Particle Physics

Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the greatest outcome of the Standard Model of Particle Physics when put next to ΛCDM cosmology. In this talk, I will first review the key aspects of standard BBN and illustrate a new code -- PRyMordial -- to make state-of-the-art predictions of primordial light-element abundances within and beyond the Standard Model. I will then highlight the latest measurements regarding the primordial abundance of helium-4 and deuterium, and present evidence at the 2 sigma level for a nonzero lepton asymmetry from BBN data jointly with the Cosmic Microwave Background. I will leave some final comments on how a large total lepton asymmetry can be consistently realized in the Early Universe.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95011247645?pwd=S0EwZG9nSHQvTjV0QjBxeHNUWWtmUT09

Models of dark sectors with a mass threshold can have important cosmological signatures. If, in the era prior to recombination, a relativistic species becomes non-relativistic and is then depopulated in equilibrium, there can be measurable impacts on the CMB as the entropy is transferred to lighter relativistic particles. In particular, if this "step'" occurs near z = 20,000, the model can naturally accommodate larger values of $H_0$. If this stepped radiation is additionally coupled to dark matter, there can be a meaningful impact on the matter power spectrum as dark matter can be coupled via a species that becomes non-relativistic and depleted. This can naturally lead to suppressed power at scales inside the sound horizon before the step, while leaving conventional CDM signatures for power outside the sound horizon. We study these effects and show such models can naturally provide lower values of $S_8$ than scenarios without a step. This suggests these models may provide an interesting framework to address the $S_8$ tension, both in concert with the $H_0$ tension and without.

Zoom Link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96399847158?pwd=RkNHMkJHeEo5Q1Q2MkhHSHZ6c1BoQT09

Observations indicate the existence of natural particle accelerators in the Milky Way, capable of producing PeV cosmic rays (“PeVatrons”). Observations also indicate the existence of extreme sources in the Milky Way, capable of producing gamma-ray radiations above 100 TeV. If these gamma-ray sources are hadronic cosmic-ray accelerators, then they must also be neutrino sources. However, no neutrino sources have been detected. How can we consistently understand the observations of cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos? We point out two extreme scenarios are allowed: (1) the hadronic cosmic-ray accelerators and the gamma-ray sources are the same objects, so that neutrino sources exist and improved telescopes can detect them, versus (2) the hadronic cosmic-ray accelerators and the gamma-ray sources are distinct, so that there are no detectable neutrino sources. We discuss the nature of Milky Way’s highest energy gamma-ray sources and outline future prospects toward understanding the origin of hadronic cosmic rays. 

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91390039665?pwd=dGJ2b3VCbVFhUVpSelpjYzJHdk1Gdz09

Massless particles are always assumed to have Lorentz invariant helicity. However, the generic massless particles allowed by Lorentz invariance and quantum mechanics are "continuous spin particles," whose infinitely many discrete helicity states mix under little group transformations by an amount determined by the spin scale. Previous work at the Perimeter Institute has shown that CSPs have well-behaved soft emission amplitudes, are described by a simple free field theory, and reduce to the photon or graviton at momenta above the spin scale. In this talk, I will show how to couple CSP fields to classical particles. When treating on-shell CSP emission and absorption, the resulting dynamics are causal and readily calculable. Remarkably, they are also unique, depending on only the spin scale. This opens the door to precision experiments which probe the spin scale of the photon and graviton.

Zoom Link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94728811371?pwd=Y3RoRnJuUzNzT0FmRVFiazI5czc5Zz09

Based on arXiv:2208.04334. We consider oscillons - localized, quasiperiodic, and extremely long-living classical solutions in models with real scalar fields. We develop their effective description in the limit of large size at finite field strength. Namely, we note that nonlinear long-range field configurations can be described by an effective complex field ψ(t, x) which is related to the original fields by a canonical transformation. The action for ψ has the form of a systematic gradient expansion. At every order of the expansion, such an effective theory has a global U(1) symmetry and hence a family of stationary nontopological solitons - oscillons. The decay of the latter objects is a nonperturbative process from the viewpoint of the effective theory. Our approach gives an intuitive understanding of oscillons in full nonlinearity and explains their longevity. Importantly, it also provides reliable selection criteria for models with long-lived oscillons. This technique is more precise in the nonrelativistic limit, in the notable cases of nonlinear, extremely long-lived, and large objects, and also in lower spatial dimensions. We test the effective theory by performing explicit numerical simulations of a (d+1)-dimensional scalar field with a plateau potential. 

