arXiv subjects

Natalia Toro

Publications and source records attributed to Natalia Toro.

65 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

On the Origin of Light Dark Matter Species

TeV-mass dark matter charged under a new GeV-scale gauge force can explain electronic cosmic-ray anomalies. We propose that the CoGeNT and DAMA direct detection experiments are observing scattering of light stable states -- "GeV-Matter" -- that are charged under this force and constitute a small fraction of the dark matter halo. Dark higgsinos in a supersymmetric dark sector are natural candidates for GeV-Matter that scatter off protons with a universal cross-section of 5 x 10^{-38} cm^2 and can naturally be split by 10-30 keV so that their dominant interaction with protons is down-scattering. As an example, down-scattering of an O(5) GeV dark higgsino can simultaneously explain the spectra observed by both CoGeNT and DAMA. The event rates in these experiments correspond to a GeV-Matter abundance of 0.2-1% of the halo mass density. This abundance can arise directly from thermal freeze-out at weak coupling, or from the late decay of an unstable TeV-scale WIMP. Our proposal can be tested by searches for exotics in the BaBar and Belle datasets.

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arXiv2010

An Electron Fixed Target Experiment to Search for a New Vector Boson A' Decaying to e+e-

We describe an experiment to search for a new vector boson A' with weak coupling alpha' > 6 x 10^{-8} alpha to electrons (alpha=e^2/4pi) in the mass range 65 MeV < m_A' < 550 MeV. New vector bosons with such small couplings arise naturally from a small kinetic mixing of the "dark photon" A' with the photon -- one of the very few ways in which new forces can couple to the Standard Model -- and have received considerable attention as an explanation of various dark matter related anomalies. A' bosons are produced by radiation off an electron beam, and could appear as narrow resonances with small production cross-section in the trident e+e- spectrum. We summarize the experimental approach described in a proposal submitted to Jefferson Laboratory's PAC35, PR-10-009. This experiment, the A' Experiment (APEX), uses the electron beam of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at Jefferson Laboratory (CEBAF) at energies of ~1-4 GeV incident on 0.5-10% radiation length Tungsten wire mesh targets, and measures the resulting e+e- pairs to search for the A' using the High Resolution Spectrometer and the septum magnet in Hall A. With a ~1 month run, APEX will achieve very good sensitivity because the statistics of e+e- pairs will be ~10,000 times larger in the explored mass range than any previous search for the A' boson. These statistics and the excellent mass resolution of the spectrometers allow sensitivity to alpha'/alpha one to three orders of magnitude below current limits, in a region of parameter space of great theoretical and phenomenological interest. Similar experiments could also be performed at other facilities, such as the Mainz Microtron.

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arXiv2009

Terrestrial and Solar Limits on Long-Lived Particles in a Dark Sector

Dark matter charged under a new gauge sector, as motivated by recent data, suggests a rich GeV-scale "dark sector" weakly coupled to the Standard Model by gauge kinetic mixing. The new gauge bosons can decay to Standard Model leptons, but this mode is suppressed if decays into lighter dark sector particles are kinematically allowed. These particles in turn typically have macroscopic decay lifetimes that are constrained by two classes of experiments, which we discuss. Lifetimes of 10 cm < c tau < 10^8 cm are constrained by existing terrestrial beam-dump experiments. If, in addition, dark matter captured in the Sun (or Earth) annihilates into these particles, lifetimes up to 10^15 cm are constrained by solar observations. These bounds span fourteen orders of magnitude in lifetime, but they are not exhaustive. Accordingly, we identify promising new directions for experiments including searches for displaced di-muons in B-factories, studies at high-energy and -intensity proton beam dumps, precision gamma-ray and electronic measurements of the Sun, and milli-charge searches re-analyzed in this new context.

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arXiv2009

Probing Dark Forces and Light Hidden Sectors at Low-Energy e+e- Colliders

A dark sector -- a new non-Abelian gauge group Higgsed or confined near the GeV scale -- can be spectacularly probed in low-energy e+e- collisions. A low-mass dark sector can explain the annual modulation signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA and the PAMELA, ATIC, and INTEGRAL observations by generating small mass splittings and new interactions for weak-scale dark matter. Some of these observations may be the first signs of a low-mass dark sector that collider searches can definitively confirm. Production and decay of O(GeV)-mass dark states is mediated by a Higgsed Abelian gauge boson that mixes kinetically with hypercharge. Existing data from BaBar, BELLE, CLEO-c, and KLOE may contain thousands of striking dark-sector events with a high multiplicity of leptons that reconstruct mass resonances and possibly displaced vertices. We discuss the production and decay phenomenology of Higgsed and confined dark sectors and propose e+e- collider search strategies. We also use the DAMA/LIBRA signal to estimate the production cross-sections and decay lifetimes for dark-sector states.

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arXiv2009

Simplified Models for a First Characterization of New Physics at the LHC

Low-energy SUSY and several other theories that address the hierarchy problem predict pair-production at the LHC of particles with Standard Model quantum numbers that decay to jets, missing energy, and possibly leptons. If an excess of such events is seen in LHC data, a theoretical framework in which to describe it will be essential to constraining the structure of the new physics. We propose a basis of four deliberately simplified models, each specified by only 2-3 masses and 4-5 branching ratios, for use in a first characterization of data. Fits of these simplified models to the data furnish a quantitative presentation of the jet structure, electroweak decays, and heavy-flavor content of the data, independent of detector effects. These fits, together with plots comparing their predictions to distributions in data, can be used as targets for describing the data within any full theoretical model.

