arXiv subjects

Rome Samanta

Publications and source records attributed to Rome Samanta.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Shimmering gravitons in the gamma-ray sky

What is the highest energy at which gravitons can be observed? We address this question by studying graviton-to-photon conversion - the inverse-Gertsenshtein effect - in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. We find that above $\sim 1~\mbox{PeV}$ the effective photon mass grows large enough to quench the conversion rate. For sub-PeV energies, the induced photon flux is comparable to the sensitivity of LHAASO to a diffuse $γ$-ray background, but only for graviton abundances of order $Ω_{\text{gw}} h^2_0 \sim 1$. In the future, owing to a better understanding of $γ$-ray backgrounds, larger effective areas and longer observation times, sub-PeV shimmering gravitons with a realistic abundance of $Ω_{\text{gw}} h^2_0 \sim 0.01$ could be detected. We show how such a large abundance is achieved in a cosmologically-motivated scenario of post-recombination superheavy dark matter decay. Therefore, the sub-PeV range might be the ultimate energy frontier at which gravitons can be observed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Heating up Peccei-Quinn scale

We discuss production of QCD axion dark matter in a novel scenario, which assumes time-varying scale of Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking. The latter decreases as the Universe's temperature at early times and eventually stabilises at a large constant value. Such behavior is caused by the portal interaction between the complex field carrying Peccei-Quinn charge and a Higgs-like scalar, which is in thermal equilibrium with primordial plasma. In this scenario, axions are efficiently produced during the parametric resonance decay of the complex Peccei-Quinn field, relaxing to the minimum of its potential in the radiation-dominated stage. Notably, this process is not affected by the Universe's expansion rate and allows to generate the required abundance of dark matter independently of an axion mass. Phenomenological constraints on the model parameter space depend on the number density of radial field fluctuations, which are also generically excited along with axions, and the rate of their thermalization in the primordial plasma. For the ratio of radial field and axion particles number densities larger than $\sim 0.01$ at the end of parametric resonance decay, the combination of cosmological and astrophysical observations with the CAST limit confines the Peccei-Quinn scale to a narrow range of values $\sim 10^{8}~\mbox{GeV}$, - this paves the way for ruling out our scenario with the near future searches for axions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

PBH-infused seesaw origin of matter and unique gravitational waves

The Standard Model, extended with three right-handed (RH) neutrinos, is the simplest model that can explain light neutrino masses, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and dark matter (DM). Models in which RH neutrinos are light are generally easier to test in experiments. In this work, we show that, even if the RH neutrinos are super-heavy ($M_{i=1,2,3}>10^9$ GeV) -- close to the Grand Unification scale -- the model can be tested thanks to its distinct features on the stochastic Gravitational Wave (GW) background. We consider an early Universe filled with ultralight primordial black holes (PBH) that produce a super-heavy RH neutrino DM via Hawking radiation. The other pair of RH neutrinos generates the baryon asymmetry via thermal leptogenesis, much before the PBHs evaporate. GW interferometers can test this novel spectrum of masses thanks to the GWs induced by the PBH density fluctuations. In a more refined version, wherein a $U(1)$ gauge symmetry breaking dynamically generates the seesaw scale, the PBHs also cause observable spectral distortions on the GWs from the $U(1)$-breaking cosmic strings. Thence, a low-frequency GW feature related to DM genesis and detectable with a pulsar-timing array must correspond to a mid- or high-frequency GW signature related to baryogenesis at interferometer scales.

