arXiv subjects

Niko Koivunen

Publications and source records attributed to Niko Koivunen.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Suppression of scalar mediated FCNCs in a $SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$-model

The models based on $SU(3)_C\times SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$ gauge symmetry (331-models) have been advocated to explain the number of fermion families. These models place one quark family to a different representation than the other two. The traditional 331-models are plagued by scalar mediated quark flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC) at tree-level. So far there has been no concrete mechanisms to suppress these FCNCs in 331-models. Recently it has been shown that the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism can be incorporated into the 331-setting in an economical fashion (FN331-model). The FN331-model explains both the number of fermion families in nature and their mass hierarchy simultaneously. In this work we study the Higgs mediated quark FCNCs in FN331-model. The flavour violating couplings of quarks are suppressed by the ratio of the $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$ and $SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$ breaking scales. We find that the $SU(3)_L\times U(1)_X$-breaking scale can be as low as 5 TeV in order to pass the flavour bounds.

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arXiv2020

Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism in a model with $SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L \times U(1)_X$ gauge group

The models with the gauge group $SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L \times U(1)_X$ (331-models) have been advocated to explain why there are three fermion generations in Nature. As such they can provide partial understanding of the flavour sector. The hierarchy of Yukawa-couplings in the Standard Model is another puzzle which remains without compelling explanation. We propose to use Froggatt-Nielsen -mechanism in a 331-model to explain both fundamental problems. It turns out that no additional representations in the scalar sector are needed to take care of this. The traditional 331-models predict scalar flavour changing neutral currents at tree-level. We show that they are strongly suppressed in our model.

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arXiv2020

Cosmological constraints on light flavons

The Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism is a well-motivated framework for generating the fermion mass hierarchy. This mechanism introduces flavons, complex scalars which are singlet under the Standard Model gauge symmetry and charged under a new global family symmetry. We make use of a leptophilic flavon to produce the charged lepton Yukawa matrix. The real part of the flavon mixes with the Higgs boson and introduces lepton flavour violating interactions which are bounded by experiment. The imaginary part of the flavon, $η$, is a long-lived light particle, whose abundance is restricted by cosmological observations. For $m_η< 2m_e$ where the decay of $η$ to charged leptons is kinematically forbidden, we identify allowed regions of $m_η$ with respect to the vacuum expectation value of the flavon field where all experimental and cosmological constraints are satisfied.

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arXiv2019

Probing pseudo-Goldstone dark matter at the LHC

Pseudo-Goldstone dark matter coupled to the Standard Model via the Higgs portal offers an attractive framework for phenomenologically viable pseudo-scalar dark matter. It enjoys natural suppression of the direct detection rate due to the vanishing of the relevant (tree level) Goldstone boson vertex at zero momentum transfer, which makes light WIMP-like dark matter consistent with the strong current bounds. In this work, we explore prospects of detecting pseudo-Goldstone dark matter at the LHC, focusing on the vector boson fusion (VBF) channel with missing energy. We find that, in substantial regions of parameter space, relatively light dark matter ($m_χ< 100$ GeV) can be discovered in the high luminosity run as long as it is produced in decays of the Higgs-like bosons.

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arXiv2019

Neutrino mass via linear seesaw, 331-model and Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism

In this paper, we introduce an extension of the Standard Model, based on SU(3)$_\mathrm{C}\times $SU(3)$_\mathrm{L}\times $U(1)$_X$ gauge symmetry (331-model). The 331-models traditionally explain the number of fermion familes in nature. In our model the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism is incorporated into the 331-setting in a particularly economical fashion. The model utilizes the both the Froggatt-Nielsen and linear seesaw mechanisms to explain the observed fermion mass hierarchies and lightness of neutrinos. In our numerical analysis we found that a $\sim$ 50 TeV new physics scale is able to reproduce correctly all the fermion masses and mixing matrices, including neutrino masses, mass squared differences and mixing matrix.

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arXiv2018

Direct and indirect probes of Goldstone dark matter

There exists a general model framework where dark matter can be a vanilla WIMP-like thermal relic with a mass of ${\cal O}$(100 GeV), but it still escapes direct detection. This happens, if the dark matter particle is a Goldstone boson whose scattering with ordinary matter is suppressed at low energy due to momentum-dependent interactions. We outline general features of this type of models and analyse a simple realization of these dynamics as a concrete example. In particular, we show that although direct detection of this type of dark matter candidate is very challenging, the indirect detection can already provide relevant constraints. Future projections of the indirect-detection experiments allow for even more stringent exclusion limits and can rule out models of this type.

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arXiv2018

Singlet scalar and 2HDM extensions of the Standard Model: CP-violation and constraints from $(g-2)_μ$ and $e$EDM

We study popular scalar extensions of the Standard Model, namely the singlet extension, the 2-Higgs doublet model (2HDM) and its extension by a singlet scalar. We focus on the contributions of the added scalars to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $(g-2)_μ$ in the presence of CP-violation, and the electric dipole moment of the electron ($e$EDM) in these models. In the absence of CP-violation, CP-even and CP-odd scalars contribute with an opposite sign to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and as a result these models generally require very light scalars to explain the observed discrepancy in $(g-2)_μ$. We study the effect of CP-violation on the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and its compatibility with the $e$EDM constraints. We show that given the current status of the global set of constraints applied on all values of $\cotβ$, in the CP-violating scalar extensions, there exist no viable parameter space in agreement with both $a_μ$ and $e$EDM bounds.

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arXiv2016

Higgs--Flavon Mixing and $h \rightarrow μτ$

ATLAS and CMS have reported an excess in the flavor violating decay of the Higgs boson, $h \rightarrow μτ$. We show that this result can be accommodated through a mixing of the Higgs with a flavon, the field responsible for generating the Yukawa matrices in the lepton sector. We employ a version of the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism at the electroweak scale, with only the leptons and the flavon transforming non--trivially under the corresponding symmetry group. Non--observation of charged lepton flavor violation (LFV) in other processes imposes important constraints on the model, which we find to be satisfied in substantial regions of parameter space.

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