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arXiv2009

New Fixed-Target Experiments to Search for Dark Gauge Forces

Fixed-target experiments are ideally suited for discovering new MeV-GeV mass U(1) gauge bosons through their kinetic mixing with the photon. In this paper, we identify the production and decay properties of new light gauge bosons that dictate fixed-target search strategies. We summarize existing limits and suggest five new experimental approaches that we anticipate can cover most of the natural parameter space, using currently operating GeV-energy beams and well-established detection methods. Such experiments are particularly timely in light of recent terrestrial and astrophysical anomalies (PAMELA, FERMI, DAMA/LIBRA, etc.) consistent with dark matter charged under a new gauge force.

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arXiv2008

Constructing the Tree-Level Yang-Mills S-Matrix Using Complex Factorization

A remarkable connection between BCFW recursion relations and constraints on the S-matrix was made by Benincasa and Cachazo in 0705.4305, who noted that mutual consistency of different BCFW constructions of four-particle amplitudes generates non-trivial (but familiar) constraints on three-particle coupling constants --- these include gauge invariance, the equivalence principle, and the lack of non-trivial couplings for spins >2. These constraints can also be derived with weaker assumptions, by demanding the existence of four-point amplitudes that factorize properly in all unitarity limits with complex momenta. From this starting point, we show that the BCFW prescription can be interpreted as an algorithm for fully constructing a tree-level S-matrix, and that complex factorization of general BCFW amplitudes follows from the factorization of four-particle amplitudes. The allowed set of BCFW deformations is identified, formulated entirely as a statement on the three-particle sector, and using only complex factorization as a guide. Consequently, our analysis based on the physical consistency of the S-matrix is entirely independent of field theory. We analyze the case of pure Yang-Mills, and outline a proof for gravity. For Yang-Mills, we also show that the well-known scaling behavior of BCFW-deformed amplitudes at large z is a simple consequence of factorization. For gravity, factorization in certain channels requires asymptotic behavior ~1/z^2.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

MARMOSET: The Path from LHC Data to the New Standard Model via On-Shell Effective Theories

We describe a coherent strategy and set of tools for reconstructing the fundamental theory of the TeV scale from LHC data. We show that On-Shell Effective Theories (OSETs) effectively characterize hadron collider data in terms of masses, production cross sections, and decay modes of candidate new particles. An OSET description of the data strongly constrains the underlying new physics, and sharply motivates the construction of its Lagrangian. Simulating OSETs allows efficient analysis of new-physics signals, especially when they arise from complicated production and decay topologies. To this end, we present MARMOSET, a Monte Carlo tool for simulating the OSET version of essentially any new-physics model. MARMOSET enables rapid testing of theoretical hypotheses suggested by both data and model-building intuition, which together chart a path to the underlying theory. We illustrate this process by working through a number of data challenges, where the most important features of TeV-scale physics are reconstructed with as little as 5 inverse femtobarns of simulated LHC signals.

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arXiv2006

Avoiding an Empty Universe in RS I Models and Large-N Gauge Theories

Many proposed solutions to the hierarchy problem rely on dimensional transmutation in asymptotically free gauge theories, and these theories often have dual descriptions in terms of a warped extra dimension. Gravitational calculations show that the confining phase transition in Randall-Sundrum models is first-order and parametrically slower than the rate expected in large-N gauge theories. This is dangerous because it leads to an empty universe problem. We argue that this rate suppression arises from approximate conformal symmetry. Though this empty universe problem cannot be solved by using the radion for low-scale inflation, we argue that if the radion potential is asymptotically free, another instanton for the RS phase transition can proceed as $e^{-N^2}$. We also discuss the existence of light magnetic monopoles ($\sim 100$ TeV) as a possible signature of such a phase transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Persistent Fine-Tuning in Supersymmetry and the NMSSM

We examine the use of modified Higgs sectors to address the little hierarchy problem of supersymmetry. Such models reduce weak-scale fine-tuning by allowing lighter stops, but they retain some fine-tuning independent of the Higgs. The modified Higgs sector can also introduce model-dependent tunings. We consider the model-independent constraints on naturalness from squark, gluino, chargino and neutralino searches, as well as the model-dependent tuning in the PQ- and R-symmetric limits of the NMSSM, where cascade decays or additional quartic interactions can hide a Higgs without relying on heavy stops. Obtaining viable electroweak symmetry breaking requires a tuning of $\sim 1-10%$ in the PQ limit. A large A-term is also necessary to make charginos sufficiently heavy, and this introduces an additional weak-scale tuning of $\sim 10%$. The R-symmetric limit requires large marginal couplings, a large singlet soft mass, and a tuning of $\sim 5-10%$ to break electroweak symmetry. Hiding MSSM-like Higgs states below $\approx 112$ GeV requires additional tunings of A-terms at the $\sim 1-10%$ level. Thus, although the NMSSM has rich discovery potential, it suffers from a unique fine-tuning problem of its own.

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arXiv2005

Is Dark Matter Heavy Because of Electroweak Symmetry Breaking? Revisiting Heavy Neutrinos

A simple and well-motivated explanation for the origin of dark matter is that it consists of thermal relic particles that get their mass entirely through electroweak symmetry breaking. The simplest models implementing this possibility predict a dark matter candidate that consists of a mixture of two Dirac neutrinos with opposite isospin, and so has suppressed coupling to the Z. These models predict dark matter masses of m_{DM}~45 GeV or m_{DM}~90-95 GeV and WIMP-neutron spin-independent cross sections σ_{WIMP-n}~10^{-6}-10^{-8} pb. Current direct dark matter searches are probing a portion of the parameter space of these models while future experiments sensitive to σ_{WIMP-n}~10^{-8} pb will probe the remainder. An enhancement of the galactic halo gamma ray and positron flux coming from annihilations of these particles is also expected across the ~1-100 GeV range. The framework further suggests an environmental explanation of the hierarchy between the weak and Planck scales and of the small value of the cosmological constant relative to the weak scale.

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