Engineering topics

Thompson, Adrian (ORCID:0000000292350846)

Publications and source records attributed to Thompson, Adrian (ORCID:0000000292350846).

10 records

DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing the sensitivity to seesaw mechanism predictions in gauged B − L scenarios

New gauge bosons coupled to heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) are simple and well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model. In searches for HNLs in proton fixed-target experiments, we find that a large population of gauge bosons ( Z ′ ) produced by proton bremsstrahlung may decay to HNLs, leading to a significant improvement in existing bounds on the ( m HNL , U α ), where U α represent the mixing between HNL and the active neutrinos with flavor α . We study this possibility in fixed target experiments with the 8 GeV proton beams, including SBND, MicroBooNE, and ICARUS, as well as DUNE and DarkQuest at 120 GeV. We find the projected sensitivities to additional Z ′ -mediated HNL production can bring the seesaw mechanism of the neutrino masses within a broadened experimental reach. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Capozzi, Francesco (ORCID:0000000161351531)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Insights from binary pulsars and laboratories into baryon number violation: Implications for GeV dark matter

Rare processes in laboratory and within astrophysical environments can be highly sensitive probes of baryon-number-violating interactions at the TeV scale. We demonstrate the power of neutron stars to constrain baryon-number violation by considering a minimal extension of the standard model involving a TeV-mass scalar mediator and a GeV scale Majorana fermion ψ . We find that a Δ B = 2 mass-loss process in binary pulsar systems via n → γ ψ and the subsequent scattering ψ n → π − K + places stringent constraints on the model parameter space. These limits will become much stronger, due to the possibility of Λ → γ ψ decays at the tree level, if the neutron star equation of state is hyperonic. We compare these constraints with ongoing and future collider experiments, n − n ¯ oscillations, and dinucleon decay searches at future large-scale neutrino experiments, finding that the binary pulsars bounds on couplings are significantly tighter for specific flavor combinations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

baryons↗

DOE OSTI2024

Probing bottom-associated production of a TeV scale scalar decaying to a top quark and dark matter at the LHC

Abstract A minimal non-thermal dark matter model that can explain both the existence of dark matter and the baryon asymmetry in the universe is studied. It requires two color-triplet, iso-singlet scalars with$$ \mathcal{O}\left(\textrm{TeV}\right) $$ O TeV masses and a singlet Majorana fermion with a mass of$$ \mathcal{O}\left(\textrm{GeV}\right) $$ O GeV . The fermion becomes stable and can play the role of the dark matter candidate. We consider the fermion to interact with a top quark via the exchange of QCD-charged scalar fields coupled dominantly to third generation fermions. The signature of a single top quark production associated with a bottom quark and large missing transverse momentum opens up the possibility to search for this type of model at the LHC in a way complementary to existing monotop searches.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2024

Non-standard neutrino interactions mediated by a light scalar at DUNE

Abstract We investigate the effect on neutrino oscillations generated by beyond-the-standard-model interactions between neutrinos and matter. Specifically, we focus on scalar-mediated non-standard interactions (NSI) whose impact fundamentally differs from that of vector-mediated NSI. Scalar NSI contribute as corrections to the neutrino mass matrix rather than the matter potential and thereby predict distinct phenomenology from the vector-mediated ones. Similar to vector-type NSI, the presence of scalar-mediated neutrino NSI can influence measurements of oscillation parameters in long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, with a notable impact on CP measurement in the case of DUNE. Our study focuses on the effect of scalar NSI on neutrino oscillations, using DUNE as an example. We introduce a model-independent parameterization procedure that enables the examination of the impact of all non-zero scalar NSI parameters simultaneously. Subsequently, we convert DUNE’s sensitivity to the NSI parameters into projected sensitivity concerning the parameters of a light scalar model. We compare these results with existing non-oscillation probes. Our findings reveal that the region of the light scalar parameter space sensitive to DUNE is predominantly excluded by non-oscillation probes, especially when considering all nonzero parameters simultaneously for DUNE.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2024

Bragg-Primakoff axion photoconversion in crystal detectors

Abstract Axions and axion-like pseudoscalar particles with dimension-5 couplings to photons exhibit coherent Primakoff scattering with ordered crystals at keV energy scales, making for a natural detection technique in searches for solar axions. We find that there are large suppressive corrections, potentially greater than a factor of$$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (10 3 ), to the coherent enhancement when taking into account absorption of the final state photon. This effect has already been accounted for in light-shining-through-wall experiments through the language of Darwin classical diffraction, but is missing from the literature in the context of solar axion searches that use a matrix element approach. We extend the treatment of the event rate with a heuristic description of absorption effects to bridge the gap between these two languages. Furthermore, we explore the Borrmann effect of anomalous absorption in lifting some of the event rate suppression by increasing the coherence length of the conversion. We study this phenomenon in Ge, NaI, and CsI crystal experiments and its impact on the projected sensitivities of SuperCDMS, LEGEND, and SABRE to the solar axion parameter space. Lastly, we comment on the reach of multi-tonne scale crystal detectors and strategies to maximize the discovery potential of experimental efforts in this vein.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2023