arXiv subjects

Raman Sundrum

Publications and source records attributed to Raman Sundrum.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Extra-dimensional Origins of Chemical Potentials at the Cosmological Collider

We study the realization of the chemical potential mechanism in cosmological collider physics in a robust class of inflationary models arising from multiple higher-dimensional gauge fields. The rolling inflaton background corresponds to an electric field in the extra dimension in which charged particles are produced analogously to the Schwinger mechanism, while neutral particles can be produced through non-minimal interactions. We show that particles heavier than the inflationary Hubble scale can be created without Boltzmann suppression in both cases. In particular, charged Kaluza-Klein excitations can be created through minimal gauge interactions. We construct realistic models along these lines consistent with both theoretical and experimental constraints.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Energy Correlators in Warped Geometries

We study Energy Correlators as probes of strongly-coupled nearly-conformal field theories within their holographically dual descriptions, focusing on the important features that appear in realistic theories going beyond the standard model. In particular, we study warped geometries which asymptote to $\text{AdS}_5$, as well as IR-truncations dual to a 4D gap. Our correlators are computed by in-in type Witten perturbative diagrams, corresponding to a large-N expansion of the strong dynamics. We describe how this sets the stage for phenomenological applications for collider searches beyond the standard model as well as for new theoretical explorations in Lorentzian holography.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Charged Loops at the Cosmological Collider with Chemical Potential

Cosmological collider physics allows the detection of heavy particles at inflationary scales through their imprints on primordial non-Gaussianities. We study the chemical potential mechanism applied to a pair of charged scalars. We analytically evaluate the resulting one-loop contribution to the bispectrum, using the spectral decomposition. In this way we are able to determine the parametric dependences for both the signal and the background. We show that a signal strength $f_{\mathrm{NL}}\sim O(0.01)$ can be obtained within theoretical control, potentially reachable by 21cm tomography. As an application we consider the colored Higgs bosons in $\mathrm{SU}(5)$ supersymmetric orbifold grand unification with masses $M\lesssim10^{15}\:\mathrm{GeV}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Partial Compositeness: from Anarchy to Symmetry

Within the Composite Higgs paradigm, Partial Compositeness has emerged as an elegant mechanism for generating large flavor hierarchies such as are observed in the quark and lepton masses and mixings. This mechanism exploits the strong renormalization group effects of the compositeness dynamics when these are {\it not} flavor-symmetric. Despite its remarkable properties, at this point it is stringently constrained by the body of flavor- and CP-violation tests, so that the compositeness scale must be at least $O(100)$ TeV, beyond the direct reach of proposed colliders. On the other hand, Composite Higgs theories with flavor-symmetric strong dynamics, but with realistic flavor-violating hierarchies introduced in an ad hoc manner, can extend the GIM mechanism of the standard model and thereby be far less constrained, at the edge of LHC reach and well within reach of future colliders. We show how the best features of both these types of dynamics can be combined if flavor-symmetries of the strong composite dynamics are emergent in the IR near the compositeness scale but absent in the far UV. In this case, flavor hierarchies can be generated by the renormalization group flow in the UV, followed by an IR stage in which the dynamics flows towards accidental flavor and CP symmetries. We point out how the collider and low-energy phenomenology is significantly impacted by the IR stage. Our analysis includes a discussion of the distinctive features of the small neutrino masses and their large mixings.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Grand Unification at the Cosmological Collider with Chemical Potential

We introduce a tree-level chemical potential mechanism for spin-1 particles within cosmological collider physics, allowing them to be detected in primordial non-Gaussianities for masses above the inflationary Hubble scale. We apply this mechanism to orbifold grand unification and the massive unification partners of the standard model gauge bosons. Our mechanism requires at least a pair of massive vector fields which are singlets of the standard model, a condition which is satisfied in the classic "trinification" scenario. Assuming that the gauge hierarchy problem is solved by supersymmetry, gauge coupling running points to unification partners at ~ $10^{15}$ GeV. We show that, within high-scale inflation, chemical potential enhancement can lead to observably strong signals for trinification partners in future cosmological surveys.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

