arXiv subjects

Stephen F. King

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen F. King.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Muon g-2, Dark Matter and the Higgs mass in No-Scale Supergravity

We discuss the phenomenology of no-scale supergravity (SUGRA), in which the universal scalar mass is zero at the high scale, focussing on the recently updated muon g-2 measurement, and including dark matter and the correct Higgs boson mass. Such no-scale supergravity scenarios arise naturally from string theory and are also inspired by the successful Starobinsky inflation, with a class of minimal models leading to a strict upper bound on the gravitino mass m3/2 < 103 TeV. We perform a Monte Carlo scan over the allowed parameter space, assuming a mixture of pure gravity mediated and universal gaugino masses, using the SPheno package linked to FeynHiggs, MicrOmegas and CheckMate, displaying the results in terms of a Likelihood function. We present results for zero and non-zero trilinear soft parameters, and for different signs of gaugino masses, giving a representative set of benchmark points for each viable region of parameter space. We find that, while no-scale SUGRA can readily satisfy the dark matter and Higgs boson mass requirements, consistent with all other phenomenological constraints, the muon g- 2 measurement may be accommodated only in certain regions of parameter space, close to the LHC excluded regions for light sleptons and charginos.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

$SO(10)$ models with $A_4$ modular symmetry

We combine $SO(10)$ Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) with $A_4$ modular symmetry and present a comprehensive analysis of the resulting quark and lepton mass matrices for all the simplest cases. We focus on the case where the three fermion families in the 16 dimensional spinor representation form a triplet of $Γ_3\simeq A_4$, with a Higgs sector comprising a single Higgs multiplet $H$ in the ${\mathbf{10}}$ fundamental representation and one Higgs field $\overlineΔ$ in the ${\mathbf{\overline{126}}}$ for the minimal models, plus and one Higgs field $Σ$ in the ${\mathbf{120}}$ for the non-minimal models, all with specified modular weights. The neutrino masses are generated by the type-I and/or type II seesaw mechanisms and results are presented for each model following an intensive numerical analysis where we have optimized the free parameters of the models in order to match the experimental data. For the phenomenologically successful models, we present the best fit results in numerical tabular form as well as showing the most interesting graphical correlations between parameters, including leptonic CP phases and neutrinoless double beta decay, which have yet to be measured, leading to definite predictions for each of the models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Dark Matter in the Type Ib Seesaw Model

We consider a minimal type Ib seesaw model where the effective neutrino mass operator involves two different Higgs doublets, and the two right-handed neutrinos form a heavy Dirac mass. We propose a minimal dark matter extension of this model, in which the Dirac heavy neutrino is coupled to a dark Dirac fermion and a dark complex scalar field, both charged under a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry, where the lighter of the two is a dark matter candidate. Focussing on the fermionic dark matter case, we explore the parameter space of the seesaw Yukawa couplings, the neutrino portal couplings and dark scalar to dark fermion mass ratio, where correct dark matter relic abundance can be produced by the freeze-in mechanism. By considering the mixing between between the standard model neutrinos and the heavy neutrino, we build a connection between the dark matter production and current laboratory experiments ranging from collider to lepton flavour violating experiments. For a GeV mass heavy neutrino, the parameters related to dark matter production are constrained by the experimental results directly and can be further tested by future experiments such as SHiP.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Discovering the Origin of Yukawa Couplings at the LHC with a Singlet Higgs and Vector-like Quarks

Although the 125 GeV Higgs boson discovered at the LHC is often heralded as the origin of mass, it may not in fact be the origin of Yukawa couplings. In alternative models, Yukawa couplings may instead arise from a seesaw type mechanism involving the mixing of Standard Model (SM) chiral fermions with new vector-like fermions, controlled by the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of a new complex Higgs singlet field $\langle Φ\rangle$. For example, the largest third family $(t,b)$ quark Yukawa couplings may be forbidden by a $U(1)'$ gauge or global symmetry, broken by $\langle Φ\rangle$, and generated effectively via mixing with a vector-like fourth family quark doublet $(T,B)$. Such theories predict a new physical Higgs singlet $ϕ$, which we refer to as the Yukon, resulting from $\langle Φ\rangle$, in the same way that the Higgs boson $h^0$ results from $\langle H\rangle$. In a simplified model we discuss the prospects for discovering the Yukon $ϕ$ in gluon-gluon fusion production, with $(t,b)$ and $(T,B)$ quarks in the loops, and decaying in the channels $ϕ\rightarrow γγ, Zγ$ and $ϕ\rightarrow tT\rightarrow tth^0,ttZ$. The potential for discovery of the Yukon $ϕ$ is studied at present or future hadron colliders such as the LHC (Run 3), HL-LHC, HE-LHC and/or FCC. For example, we find that a 300-350 GeV Yukon $ϕ$ could be accessed at LHC Run 3 in the di-photon channel in the global model, providing a smoking gun signature of the origin of Yukawa couplings. The $tth^0,ttZ$ channels are more involved and warrant a more sophisticated analysis.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Twin Modular $S_4$ with $SU(5)$ GUT

