arXiv subjects

Maxim Pospelov

Publications and source records attributed to Maxim Pospelov.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Probing Earth-Bound Dark Matter with Nuclear Reactors

Strongly-interacting dark matter can be accumulated in large quantities inside the Earth, and for dark matter particles in a few GeV mass range, it can exist in large quantities near the Earth's surface. We investigate the constraints imposed on such dark matter properties by its upscattering by fast neutrons in nuclear reactors with subsequent scattering in nearby well-shielded dark matter detectors, schemes which are already used for searches of the coherent reactor neutrino scattering. We find that the existing experiments cover new parameter space on the spin-dependent interaction between dark matter and the nucleon. Similar experiments performed with research reactors, and lesser amount of shielding, may provide additional sensitivity to strongly-interacting dark matter.

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arXiv2024

Muon-induced baryon number violation

The search for charged-lepton flavor violation in muon capture on nuclei is a powerful probe of heavy new physics. A smoking gun signal for $μ\rightarrow e$ conversion is a monochromatic electron with energy almost equal to the muon mass. We show that light new physics can mimic this signature and that it can also lead to electrons above the $μ\rightarrow e$ signal peak. A concrete example of such light new physics is $μ^- $-nucleon annihilation into a light dark sector, which can produce an energetic $e^-$ as well as $e^+e^-$ byproducts. Due to the size of the muon mass, the exotic muon capture process can be kinematically allowed, while the otherwise stringent constraints, e.g., from proton decay, are kinematically forbidden. We also discuss other relevant constraints, including those from the stability of nuclei and muon capture in the interior of neutron stars.

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arXiv2024

Chiral properties of the nucleon interpolating current and $θ$-dependent observables

We revisit the chiral properties of nucleon interpolating currents, and show that of the two leading order currents $j_1$ and $j_2$, only two linear combinations $j_1\pm j_2$ transform covariantly under the anomalous $U(1)_A$ symmetry. As a result, calculations of quantities which vanish by symmetry in the chiral limit may produce unphysical results if carried out with different linear combinations of the currents. This includes observables such as electric dipole moments, induced by the QCD parameter $θ$, and the $θ$-dependence of the nucleon mass. For completeness, we also exhibit the leading order results for nucleon electric dipole moments ($d_{n,p}$) induced by $θ$, and the nucleon magnetic moments ($μ_{n,p}$), when calculated using QCD sum rules for both the covariant choices of the nucleon interpolating current. The results in each channel, conveniently expressed as the ratios, $d_{n,p}/μ_{n,p}$, are numerically consistent, and reflect the required physical dependence on $θ$.

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arXiv2024

Neutrinos from Earth-Bound Dark Matter Annihilation

A sub-component of dark matter with a short collision length compared to a planetary size leads to efficient accumulation of dark matter in astrophysical bodies. We analyze possible neutrino signals from the annihilation of such dark matter and conclude that in the optically thick regime for dark matter capture, the Earth provides the largest neutrino flux. Using the results of the existing searches, we consider two scenarios for the neutrino flux, from stopped mesons and prompt higher-energy neutrinos. In both cases we exclude some previously unexplored parts of the parameter space (dark matter mass, its abundance, and the scattering cross section on nuclei) by recasting the existing neutrino searches.

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arXiv2023

Solar Reflection of Dark Matter

The scattering of light dark matter off thermal electrons inside the Sun produces a "fast" sub-component of the dark matter flux that may be detectable in underground experiments. We update and extend previous work by analyzing the signatures of dark matter candidates which scatter via light mediators. Using numerical simulations of the dark matter-electron interaction in the solar interior, we determine the energy spectrum of the reflected flux, and calculate the expected rates for direct detection experiments. We find that large Xenon-based experiments (such as XENON1T) provide the strongest direct limits for dark matter masses below a few MeV, reaching a sensitivity to the effective dark matter charge of better than $\sim 10^{-9}e$.

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arXiv2023

New physics in multi-electron muon decays

We study the exotic muon decays with five charged tracks in the final state. First, we investigate the Standard Model rate for $μ^+ \to 3e^+\,2e^-\,2ν$ ($B = 4.0\times 10^{-10})$ and find that the Mu3e experiment should have tens to hundreds of signal events per $10^{15}$ $μ^+$ decays, depending on the signal selection strategy. We then turn to a neutrinoless $μ^+ \to 3e^+\,2e^-$ decay that may arise in new-physics models with lepton-flavor-violating effective operators involving a dark Higgs $h_d$. Following its production in $μ^+ \to e^+ h_d$ decays, the dark Higgs can undergo a decay cascade to two $e^+e^-$ pairs through two dark photons, $h_d \to γ_d γ_d \to 2(e^+e^-)$. We show that a $μ^+ \to 3e^+\,2e^-$ search at the Mu3e experiment, with potential sensitivity to the branching ratio at the $O(10^{-12})$ level or below, can explore new regions of parameter space and new physics scales as high as $Λ\sim 10^{15}$ GeV.