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arXiv2022

Gravitational Waves-Tomography of Low-Scale-Leptogenesis

A long-lived scalar field ($Φ$) which couples weakly to the right-handed (RH) neutrinos ($N_{Ri}$), generates small RH neutrino masses ($M_i$) in Low-Scale-Leptogenesis (LSL) mechanisms, despite having a large vacuum expectation value $v_Φ$. In this case, the correlation shared by the $M_i$s and the duration of the non-standard cosmic history driven by the $Φ$ provides an excellent opportunity to study LSL signatures on primordial gravitational waves (GWs). We find it engaging, specifically for the gravitational waves that originate due to the inflationary blue-tilted tensor power spectrum and propagate through the non-standard cosmic epoch. Depending on $M_i$, broadly, the scenario has two significant consequences. First, if LSL is at play, GWs with a sizeable blue tilt do not contradict the Big-Bang-Nucleosynthesis (BBN) bound even for the post-inflationary models with very high-scale reheating. Second, it opens up a possibility to probe LSLs via a low-frequency and a complementary high-frequency measurement of GW-spectral shapes which are typically double-peaked. For a case study, we consider the recent results on GWs from the Pulsar-Timing-Arrays (PTAs) as a `measurement' at the low frequencies and forecast the signatures of LSL mechanisms at the higher frequencies.

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arXiv2022

Probing Miracle-less WIMP Dark Matter via Gravitational Waves Spectral Shapes

We propose a novel probe of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM) candidates of a wide mass range which fall short of the required annihilation rates to satisfy correct thermal relic abundance, dubbed as \textit{Miracle-less WIMP}. If the DM interactions are mediated by an Abelian gauge boson like B-L, its annihilation rates typically remain smaller than the WIMP ballpark for very high scale B-L symmetry breaking, leading to overproduction. The thermally overproduced relic is brought within observed limits via late entropy dilution from one of the three right handed neutrinos (RHN) present for keeping the model anomaly free and generating light neutrino masses. Such late entropy injection leads to peculiar spectral shapes of gravitational waves (GW) generated by cosmic strings, formed as a result of B-L symmetry breaking. We find interesting correlation between DM mass and turning frequency of the GW spectrum with the latter being within reach of future experiments. The two other RHNs play major role in generating light neutrino masses and baryon asymmetry of the universe via leptogenesis. Successful leptogenesis with Miracle-less WIMP together restrict the turning frequencies to lie within the sensitivity limits of near future GW experiments.

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arXiv2022

Testing Super-Heavy Dark Matter from Primordial Black Holes with Gravitational Waves

Ultra-light primordial black holes with masses $M_{BH}<10^9$~g evaporate before big-bang nucleosynthesis producing all matter fields, including dark matter, in particular super-heavy dark matter: $M_{DM}\gtrsim 10^{10}$ GeV. If the dark matter gets its mass via $U(1)$ symmetry-breaking, the phase transition that gives a mass to the dark matter also produces cosmic strings which radiate gravitational waves. Because the symmetry-breaking scale $Λ_{CS}$ is of the same order as $M_{DM}$, the gravitational waves radiated by the cosmic strings have a large enough amplitude to be detectable across all frequencies accessible with current and planned experimental facilities. Moreover, an epoch of early primordial black hole domination introduces a unique spectral break in the gravitational wave spectrum whose frequency is related to the super-heavy dark matter mass. Hence, the features of a stochastic background of primordial gravitational waves could indicate that super-heavy dark matter originated from primordial black holes. In this perspective, the recent finding of a stochastic common-spectrum process across many pulsars by two nano-frequency pulsar timing arrays would fix the dark matter mass to be $3\times 10^{13}~\text{GeV} \lesssim M_{DM} \lesssim 10^{14}~\text{GeV}$. The (non-)detection of a spectral break at $0.2~\text{Hz} \lesssim f_* \lesssim 0.4~\text{Hz}$ would (exclude) substantiate this interpretation of the signal.

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arXiv2022

Gravitational waves from melting cosmic strings

Appearance of cosmic strings in the early Universe is a common manifestation of new physics typically linked to some high energy scale. In this paper, we discuss a different situation, where a model underlying cosmic string formation is approximately scale free. String tension is naturally related to the square of the temperature of the hot primordial plasma in such a setting, and hence decreases with (cosmic) time. With gravitational backreaction neglected, the dynamics of these melting strings in an expanding Universe is equivalent to the dynamics of constant tension strings in a Minkowski spacetime. We provide an estimate for the emission of gravitational waves from string loops. Contrary to the standard case, the resulting spectrum is markedly non-flat and has a characteristic falloff at frequencies below the peak one. The peak frequency is defined by the underlying model and lies in the range accessible by the future detectors for very weak couplings involved.