Zoom link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/98801138609?pwd=VUJsZm41bnpBQzFoUEFwcUV6SG5Xdz09

I will argue that many theories in which dark matter is light (with a mass < eV) lead to theoretically and observationally interesting dark matter substructure. As a particular, calculable, example I will show that this is the case for a new vector boson with non-zero mass (a `dark photon') that is present during inflation, at which time a relic abundance is automatically produced from vacuum fluctuations.  Due to a remarkable coincidence between the size of the primordial density perturbations and the scale at which quantum pressure is relevant, a substantial fraction of the dark matter inevitably collapses into gravitationally bound solitons, which are fully quantum coherent objects. The central densities of these `dark photon star', or `Proca star', solitons are typically a factor 10^6 larger than the local background dark matter density today. I will also mention how similar substructure might occur in theories of post-inflationary axion-like-particles. 

Zoom Link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94995778057?pwd=T2w4WWU0ZGtwWEIzTHFSZ3J6dGovUT09

I will discuss the wide - range of new physics that can be probed with nuclear-spin comagnetometers, from EDM measurements to dark matter direct detection experiments.

I will outline the potential for improvement in these measurements, and how improved quantum control could have a significant impact in our sensitivity.  I will present some new dark matter detection results using comagnetometers.

The axion solution to the strong CP problem has many virtues but it suffers from the so-called quality problem. This problem is avoided in heavy axion realizations which, however, are harder to probe experimentally. I will show how generic heavy axion models can be tested in current and future gravitational wave (GW) observatories, due to the cosmological GW background produced by the axionic topological defects. Moreover, the resulting GW signal is correlated with a sizable strong CP phase, within reach of upcoming neutron electric dipole moment measurements.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99150077172?pwd=UWhkZVdzV2lCQittWXVtMnludXBkUT09

Any consistent regularization scheme induces an apparent violation of gauge invariance in non-anomalous chiral gauge theories. This violation shows up in perturbative calculations, and can be removed by including appropriate finite counterterms. In this talk I will discuss the derivation of such counterterms for a renormalizable chiral gauge theory.  I will use the background field method, which ensures background gauge invariance in the quantized theory. As a concrete application, I will show the finite counterterm at one loop in the Standard Model, within dimensional regularization and the Breitenlohner-Maison-'t Hooft-Veltman prescription for gamma5. 

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95507223984?pwd=Y0FDTEJpNDlVaE9Ba1ZNMURXeS9rdz09

New massive "dark" vector bosons are ubiquitous in BSM physics.  I'll discuss the effective theories, interactions, and applications of theories with a (single) massive vector boson with a Stückelberg mass, with the goal of providing a clear and self-consistent approach to the (sometimes confusing) subject.  The critical role of possible couplings of the longitudinal mode will be emphasized, demarcating when theories have amplitudes that grow with energy.  In such theories, I'll identify the cutoff scale, as well as show the potential of longitudinally-enhanced observables given specific couplings of the vector boson.  The Stückelbergian approach to massive vectors also provides insight into generalized dark vector boson theories; I'll demonstrate a specific application to an "electrophobic" vector field that can evade many terrestrial experiment constraints that would otherwise apply to a dark photon.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96937794653?pwd=cjIvM0hxQmo2ZEhuamhxeWx3cVdoZz09

The cosmic radio background (CRB) contains diffuse, discrete and cosmological emission sources from the universe. In this talk, I will discuss  wether an additional contribution coming from low frequency photons is produced by free-free emission during the recombination era of the univers. These photons do not readily thermalise with the electron-proton plasma and therefore might  survive as a small non-thermal relic in the current universe.  Inclusion of such a contribution can alleviate the observed tension between existing CRB models and explain radio source counts between $100 MHz$ to $10 GHz$ to a very high degree of precision.  I will also discuss the challenges and future work we must considere in order to establish wether the signal is created or not.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99032512514?pwd=eldocVA2VHhoUGVudmtFN3F4NHNEQT09

In this talk, I will present MicroBooNE's first results probing the nature of the excess of low-energy interactions observed by the MiniBooNE collaboration. The talk will cover all four electron neutrino analyses that comprise MicroBooNE's first results, with a particular focus on the exclusive search for CCQE-like electron neutrino interactions containing one electron and one proton in the final state (1e1p). The result of the 1e1p analysis, along with results from the other electron analyses and the single-photon analysis, will be discussed in terms of their implications for the MiniBooNE excess. Specifically, I will examine the viability of the single sterile neutrino explanation of the MiniBooNE excess in light of the MicroBooNE electron neutrino results. Additionally, I will introduce the Coherent CAPTAIN-Mills (CCM) experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory. CCM has unique sensitivity to a number of exotic BSM models, including leptophobic vector-portal dark matter and axion-like particles, some of which may be able to explain the MiniBooNE anomaly.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93290406752?pwd=ajIvZkhvVU5YMW90WjVpU3IySUphdz09