arXiv subjects

Koichi Hamaguchi

Publications and source records attributed to Koichi Hamaguchi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Complementary Probes of Light Higgsinos: Electroweak Precision Measurements and Dark Matter Direct Detection

Although higgsinos are well motivated to be light from the viewpoint of naturalness, they remain difficult to detect experimentally because they interact only through electroweak interactions and typically possess a compressed mass spectrum. While higgsino dark matter can be efficiently probed by direct detection experiments when gauginos are relatively light, the sensitivity rapidly deteriorates for heavier gauginos due to the suppression of higgsino-gaugino mixing. In this paper, we investigate the prospects for probing light higgsinos through future electroweak precision measurements. Focusing on scenarios in which charginos and neutralinos are the only light electroweakly interacting superparticles, we evaluate their contributions to the electroweak oblique parameters as well as to the precision observables $M_W$ and $\sin^2\theta_{\mathrm{eff}}$. We compare the projected sensitivities of future $e^+e^-$ colliders with those of dark matter direct detection experiments. We find that future electroweak precision measurements provide a powerful probe of higgsinos with masses $\lesssim 500~\mathrm{GeV}$, including parameter regions with highly compressed spectra and spin-independent scattering cross sections below the neutrino fog. On the other hand, dark matter direct detection experiments are particularly sensitive to scenarios with larger charged-neutral mass splittings induced by higgsino-gaugino mixing, and can probe higgsino dark matter all the way up to the thermal relic mass of $\simeq 1~\mathrm{TeV}$. Our results demonstrate the strong complementarity between electroweak precision measurements and dark matter direct detection experiments in exploring light higgsinos and testing supersymmetric scenarios motivated by naturalness.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Minimal Majoron Dark Matter

We study Majoron dark matter (DM) in its minimal realization, based on the Type-I seesaw framework extended by a SM-singlet complex scalar. Remaining agnostic about the origin and value of the Majoron mass, we evaluate the DM abundance from both the freeze-in and misalignment mechanisms, and identify the viable parameter space consistent with observational constraints. Without fine-tuning of the initial misalignment angle, we find that the Majoron mass is bounded by $m_J \lesssim \mathcal{O}(10)~\mathrm{MeV}$. We also discuss compatibility with thermal leptogenesis. Successful leptogenesis with two right-handed neutrinos favors misalignment-dominated production with the Majoron mass $m_J \lesssim \mathcal{O}(100)~\mathrm{eV}$, while freeze-in dominated production is compatible with leptogenesis only with a mild fine-tuning of the initial misalignment angle, $\theta_i \lesssim \mathcal{O}(0.01)$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Gamma-Ray Signatures of Thermal Misalignment Dark Matter

Thermal misalignment is a viable dark matter scenario where the misalignment of a dark matter scalar, feebly coupled to the Standard Model particles, is generated through thermal effects from the primordial plasma. In this framework, the scalar is generically metastable, and its decay can leave observable signatures. In this work, we focus on the case in which the scalar $\phi$ is coupled to photons through $\phi F^{\mu\nu} F_{\mu\nu}$, and examine its observational signatures. We find that current gamma-ray constraints place a robust upper bound on the scalar mass of $\mathcal O(1)\,\mathrm{GeV}$. We also find that future observations can further probe the parameter region, particularly in the MeV--GeV range, an energy band expected to be explored by various gamma-ray observatories in the coming decades.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Revisiting Bino-Slepton Coannihilation Dark Matter in Light of Recent Experimental Results

Despite being a simple and well-motivated thermal relic scenario, coannihilation dark matter (DM) has remained largely unexplored experimentally due to the difficulty of probing its nearly degenerate mass spectrum. Recent LHC searches, however, have significantly improved the sensitivity to such compressed spectra, motivating a reassessment of the viable parameter space. We revisit the bino-slepton coannihilation scenario in supersymmetric (SUSY) models, incorporating the latest experimental results. We first focus on the minimal scenario, in which only the bino-like neutralino and left- or right-handed sleptons are light ($O(100)$ GeV), with all other SUSY particles decoupled. We find that the dark matter mass is constrained to be in the range of about 170-420 GeV (130-430 GeV) for left-handed (right-handed) slepton coannihilation, with lower bounds set by recent LHC searches. We then investigate scenarios with light higgsino, where direct detection experiments impose strong constraints on the higgsino mass. We also discuss the implications of these constraints for the muon $g-2$ in the so-called BHR, BHL, and BLR scenarios with coannihilation DM, and find that the combined LHC and LZ limits constrain the SUSY contribution to $|\Delta a_\mu^{\rm SUSY}|\lesssim 1.2\times10^{-9}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Affleck-Dine Leptoflavorgenesis

