arXiv subjects

Zuowei Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Zuowei Liu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

LZ Nuclear-Recoil Excess from Boosted Light Magnetic Dipole-dipole Dark Matter

The LZ collaboration has reported a nuclear-recoil excess near 248 keV with a global significance of $2.6\sigma$. Although halo dark matter with a magnetic dipole-dipole interaction and a TeV-scale mass provides the best fit to the excess among the interactions considered by LZ, it predicts a considerable number of events at lower recoil energies, where no excess is observed. We show that a boosted velocity distribution can alleviate this tension and provide a better fit to the LZ recoil spectrum. Moreover, the boost opens up the possibility of explaining the excess with much lighter dark matter, with masses down to the GeV scale. We demonstrate these features first in a model-independent analysis and then realize them in a concrete dark matter model, in which halo dark matter annihilates into on-shell mediators that subsequently decay into boosted dark-sector particles. Our results demonstrate that boosted dark sector particles provide a viable interpretation of the LZ excess.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Round-Robin Test of a Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cell: Establishing a Reference Protocol for Quality Research

Emerging technologies benefit from a jointly established reference protocol, which can lower the bar of entry for new researchers while serving as a calibration standard for established actors. The light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) combines electrochemistry and optoelectronics in an intricate manner, and it can by that enable sustainable and commercially relevant printing fabrication of emissive thin-film devices. However, LEC performance is sensitive to a range of material and processing parameters, which frequently results in inadequate, or even erroneous, device evaluation. With this in mind, we present herein a LEC reference protocol, which details the sourcing of materials and the procedures and parameters for robust device fabrication and operation. The protocol has been tested across nine international research groups, and the collected results from this interlaboratory round-robin test confirm that good LEC performance can be reproducibly obtained following our protocol. We also identify common pitfalls that can arise during LEC development, and present practical steps for attaining optimum LEC performance. We hope this reference protocol will improve the quality of future LEC research and serve as a guide for future researchers entering this vibrant field.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2026

Supernova constraints on lepton flavor violating ALPs

Supernovae offer a unique hot and dense environment to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model. We investigate supernova cooling constraints on lepton-flavor-violating (LFV) axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) that couple to electrons and muons. For LFV-ALP production in supernovae, muon decay and lepton bremsstrahlung have been considered previously. In this work, we identify the electron-muon coalescence channel as an efficient new production mechanism in the high-mass regime. We also include the semi-Compton scattering process, which has recently been shown to provide sizable contributions for electron-coupled ALPs. We find that muon decay dominates in the low-mass regime, electron-muon coalescence becomes the leading channel at high masses, and semi-Compton scattering provides the dominant contribution in the intermediate mass range. We find that the electron-muon coalescence process yields the strongest constraints in the mass range of $\sim (115,280)$ MeV, probing the ALP-electron-muon coupling down to $\sim 4\times 10^{-10}$ for an ALP mass of $\sim200$ MeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dark Photon Searches with Initial-State Radiation at Fixed-Target Configurations

In this work, we investigate the contribution of the annihilation process with initial-state radiation ($e^+ e^- \to γA'$) to the invisible dark photon ($A'$) searches at the electron fixed-target configurations. For illustration, we consider both the disappearing positron track signature at Belle II and the large missing energy search at NA64. When the dark photon has a narrow decay width, the effect of the initial-state radiation to the annihilation process can dominate over its $s$-channel and bremsstrahlung counterparts around $m_{A'} \simeq 60\,\rm{MeV}$ ($m_{A'} \simeq 200\,\rm{MeV}$) for Belle II (NA64), to enhance the corresponding sensitivity on the kinetic mixing parameter $ε$ by a factor of up to approximately 2.7 (1.3). For Belle II, we further perform a multi-bin analysis with the spectrum information to better separate the background and signal channels for significant improvement of the sensitivity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Low-Energy Supernova Constraints on Lepton Flavor Violating Axions

The extreme conditions within the supernova core, a high-temperature and high-density environment, create an ideal laboratory for the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Of particular interest are low-energy supernovae, characterized by their low explosion energies, which place strong constraints on the new-physics energy transfer from the core to the mantle. We compute low-energy supernova constraints on lepton-flavor-violating axions and axion-like particles that couple to both electrons and muons. For axion mass above the muon mass, the electron-muon coalescence and the axion decay are dominant production and reabsorption processes, respectively. We find that the low-energy supernovae provide the most stringent constraints on the axions in the mass range of $\sim (110,550)$ MeV, probing the coupling constant down to $g_{aeμ} \simeq {\cal O}(10^{-11})$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Probing axion and flavored new physics with the NA64$μ$ experiment

