arXiv subjects

Lucía Duarte

Publications and source records attributed to Lucía Duarte.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Latin American HECAP Physics Briefing Book 2025

The first process for the Latin American Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructure for High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (LASF4RI-HECAP) came to a conclusion in October 2020, with a Physics Briefing Book (PBB) presented in (2104.06852). Here we present an updated PBB, the result of the first update of LASF4RI-HECAP. The update process began with a call for White Papers from the HECAP community. The submitted contributions were presented at the III LASF4RI for HECAP Symposium: Update of the Strategic Plan, held at ICTP-SAIFR in S\~ao Paulo in August 26-29, 2024, with the participation of the Preparatory Group, High Level Strategy Group, Funding Agencies and representatives of similar efforts from around the globe. This updated PBB was written by the Preparatory Group based mainly on 46 White Papers submitted by the community and is organized around seven working groups: Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astroparticle Physics; Cosmology; Dark Matter; Neutrinos; Electroweak and Strong Interactions, Higgs Physics, CP and Flavour Physics and BSM; Instrumentation and Computing; Advanced Training and Capacity Building. It is intended to provide the essential input for the creation of a long-term HECAP strategy in the region.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Probing displaced (dark)photons from low reheating freeze-in at the LHC

We extend the Standard Model (SM) by introducing a $U(1)'$ gauge boson and a real pseudo-scalar field, both odd under a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. The resulting low-energy spectrum consists of a stable vector as the dark matter candidate, and a pseudo-scalar mediator, which interacts with the SM via a Higgs portal coupling and a dimension-five portal connecting it to both the dark and visible photons. We explore the freeze-in of both particles at low reheating temperature, finding a rich yield evolution dynamics in the early Universe. This setup brings a consistent dark matter scenario in which the dark photon relic abundance is generated through freeze-in at low reheating temperatures. In addition to its cosmological viability, the model can be tested at the LHC: Higgs bosons can decay into dark photons and displaced visible photons via the long-lived mediator. These signatures allow us to constrain the Higgs portal coupling using recent searches for non-pointing photons and limits on invisible or undetected Higgs decays. We derive meaningful constraints on the dark matter parameter space, in particular excluding a thermalized mediator in the region compatible with the observed relic abundance.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Future collider sensitivities to $\nu$SMEFT interactions

The discovery of neutrino oscillations and masses provides strong motivation to extend the Standard Model by including right-handed neutrinos, which lead to heavy neutrino states that could exist at the electroweak scale. These states may also be influenced by new high-scale, weakly interacting physics. Incorporating right-handed neutrinos into an effective field theory framework -- the $\nu$SMEFT -- offers a systematic approach to study the phenomenology of heavy neutrinos in current and upcoming experiments. In this work, we present the first prospective 95\% exclusion plots achievable at a future lepton collider operating at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=0.5 ~\rm{TeV}$ for what we term the agnostic $\nu$SMEFT scenario. This study focuses on the high-mass regime where the heavy neutrino $N$ decays promptly into leptons and jets. Specifically, we analyze the processes $e^+e^- \to \nu N \to \nu \mu^{-} \mu^{+} \nu$ and $e^+e^- \to \nu N \to \nu \mu^{-} \mathrm{j} \mathrm{j}$, deriving the exclusion regions in the $\frac{\alpha}{\Lambda^2}$ vs. $m_N$ parameter space. When compared to prospective limits for the LHeC, we find that the semi-leptonic process with final jets in a lepton collider offers the greatest sensitivity, even with a straightforward cut-based analysis. The expected bounds are as stringent as those considered in recent studies for the low-mass regime where the $N$ may be long-lived and detectable via displaced decay searches, both at the LHC and future colliders.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Sensitivity prospects for lepton-trijet signals in the $\nu$SMEFT at the LHeC

The observation of neutrino oscillations and masses motivates the extension of the standard model with right handed neutrinos, leading to heavy neutrino states possibly in the electroweak scale, which could be impacted by new high-scale weakly coupled physics. A systematic tool for studying these interactions is the neutrino-extended standard model effective field theory $\nu$SMEFT. In this work we study the prospects of the future LHeC electron-proton collider to discover or constrain the $\nu$SMEFT interactions, performing the first dedicated and realistic analysis of the well known lepton-trijet signals, both for the lepton flavor violating $p ~ e^{-} \rightarrow \mu^{-} + 3 \mathrm{j}$ (LFV) and the lepton number violating $p ~ e^{-} \rightarrow \mu^{+} + 3 \mathrm{j}$ (LNV) channels, for HNLs masses in the electroweak scale range: $100 ~\rm GeV \leq m_N \leq 500 ~\rm GeV$. The obtained sensitivity prospects show that the LHeC with $100 ~\rm fb^{-1}$ luminosity could be able to probe the scenario of a heavy $N$ and constrain the effective couplings to a region of the parameter space as tight as the bounds that are currently considered for the $\mathcal{O}(10)$GeV scale masses, with effective couplings of $\mathcal{O}(10^{-1})$ for NP scale $\Lambda=1 \rm TeV$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Lepton collider probes for Majorana neutrino effective interactions