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arXiv2021

Probing Leptogenesis and Pre-BBN Universe with Gravitational Waves Spectral Shapes

On the frequency-amplitude plane, Gravitational Waves (GWs) from cosmic strings show a flat plateau at higher frequencies due to the string loop dynamics in standard radiation dominated post-inflationary epoch. The spectrum may show an abrupt upward or a downward trend beyond a turning point frequency $f_*$, if the primordial dark age prior to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), exhibits non-standard cosmic histories. We argue that such a spectral break followed by a rising GW amplitude which is a consequence of a post-inflationary equation of state ($ω>1/3$) stiffer than the radiation ($ω=1/3$), could also be a strong hint of a leptogenesis in the seesaw model of neutrino masses. Dynamical generation of the right handed (RH) neutrino masses by a gauged $U(1)$ symmetry breaking leads to the formation of a network of cosmic strings which emits stochastic GWs. A gravitational interaction of the lepton current by an operator of the form $\partial_μR j^μ$--which can be generated in the seesaw model at the two-loop level through RH neutrino mediation, naturally seeks a stiffer equation of state to efficiently produce baryon asymmetry proportional to $1-3ω$. We discuss how GWs with reasonably strong amplitudes complemented by a neutrino-less double beta decay signal could probe the onset of the most recent radiation domination and lightest RH neutrino mass at the intermediate scales.

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arXiv2021

Baryogenesis from ultralight primordial black holes and strong gravitational waves from cosmic strings

Ultralight primordial black holes (PBHs)($\lesssim10^9$g) completely evaporate via Hawking radiation (HR) and produce all the particles in a given theory regardless of their other interactions. If the right handed (RH) neutrinos are produced from PBH evaporation, successful baryogenesis via leptogenesis predicts mass scale of RH neutrinos as well as black holes. We show that, given the lepton number violation (generation of RH neutrino masses) in the theory is a consequence of a gauged $U(1)$ breaking which is then followed by the formation of PBHs, a network of cosmic strings naturally gives rise to strong stochastic gravitational wave (GW) signal at the sensitivity level of pulsar timing arrays (PTA) and LIGO5. Besides, due to a transient period of black hole domination in the early universe, for which baryon asymmetry is independent of initial PBH density, a break in the GW spectra occurs around MHz frequency. Therefore, to observe the break along with the usual GW signal by the emission of gravitons via HR, GW detectors at higher frequencies are called for. The recent finding by the NANOGrav PTA of a stochastic common spectrum process (interpreted as GWs) across many pulsars is in tension with PBH baryogenesis for large cosmic string loops ($α\simeq 0.1$).

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Gravitational wave complementarity and impact of NANOGrav data on gravitational leptogenesis: cosmic strings

In seesaw mechanism, if right handed (RH) neutrino masses are generated dynamically by a gauged $U(1)$ symmetry breaking, a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) sourced by a cosmic string network could be a potential probe of leptogenesis. We show that the leptogenesis mechanism that facilitates the dominant production of lepton asymmetry via the quantum effects of right-handed neutrinos in gravitational background, can be probed by GW detectors as well as next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay ($0νββ$) experiments in a complementary way. We infer that for a successful leptogenesis, an exclusion limit on $f-Ω_{\rm GW}h^2$ plane would correspond to an exclusion on the $|m_{ββ}|-m_1$ plane as well. We consider a normal light neutrino mass ordering and discuss how recent NANOGrav pulsar timing data (if interpreted as GW signal) e.g., at 95$\%$ CL, would correlate with the potential discovery or null signal in $0νββ$ decay experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Non-thermal production of lepton asymmetry and dark matter in minimal seesaw with right handed neutrino induced Higgs potential

