arXiv subjects

Giuliano Panico

Publications and source records attributed to Giuliano Panico.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Thermal Masses and Bubble-Wall Friction in Cosmological Phase Transitions

Bubble-wall friction controls the dynamics of first-order cosmological phase transitions. In Boltzmann-equation approaches, a major uncertainty arises from infrared gauge bosons, whose contribution is artificially enhanced in the massless approximation. We study the impact of thermal masses by including them consistently in both the Liouville operator and the collision integrals. Thermal masses suppress the source term for out-of-equilibrium perturbations while also reducing interaction rates. These effects largely cancel for top quarks, giving only percent-level changes, but they strongly suppress the infrared gauge-boson contribution, shifting the dominant momenta to scales of order the temperature. As a result, gauge bosons become subleading and wall velocities are close to those obtained from top-quark friction alone. We illustrate this in the singlet-extended Standard Model. Our results show that thermal masses reduce the sensitivity of friction calculations to the poorly controlled infrared sector of the plasma.

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arXiv2024

New calculation of collision integrals for cosmological phase transitions

First order phase transitions in the early universe may have left a variety of experimentally accessible imprints. The dynamics of such transitions is governed by the density perturbations caused by the propagation of the bubble wall in the false vacuum plasma, conveniently described by a Boltzmann equation. The determination of the bubble wall expansion velocity is crucial to determine the experimental signatures of the transition. We report on the first full (numerical) solution to the Boltzmann equation. Differently from traditional ones, our approach does not rely on any ansatz. The results significantly differ from the ones obtained within the fluid approximation and large differences for the friction acting on the bubble wall are found. The wall velocity is calculated in a singlet extension of the Standard Model, including out-of-equilibrium contributions from both the top quark and the electroweak gauge bosons.

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arXiv2024

Non-linearities in cosmological bubble wall dynamics

A precise modelling of the dynamics of bubbles nucleated during first-order phase transitions in the early Universe is pivotal for a quantitative determination of various cosmic relics, including the stochastic background of gravitational waves. The equation of motion of the bubble front is affected by the out-of-equilibrium distributions of particle species in the plasma which, in turn, are described by the corresponding Boltzmann equations. In this work we provide a solution to these equations by thoroughly incorporating the non-linearities arising from the population factors. Moreover, our methodology relies on a spectral decomposition that leverages the rotational properties of the collision integral within the Boltzmann equations. This novel approach allows for an efficient and robust computation of both the bubble speed and profile. We also refine our analysis by including the contributions from the electroweak gauge bosons. We find that their impact is dominated by the infrared modes and proves to be non-negligible, contrary to the naive expectations.

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arXiv2023

Boosting likelihood learning with event reweighting

Extracting maximal information from experimental data requires access to the likelihood function, which however is never directly available for complex experiments like those performed at high energy colliders. Theoretical predictions are obtained in this context by Monte Carlo events, which do furnish an accurate but abstract and implicit representation of the likelihood. Strategies based on statistical learning are currently being developed to infer the likelihood function explicitly by training a continuous-output classifier on Monte Carlo events. In this paper, we investigate the usage of Monte Carlo events that incorporate the dependence on the parameters of interest by reweighting. This enables more accurate likelihood learning with less training data and a more robust learning scheme that is more suited for automation and extensive deployment. We illustrate these advantages in the context of LHC precision probes of new Effective Field Theory interactions.

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arXiv2023

Revisiting $\mathbf{Vh(\rightarrow b \bar b)}$ at the LHC and FCC-hh

Diboson production processes provide good targets for precision measurements at present and future hadron colliders. We consider $Vh$ production, focusing on the $h \to b\bar b$ decay channel, whose sizeable cross section makes it accessible at the LHC. We perform an improved analysis by combining the 0-, 1- and 2-lepton channels with a scale-invariant $b$-tagging algorithm that allows us to exploit events with either a boosted Higgs via mass-drop tagging or resolved $b$-jets. This strategy gives sensitivity to 4 dimension-6 SMEFT operators that modify the $W$ and $Z$ couplings to quarks and is competitive with the bounds obtained from global fits. The benefit of the $h\to b\bar b$ decay channel is the fact that it is the only $Vh$ channel accessible at the LHC Run 3 and HL-LHC, while at FCC-hh it is competitive with the effectively background-free $h\to γγ$ channel assuming $\lesssim 5$% systematic uncertainty. Combining the boosted and resolved categories yields a 17% improvement on the most strongly bounded Wilson coefficient at the LHC Run 3 with respect to the boosted category alone (and a 7% improvement at FCC-hh). We also show that, at FCC-hh, a binning in the rapidity of the $Vh$ system can significantly reduce correlations between some EFT operators. The bounds we obtain translate to a lower bound on the new physics scale of $5$, $8$, and $20$ TeV at the LHC Run 3, HL-LHC, and FCC-hh respectively, assuming new-physics couplings of order unity. Finally, we assess the impact of the $Vh$ production channel on anomalous triple gauge coupling measurements, comparing with their determination at lepton colliders.

