arXiv subjects

Niral Desai

Publications and source records attributed to Niral Desai.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Long-Lived-Particle Signals of a Composite Hidden Sector through the Neutrino Portal

We explore the signals of a scenario in which the composite states of a strongly coupled hidden sector couple to the Standard Model through the neutrino portal, giving rise to the neutrino masses. We consider a framework in which the hidden sector is conformal in the ultraviolet and the compositeness scale lies below the weak scale. If the lightest composite state in the hidden sector is a scalar, its decay rate back to the Standard Model is suppressed by angular momentum considerations and can naturally be small, giving rise to long-lived particle signals. We determine the current constraints on this class of models and explore the reach of future collider and beam dump searches. We find that FASER, SHiP, and Belle II can potentially probe a significant part of the unexplored parameter space.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Composite Dark Matter and Neutrino Masses from a Light Hidden Sector

We study a class of models in which the particle that constitutes dark matter arises as a composite state of a strongly coupled hidden sector. The hidden sector interacts with the Standard Model through the neutrino portal, allowing the relic abundance of dark matter to be set by annihilation into final states containing neutrinos. The coupling to the hidden sector also leads to the generation of neutrino masses through the inverse seesaw mechanism, with composite hidden sector states playing the role of the singlet neutrinos. We focus on the scenario in which the hidden sector is conformal in the ultraviolet, and the compositeness scale lies at or below the weak scale. We construct a holographic realization of this framework based on the Randall-Sundrum setup and explore the implications for experiments. We determine the current constraints on this scenario from direct and indirect detection, lepton flavor violation and collider experiments and explore the reach of future searches. We show that in the near future, direct detection experiments and searches for $μ\rightarrow e$ conversion will be able to probe new parameter space. At colliders, dark matter can be produced in association with composite singlet neutrinos via Drell Yan processes or in weak decays of hadrons. We show that current searches at the Large Hadron Collider have only limited sensitivity to this new production channel and we comment on how the reconstruction of the singlet neutrinos can potentially expand the reach.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Towards Greener Nights: Exploring AI-Driven Solutions for Light Pollution Management

This research endeavors to address the pervasive issue of light pollution through an interdisciplinary approach, leveraging data science and machine learning techniques. By analyzing extensive datasets and research findings, we aim to develop predictive models capable of estimating the degree of sky glow observed in various locations and times. Our research seeks to inform evidence-based interventions and promote responsible outdoor lighting practices to mitigate the adverse impacts of light pollution on ecosystems, energy consumption, and human well-being.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2020

Suppressed flavor violation in Lepton Flavored Dark Matter from an extra dimension

Phenomenological studies of Flavored Dark Matter (FDM) models often have to assume a near-diagonal flavor structure in the coupling matrix in order to remain consistent with bounds from flavor violating processes. In this paper we show that for Lepton FDM, such a structure can naturally arise from an extra dimensional setup. The extra dimension is taken to be flat, with the dark matter and mediator fields confined to a brane on one end of the extra dimension, and the Higgs field to a brane on the other end. The Standard Model fermion and gauge fields are the zero modes of corresponding bulk fields with appropriate boundary conditions. Global flavor symmetries exist in the bulk and on the FDM brane, while they are broken on the Higgs brane. Flavor violating processes arise due to the misalignment of bases for which the interactions on the two branes are diagonalized, and their size can be controlled by a choice of the lepton profiles along the extra dimension. By studying the parameter space for the model, we show that when relic abundance and indirect detection constraints are satisfied, the rates for flavor violating processes such as $μ\to eγ$ remain far below the experimental limits.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dynamic self-organized error-correction of grid cells by border cells

Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex are believed to establish their regular, spatially correlated firing patterns by path integration of the animal's motion. Mechanisms for path integration, e.g. in attractor network models, predict stochastic drift of grid responses, which is not observed experimentally. We demonstrate a biologically plausible mechanism of dynamic self-organization by which border cells, which fire at environmental boundaries, can correct such drift in grid cells. In our model, experience-dependent Hebbian plasticity during exploration allows border cells to learn connectivity to grid cells. Border cells in this learned network reset the phase of drifting grids. This error-correction mechanism is robust to environmental shape and complexity, including enclosures with interior barriers, and makes distinctive predictions for environmental deformation experiments. Our work demonstrates how diverse cell types in the entorhinal cortex could interact dynamically and adaptively to achieve robust path integration.

q-bio.NC↗