau^2<0.033$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1993

$μ$-$e$ conversion in nuclei and Z$^\prime$ physics

Together with the existence of new neutral gauge bosons, models based on extended gauge groups (rank $> 4$) often predict also new charged fermions. A mixing of the known fermions with new states with {\it exotic} weak-isospin assignments (left-handed singlets and right-handed doublets) will induce tree level flavour changing neutral interactions mediated by $Z$ exchange, while if the mixing is only with new states with {\it ordinary} weak-isospin assignments, the flavour changing neutral currents are mainly due to the exchange of the lightest new neutral gauge boson $Z^\prime$. We show that the present experimental limits on $μ-e$ conversion in nuclei give a nuclear-model-independent bound on the $Z$-$e$-$μ$ vertex which is twice as strong as that obtained from $μ\to e e e$. In the case of E$_6$ models these limits provide quite stringent constraints on the $Z^\prime$ mass and on the $Z-Z^\prime$ mixing angle. We point out that the proposed experiments to search for $μ-e$ conversion in nuclei have good chances to find evidence of lepton flavour violation, either in the case that new exotic fermions are present at the electroweak scale, or if a new neutral gauge boson $Z^\prime$ of E$_6$ origin lighter than a few TeV exists.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1992

Z', new fermions and flavor changing processes, constraints on E$_6$ models from $μ$ --> eee

We study a new class of flavor changing interactions, which can arise in models based on extended gauge groups (rank $>$4) when new charged fermions are present together with a new neutral gauge boson. We discuss the cases in which the flavor changing couplings in the new neutral current coupled to the $Z^\prime$ are theoretically expected to be large, implying that the observed suppression of neutral flavor changing transitions must be provided by heavy $Z^\prime$ masses together with small $Z$-$Z^\prime$ mixing angles. Concentrating on E$_6$ models, we show how the tight experimental limit on $μ\rightarrow eee$ implies serious constraints on the $Z^\prime$ mass and mixing angle. We conclude that if the value of the flavor changing parameters is assumed to lie in a theoretically natural range, in most cases the presence of a $Z^\prime$ much lighter than 1 TeV is unlikely.

hep-ph↗