We propose a scenario to produce large primordial lepton flavor asymmetries with vanishing total lepton asymmetry, based on the Affleck-Dine mechanism with Q-ball formation. This scenario can produce large lepton flavor asymmetries while automatically maintaining the vanishing total lepton number without fine-tuning, evading the current BBN and the CMB constraints by neutrino oscillations at MeV temperature. The asymmetries can be produced at cosmic temperatures of $T\gtrsim 1\ {\rm GeV}$, early enough to have broad impacts from the early Universe to the present cosmology. This scenario could affect various aspects of early Universe cosmology simultaneously or separately: (i) explaining the observed baryon asymmetry by the same origin as the lepton flavor asymmetries, (ii) affecting the nature of the QCD transition, (iii) opening up a new parameter space of sterile neutrino dark matter by enhancing their production, and (iv) altering the abundance of the light elements, in particular, resolving the recently reported helium-4 anomaly.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Maximal parameter space of sterile neutrino dark matter with lepton asymmetries

We delineate the maximal parameter space of sterile neutrino dark matter in the presence of lepton flavor asymmetries. We focus on large flavor asymmetries with vanishing total lepton asymmetry, which are washed out by neutrino oscillations at MeV temperatures and hence are consistent with BBN and CMB constraints. We derive a semi-classical Boltzmann equation for sterile neutrinos applicable in this regime and validate it against quantum kinetic equations. For sterile neutrino masses up to 60 keV, the viable range of mixing angles extends by up to two orders of magnitude, with broad prospects for tests in forthcoming X-ray, CMB, and structure formation observations. We also release a public framework to compute the production of sterile neutrinos, and in particular their momentum distribution, enabling dedicated structure formation analyses.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Axion Emission from Proton Cooper Pairs in Neutron Stars

We investigate axion emission from singlet proton Cooper pairs in neutron stars, a process that dominates axion emission in young neutron stars in the KSVZ model. By re-deriving its emissivity, we confirm consistency with most existing literature, except for a recent study that exhibits a different dependence on the effective mass. This discrepancy results in more than an order-of-magnitude deviation in emissivity, significantly impacting constraints on the KSVZ axion from the cooling observations of the Cassiopeia A neutron star. Furthermore, we examine uncertainties arising from neutron-star equations of state and their role in the discrepancy, finding that the large deviation persists regardless of the choice of equations of state.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Insights on the Scale of Leptogenesis from Neutrino Masses and Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay

We revisit the thermal leptogenesis scenario in the type-I seesaw framework featuring three heavy Majorana neutrinos with a hierarchical mass spectrum. We focus on low energy observables, specifically the lightest neutrino mass $m_{\nu}^{\rm lightest}$ and the neutrinoless double-beta decay effective mass parameter $m^{\rm eff}_{\beta\beta}$. In particular, we numerically calculate the minimum mass of the lightest heavy Majorana neutrino, $M_1^{\rm min}$, required for successful leptogenesis as a function of $m_{\nu}^{\rm lightest}$ and $m_{\beta\beta}^{\rm eff}$, considering both normal and inverted light neutrino mass orderings. Flavour effects are taken into account within the flavoured density matrix formalism. We also examine the interplay between fine-tuned cancellations in the seesaw relation and $M_1^{\rm min}$. Recent and forthcoming searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay, along with cosmological probes of the sum of neutrino masses, motivate this analysis, as they can provide key insights into the minimal scale of thermal leptogenesis and its broader implications.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Wormhole-Induced ALP Dark Matter

Non-perturbative gravitational effects induce explicit global symmetry breaking terms within axion models. These exponentially suppressed terms in the potential give a mass contribution to the axion-like particles (ALPs). In this work we investigate this scenario with a scalar field charged under a global $U(1)$ symmetry and having a non-minimal coupling to gravity. Given the exponential dependence, the ALP can retain a mass spanning a wide range, which can act as a dark matter component. We specify pre-inflationary and post-inflationary production mechanisms of these ALPs, with the former from the misalignment mechanism and the latter from both the misalignment and cosmic-string decay. We identify the allowed parameter ranges that explain the dark matter abundance for both a general inflation case and a case where the radial mode scalar drives inflation, each in metric and Palatini formalisms. We show that the ALP can be the dominant component of the dark matter in a wide range of its mass, $m_{a} \in [10^{-21}~\mathrm{eV},\, \mathrm{TeV}]$, depending on the inflationary scenario and the $U(1)$ breaking scale. These results indicate that ALPs can be responsible for our dark matter abundance within a setup purely from non-perturbative gravitational effects.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Exploring Chirality Structure in Nucleon Decay