We discuss the $SU(5)$ grand unified extension of flavour models with multiple modular symmetries. The proposed model involves two modular $S_4$ groups, one acting in the charged fermion sector, associated with a modulus field value $τ_T$ with residual $Z_3^T$ symmetry, and one acting in the right-handed neutrino sector, associated with another modulus field value $τ_{SU}$ with residual $Z_2^{SU}$ symmetry. Quark and lepton mass hierarchies are naturally generated with the help of weightons, which are SM singlet fields, where their non-zero modular weights play the role of Froggatt-Nielsen charges. The model predicts TM$_1$ lepton mixing, and neutrinoless double beta decay at rates close to the sensitivity of current and future experiments, for both normal and inverted orderings, with suppressed corrections from charged lepton mixing due to the triangular form of its Yukawa matrix.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Quark and Lepton Mass and Mixing with non-universal $Z'$ from a 5d Standard Model with gauged $SO(3)$

We propose a theory of quark and lepton mass and mixing with non-universal $Z'$ couplings based on a 5d Standard Model with quarks and leptons transforming as triplets under a new gauged $SO(3)$ isospin. In the 4d effective theory, the $SO(3)$ isospin is broken to $U(1)'$, through a $S^1/(\mathbb{Z}_2\times \mathbb{Z}'_2)$ orbifold, then subsequently dynamically broken, resulting in a massive $Z'$. Quarks and leptons in the 5d bulk appear as massless modes, with zero Yukawa couplings to the Higgs on the brane, and zero couplings to $Z'$, at leading order, due to the $U(1)'$ symmetry. However, after the $U(1)'$ breaking, both Yukawa couplings and non-universal $Z'$ couplings are generated by heavy Kaluza-Klein exchanges. Hierarchical quark and lepton masses result from a hierarchy of 5d Dirac fermion masses. Neutrino mass and mixing arises from a novel type Ib seesaw mechanism, mediated by Kaluza-Klein Dirac neutrinos. The non-universal $Z'$ couplings may contribute to semi-leptonic $B$ decay ratios which violate $μ- e$ universality. In this model such couplings are related to the corresponding quark and lepton effective Yukawa couplings.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Low Scale String Theory Benchmarks for Hidden Photon Dark Matter Interpretations of the XENON1T Anomaly

An excess of low-energy electronic recoil events over known backgrounds was recently observed in the XENON1T detector, where $285$ events are observed compared to an expected $232 \pm 15$ events from the background-only fit to the data in the energy range 1-7 keV. This could be due to the beta decay of an unexpected tritium component, or possibly to new physics. One plausible new physics explanation for the excess is absorption of hidden photon dark matter relics with mass around $2.8$ keV and kinetic mixing of about $10^{-15}$, which can also explain cooling excesses in horizontal-branch (HB) stars. Such small gauge boson masses and couplings can naturally arise from type-IIB low scale string theory. We provide a fit of the XENON1T excess in terms of a minimal low scale type-IIB string theory parameter space and present some benchmark points which provide a good fit to the data. It is also demonstrated how the required transformation properties of the massless spectrum are obtained in intersecting D-brane models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

$SU(5)$ GUTs with $A_4$ modular symmetry

We combine $SU(5)$ Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) with $A_4$ modular symmetry and present a comprehensive analysis of the resulting quark and lepton mass matrices for all the simplest cases. Classifying the models according to the representation assignments of the matter fields under $A_4$, we find that there are seven types of $SU(5)$ models with $A_4$ modular symmetry. We present 53 benchmark models with the fewest free parameters. The parameter space of each model is scanned to optimize the agreement between predictions and experimental data, and predictions for the masses and mixing parameters of quarks and leptons are given at the best fitting points. The best fit predictions for the leptonic CP violating Dirac phase, the lightest neutrino mass and the neutrinoless double beta decay parameter when displayed graphically are observed to cover a wide range of possible values, but are clustered around particular regions, allowing future neutrino experiments to discriminate between the different types of models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Interplay between neutrino and gravity portals for FIMP dark matter