The extension of the standard model with new high-scale weakly coupled physics involving right-handed neutrinos in an effective field theory framework (SMNEFT) allows for a systematic study of heavy neutrinos phenomenology in current and future experiments. We exploit the outstanding angular resolution in future lepton colliders to study the sensitivity of forward-backward asymmetries to discover the possible single production of heavy Majorana neutrinos via $e^{+}e^{-} \to N ν$, followed by a purely leptonic decay $N \to μ^{-} μ^{+} ν$ or a semi-leptonic decay $N \to μ^{-} \mathrm{j} \mathrm{j} $, for masses $m_N > 50$ GeV. In this regime, we consider the $N$ production and decays to be dominated by scalar and vectorial four-fermion $d=6$ single $N_R$ operators. This is an alternative analysis to searches using displaced vertices and fat jets, in a higher mass regime, where the $N$ is short-lived but can be found by the angular distribution of its decay products. We find that a forward-backward asymmetry between the final muons in the pure leptonic decay mode provides a sensitivity up to 12$σ$ for $m_N=100$ GeV, for effective couplings $α=0.2$ and new physics scale $Λ=1$ TeV. In the case of the semi-leptonic decay, we can compare the final muon and higher $p_T$ jet flight directions, again finding up to 12$σ$ sensitivity to the effective signals.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Angular and polarization observables for Majorana-mediated B decays with effective interactions

We probe the effective field theory extending the Standard Model with a sterile neutrino in B meson decays at B factories and lepton colliders, using angular and polarization observables. We put bounds on different effective operators characterized by their distinct Dirac-Lorentz structure, and probe the $N$-mediated B decays sensitivity to these interactions. We define a Forward-Backward asymmetry $A_{FB}^{\ell γ}$ between the muon and photon directions for the $B \to μνγ$ decay, which allows us to separate the SM contribution from the effective lepton number conserving and violating processes, mediated by a near on-shell $N$. Using the most stringent constraints on the effective parameter space from Belle and BaBar we find that a measurement of the final polarization $P_τ$ in the rare $B^-\rightarrow \ell^-_{1}\ell^-_{2} π^+$ decays can help us infer the scalar or vector interaction content in the $N$ production or decay vertices. We find that the B meson decays are more sensitive to scalar operators.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Majorana neutrinos with effective interactions in B decays

We investigate the possible contribution of Majorana neutrinos to $B$ meson decays in an effective interaction formalism, in the mass range $0.5$ GeV $<m_N<5 $ GeV. We study the decay of the $B^-$ meson via $B^- \to μ^- μ^- π^+$ at LHCb, which is a signal for leptonic number violation and the presence of Majorana neutrinos, and put bounds on different new physics contributions, characterized by their Dirac-Lorentz structure. We also study the bounds imposed by the radiative $B$ decay ($B^- \rightarrow μ^- νγ$) results from Belle. The obtained bounds are more restrictive than previous values found for dimension 6 four-fermion contact vectorial and scalar Majorana neutrino interactions in the context of the Left-Right symmetric model for higher Majorana masses at the LHC, showing that the direct calculation of the effective $N$ interactions contribution to different processes can help to put more stringent bounds to different UV-complete models parameterized by an effective Lagrangian.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Final taus and initial state polarization signatures from effective interactions of Majorana neutrinos at future $e^{+}e^{-}$ colliders

We study the possibility of future $e^{+}e^{-}$ colliders to disentangle different new physics contributions to the production of heavy sterile Majorana neutrinos in the lepton number violating channel $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow l^{+} l^{+}+ 4 jets$, with $l=e, μ, τ$. This is done investigating the final anti-tau polarization trails and initial beam polarization dependence of the signal on effective operators with distinct Dirac-Lorentz structure contributing to the Majorana neutrino production and decay, which parameterize new physics from a higher energy scale. We find both analyses could well disentangle possible vectorial and scalar operators contributions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Angular and polarization trails from effective interactions of Majorana neutrinos at the LHeC