Baryon number conservation is an accidental symmetry in the Standard Model, but its violation is theoretically anticipated, making the search for such processes a promising avenue for discovering new physics. In this paper, we explore how measurements of different nucleon decay channels can reveal the structure of the underlying theory. We investigate the chirality structure of baryon-number violating interactions through lifetime measurements of strangeness-conserving nucleon-decay channels. By employing an effective field theory approach, we demonstrate that the ratio of partial decay widths of proton decay channels, $\Gamma(p \to \eta \ell^+)/\Gamma(p \to \pi^0 \ell^+)$, where $\ell^+$ denotes a positron or anti-muon, is sensitive to this chirality structure. Furthermore, we find that in certain new physics models, both anti-lepton and anti-neutrino channels provide valuable insights into the model's structure. Our results highlight the importance of searching for various decay channels in upcoming nucleon decay experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

A Generic Analysis of Nucleon Decay Branching Fractions in Flipped SU(5) Grand Unification

In flipped SU(5) grand unified theories, the partial decay lifetimes of certain nucleon decay channels depend generically on an unknown unitary matrix, which arises when left-handed lepton fields are embedded into anti-fundamental representations of SU(5). This dependency is particularly relevant when the neutrino mass matrix has a generic structure, introducing uncertainty in the prediction of nucleon decay branching fractions within flipped SU(5). In this paper, we demonstrate that this uncertainty can be parametrized using two parameters, which can be determined by measuring the partial lifetimes of $p \to \pi^0 e^+$, $p \to \pi^0 \mu^+$, and $n \to \pi^0 \bar{\nu}$. In addition, we establish upper limits on the ratios of the decay widths of these channels, offering a potential method to test flipped SU(5) in future nucleon decay experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Thermal Leptogenesis in the Minimal Gauged $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ Model

We discuss the thermal leptogenesis mechanism within the minimal gauged U(1)$_{L_μ-L_τ}$ model to explain the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe (BAU). In such framework, the phases of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata neutrino mixing matrix and the sum of the Standard Model neutrino masses are predictable because of a restricted neutrino mass matrix structure. Additionally, in the context of thermal leptogenesis, the BAU can be computed in terms of the three remaining free variables that parameterise the right-handed neutrino masses and their Yukawa couplings to the Higgs and lepton doublets. We identify the ranges of such parameters for which the correct BAU can be reproduced. We adopt the formalism of the density matrix equations to fully account for flavour effects and consider the decays of all the three right-handed neutrinos. Our analysis reveals that thermal leptogenesis is feasible within a wide parameter space, specifically for Yukawa couplings ranging from approximate unity to $\mathcal{O}(0.03-0.05)$ and mass of the lightest right-handed neutrino $M_1\gtrsim 10^{11-12}\,\text{GeV}$, setting a leptogenesis scale in the considered model which is higher than that of the non-thermal scenario.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Vortex Creep Heating vs. Dark Matter Heating in Neutron Stars

Dark matter particles captured in neutron stars deposit their energy as heat. This DM heating effect can be observed only if it dominates over other internal heating effects in NSs. In this work, as an example of such an internal heating source, we consider the frictional heating caused by the creep motion of neutron superfluid vortex lines in the NS crust. The luminosity of this heating effect is controlled by the strength of the interaction between the vortex lines and nuclei in the crust, which can be estimated from the many-body calculation of a high-density nuclear system as well as through the temperature observation of old NSs. We show that both the temperature observation and theoretical calculation suggest that the vortex creep heating dominates over the DM heating. The vortex-nuclei interaction must be smaller than the estimated values by several orders of magnitude to overturn this.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Vortex Creep Heating in Neutron Stars