A Closer Look in the Mirror: Reflections on the Matter/Dark Matter Coincidence

We argue that the striking similarity between the cosmic abundances of baryons and dark matter, despite their very different astrophysical behavior, strongly motivates the scenario in which dark matter resides within a rich dark sector parallel in structure to that of the standard model. The near cosmic coincidence is then explained by an approximate $\mathbb{Z}_2$ exchange symmetry between the two sectors, where dark matter consists of stable dark neutrons, with matter and dark matter asymmetries arising via parallel WIMP baryogenesis mechanisms. Taking a top-down perspective, we point out that an adequate $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry necessitates solving the electroweak hierarchy problem in each sector, without our committing to a specific implementation. A higher-dimensional realization in the far UV is presented, in which the hierarchical couplings of the two sectors and the requisite $\mathbb{Z}_2$-breaking structure arise naturally from extra-dimensional localization and gauge symmetries. We trace the cosmic history, paying attention to potential pitfalls not fully considered in previous literature. Residual $\mathbb{Z}_2$-breaking can very plausibly give rise to the asymmetric reheating of the two sectors, needed to keep the cosmological abundance of relativistic dark particles below tight bounds. We show that, despite the need to keep inter-sector couplings highly suppressed after asymmetric reheating, there can naturally be order-one couplings mediated by TeV scale particles which can allow experimental probes of the dark sector at high energy colliders. Massive mediators can also induce dark matter direct detection signals, but likely at or below the neutrino floor.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Unraveling Cosmological Anisotropies within Stochastic Gravitational Wave Backgrounds

Identifying the anisotropies in a cosmologically sourced stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) would be of significance in shedding light on the nature of primordial inhomogeneities. For example, if SGWB carries isocurvature fluctuations, it would provide evidence for a multi-field inflationary origin of these inhomogeneities. However, this is challenging in practice due to finite detector sensitivity and also the presence of the astrophysical foregrounds that can compete with the cosmological signal. In this work, we explore the prospects for measuring cosmological SGWB anisotropies in the presence of an astrophysical counterpart and detector noise. To illustrate the main idea, we perform a Fisher analysis using a well-motivated cosmological SGWB template corresponding to a first order phase transition, and an astrophysical SGWB template corresponding to extra-galactic binary mergers, and compute the uncertainty with which various parameters characterizing the isotropic and anisotropic components can be extracted. We also discuss some subtleties and caveats involving shot noise in the astrophysical foreground. Overall, we show that upcoming experiments, e.g., LISA, Taiji, Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, and BBO, can all be effective in discovering plausible anisotropic cosmological SGWBs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Unfolding Particle Physics Hierarchies with Supersymmetry and Extra Dimensions

This is a written version of lectures delivered at TASI 2022 ``Ten Years After the Higgs Discovery: Particle Physics Now and Future''. Mechanisms and symmetries beyond the Standard Model (BSM) are presented capable of elegantly and robustly generating the striking hierarchies we observe in particle physics. They are shown to be among the central archetypes of quantum effective field theory and to strongly resonate with the tight structure and phenomenology of the Standard Model itself, allowing one to motivate, develop and test a worthy successor. The (Little) Hiearchy Problem is discussed within this context. The lectures culminate in specific BSM case-studies, gaugino-mediated (dynamical) supersymmetry breaking to generate the weak/Planck hierarchy, and (in less detail) extra-dimensional wavefunction overlaps to generate flavor hierarchies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Large Primordial Fluctuations in Gravitational Waves from Phase Transitions

It is well-known that first order phase transitions in the early universe can be a powerful source of observable stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds. Any such gravitational wave background must exhibit large-scale anisotropies at least as large as those seen in the CMB $\sim 10^{-5}$, providing a valuable new window onto the (inflationary) origins of primordial fluctuations. While significantly larger fractional anisotropies are possible (for example, in multi-field inflation) and would be easier to interpret, it has been argued that these can only be consistent with CMB bounds if the gravitational wave signal is correspondingly smaller. In this paper, we show that this argument, which relies on assuming radiation dominance of the very early universe, can be evaded if there is an era of early matter dominance of a certain robust type. This allows large gravitational wave anisotropies to be consistent with observable signals at proposed future gravitational wave detectors. Constraints from the CMB on large scales, as well as primordial black hole and mini-cluster formation on small scales, and secondary scalar-induced gravitational waves are all taken into account.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

TF08 Snowmass Report: BSM Model Building

We summarize the state of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) model building in particle physics for Snowmass 2021, focusing mainly on several whitepaper contributions to BSM model building (TF08) and closely related areas.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Primordial Clocks within Stochastic Gravitational Wave Anisotropies