In the classic type I seesaw mechanism with very heavy right-handed (RH) neutrinos, it is possible to account for dark matter via RH neutrino portal couplings to a feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP) dark sector. However, for large RH neutrino masses, gravity can play an important role. We study the interplay between the neutrino portal through the right-handed neutrinos and the gravity portal through the massless spin-2 graviton in producing dark matter particles in the early universe. As a concrete example, we consider the minimal and realistic Littlest Seesaw model with two RH neutrinos, augmented with a dark scalar and a dark fermion charged under a global $U(1)_D$ dark symmetry. In the model, the usual seesaw neutrino Yukawa couplings and the right-handed neutrino masses (the lightest being about $5\times 10^{10}$ GeV) are fixed by neutrino oscillations data and leptogenesis. Hence, we explore the parameter space of the two RH neutrino portal couplings, the two dark particle masses and the reheating temperature of the universe, where the correct dark matter relic abundance is achieved through the freeze-in mechanism. In particular, we highlight which class of processes dominate the dark matter production. We find that, despite the presence of the gravity portal, the dark matter production relies on the usual seesaw neutrino Yukawa coupling in some regions of the parameter space, so realising a direct link between dark matter and neutrino phenomenology. Finally, we report the threshold values for the neutrino portal couplings below which the neutrino portal is irrelevant and the Planckian Interacting Dark Matter paradigm is preserved.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Gravitational waves and proton decay: complementary windows into GUTs

Proton decay is a smoking gun signature of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). Searches by Super-Kamiokande have resulted in stringent limits on the GUT symmetry breaking scale. The large-scale multipurpose neutrino experiments DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande and JUNO will either discover proton decay or further push the symmetry breaking scale above $10^{16}$ GeV. Another possible observational consequence of GUTs is the formation of a cosmic string network produced during the breaking of the GUT to the Standard Model gauge group. The evolution of such a string network in the expanding Universe produces a stochastic background of gravitational waves which will be tested by a number of gravitational wave detectors over a wide frequency range. We demonstrate the non-trivial complementarity between the observation of proton decay and gravitational waves produced from cosmic strings in determining $SO(10)$ GUT breaking chains. We show that such observations could exclude $SO(10)$ breaking via flipped $SU(5)\times U(1)$ or standard $SU(5)$, while breaking via a Pati-Salam intermediate symmetry, or standard $SU(5)\times U(1)$, may be favoured if a large separation of energy scales associated with proton decay and cosmic strings is indicated. We note that recent results by the NANOGrav experiment have been interpreted as evidence for cosmic strings at a scale $\sim 10^{14}$ GeV. This would strongly point towards the existence of GUTs, with $SO(10)$ being the prime candidate. We show that the combination with already available constraints from proton decay allows to identify preferred symmetry breaking routes to the Standard Model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Exceptional Unification of Families and Forces

This work considers the remarkable suggestion that the three families of quarks and leptons may be unified, together with the Higgs and gauge fields of the Standard Model (SM), into a single "particle", namely the $\textbf{248}$ vector superfield of a ten-dimensional $E_8$ super Yang Mills (SYM) theory. Towards a realistic model along these lines, a class of orbifoldings based on $T^6/(\mathbb{Z}_N\times \mathbb{Z}_M)$ are proposed and explored, that can in principle break $E_8$ SYM down to the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), embedded in a larger group such as $E_6$, $SO(10)$ or $SU(5)$, together with other gauge group factors which can be broken by Wilson lines. A realistic model based on $T^6/(\mathbb{Z}_6\times \mathbb{Z}_2)$ is presented. The orbifold breaks $E_8$ SYM down to a Pati-Salam gauge group in 4d, together with other gauge groups, which are further broken to the SM by Wilson lines in the right-handed sneutrino directions, yielding proto-realistic fermion mass matrices, and experimental signals associated with a low Pati-Salam gauge group breaking scale.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fermion Mass Hierarchies from Modular Symmetry

We show how quark and lepton mass hierarchies can be reproduced in the framework of modular symmetry. The mechanism is analogous to the Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) mechanism, but without requiring any Abelian symmetry to be introduced, nor any Standard Model (SM) singlet flavon to break it. The modular weights of fermion fields play the role of FN charges, and SM singlet fields with non-zero modular weight called weightons play the role of flavons. We illustrate the mechanism by analysing $A_4$ (modular level 3) models of quark and lepton (including neutrino) masses and mixing, with a single modulus field. We discuss two examples in some detail, both numerically and analytically, showing how both fermion mass and mixing hierarchies emerge from different aspects of the modular symmetry.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Impact of Higgs portal on gravity-mediated production of superheavy dark matter

In the so-called Planckian Interacting Dark Matter (PIDM) scenario, superheavy dark matter particles are produced after inflation by gravity-mediated interactions through the freeze-in mechanism. In the minimal PIDM model, the absence of any additional direct coupling with Standard Model particles is assumed. However, for scalar dark matter particles there is no symmetry that suppresses the Higgs portal coupling. In this paper, we therefore study the impact of a non-zero interaction with the Higgs field on the PIDM paradigm for scalar dark matter. In particular, we fully explore the model parameter space in order to identify the allowed regions where the correct dark matter abundance is achieved. Moreover, we provide the threshold value for the Higgs portal coupling below which the corresponding production processes are sub-dominant and the minimal PIDM scenario is preserved. For a benchmark scalar dark matter mass of $10^{15}$ GeV, we find that the Higgs portal coupling has to be smaller than $5.1 \times 10^{-8}$ ($1.1 \times 10^{-7}$) for instantaneous (non-instantaneous) reheating.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Modular Invariant Models of Leptons at Level 7