Within Type-I seesaw mechanism, Higgs mass can be dynamically generated via quantum effects of the right handed neutrinos assuming the potential is nearly conformal at the Ultra-Violet. The scenario, named as the "Neutrino Option" allows RH neutrino mass scale upto $M \lesssim$ $10^7$ GeV to be consistent with light neutrino masses, mixing and Higgs mass. Therefore, it is not consistent with standard hierarchical thermal leptogenesis. Parameter space for thermal resonant leptogenesis is highly constrained in this model. We point out that non-thermal pair production of RH neutrinos from inflaton decay corresponds in general to a mild degree of resonance in the CP asymmetry parameter and allows RH mass scale to be smaller more than by an order of magnitude than the thermal strong resonance case. Within the similar parameter space of thermal leptogenesis, RH neutrinos can also be produced from inflaton decay along with a Dark Matter having mass $M_{\rm DM}\lesssim$ 320 MeV. The main constraint in the latter scenario comes from the Ly$α$ constraints on Dark Matter free streaming. We show in addition, that the Neutrino Option introduces a 'phantom window' for the RH mass scale, in which contrary to the usual scenarios, CP asymmetry parameter for leptogenesis decreases with the increase of the RH mass scale and minimally fine-tuned seesaw models naturally exhibit this `phantom window'.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Flavour effects in gravitational leptogenesis

Within the Type-I seesaw mechanism, quantum effects of the right-handed (RH) neutrinos in the gravitational background lead to an asymmetric propagation of lepton and anti-leptons which allows a Ricci scalar and neutrino Dirac-Yukawa coupling dependent chemical potential and therefore a lepton asymmetry in equilibrium. At high temperature, lepton number violating scattering processes try to maintain a dynamically generated lepton asymmetry in equilibrium. However, when the temperature drops down, the interactions become weaker, and the asymmetry freezes out. The frozen out asymmetry can act as a pre-existing asymmetry prior to the standard Fukugita-Yanagida leptogenesis phase ($T_i\sim M_i$, where $M_i$ is the mass of $i$th RH neutrino). It is then natural to consider the viability of gravitational leptogenesis for a given RH mass spectrum which is not consistent with successful leptogenesis from decays. Primary threat to this gravity-induced lepton asymmetry to be able to successfully reproduce the observed baryon-to-photon ratio is the lepton number violating washout processes at $T_i\sim M_i$. In a minimal seesaw set up with two RH neutrinos, these washout processes are strong enough to erase a pre-existing asymmetry of significant magnitude. We show that when effects of flavour on the washout processes are taken into account, the mechanism opens up the possibility of successful leptogenesis (gravitational) for a mass spectrum $M_2\gg 10^9 {\rm GeV}\gg M_1$ with $M_1 \gtrsim 6.3 \times 10^6$ GeV. We then briefly discuss how, in general, the mechanism leaves its imprints on the low energy CP phases and absolute light neutrino mass scale.

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arXiv2020

The $SO(10)$-inspired leptogenesis timely opportunity

We study the connection between absolute neutrino mass and neutrino mixing parameters within $SO(10)$-inspired leptogenesis. We show that current favoured values of the unknown neutrino mixing parameters point toward values of the absolute neutrino mass scale that will be fully tested by cosmological observations and neutrinoless double beta decay experiments during next years. In particular, for $m_{D2}/m_{\rm charm} \leq 5$, where $m_{D2}$ is the intermediate Dirac neutrino mass, and for current best fit values of the Dirac phase $δ$ and the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle $θ_{23}$, we derive a lower bound on the neutrinoless double beta decay effective neutrino mass $m_{ee} \gtrsim 31\,{\rm meV}$ and on the sum of the neutrino masses $\sum_i m_i \gtrsim 125\,{\rm meV}$. These lower bounds hold for normally ordered neutrino masses, as currently favoured by global analyses and approximately for $δ\in [155^\circ,240^\circ]$ and $θ_{23}$ in the second octant. If values in this region will be confirmed by future planned long baseline experiments, then a signal at next generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments is expected, despite neutrino masses being normally ordered. Outside the region, the lower bounds strongly relax but a great fraction of the allowed range of values still allows a measurement of the lightest neutrino mass. Therefore, in the the next years low energy neutrino experiments will provide a very stringent test of $SO(10)$-inspired leptogenesis, resulting either in severe constraints or in a strong evidence.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Flavoured leptogenesis and ${\rm CP}^{μτ}$ symmetry