A first-order phase transition in the early universe can give an observable stochastic gravitational background (SGWB), which will necessarily have primordial anisotropies across the sky. In multi-field inflationary scenarios, these anisotropies may have a significant isocurvature component very different from adiabatic fluctuations, providing an alternate discovery channel for high energy physics at inflationary scales. Here, we consider classically oscillating heavy fields during inflation that can imprint distinctive scale-invariance-breaking features in the power spectrum of primordial anisotropies. While such features are highly constrained in the cosmic microwave background, we show that their amplitude can be observably large in isocurvature SGWB, despite both probing a similar period of inflation. Measuring SGWB multipoles at the required level, $\ell \sim {\cal O}(10-100)$, will be technologically challenging. However, we expect that early detection of a strong isotropic SGWB, and the guarantee of anisotropies, would spur development of next-generation detectors with sufficient sensitivity, angular resolution, and foreground discrimination.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Detection of Early-Universe Gravitational Wave Signatures and Fundamental Physics

Detection of a gravitational-wave signal of non-astrophysical origin would be a landmark discovery, potentially providing a significant clue to some of our most basic, big-picture scientific questions about the Universe. In this white paper, we survey the leading early-Universe mechanisms that may produce a detectable signal -- including inflation, phase transitions, topological defects, as well as primordial black holes -- and highlight the connections to fundamental physics. We review the complementarity with collider searches for new physics, and multimessenger probes of the large-scale structure of the Universe.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Warped Compactifications in Particle Physics, Cosmology and Quantum Gravity

Particle physics has evolved in the past decade through evaluating the consequences of experimental measurements as well as exploiting theoretical tools that permit exploration of new model building and cosmological possibilities. Particularly due to insights from the AdS/CFT correspondence, higher-dimensional warped compactifications, in particular, have played a big role in recent developments by allowing a study of regimes of parameters that would otherwise be intractable. Similarly, theoretical developments in quantum gravity benefit from the bigger range of possibilities that can be explored using warped geometry, allowing for constructions of string vacua with positive cosmological constant and for the exploration of entanglement and information transfer in arbitrary dimensions. Puzzles remain in both more phenomenologically oriented and more theoretically oriented contexts which form the basis for a rich research program in the future as well.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Sleptonic SUSY: From UV Framework to IR Phenomenology

We study an attractive scenario, "Sleptonic SUSY", which reconciles the $125$ GeV Higgs scalar and the non-observation of superpartners thus far with potentially pivotal roles for slepton phenomenology: providing viable ongoing targets for LHC discovery, incorporating a co-annihilation partner for detectable thermal relic dark matter, and capable of mediating the potential muon $g-2$ anomaly. This is accomplished by a modestly hierarchical spectrum, with sub-TeV sleptons and electroweakinos and with multi-TeV masses for the other new states. We study new elements in the UV MSSM realization of Sleptonic SUSY based on higher-dimensional sequestering and the synergy between the resulting gaugino-mediation, hypercharge $D$-term mediation and Higgs-mediation of SUSY-breaking, so as to more fully capture the range of possibilities. This framework stands out by harmoniously solving the flavor, CP and $\mu - B\mu$ problems of the supersymmetric paradigm. We discuss its extension to orbifold GUTs, including gauge-coupling and $b$-tau unification. We also develop a non-minimal model with extra Higgs fields, in which the electroweak vacuum is more readily cosmologically stable against decay to a charge-breaking vacuum, allowing a broader range of sleptonic spectra than in the MSSM alone. We survey the rich set of signals possible at the LHC and future colliders, covering both $R$-parity conservation and violation, as well as for dark matter detection. While the multi-TeV squarks imply a Little Hierarchy Problem, intriguingly, small changes in parameter space to improve naturalness result in dramatic phase transitions to either electroweak-preservation or charge-breaking. In a Multiverse setting, the modest unnaturalness may then be explained by the "principle of living dangerously".