High-energy muon beam dump experiments are powerful probes of new physics models beyond the Standard Model, particularly those involving flavor-dependent interactions. We demonstrate the potential of muon beam dump by placing strong constraints on three new physics models utilizing data from the recent NA64$μ$ experiment: (1) axions coupling to photons, (2) axions coupling to muons, and (3) a dark sector mediated by a massless $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ gauge boson. The new particles can be identified from the significant missing energy as the invisible channel, or the distinct energy deposition signature as the visible channel. We find that the current NA64$μ$ data do not yet probe new parameter region on axion-photon coupling, while excluding new parameter space for the axion-muon coupling $g_{aμμ}\gtrsim4\times10^{-3}$~GeV$^{-1}$ and the axion mass $m_a\lesssim 0.2$~GeV. For the dark sector, the current data provide stringent constraints that surpass existing ones by nearly one order of magnitude. The data from the 2023 NA64$μ$ run, once available, will be capable of excluding new axion-photon coupling parameter space and probing the flavor structure of new physics, with more sensitivity advancement expected in near future runs.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Refined Low-Energy Supernova Constraints on Lepton Flavor Violating Axions

The supernova (SN) core, characterized by its extreme temperature and density, serves as a unique laboratory for new-physics searches. Low-energy supernovae (LESNe) provide particularly powerful probes, as their low explosion energies place stringent limits on any additional energy deposition in the mantle by new particles. We present refined LESN constraints on lepton-flavor-violating (LFV) axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) with electron-muon couplings. We consider four production channels in the SN: muon decay, lepton bremsstrahlung, electron-muon coalescence, and semi-Compton scattering, the last of which is investigated here for the first time in the context of LFV-ALPs. We find that muon decay dominates in the low-mass regime, electron-muon coalescence in the high-mass regime, and semi-Compton scattering in the intermediate-mass range. To derive accurate limits, we compute both the energy transfer from the SN core to the mantle and the energy loss due to ALP production in the mantle, which can be substantial for both large and small couplings -- the latter case, to our knowledge, not previously noted in the literature. We find that LESNe provide the most stringent constraints on the parameter space for ALP masses above $\sim 110$ MeV. These refined results strengthen previous SN bounds and highlight the exceptional sensitivity of LESNe to LFV new physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Probing invisible dark photon models via atmospheric collisions

Atmospheric collisions can copiously produce dark sector particles in the invisible dark photon model, leading to detectable signals in underground neutrino detectors. We consider the dark photon model with the mass mixing mechanism and use the Super-K detector to detect the electron recoil events caused by the atmospherically produced dark sector particles within the model. We find that the combined data from four Super-K runs yield new leading constraints for the invisible dark photon in the mass range of $\sim(0.5-1.4)$ GeV, surpassing various previous constraints, including those from BaBar and NA64.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Probing a muonic force with the periastron advance in binary pulsar systems

Pulsars, highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars, can have significant muon abundances in their dense cores, making them promising environments to probe ultralight mediators coupled to muons. The precise measurement of periastron advance in binary pulsar systems provides a sensitive probe of such long-range forces. In this work, we study the periastron advance constraints from binary pulsar systems on the ultralight muonic mediators. We compute the muon number fraction in neutron stars, by properly taking into account the suppression effect of the long-range muonic force. We find that the periastron advance constraints impose the most stringent constraints on ultralight muonic mediators in the mass range of $\simeq(10^{-17},\,2\times10^{-15})$ eV, probing muonic couplings as small as $\mathcal{O}(10^{-21})$, which surpass the limits from LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave measurements, by about an order of magnitude.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Millicharged particles from proton bremsstrahlung in the atmosphere