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arXiv2023

Pion decay constraints on exotic 17 MeV vector bosons

We derive constraints on the couplings of light vector particles to all first-generation Standard Model fermions using leptonic decays of the charged pion, $π^+\to e^+ ν_e X_μ$. In models where the net charge to which $X_μ$ couples is not conserved, no lepton helicity flip is required for the decay to happen, enhancing the decay rate by factors of ${O}(m_π^4/m_e^2m_X^2)$. A past search at the SINDRUM-I spectrometer severely constrains this possibility. In the context of the hypothesized $17$ MeV particle proposed to explain anomalous $^8$Be, $^4$He, and $^{12}$C nuclear transitions claimed by the ATOMKI experiment, this limit rules out vector-boson explanations and poses strong limits on axial-vector ones.

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arXiv2023

Muon spin force

Current discrepancy between the measurement and the prediction of the muon anomalous magnetic moment can be resolved in the presence of a long-range force created by ordinary atoms acting on the muon spin via axial-vector and/or pseudoscalar coupling, and requiring a tiny, $\mathcal{O}(10^{-13}\,{\rm eV})$ spin energy splitting between muon state polarized in the vertical direction. We suggest that an extension of the muon spin resonance ($μ$SR) experiments can provide a definitive test of this class of models. We also derive indirect constraints on the strength of the muon spin force, by considering the muon-loop-induced interactions between nuclear spin and external directions. The limits on the muon spin force extracted from the comparison of $^{199}$Hg/$^{201}$Hg and $^{129}$Xe/$^{131}$Xe spin precession are strong for the pseudoscalar coupling, but are significantly relaxed for the axial-vector one. These limits suffer from significant model uncertainties, poorly known proton/neutron spin content of these nuclei, and therefore do not exclude the possibility of a muon spin force relevant for the muon $g-2$.

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arXiv2023

Dark Matter Annihilation inside Large Volume Neutrino Detectors

New particles in theories beyond the standard model can manifest as stable relics that interact strongly with visible matter and make up a small fraction of the total dark matter abundance. Such particles represent an interesting physics target since they can evade existing bounds from direct detection due to their rapid thermalization in high-density environments. In this work we point out that their annihilation to visible matter inside large-volume neutrino telescopes can provide a new way to constrain or discover such particles. The signal is the most pronounced for relic masses in the GeV range, and can be efficiently constrained by existing Super-Kamiokande searches for di-nucleon annihilation. We also provide an explicit realization of this scenario in the form of secluded dark matter coupled to a dark photon, and we show that the present method implies novel and stringent bounds on the model that are complementary to direct constraints from beam dumps, colliders, and direct detection experiments.

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arXiv2023

Heavy Neutral Leptons from Stopped Muons and Pions

Stopped muons, which are generic in pion-at-rest experiments, can shed light on heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) in unexplored parameter spaces. If the HNL is lighter than the muon, the HNL can be produced from decays of muons and pions.The HNL will travel from the production location and decay into visible Standard Model (SM) modes, leaving signals inside downstream detectors. We find that in the case that the HNL dominantly mixes with muon neutrinos, the LSND constraint on the mixing angle squared is stronger than all the previous constraints by more than an order of magnitude. In this study, we recast the LSND measurement of the $ν-e$ scattering. Future experiments such as PIP2-BD could further improve the sensitivity, provided they can distinguish the HNL events from backgrounds induced by the SM neutrinos.

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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.

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arXiv2023

Dark sectors in neutron-shining-through-a-wall and nuclear absorption signals

We propose new searches for $n^\prime$, a dark baryon that can mix with the Standard Model neutron. We show that IsoDAR, a proposal to place an intense cyclotron near a large-volume neutrino detector deep underground, can look for $n\to n^\prime \to n$ transitions with much lower backgrounds than surface experiments. This opportune neutron-shining-through-a-wall search would be possible without any modifications to the primary goals of the experiment and would provide the strongest laboratory constraints on the $n$-$n^\prime$ mixing for a wide range of mass splitting. We also consider dark neutrons as dark matter and show that their nuclear absorption at deep-underground detectors such as SNO and Borexino places some of the strongest limits in parameter space. Finally, we describe other $n^\prime$ signatures, such as neutrons shining through walls at spallation sources, reactors, and the disappearance of ultracold neutrons.

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arXiv2023

Quantifying Limits on CP Violating Phases from EDMs in Supersymmetry

We revisit the calculation of the electron, neutron, and proton electric dipole moments (EDMs) in the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM). The relatively large mass of the Higgs boson, $m_H \simeq 125$ GeV coupled with the (as yet) lack of discovery of any supersymmetric particle at the LHC, has pushed the supersymmetry breaking scale to several TeV or higher. Though one might expect this decoupling to have relaxed completely any bounds on the two CP violating phases in the CMSSM ($θ_μ$ and $θ_A$), the impressive experimental improvements in the limits on the EDMs (particularly the electron EDM) still allow us to set constraints of order $(0.01 - 0.1)π$ on $θ_A$ and $(0.001 - 0.1)π$ on $θ_μ$. We also discuss the impact of future improvements in the experimental limits on supersymmetric models.

