arXiv subjects

Gaia Lanfranchi

Publications and source records attributed to Gaia Lanfranchi.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

New Physics Searches at Kaon and Hyperon Factories

Rare meson decays are among the most sensitive probes of both heavy and light new physics. Among them, new physics searches using kaons benefit from their small total decay widths and the availability of very large datasets. On the other hand, useful complementary information is provided by hyperon decay measurements. We summarize the relevant phenomenological models and the status of the searches in a comprehensive list of kaon and hyperon decay channels. We identify new search strategies for under-explored signatures, and demonstrate that the improved sensitivities from current and next-generation experiments could lead to a qualitative leap in the exploration of light dark sectors.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

The Present and Future Status of Heavy Neutral Leptons

The existence of non-zero neutrino masses points to the likely existence of multiple SM neutral fermions. When such states are heavy enough that they cannot be produced in oscillations, they are referred to as Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs). In this white paper we discuss the present experimental status of HNLs including colliders, beta decay, accelerators, as well as astrophysical and cosmological impacts. We discuss the importance of continuing to search for HNLs, and its potential impact on our understanding on key fundamental questions, and additionally we outline the future prospects for next-generation future experiments or upcoming accelerator run scenarios.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Feebly-Interacting Particles:FIPs 2020 Workshop Report

With the establishment and maturation of the experimental programs searching for new physics with sizeable couplings at the LHC, there is an increasing interest in the broader particle and astrophysics community for exploring the physics of light and feebly-interacting particles as a paradigm complementary to a New Physics sector at the TeV scale and beyond. FIPs 2020 has been the first workshop fully dedicated to the physics of feebly-interacting particles and was held virtually from 31 August to 4 September 2020. The workshop has gathered together experts from collider, beam dump, fixed target experiments, as well as from astrophysics, axions/ALPs searches, current/future neutrino experiments, and dark matter direct detection communities to discuss progress in experimental searches and underlying theory models for FIPs physics, and to enhance the cross-fertilisation across different fields. FIPs 2020 has been complemented by the topical workshop "Physics Beyond Colliders meets theory", held at CERN from 7 June to 9 June 2020. This document presents the summary of the talks presented at the workshops and the outcome of the subsequent discussions held immediately after. It aims to provide a clear picture of this blooming field and proposes a few recommendations for the next round of experimental results.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

The Search for Feebly-Interacting Particles

At the dawn of a new decade, particle physics faces the challenge of explaining the mystery of dark matter, the origin of matter over antimatter in the Universe, the apparent fine-tuning of the electro-weak scale, and many other aspects of fundamental physics. Perhaps the most striking frontier to emerge in the search for answers involves new physics at mass scales comparable to familiar matter, below the GeV scale, but with very feeble interaction strength. New theoretical ideas to address dark matter and other fundamental questions predict such feebly interacting particles (FIPs) at these scales, and indeed, existing data may even provide hints of this possibility. Emboldened by the lessons of the LHC, a vibrant experimental program to discover such physics is under way, guided by a systematic theoretical approach firmly grounded on the underlying principles of the Standard Model. We give an overview of these efforts, their motivations, and the decadal goals that animate the community involved in the search for FIPs, with special focus on accelerator-based experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

The Dark Photon

The dark photon is a new gauge boson whose existence has been conjectured. It is dark because it arises from a symmetry of a hypothetical dark sector comprising particles completely neutral under the Standard Model interactions. Dark though it is, this new gauge boson can be detected because of its kinetic mixing with the ordinary, visible photon. We review its physics from the theoretical and the experimental point of view. We discuss the difference between the massive and the massless case. We explain how the dark photon enters laboratory, astrophysical and cosmological observations as well as dark matter physics. We survey the current and future experimental limits on the parameters of the massless and massive dark photons together with the related bounds on milli-charged fermions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

NA62 sensitivity to heavy neutral leptons in the low scale seesaw model

The sensitivity of beam dump experiments to heavy neutral leptons depends on the relative strength of their couplings to individual lepton flavours in the Standard Model. We study the impact of present neutrino oscillation data on these couplings in the minimal type I seesaw model and find that it significantly constrains the allowed heavy neutrino flavour mixing patterns. We estimate the effect that the DUNE experiment will have on these predictions. We then discuss implication that this has for the sensitivity of the NA62 experiment when operated in the beam dump mode and provide sensitivity estimates for different benchmark scenarios. We find that the sensitivity can vary by almost two orders of magnitude for general choices of the model parameters, but depends only weakly on the flavour mixing pattern within the parameter range that is preferred by neutrino oscillation data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Perspectives to find heavy neutrinos with NA62

The sensitivity of beam dump experiments to heavy neutrinos depends on the relative size of their mixings with the lepton flavours in the Standard Model. We study the impact of present neutrino oscillation data on these mixing angles in the minimal type I seesaw model. We find that current data significantly constrains the allowed heavy neutrino flavour mixing patterns. Based on this, we discuss the implications for the sensitivity of the NA62 experiment to heavy neutrinos when operated in the beam dump mode. We find that NA62 is currently the most sensitive experiment in the world for heavy neutrino masses between that of the kaon and the $D$-mesons. The sensitivity can vary by almost two orders of magnitude if the heavy neutrinos exclusively couple to the tau flavour, but depends only comparably weakly on the flavour mixing pattern within the parameter range preferred by light neutrino oscillation data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Rare b-hadron decays as probe of new physics

The unexpected absence of unambiguous signals of New Physics at the TeV scale at the Large Hadron Collider puts today flavour physics at the forefront. In particular rare decays of b-hadrons represent a unique probe to challenge the Standard Model paradigm and test models of New Physics at a scale much higher than that accessible by direct searches. This article reviews the status of the field.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

Rare $B$ Decays as Tests of the Standard Model

One of the most interesting puzzles in particle physics today is that new physics is expected at the TeV energy scale to solve the hierarchy problem, and stabilise the Higgs mass, but so far no unambiguous signal of new physics has been found. Strong constraints on the energy scale of new physics can be derived from precision tests of the electroweak theory and from flavour-changing or CP-violating processes in strange, charm and beauty hadron decays. Decays that proceed via flavour-changing-neutral-current processes are forbidden at the lowest perturbative order in the Standard Model and are, therefore, rare. Rare $b$ hadron decays are playing a central role in the understanding of the underlying patterns of Standard Model physics and in setting up new directions in model building for new physics contributions. In this article the status and prospects of this field are reviewed.

hep-ph↗