Light millicharged particles can be copiously produced from meson decays in cosmic ray collisions with the atmosphere, leading to detectable signals in large underground neutrino detectors. In this paper we study a new channel for generating atmospheric millicharged particles, the proton bremsstrahlung process. We find that the proton bremsstrahlung process leads to a significantly higher flux of millicharged particles compared to meson decays and, for certain masses, results in a one-order-of-magnitude improvement in the flux. Consequently, Super-K constraints on $\varepsilon^2$ for sub-GeV MCPs are improved by half order of magnitude. We further note that the study on the proton bremsstrahlung process can be extended to a variety of new physics particle searches in atmospheric collisions and in low energy proton accelerators.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Low-Energy Supernova Constraints on Millicharged Particles

The hot and dense conditions of the supernova core provide an ideal environment for the production of new feebly-interacting particles. Low-energy supernovae, characterized by low explosion energy, are particularly intriguing due to their stringent constraints on energy transfer from the core to the mantle by new particles. We investigate low-energy supernova constraints on millicharged particles by considering three production channels in the core: plasmon decay, proton bremsstrahlung, and electron-positron annihilation. We compute the energy deposition due to Coulomb scatterings of millicharged particles with protons in the mantle and find that low-energy supernovae impose the most stringent constraints on millicharged particles in the mass range of $\sim(12 - 170)$ MeV. Furthermore, we find that the electron-positron annihilation process, previously omitted in supernova studies on millicharged particles, is the dominant production channel in the high-mass region. This leads to new constraints from both supernova cooling calculations and low-energy supernova analyses. We also investigate MCP production via processes involving thermal pions and find that these processes could dominate over electron-positron annihilation, albeit with significant uncertainties.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Distinct photon-ALP propagation modes

Measurement of cosmic photons may reveal their propagation in the interstellar environment, thereby offering a promising way to probe axions and axion-like particles (ALPs). Numerical methods are usually used to compute the propagation of the photon-ALP beam due to the complexity of both the interstellar magnetic field and the evolution equation. However, under certain conditions, the evolution equation can be greatly simplified so that the photon-ALP propagation can be analytically solved. By using analytic methods, we find two distinct photon-ALP propagation modes, determined by the relative magnitude of the photon-ALP mixing term in comparison to the photon attenuation term. In one mode, the intensity of photons decreases with the increasing distance; in the other mode, it also exhibits oscillatory behavior. To distinguish the two propagation modes, we compute the observable quantities such as the photon survival probability and the degree of polarization. We also determine through analytic methods the conditions under which maximum polarization can be observed and the corresponding upper bound of the survival probability.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Search for strongly interacting dark matter at Belle II

A small component of dark matter (DM) that is strongly interacting with the standard model sector is consistent with various experimental observations. Despite the small abundance, strongly-interacting DM can lead to pronounced signals in DM direct detection experiments. We study Belle II sensitivity on strongly-interacting DM that has a MeV-GeV mass and couples with electrons. By taking into account the substantial interactions between DM and electrons within detectors, we compute the ``ceiling'' of the mono-photon signature at Belle II, beyond which the mono-photon channel loses its sensitivity, and visible ECL clusters due to DM scatterings assume significance. We study two ECL signatures for strongly-interacting DM: the mono-cluster and the di-cluster channels. To carry out detailed calculations and to compare with other constraints, we consider DM models with light mediators, as they naturally lead to sizable interaction cross sections. We compute exclusion regions for the di-cluster, mono-cluster, and mono-photon channels. We find that Belle II (with currently accumulated data of 362 fb$^{-1}$) can rule out a significant portion of the parameter space above the ceilings of the constraints from various DM direct detection and neutrino experiments, for the vector mediator case with mass $\gtrsim 10$ MeV. Belle II also offers superior constraints on new light particles compared to PBH for the scalar mediator with mass $\gtrsim 10$ MeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Probing ultralight isospin-violating mediators at GW170817

Gravitational wave (GW) signals arising from binary neutron star mergers offer new, sensitive probes to ultralight mediators. Here we analyze the GW signals in the GW170817 event detected by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration to impose constraints on the ultralight isospin-violating mediator that has different couplings to protons and neutrons. Neutron stars, which primarily consist of neutrons, are the ideal places to probe the isospin-violating mediator. Such a mediator can significantly alter the dynamics of the binary neutron star mergers, through both the long-range Yukawa force and the new dipole radiation. We compute the gravitational waveform by taking into account the new physics effects due to the isospin-violating mediator and use the Bayesian inference to analyze the gravitational wave data in the GW170817 event. We find that although the current fifth force experiments (including MICROSCOPE and EW) often provide more stringent constraints than the GW170817 data, in the parameter space where the isospin-violating force is completely screened by the Earth (namely, the Earth is charge neutral under this force), the GW170817 data offer the leading constraints: the upper bound on the neutron coupling is $f_n \lesssim 10^{-19}$ in the mediator mass range of $\simeq(3\times10^{-16},\,5\times10^{-14})$ eV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