We consider for the first time level 7 modular invariant flavour models where the lepton mixing originates from the breaking of modular symmetry and couplings responsible for lepton masses are modular forms. The latter are decomposed into irreducible multiplets of the finite modular group $Γ_7$, which is isomorphic to $PSL(2,Z_{7})$, the projective special linear group of two dimensional matrices over the finite Galois field of seven elements, containing 168 elements, sometimes written as $PSL_2(7)$ or $Σ(168)$. At weight 2, there are 26 linearly independent modular forms, organised into a triplet, a septet and two octets of $Γ_7$. A full list of modular forms up to weight 8 are provided. Assuming the absence of flavons, the simplest modular-invariant models based on $Γ_7$ are constructed, in which neutrinos gain masses via either the Weinberg operator or the type-I seesaw mechanism, and their predictions compared to experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

A New Littlest Seesaw Model

We propose and discuss a new Littlest Seesaw model, realised in the tri-direct CP approach, in which the couplings of the two right-handed neutrinos to the lepton doublets are proportional to $(0,-1,1)$ and $(1,5/2,-1/2)$ respectively with the relative phase $η=-π/2$. This model can give an excellent description of lepton flavour mixing, including an atmospheric neutrino mixing angle in the second octant, in terms of only two input parameters. We show that the observed baryon asymmetry can be generated for the lightest right-handed neutrino mass $M_{1}=1.176\times 10^{11}$ GeV in SM and $M_{1}=3.992\times 10^{10}$ GeV in MSSM with $\tanβ=5$. We construct an explicit Littlest Seesaw model based on the flavour symmetry $S_4\times Z_4\times Z_9$ in which the desired alignments and the phase $η=-π/2$ are achieved.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Effects of matter density profiles on neutrino oscillations for T2HK and T2HKK

This paper explores the effects of changes in matter density profiles on neutrino oscillation probabilities, and whether these could potentially be seen by the future Hyper-Kamiokande long-baseline oscillation experiment (T2HK). The analysis is extended to include the possibility of having an additional detector in Korea (T2HKK). In both cases, we find that these effects will be immeasurable, as the magnitudes of the changes in the oscillation probabilities induced in all density profile scenarios considered here remain smaller than the estimated experimental sensitivity to the oscillation probabilities of each experiment, for both appearance and disappearance channels. Therefore, we conclude that using a constant density profile is sufficient for both the T2HK and T2HKK experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Multiple modular symmetries as the origin of flavour

We develop a general formalism for multiple moduli and their associated modular symmetries. We apply this formalism to an example based on three moduli with finite modular symmetries $S_4^A$, $S_4^B$ and $S_4^C$, associated with two right-handed neutrinos and the charged lepton sector, respectively. The symmetry is broken by two bi-triplet scalars to the diagonal $S_4$ subgroup. The low energy effective theory involves the three independent moduli fields $τ_A$, $τ_B$ and $τ_C$, which preserve the residual modular subgroups $Z_3^A$, $Z_2^B$ and $Z_3^C$, in their respective sectors, leading to trimaximal TM$_1$ lepton mixing, consistent with current data, without flavons.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Minimal Seesaw extension for Neutrino Mass and Mixing, Leptogenesis and Dark Matter: FIMPzillas through the Right-Handed Neutrino Portal

We propose a minimal seesaw extension to simultaneously account for realistic neutrino mass and mixing, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe via leptogenesis and a viable dark matter relic density, in which two right-handed neutrinos are coupled to a dark Dirac fermion and complex scalar field, both charged under a global $U(1)_D$ symmetry. As a concrete example, we consider the Littlest Seesaw model which describes neutrino mass and mixing and accounts for leptogenesis, thereby fixing the neutrino Yukawa couplings and right-handed neutrino masses. By considering the freeze-in production mechanism of dark matter, we explore the parameter space of right-handed neutrino portal couplings and dark particle masses which give the correct dark matter relic abundance, focussing on the case of a superheavy Dirac fermion dark matter particle, with a mass around $10^{10}$ GeV. Such a FIMPzilla can provide a successful explanation of the dark matter relic abundance, with its production reliant on neutrino Yukawa couplings over much of the parameter space, depending on the assumed dark particle masses, and the reheat temperature.

hep-ph↗