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arXiv2023

Collision Integrals for Cosmological Phase Transitions

The dynamics of the true-vacuum bubbles nucleated during a first-order phase transition is affected by the distribution functions of the particle species in the plasma, driven out-of-equilibrium by the travelling domain wall. An accurate modelling of this phenomenon is relevant for a quantitative description of phase transitions in the early universe and for the determination of the corresponding cosmic relics, such as, among the others, the stochastic background of gravitational waves. We address this problem by developing a new spectral method devised for a fast and reliable computation of the collision integral in the Boltzmann equations. In a scalar singlet extension of the Standard Model chosen as a benchmark scenario, we test our algorithm, determining the bubble speed and profile, and we asses the impact of the out-of-equilibrium dynamics.

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arXiv2022

Truncation, validity, uncertainties

The truncation of the standard-model effective field theory, its validity and the associated uncertainties have been discussed in meetings of the LHC EFT WG. Proposals were made by participants to address these issues. No consensus was reached and no formal recommendation is therefore put forward at this time. None of the proposals has been approved or validated and further work is needed to establish a prescription. This note aims at summarizing the proposals and points of debate.

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arXiv2022

Dynamics of bubble walls at the electroweak phase transition

First order phase transitions in the early universe naturally lead to the production of a stochastic background of gravitational waves and to the generation of a matter-antimatter asymmetry. The dynamics of the phase transition is affected by the density perturbations in the hot plasma. We address this topic by providing, for the first time, a full numerical solution to the linearized Boltzmann equation for the top quark species coupled to the Higgs field during a first order phase transition at the electroweak scale. Differently from the traditional approaches, our results do not depend on any ansatz and can fully describe the non-equilibrium distribution functions of the particle species in the plasma.

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arXiv2022

Early-Universe Model Building

Theoretical investigations into the evolution of the early universe are an essential part of particle physics that allow us to identify viable extensions to the Standard Model as well as motivated parameter space that can be probed by various experiments and observations. In this white paper, we review particle physics models of the early universe. First, we outline various models that explain two essential ingredients of the early universe (dark matter and baryon asymmetry) and those that seek to address current observational anomalies. We then discuss dynamics of the early universe in models of neutrino masses, axions, and several solutions to the electroweak hierarchy problem. Finally, we review solutions to naturalness problems of the Standard Model that employ cosmological dynamics.

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arXiv2022

Muon Collider Physics Summary

The perspective of designing muon colliders with high energy and luminosity, which is being investigated by the International Muon Collider Collaboration, has triggered a growing interest in their physics reach. We present a concise summary of the muon colliders potential to explore new physics, leveraging on the unique possibility of combining high available energy with very precise measurements.

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arXiv2022

The physics case of a 3 TeV muon collider stage

In the path towards a muon collider with center of mass energy of 10 TeV or more, a stage at 3 TeV emerges as an appealing option. Reviewing the physics potential of such muon collider is the main purpose of this document. In order to outline the progression of the physics performances across the stages, a few sensitivity projections for higher energy are also presented. There are many opportunities for probing new physics at a 3 TeV muon collider. Some of them are in common with the extensively documented physics case of the CLIC 3 TeV energy stage, and include measuring the Higgs trilinear coupling and testing the possible composite nature of the Higgs boson and of the top quark at the 20 TeV scale. Other opportunities are unique of a 3 TeV muon collider, and stem from the fact that muons are collided rather than electrons. This is exemplified by studying the potential to explore the microscopic origin of the current $g$-2 and $B$-physics anomalies, which are both related with muons.

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arXiv2022

Bubble wall dynamics at the electroweak phase transition

First order phase transitions could play a major role in the early universe, providing important phenomenological consequences, such as the production of gravitational waves and the generation of baryon asymmetry. An important aspect that determines the properties of the phase transition is the dynamics of the true-vacuum bubbles, which is controlled by the density perturbations in the hot plasma. We study this aspect presenting, for the first time, the full solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation for the top quark species coupled to the Higgs field during a first-order electroweak phase transition. Our approach, differently from the traditional one based on the fluid approximation, does not rely on any ansatz and can fully capture the density perturbations in the plasma. We find that our results significantly differ from the ones obtained in the fluid approximation (including its extensions and modifications), both at the qualitative and quantitative level. In particular sizable differences are found for the friction acting on the bubble wall.

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arXiv2021

EFT approach to the electron Electric Dipole Moment at the two-loop level

The ACME collaboration has recently reported a new bound on the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron, $|d_e|< 1.1 \times 10^{-29}\, {\rm e\cdot cm}$ at 90$\%$ confidence level, reaching an unprecedented accuracy level. This can translate into new relevant constraints on theories beyond the SM laying at the TeV scale, even when they contribute to the electron EDM at the two-loop level. We use the EFT approach to classify these corrections, presenting the contributions to the anomalous dimension of the CP-violating dipole operators of the electron up to the two-loop level. Selection rules based on helicity and CP play an important role to simplify this analysis. We use this result to provide new bounds on BSM with leptoquarks, extra Higgs, or constraints in sectors of the MSSM and composite Higgs models. The new ACME bound pushes natural theories significantly more into fine-tune territory, unless they have a way to accidentally preserve CP.

