arXiv subjects

Oscar A. Sampayo

Publications and source records attributed to Oscar A. Sampayo.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Sensitivity prospects for lepton-trijet signals in the $ν$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 $ν$SMEFT. In this work we study the prospects of the future LHeC electron-proton collider to discover or constrain the $ν$SMEFT interactions, performing the first dedicated and realistic analysis of the well known lepton-trijet signals, both for the lepton flavor violating $p ~ e^{-} \rightarrow μ^{-} + 3 \mathrm{j}$ (LFV) and the lepton number violating $p ~ e^{-} \rightarrow μ^{+} + 3 \mathrm{j}$ (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 $Λ=1 \rm TeV$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Interplay of non-standard interactions and Earth's composition in atmospheric neutrino oscillations

Many geophysical and geochemical phenomena in the Earth's interior are related to physical and chemical processes in the outer core and the core-mantle boundary, which are directly linked to the isotopic composition. Determining the composition using standard geophysical methods has been challenging. Atmospheric neutrino oscillations, influenced by their weak interactions with terrestrial matter, offer a new way to gather valuable information about the Earth's internal structure and, in particular, to constrain the composition of the core. If neutrinos had as yet unknown non-standard interactions (NSI), this could affect their propagation in matter and consequently impact studies of Earth's composition using neutrino oscillation tomography. This study focuses on scalar-mediated NSI and their potential impact on atmospheric neutrino oscillations, which could obscure information about the hydrogen content in the outer core. In turn, compositional uncertainties could affect the characterization of NSI parameters. The analysis is based on a Monte-Carlo simulation of the energy distribution and azimuthal angles of neutrino-generated $μ$ events. Using a model of the Earth consisting of 55 concentric shells with constant densities determined from the PREM, we evaluate the effect on the number of events due to changes in the outer core composition (Z/A)$_{oc}$ and the NSI strength parameter $ε$. To examine the detection capability to observe such variations, we consider regions in the plane of (Z/A)$_{oc}$ and $ε$ where the statistical significance of the discrepancies between the modified Earth model and the reference model is less than $1σ$.

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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↗

arXiv2022

Neutrino interactions with ultralight axion-like dark matter

In this work, we study the propagation of high energy neutrinos produced in extragalactic sources including the effect of a possible interaction with ultralight axion-like particles (UALP) with a mass $m_a\sim 10^{-22} {\rm eV}$ as the constituents of dark matter (DM) under the assumption that their coupling to neutrinos is dominant. We compute the cross section and describe the propagation of a diffuse neutrino flux using transport equations for each mass eigenstate. This allows us to obtain the neutrino fluxes of the different flavors to be observed at the Earth with neutrino telescopes under different assumptions for the flavor composition emitted at the sources and for a normal ordering (NO) or an inverted ordering (IO) of the neutrino masses. If the coupling of neutrinos with UALPs is the same for all flavors ($g_{νa}$), we find that interactions change the flavor composition of neutrinos arriving on Earth for $g_{νa}\gtrsim 0.5\,{\rm GeV}^{-1}$, causing the electron(muon) flavor to dominate in the NO(IO) case for neutrino energies above $\sim 10^5\,{\rm GeV}$. Although current data on the flavor ratios suggest that interactions with UALP DM do not take place within the range of coupling studied (particularly in the NO case) more data is needed to improve the precision of the experimentally measured flavor composition.

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↗

arXiv2018

Photons coming from an opaque obstacle as a manifestation of heavy neutrino decays

Within the framework of physics beyond the standard model we study the possibility that mesons produced in the atmosphere by the cosmic ray flux, decay to heavy Majorana neutrino and these mostly to photons in the low mass region. We study the photon flux produced by sterile Majorana neutrinos ($N$) decaying after passing through a massive and opaque object such as a mountain. In order to model the production of $N$'s in the atmosphere and their decay to photons, we consider the interaction between the Majorana neutrinos and the standard matter as modeled by an effective theory. We then calculate the heavy neutrino flux originated by the decay of mesons in the atmosphere. The surviving photon flux, originated by $N$ decays, is calculated using transport equations that include the effects of Majorana neutrino production and decay.

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 $m_N \thicksim m_τ$.

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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↗

arXiv2016

Propagation of high-energy neutrinos in a background of ultralight scalar dark matter

If high-energy neutrinos propagate in a background of ultralight scalar field particles of dark matter ($m_φ\sim 10^{-23}$eV), neutrino-dark matter interactions can play a role and affect the neutrino flux. In this work we analyse this effect using transport equations that account for the neutrino regeneration as well as absorption, and we consider the neutrino flux propagation in the extragalactic medium and also through the galactic halo of dark matter. We show the results for the final flux to arrive on Earth for different cases of point and diffuse neutrino fluxes. {We conclude that this type of neutrino interactions with ultralight scalar particles as dark matter can yield very different results in the neutrino flux and in the flavor ratios that can be measured in neutrino detectors such as IceCube.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Unparticle effects in neutrino telescopes

Recently H.Georgi has introduced the concept of unparticles in order to describe the low energy physics of a nontrivial scale invariant sector of an effective theory. We investigate its physical effects on the neutrino flux to be detected in a kilometer cubic neutrino telescope such as IceCube. We study the effects, on different observables, of the survival neutrino flux after through the Earth and the regeneration originated in the neutral currents. We calculate the contribution of unparticle physics to the neutrino-nucleon interaction and, then, to the observables in order to evaluate detectable effects in IceCUbe. Our results are compared with the bounds obtained by other non-underground experiments. Finally, the results are presented as an exclusion plot in the relevant parameters of the new physics stuff.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

New Physics with IceCube

IceCube, a cubic kilometer neutrino telescope will be capable of probing neutrino-nucleon interactions in the ultrahigh energy regime, far beyond the energies reached by colliders. In this article we introduce a new observable that combines several advantages: it only makes use of the upward-going neutrino flux, so that the Earth filters the atmospheric muons, and it is only weakly dependent on the initial astrophysical flux uncertainties.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Precession of neutrino-cooled accretion disks in gamma-ray burst engines

We study the precession of accretion disks in the context of gamma-ray burst inner engines. With an accretion disk model that allows for neutrino cooling, we evaluate the possible periods of disk precession and nutation due to the Lense-Thirring effect. Assuming jet ejection perpendicular to the disk midplane and a typical intrinsic time dependence for the burst, we find possible gamma-ray light curves with temporal microstructure similar to what is observed in some subsamples. We conclude that the precession and nutation of a neutrino-cooled accretion disk in the burst engine might be responsible for some events, especially those with a slow rise and a fast decay.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

On Neutrino Absorption Tomography of the Earth

We study the passage of UHE neutrinos through the Earth in order to perform an absorption tomography of its inner structure. The aim of this work is to study the extraction methods of the Earth's density, in this conditions, we do not need to implement a realistic Monte Carlo simulation, as we are only interested in comparing the goodness of a standard method \cite{ralston} with the one we propose. The Earth's density is reconstructed using the 2-d Radon transform and we compare the density obtained considering neutral current regeneration through the complete transport equation, with the one obtained making use of the effective cross section approximation (standard method). We see that the effective cross section leads in general to inaccurate results, especially for flat initial neutrino fluxes, while the full transport equation method works regardless of the initial flux. Finally, an error propagation analysis made for different uncertainties in the surviving neutrino flux shows that the recovered density presents a percentage uncertainty less than two times the uncertainty in the flux.

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