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arXiv2023

The Terrestrial Density of Strongly-Coupled Relics

The simplest cosmologies motivate the consideration of dark matter subcomponents that interact significantly with normal matter. Moreover, such strongly-coupled relics may have evaded detection to date if upon encountering the Earth they rapidly thermalize down to terrestrial temperatures, $T_\oplus \sim 300 \ \text{K} \sim 25 \ \text{meV}$, well below the thresholds of most existing dark matter detectors. This shedding of kinetic energy implies a drastic enhancement to the local density, motivating the consideration of alternative detection techniques sensitive to a large density of slowly-moving dark matter particles. In this work, we provide a rigorous semi-analytic derivation of the terrestrial overdensities of strongly-coupled relics, with a particular focus on millicharged particles (MCPs). We go beyond previous studies by incorporating improved estimates of the MCP-atomic scattering cross section, new contributions to the terrestrial density of sub-GeV relics that are independent of Earth's gravitational field, and local modifications that can arise due to the cryogenic environments of precision sensors. We also generalize our analysis in order to estimate the terrestrial density of thermalized MCPs that are produced from the collisions of high-energy cosmic rays and become bound by Earth's electric field.

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arXiv2022

Flavor-changing light bosons with accidental longevity

We consider a model with a complex scalar field that couples to $(e,μ)$ or $(μ,τ)$ within the "longevity" window: $[|m_{l_1} - m_{l_2}|, m_{l_1} + m_{l_2}]$ in which $l_1$ and $l_2$ are the two different charged leptons. Within such a mass window, even a relatively large coupling (e.g. of the size commensurate with the current accuracy/discrepancy in the muon $g-2$ experiment) leads to long lifetimes and macroscopic propagation distance between production and decay points. We propose to exploit several existing neutrino experiments and one future experiment to probe the parameter space of this model. For the $μ-e$ sector, we exploit the muonium decay branching ratio and the production and decay sequence at the LSND experiment, excluding the parametric region suggested by $g_μ-2$ anomaly. For the $τ-μ$ sector, we analyze three main production mechanisms of scalars at beam dump experiments: the Drell-Yan process, the heavy meson decay, and the muon scattering. We explore the constraints from the past CHARM and NuTeV experiments, and evaluate sensitivity for the proposed beam dump experiment, SHiP. The latter can thoroughly probe the parameter space relevant for the $g_μ- 2$ anomaly.

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arXiv2022

Accelerating Earth-Bound Dark Matter

A fraction of the dark matter may consist of a particle species that interacts much more strongly with the Standard Model than a typical weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) of similar mass. Such a strongly interacting dark matter component could have avoided detection in searches for WIMP-like dark matter through its interactions with the material in the atmosphere and the Earth that slow it down significantly before reaching detectors underground. These same interactions can also enhance the density of a strongly interacting dark matter species near the Earth's surface to well above the local galactic dark matter density. In this work we propose two new methods of detecting strongly interacting dark matter based on accelerating the enhanced population expected in the Earth through scattering. The first approach is to use underground nuclear accelerator beams to upscatter the ambient dark matter population into a WIMP-style detector located downstream. In the second technique, dark matter is upscattered with an intense thermal source and detected with a low-threshold dark matter detector. We also discuss potential candidates for strongly interacting dark matter and we show that the scenario can be naturally realized with a hidden fermion coupled to a sub-GeV dark photon.

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arXiv2022

Enhanced EDMs from Small Instantons

We show that models in which the strong $CP$ problem is solved by introducing an axion field with a mass enhanced by non-QCD UV dynamics at a scale $Λ_{\rm SI}$ exhibit enhanced sensitivity to external sources of $CP$ violation. In the presence of higher-dimensional $CP$-odd sources at a scale $Λ_{\rm CP}$, the same mechanisms that enhance the axion mass also modify the axion potential, shifting the potential minimum by a factor $\proptoΛ^2_{\rm SI}/Λ^2_{\rm CP}$. This phenomenon of $CP$-violation enhancement, which puts stringent constraints on the scale of new physics, is explicitly demonstrated within a broad class of "small instanton" models with $CP$-odd sources arising from the dimension-six Weinberg gluonic and four-fermion operators. We find that for heavy axion masses $\gtrsim 100$MeV, arising from new dynamics at $Λ_{\rm SI}\lesssim 10^{10}$GeV, $CP$ violation generated up to the Planck scale can be probed by future electric dipole moment experiments.

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arXiv2022

Reevaluation of heavy-fermion-induced electron EDM at three loops

Motivated by improved limits on electric dipole moments (EDMs), we revisit the three-loop light-by-light mechanism that transmits $CP$ violation from a heavy fermion to a light one. Applying it to the electron EDM induced by EDMs of heavier flavors, we find additional contributions at the order $ m_e/m_μ$ or $m_e/m_τ$ that were missing before and that make the result 1.4 times larger. Consequently we improve bounds on the tau EDM, and update indirect limits on the muon EDM as well as charm and bottom quark color EDMs.

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