We present a systematic study of leptogenesis in neutrino mass models with $μτ$-flavoured CP symmetry. In addition to the strong hierarchical $N_1$-dominated scenario ($N_1$DS) in the `two flavour regime' of leptogenesis, we show that one may choose the right-handed (RH) neutrino mass hierarchy as mild as $M_2\simeq 4.7 M_1$ for a perfectly valid hierarchical $N_1$DS. This in turn reduces the lower bound on the allowed values of $M_1$, compared to what is stated in the literature. The consideration of flavour effects due to the heavy neutrinos also translate into an upper bound on $M_1$. It is only below this bound that the observed baryon-to-photon ratio can be realized for a standard ${ N_1}$ domination, else a substantial part of the parameter space is also compatible with $N_2$DS. We deduce conditions under which the baryon asymmetry produced by the second RH neutrino plays an important role. Finally, we discuss another interesting scenario where lepton asymmetry generated by $N_2$ in the two flavour regime faces washout by $N_1$ in the three flavour regime. Considering a hierarchical light neutrino mass spectrum, which is now favoured by cosmological observations, we show that at the end of $N_1$-leptogenesis, the asymmetry generated by $N_2$ survives only in the electron flavour and around $33\%$ of the parameter space is consistent with a pure $N_2$-leptogenesis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Importance of generalized $μτ$ symmetry and its CP extension on neutrino mixing and leptogenesis

Within the framework of residual symmetry, two $\mathbb{Z}_2$ type associate $μτ$ interchange symmetries robustly constrain the Dirac CP phase $δ$ in a model independent way. Both of them predict simultaneous maximality of $δ$ and the atmospheric mixing angle $θ_{23}$. We show how these well known correlations will be changed if we generalize the $μτ$ interchange symmetry to a $μτ$ mixing symmetry. In particular, we show that the stringent condition of simultaneous maximality could be relaxed even with a very small departure from the exact $μτ$ interchange. In addition, the present neutrino data on $δ$ and $θ_{23}$ can be explained better by the mixing symmetry. After discussing the impact of the $μτ$ mixing in some realistic neutrino mass models, we show how the proposed mixing could be realized with two simultaneous CP transformations which also lead to novel and testable correlations between $δ$ and the mixing angles $θ_{ij}$. Next we discuss in particular, the `three flavour regime' of leptogenesis within the CP extended framework and show, unlike the ordinary CP extended $μτ$ interchange symmetry, a resonant leptogenesis is possible due the generalization of $μτ$ interchange to the $μτ$ mixing and the resulting baryon asymmetry always requires a nonmaximal $θ_{23}$ owing to the fact that the baryon to photon ratio $η_B$ vanishes in the exact limit of $θ_{23}=π/4$. This is one of the robust predictions of this framework. The CP extended $μτ$ mixing is also a novel example of a low energy effective model that provides an important insight to the off-diagonal terms of the flavour coupling matrix which have usually been neglected in literature to compute the final baryon asymmetry, in particular in the models with flavour symmetries.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Representing seesaw neutrino models and their motion in lepton flavour space

We discuss how seesaw neutrino models can be graphically represented in lepton flavour space. We examine various popular models and show how this representation helps understanding their properties and connection with experimental data showing in particular how certain texture zero models are ruled out. We also introduce a new matrix, the bridging matrix, that brings from the light to the heavy neutrino mass flavour basis, showing how this is related to the orthogonal matrix and how different quantities are easily expressed through it. We then show how one can randomly generate orthogonal and leptonic mixing matrices uniformly covering all flavour space in an unbiased way (Haar-distributed matrices). Using the isomorphism between the group of complex rotations and the Lorentz group, we also introduce the conceptof Lorentz boost in flavour space for a seesaw model and how this has an insightful physical interpretation. Finally, as a significant application, we consider $N_2$-leptogenesis. Using current experimental values of low energy neutrino parameters, we show that the probability that at least one flavoured decay parameter of the lightest right-handed neutrino is smaller than unity is about $49\%$ (to be compared with the tiny probability that the total decay parameter is smaller than unity, $P(K_{\rm I}< 1)\sim 0.1 \%$, confirming the crucial role played by flavour effects). On the other hand when $m_1 \gtrsim 0.1\,{\rm eV}$ this probability reduces to less than $5\%$, showing how also $N_2$-leptogenesis disfavours degenerate light neutrinos.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Phenomenological implications of the Friedberg-Lee transformation in a neutrino mass model with $μτ$-flavored CP symmetry