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arXiv2021

Precision from the diphoton Zh channel at FCC-hh

The future 100 TeV FCC-hh hadron collider will give access to rare but clean final states which are out of reach of the HL-LHC. One such process is the $Zh$ production channel in the $(ν\barν / \ell^{+}\ell^{-})γγ$ final states. We study the sensitivity of this channel to the $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(1)}$, $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$, $\mathcal{O}_{φu}$, and $\mathcal{O}_{φd}$ SMEFT operators, which parametrize deviations of the $W$ and $Z$ couplings to quarks, or, equivalently, anomalous trilinear gauge couplings (aTGC). While our analysis shows that good sensitivity is only achievable for $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$, we demonstrate that binning in the $Zh$ rapidity has the potential to improve the reach on $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(1)}$. Our estimated bounds are one order of magnitude better than projections at HL-LHC and is better than global fits at future lepton colliders. The sensitivity to $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$ is competitive with other channels that could probe the same operator at FCC-hh. Therefore, combining the different diboson channels sizeably improves the bound on $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$, reaching a precision of $|δg_{1z}| \lesssim 2 \times 10^{-4}$ on the deviations in the $ZWW$ interactions.

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arXiv2021

High-energy EFT probes with fully differential Drell-Yan measurements

We study the potential of fully-differential measurements of high-energy dilepton cross-sections at the LHC to probe heavy new physics encapsulated in dimension-6 interaction operators. The assessment is performed in the seven-dimensional parameter space of operators that induce energy-growing corrections to the Standard Model partonic cross-sections at the interference level, and in the two-dimensional subspace associated with the W and Y parameters. A considerable sensitivity improvement is found relative to single-differential measurements, owing to the possibility of probing at the interference level more directions in the seven-dimensional parameter space. The reduction of parton distribution function uncertainties in the fully-differential fit is also found to play a significant role. The results are interpreted in the minimal Z' new-physics model, providing a concrete illustration of the advantages of the fully-differential analysis. We find that high-energy dilepton measurements can extend the Z' exclusion and discovery potential well beyond the reach of direct searches in a large region of the parameter space.

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arXiv2020

A New Precision Process at FCC-hh: the diphoton leptonic Wh channel

The increase in luminosity and center of mass energy at the FCC-hh will open up new clean channels where BSM contributions are enhanced at high energy. In this paper we study one such channel, $Wh \to \ellνγγ$. We estimate the sensitivity to the $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$, $\mathcal{O}_{φ{W}}$, and $\mathcal{O}_{φ\widetilde {W}}$ SMEFT operators. We find that this channel will be competitive with fully leptonic $WZ$ production in setting bounds on $\mathcal{O}_{φq}^{(3)}$. We also find that the double differential distribution in the $p_T^h$ and the leptonic azimuthal angle can be exploited to enhance the sensitivity to $\mathcal{O}_{φ\widetilde {W}}$. However, the bounds on $\mathcal{O}_{φ{W}}$ and $\mathcal{O}_{φ\widetilde {W}}$ we obtain in our analysis, though complementary and more direct, are not competitive with those coming from other measurements such as EDMs and inclusive Higgs measurements.

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arXiv2020

Parametrized classifiers for optimal EFT sensitivity

We study unbinned multivariate analysis techniques, based on Statistical Learning, for indirect new physics searches at the LHC in the Effective Field Theory framework. We focus in particular on high-energy $ZW$ production with fully leptonic decays, modeled at different degrees of refinement up to NLO in QCD. We show that a considerable gain in sensitivity is possible compared with current projections based on binned analyses. As expected, the gain is particularly significant for those operators that display a complex pattern of interference with the Standard Model amplitude. The most effective method is found to be the "Quadratic Classifier" approach, an improvement of the standard Statistical Learning classifier where the quadratic dependence of the differential cross section on the EFT Wilson coefficients is built-in and incorporated in the loss function. We argue that the Quadratic Classifier performances are nearly statistically optimal, based on a rigorous notion of optimality that we can establish for an approximate analytic description of the $ZW$ process.

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arXiv2020

Diboson Interference Resurrection

High-energy diboson processes at the LHC are potentially powerful indirect probes of heavy new physics, whose effects can be encapsulated in higher-dimensional operators or in modified Standard Model couplings. An obstruction however comes from the fact that leading new physics effects often emerge in diboson helicity amplitudes that are anomalously small in the Standard Model. As such, the formally leading Standard Model/New Physics interference contribution cancels in inclusive measurements. This paper describes a solution to this problem.

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