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

The Muon Smasher's Guide

We lay out a comprehensive physics case for a future high-energy muon collider, exploring a range of collision energies (from 1 to 100 TeV) and luminosities. We highlight the advantages of such a collider over proposed alternatives. We show how one can leverage both the point-like nature of the muons themselves as well as the cloud of electroweak radiation that surrounds the beam to blur the dichotomy between energy and precision in the search for new physics. The physics case is buttressed by a range of studies with applications to electroweak symmetry breaking, dark matter, and the naturalness of the weak scale. Furthermore, we make sharp connections with complementary experiments that are probing new physics effects using electric dipole moments, flavor violation, and gravitational waves. An extensive appendix provides cross section predictions as a function of the center-of-mass energy for many canonical simplified models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

The Scalar Chemical Potential in Cosmological Collider Physics

Non-analyticity in co-moving momenta within the non-Gaussian bispectrum is a distinctive sign of on-shell particle production during inflation, presenting a unique opportunity for the "direct detection" of particles with masses as large as the inflationary Hubble scale ($H$). However, the strength of such non-analyticity ordinarily drops exponentially by a Boltzmann-like factor as masses exceed $H$. In this paper, we study an exception provided by a dimension-5 derivative coupling of the inflaton to heavy-particle currents, applying it specifically to the case of two real scalars. The operator has a "chemical potential" form, which harnesses the large kinetic energy scale of the inflaton, $\dotϕ_{0}^{1/2} \approx 60H$, to act as an efficient source of scalar particle production. Derivative couplings of inflaton ensure radiative stability of the slow-roll potential, which in turn maintains (approximate) scale-invariance of the inflationary correlations. We show that a signal not suffering Boltzmann suppression can be obtained in the bispectrum with strength $f_{\mathrm{NL}} \sim \mathcal{O}(0.01-10)$ for an extended range of scalar masses, $M \lesssim \dotϕ_{0}^{1/2}$, potentially as high as $10^{15}$ GeV, within the sensitivity of upcoming LSS and more futuristic 21-cm experiments. The mechanism does not invoke any particular fine-tuning of parameters or breakdown of perturbation-theoretic control. The leading contribution appears at tree-level, which makes the calculation analytically tractable and removes the loop-suppression as compared to earlier chemical potential studies of non-zero spins. The steady particle production allows us to infer the effective mass of the heavy particles and the chemical potential from the variation in bispectrum oscillations as a function of co-moving momenta. Our analysis sets the stage for generalization to heavy bosons with non-zero spin.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Phase Transitions from the Fifth Dimension

We study the cosmological transition of 5D warped compactifications, from the high-temperature black-brane phase to the low-temperature Randall-Sundrum I phase. The transition proceeds via percolation of bubbles of IR-brane nucleating from the black-brane horizon. The violent bubble dynamics can be a powerful source of observable stochastic gravitational waves. While bubble nucleation is non-perturbative in 5D gravity, it is amenable to semiclassical treatment in terms of a "bounce" configuration interpolating between the two phases. We demonstrate how such a bounce configuration can be smooth enough to maintain 5D effective field theory control, and how a simple ansatz for it places a rigorous lower-bound on the transition rate in the thin-wall regime, and gives plausible estimates more generally. When applied to the Hierarchy Problem, the minimal Goldberger-Wise stabilization of the warped throat leads to a slow transition with significant supercooling. We demonstrate that a simple generalization of the Goldberger-Wise potential modifies the IR-brane dynamics so that the transition completes more promptly. Supercooling determines the dilution of any (dark) matter abundances generated before the transition, potentially at odds with data, while the prompter transition resolves such tensions. We discuss the impact of the different possibilities on the strength of the gravitational wave signals. Via AdS/CFT duality the warped transition gives a theoretically tractable holographic description of the 4D Composite Higgs (de)confinement transition. Our generalization of the Goldberger-Wise mechanism is dual to, and concretely models, our earlier proposal in which the composite dynamics is governed by separate UV and IR RG fixed points. The smooth 5D bounce configuration we introduce complements the 4D dilaton/radion dominance derivation presented in our earlier work.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Non-Gaussian Stochastic Gravitational Waves from Phase Transitions

Cosmological phase transitions in the primordial universe can produce anisotropic stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds (GWB), similar to the cosmic microwave background (CMB). For adiabatic perturbations, the fluctuations in GWB follow those in the CMB, but if primordial fluctuations carry an isocurvature component, this need no longer be true. It is shown that in non-minimal inflationary and reheating settings, primordial isocurvature can survive in GWB and exhibit significant non-Gaussianity (NG) in contrast to the CMB, while obeying current observational bounds. While probing such NG GWB is at best a marginal possibility at LISA, there is much greater scope at future proposed detectors such as DECIGO and BBO. It is even possible that the first observations of inflation-era NG could be made with gravitational wave detectors as opposed to the CMB or Large-Scale Structure surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