Recent observations of old warm neutron stars suggest the presence of a heating source in these stars, requiring a paradigm beyond the standard neutron-star cooling theory. In this work, we study the scenario where this heating is caused by the friction associated with the creep motion of neutron superfluid vortex lines in the crust. As it turns out, the heating luminosity in this scenario is proportional to the time derivative of the angular velocity of the pulsar rotation, and the proportional constant $J$ has an approximately universal value for all neutron stars. This $J$ parameter can be determined from the temperature observation of old neutron stars because the heating luminosity is balanced with the photon emission at late times. We study the latest data of neutron star temperature observation and find that these data indeed give similar values of $J$, in favor of the assumption that the frictional motion of vortex lines heats these neutron stars. These values turn out to be consistent with the theoretical calculations of the vortex-nuclear interaction.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Axion Quality Problem and Non-Minimal Gravitational Coupling in the Palatini Formulation

In axion models, the global U(1) Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is explicitly broken by non-perturbative effects of gravity, such as axionic wormholes. The gravitational violation of the PQ symmetry due to wormholes is large enough to invalidate the PQ mechanism, which is entitled as the axion quality problem. Recently, a novel solution to this quality problem was suggested, where the non-minimal coupling of the axion field to gravity $ξ$ is introduced to suppress the wormhole contribution. In this work, we revisit the problem in a different but equally valid formulation of gravity, namely the Palatini formulation, where the Ricci scalar is solely determined by connection. We first find the axionic wormhole solution in the Palatini formulation, taking the full dynamical radial mode as well as the axial mode, then show that the quality problem is still resolved with the non-minimal coupling $ξ$. The requested lower bound of $ξ$ in the Palatini formulation turns out to be slightly higher than that in the metric formulation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Revisiting Affleck-Dine Leptogenesis with light sleptons

We revisit the Affleck-Dine leptogenesis via the $L H_u$ flat direction with a light slepton field. Although the light slepton field is favored in low-energy SUSY phenomenologies, such as the muon $g-2$ anomaly and bino-slepton coannihilation, it may cause a problem in the Affleck-Dine leptogenesis: it may create an unwanted charge-breaking vacuum in the Affleck-Dine field potential so that the Affleck-Dine field is trapped during the course of leptogenesis. We investigate the conditions under which such an unwanted vacuum exists and clarify that both thermal and quantum corrections are important for the (temporal) disappearance of the charge-breaking minimum. We also confirm that if the charge-breaking vacuum disappears due to the thermal or quantum correction, the correct baryon asymmetry can be produced while avoiding the cosmological gravitino problem.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Probing New Physics in the Vector-like Lepton Model by Lepton Electric Dipole Moments

We examine the lepton dipole moments in an extension of the Standard Model (SM), which contains vector-like leptons that couple only to the second-generation SM leptons. The model naturally leads to sizable contributions to the muon $g-2$ and the muon electric dipole moment (EDM). One feature of this model is that a sizable electron EDM is also induced at the two-loop level due to the existence of new vector-like leptons in the loops. We find parameter regions that can explain the muon $g-2$ anomaly and are also consistent with the experimental constraints coming from the electron EDM and the Higgs decay $h\rightarrow μ^{+}μ^{-}$. The generated EDMs can be as large as $O(10^{-22})~e \cdot \mathrm{cm}$ for the muon and $O(10^{-30})~e \cdot \mathrm{cm}$ for the electron, respectively, which can be probed in future experiments for the EDM measurements.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Minimal Nambu-Goldstone Higgs Model in Supersymmetric SU(5) Revisited

We revisit the minimal Nambu-Goldstone (NG) Higgs supersymmetric (SUSY) SU(5) grand unified model and study its phenomenological implications. The Higgs sector of the model possesses a global SU(6) symmetry, which is spontaneously broken and results in the Higgs doublets of the minimal SUSY Standard Model (MSSM) as NG chiral superfields. Therefore, the model naturally leads to light Higgs doublets and solves the doublet-triplet splitting problem. Because of the SU(6) symmetry, the couplings of the Higgs sector are tightly restricted, and thus the model is more predictive than the minimal SUSY SU(5). We determine all the grand-unified-theory parameters via the matching conditions of the gauge coupling constants at the unification scale and calculate proton lifetime, confronting this with current experimental bounds. We discuss that this model is incompatible with the constrained MSSM, whilst it has a large viable parameter space in the high-scale SUSY scenario. The perturbativity condition on the trilinear coupling of the adjoint Higgs field imposes an upper (lower) limit on the wino (gluino) mass, implying a hierarchical mass pattern for these gauginos. Future proton-decay searches can probe a large part of the parameter space, especially if the SUSY-breaking scale is $\lesssim 100$~TeV.

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