We study the possibility of the LHeC facility to disentangle different new physics contributions to the production of heavy sterile Majorana neutrinos in the lepton number violating channel $e^{-}p\rightarrow l_{j}^{+} + 3 jets$ ($l_j\equiv e ,μ$). This is done investigating the angular and polarization trails of effective operators with distinct Dirac-Lorentz structure contributing to the Majorana neutrino production, which parameterize new physics from a higher energy scale. We study an asymmetry in the angular distribution of the final anti-lepton and the initial electron polarization effect on the number of signal events produced by the vectorial and scalar effective interactions, finding both analyses could well separate their contributions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Not-that-heavy Majorana neutrino signals at the LHC

We consider the possibility of Majorana neutrinos production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by studying the $pp \rightarrow l_i^{+} l_j^{+} +2~jets$ ($l_j\equiv e ,μ$) process which, due to leptonic number violation, is a clear signature for intermediate Majorana neutrino contributions. The interactions between Majorana neutrinos and the Standard Model particles are obtained from an effective lagrangian approach. Majorana neutrinos with masses of a few $GeV$ are long-lived neutral particles, and we take advantage of its measurable decay length: in the same-sign dilepton channel, we exploit this fact imposing cuts that reject the $SM$ background, and analyze the distribution corresponding to the angle between the final leptons, using a forward-backward asymmetry to study the effects of the different gauge invariant operators. We also study the $pp\rightarrow l_i^+ νγ$ process, which is dominant for low $m_N$ masses if tensorial one-loop generated new physics contributions are present. This channel could be observed at the LHC with the aid of non-pointing photons observables and cuts on the displacement between the prompt lepton and the photon.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Effects of Majorana Physics on the UHE $ν_τ$ Flux Traversing the Earth

We study the effects produced by sterile Majorana neutrinos on the $ν_τ$ flux traversing the Earth, considering the interaction between the Majorana neutrinos and the standard matter as modeled by an effective theory. The surviving tau-neutrino flux is calculated using transport equations including Majorana neutrino production and decay. We compare our results with the pure Standard Model interactions, computing the surviving flux for different values of the effective lagrangian couplings, considering the detected flux by IceCube for an operation time of ten years, and Majorana neutrinos with mass $m_N \thicksim m_τ$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Effective Majorana neutrino decay

We study the decay of heavy sterile Majorana neutrinos according to the interactions obtained from an effective general theory. We describe the two and three-body decays for a wide range of neutrino masses. The results obtained and presented in this work could be useful for the study of the production and detection of this particles in a variety of high energy physics experiments and astrophysical observations. We show in different figures the dominant branching ratios and the total decay width.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Majorana neutrinos production at LHeC in an effective approach

We investigate the possibility of detecting Majorana neutrinos at the Large Hadron-electron Collider (LHeC), an electron-proton collision mode at CERN. We study the $l_j^{+} + 3 jets$ ($l_j\equiv e ,μ,τ$) final states which are, due to leptonic number violation, a clear signature for intermediate Majorana neutrino contributions. Such signals are not possible if the heavy neutrinos have Dirac nature. The interactions between Majorana neutrinos and the Standard Model (SM) particles are obtained from an effective lagrangian approach. We present our results for the total cross section as a function of the neutrino mass, the effective couplings and the new physics scale. We also show the discovery region as a function of the Majorana neutrino mass and the effective couplings. Our results show that the LHeC may be able to discover Majorana neutrinos with masses lower than $700$ GeV and $1300$ GeV for electron beams settings of $E_e=50$ GeV and $E_e=150$ GeV, respectively.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Top quark anomalous tensor couplings in the two-Higgs-doublet models

We compute the one loop right and left anomalous tensor couplings ($g_R$ and $g_L$, respectively) for the top quark, in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model. They are the magnetic-like couplings in the most general parameterization of the $tbW$ vertex. We find that the aligned two-Higgs doublet model, that includes as particular cases some of the most studied extensions of the Higgs sector, introduces new electroweak contributions and provides theoretical predictions that are very sensitive to both new scalar masses and the neutral scalar mixing angle. For a large area in the parameters space we obtain significant deviations in both the real and the imaginary parts of the couplings $g_R$ and $g_L$, compared to the predictions given by the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. The most important ones are those involving the imaginary part of the left coupling $g_{L}$ and the real part of the right coupling $g_R$. The real part of $g_L$ and the imaginary part of $g_R$ also show an important sensitivity to new physics scenarios. The model can also account for new CP violation effects via the introduction of complex alignment parameters that have important consequences on the values for the imaginary parts of the couplings. The top anomalous tensor couplings will be measured at the LHC and at future colliders providing a complementary insight on new physics, independent from the bounds in top decays coming from B physics and $b \rightarrow s γ$.

hep-ph↗