We propose a neutrino mass model with $μτ$-flavored CP symmetry, where the effective light neutrino Lagrangian enjoys an additional invariance under a Friedberg-Lee (FL) transformation on the left-handed flavor neutrino fields, that leads to a highly predictive and testable scenario. While both types of the light neutrino mass ordering, i.e., Normal Ordering (NO) as well as the Inverted Ordering (IO) are allowed, the absolute scale of neutrino masses is fixed by the vanishing determinant of light Majorana neutrino mass matrix $M_ν$. We show that for both types of mass ordering, whilst the atmospheric mixing angle $θ_{23}$ is in general nonmaximal ($θ_{23}\neq π/4$), the Dirac CP phase $δ$ is exactly maximal ($δ=π/2,3π/2$) for IO and nearly maximal for NO owing to $\cosδ\propto \sinθ_{13}$. For the NO, very tiny nonvanishing Majorana CP violation might appear through one of the Majorana phases $β$; otherwise the model predicts vanishing Majorana CP violation. Thus, despite the fact, that from the measurement of $θ_{23}$, it is difficult to rule out the model, any large deviation of $δ$ from its maximality, will surely falsify the scenario. For a comprehensive numerical analysis, beside fitting the neutrino oscillation global fit data, we also present a study on the $ν_μ\rightarrow ν_e$ oscillation which is expected to show up Dirac CP violation in different long baseline experiments. Finally, assuming purely astrophysical sources, we calculate the Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrino flavor flux ratios at neutrino telescopes, such as IceCube, from which statements on the octant of $θ_{23}$ could be made in our model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

A study on a minimally broken residual TBM-Klein symmetry with its implications on flavoured leptogenesis and ultra high energy neutrino flux ratios

We present a systematic study on minimally perturbed neutrino mass matrices which at the leading order give rise to Tri-BiMaximal (TBM) mixing due to a residual $\mathbb{Z}_2\times \mathbb{Z}_2^{μτ}$ Klein symmetry in the neutrino mass term of the low energy effective seesaw Lagrangian. Considering only the breaking of $\mathbb{Z}_2^{μτ}$ with two relevant breaking parameters ($ε_{4,6}^\prime$), after a comprehensive numerical analysis, we show that the phenomenologically viable case in this scenario is a special case of TM1 mixing. For this class of models, from the phenomenological perspective, one always needs large breaking (more than $ 45\%$) in one of the breaking parameters. However, to be consistent the maximal mixing of $θ_{23}$, while more than $ 35\%$ breaking is needed in the other, a range $49.4^\circ-53^\circ$ and $38^\circ-40^\circ$ could be probed allowing breaking up to $ 25\%$ in the same parameter. Thus though this model cannot distinguish the octant of $θ_{23}$, non-maximal mixing is preferred from the viewpoint of small breaking. The model is also interesting from leptogenesis perspective. Unlike the standard $N_1$-leptogenesis scenario, here all the RH neutrinos contribute to lepton asymmetry due to the small mass splitting controlled by the $\mathbb{Z}_2^{μτ}$ breaking parameters. Inclusion of flavour coupling effects (In general, which have been partially included in all the leptogenesis studies in perturbed TBM framework) makes our analysis and results pertaining to a successful leptogenesis more accurate than any other studies in existing literature. Finally, in the context of recent discovery of the ultra high energy (UHE) neutrino events at IceCube, assuming UHE neutrinos originate from purely astrophysical sources, we obtain prediction on the neutrino flux ratios at neutrino telescopes.

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