New channel to search for dark matter at Belle II

We propose a new ``disappearing positron track'' channel at Belle II to search for dark matter, in which a positron that is produced at the primary interaction vertex scatters with the electromagnetic calorimeter to produce dark matter particles. Such scatterings can occur via either annihilation with atomic electrons, or the bremsstrahlung process with target nuclei. The main backgrounds are due to photons and neutrons that are produced in the same scatterings and then escape detection. We require a large missing energy and further veto certain activities in the KLM detector to suppress such backgrounds. To illustrate the sensitivity of the new channel, we consider a new physics model where dark matter interacts with the standard model via a dark photon, which decays predominantly to dark matter; we find that our proposed channel can probe some currently unexplored parameter space, surpassing both the mono-photon channel at Belle II and the NA64 constraints.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

XQC and CSR constraints on strongly interacting dark matter with spin and velocity dependent cross sections

Dark matter that interacts strongly with baryons can avoid the stringent dark matter direct detection constraints, because, like baryons, they are likely to be absorbed when traversing the rocks, leading to a suppressed flux in deep underground labs. Such strongly interacting dark matter, however, can be probed by dark matter experiments or other experiments operated on the ground level or in the atmosphere. In this paper we carry out systematic analysis of two of these experiments, XQC and CSR, to compute the experimental constraints on the strongly interacting dark matter in the following three scenarios: (1) spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions; (2) different velocity dependent cross sections; (3) different dark matter mass fractions. Some of the scenarios are first analyzed in the literature. We find that the XQC exclusion region has some non-trivial dependencies on the various parameters and the limits in the spin-dependent case is quite different from the spin-independent case. A peculiar region in the parameter space, where the XQC constraint disappears, is also found in our Monte Carlo simulations. This occurs in the case where the interaction cross section is proportional to the square of the velocity. We further compare our XQC and CSR limits to other experimental constraints, and find that a large parameter space is allowed by various experiments if the dark matter mass fraction is sufficiently small, $f_χ\lesssim 10^{-4}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Enhanced long-lived dark photon signals at lifetime frontier detectors

Long-lived particles that are present in many new physics models beyond the standard model, can be searched for in a number of newly proposed lifetime frontier experiments at the LHC. The signals of the long-lived dark photons can be significantly enhanced in a new dark photon model in which dark photons are copiously produced in the hidden radiation process. We investigate the capability of various lifetime frontier detectors in probing the parameter space of this model, including the far forward detectors FACET and FASER, the far transverse detector MATHUSLA, and the precision timing detector CMS-MTD. We find that the accessible parameter space is significantly enlarged by the hidden radiation process so that FACET, MATHUSLA, and CMS-MTD can probe a much larger parameter space than the so-called minimal model. The parameter space probed by FACET is found to be much larger than FASER, which is largely due to the fact that the former has a larger decay volume and is closer to the interaction point. There also exists some parameter space that can be probed both by the far detectors and by precision timing detectors, so that different experiments can be complementary to each other. A brief overview of the lifetime frontier detectors is also given.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Enhanced Long-Lived Dark Photon Signals at the LHC

We construct a model in which the standard model is extended by a hidden sector with two gauge $U(1)$ bosons. A Dirac fermion $ψ$ charged under both $U(1)$ fields is introduced in the hidden sector which can be a subcomponent of the dark matter in the Universe. Stueckelberg mass terms between the two new gauge $U(1)$ fields and the hypercharge gauge boson mediate the interactions between the standard model sector and the hidden sector. A remarkable collider signature of this model is the enhanced long-lived dark photon events at the LHC than the conventional dark photon models; the long-lived dark photons in the model can be discriminated from the background by measuring the time delay signal in the precision timing detectors which are proposed to be installed in the LHC upgrades and have an ${\cal O} (10)$ pico-second detection efficiency. Searches with current LHCb data are also investigated. Various experimental constraints on the model including collider constraints and cosmological constraints are also discussed.

hep-ph↗