FCNC Research Articles

Correlating B→K(∗)νν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B\\rightarrow K^{(*)} \ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document} and flavor anomalies in SMEFT

The recent measurement of B(B+→K+νν¯)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(B^+\\rightarrow K^+\ u \\bar{\ u })$$\\end{document} by Belle-II reveals a 2.8σ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$2.8~\\sigma $$\\end{document} deviation from the Standard Model (SM) prediction. Combining this with a prior Belle measurement of B(B0→K∗0νν¯)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(B^{0}\\rightarrow K^{*0}\ u \\bar{\ u })$$\\end{document}, the upper bound of the ratio B(B0→K∗0νν¯)/B(B+→K+νν¯)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(B^{0}\\rightarrow K^{*0}\ u \\bar{\ u })/\\mathcal {B}(B^+\\rightarrow K^+\ u \\bar{\ u })$$\\end{document} is notably smaller than the SM prediction. In this work, tensions are solved within the framework of Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). The flavor-changing-neutral-current (FCNC) and charged-current observables of either down-type (b→sνν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$b\\rightarrow s\ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document}, b→sℓ+ℓ-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$b\\rightarrow s\\ell ^+\\ell ^-$$\\end{document}, and b→uiℓν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$b\\rightarrow u_i\\ell \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document}) or up-type (uj→uiνν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$u_j\\rightarrow u_i\ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document}, uj→uiℓ+ℓ-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$u_j\\rightarrow u_i\\ell ^+\\ell ^-$$\\end{document}, and uj→sℓν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$u_j\\rightarrow s\\ell \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document}) processes, described by low-energy effective field theory (LEFT) operators, are interconnected by a minimal set of four SMEFT operators at the electroweak scale. Subsequently, we obtain the latest ranges of Wilson coefficients for these four operators through a global fit that accommodates flavor anomalies such as RK(∗)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{K^{(*)}}$$\\end{document}, RD(∗)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{D^{(*)}}$$\\end{document}, and B(B→K(∗)νν¯)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(B\\rightarrow K^{(*)}\ u \\bar{\ u })$$\\end{document}. Our findings reveal that predictions for B(B+→τ+ντ)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(B^+\\rightarrow \ au ^+\ u _\ au )$$\\end{document} and B(Ds+→τ+ντ)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathcal {B}(D_s^+\\rightarrow \ au ^+\ u _\ au )$$\\end{document} align well with measured values from Belle and BESIII, based on the fitted coefficients. The predicted branching fraction for B0→K∗0νν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^0\\rightarrow K^{*0}\ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document} is (1.42±0.74)×10-5\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$(1.42\\pm 0.74)\ imes 10^{-5}$$\\end{document}, closely approaching the current experimental upper limit. Anticipation surrounds the rare decay Bs→τ+τ-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_s\\rightarrow \ au ^+ \ au ^-$$\\end{document}, expected in the near future with a branching fraction on the order of 10-4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-4}$$\\end{document}.

Type-I two-Higgs-doublet model and gravitational waves from domain walls bounded by strings

The spontaneous breaking of a U(1) symmetry via an intermediate discrete symmetry may yield a hybrid topological defect of domain walls bounded by cosmic strings. The decay of this defect network leads to a unique gravitational wave signal spanning many orders in observable frequencies, that can be distinguished from signals generated by other sources. We investigate the production of gravitational waves from this mechanism in the context of the type-I two-Higgs-doublet model extended by a U(1)R symmetry, that simultaneously accommodates the seesaw mechanism, anomaly cancellation, and eliminates flavour-changing neutral currents. The gravitational wave spectrum produced by the string-bounded-wall network can be detected for U(1)R breaking scale from 1012 to 1015 GeV in forthcoming interferometers including LISA and Einstein Telescope, with a distinctive f3 slope and inflexion in the frequency range between microhertz and hertz.

The Third Family Quark Mass Hierarchy and FCNC in the Universal Seesaw Model

Abstract We present the study of the quark sector of the universal seesaw model with $\mathrm{SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{Y^{\prime }}}$ gauge symmetry in the massless case of the two lightest quark families. This model aims to explain the mass hierarchy of the third family quark by introducing a vector-like quark (VLQ) partner for each quark. In this model, we introduce $\mathrm{SU(2)_L}$ and $\mathrm{SU(2)_R}$ Higgs doublets. We derive explicitly the Lagrangian for the quark sector, Higgs sector, and kinetic terms of the gauge fields, starting from the Lagrangian, which is invariant under $\mathrm{SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{Y^{\prime }}}$ gauge symmetry. At each stage of the symmetry breaking, we present the Lagrangian with the remaining gauge symmetry. Additionally, we investigate the flavor-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) of the Higgs (h) and Z-bosons in the interaction with the top, heavy top, bottom, and heavy bottom quarks.

Neutrino anarchy from flavor deconstruction

Flavor deconstruction refers to non-universal gauge extensions where the original gauge symmetry is deconstructed into separate copies, one for each family. A hierarchical chain of symmetry breaking provides an attractive low-scale solution to the flavor puzzle, consistent with flavor-changing neutral currents and finite naturalness. Although successful in explaining the origin of flavor hierarchies in the quark and charged lepton sectors, existing models have struggled with the large and seemingly anarchic mixing observed in neutrino oscillations. This letter identifies conditions under which neutrino anarchy may arise from flavor deconstruction in generic models with right-handed neutrinos. When deconstruction is applied to carefully chosen subgroups of the extended gauge symmetry, hierarchies in the seesaw formula cancel out.

Searching for new physics in c→u transitions with nonuniversal Z′ model

In recent years, it has been reported that rare charm decays have immense potential to probe physics beyond the standard model (SM). The Glashow–Iliopoulos–Maiani mechanism effectively suppresses the flavor changing neutral currents decays involving [Formula: see text] transitions which makes them sensitive to new physics (NP) effects. In this work, we study D meson decays undergoing [Formula: see text] transitions in nonuniversal [Formula: see text] model. We determine the NP coupling from [Formula: see text] mixing and [Formula: see text] process. We then estimate the upper limits of branching fractions and forward–backward asymmetries for the decays [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The upper limits of the branching fractions obtained in the [Formula: see text] model show a significant enhancement from their SM results.

Top-quark FCNC decays, LFVs, lepton g − 2, and W mass anomaly with inert charged Higgses

The observed flavor-changing neutral-current (FCNC) processes in the standard model (SM) arise from the loop diagrams involving the weak charged currents mediated by the W-gauge boson. Nevertheless, the top-quark FCNCs and lepton flavor-violating processes resulting from the same mechanism are highly suppressed. We investigate possible new physics effects that can enhance the suppressed FCNC processes, such as a top quark decaying into a light quark with a Higgs or gauge boson in the final state, i.e. t → q(h, V) with V = γ, Z, g, h→ℓℓ′ , and ℓ→ℓ′γ . To achieve the assumption that the induced FCNCs are all from quantum loops, we consider the scotogenic mechanism, where a Z 2 symmetry is introduced and only new particles carry an odd Z 2 parity. With the extension of the SM to include an inert Higgs doublet, an inert charged Higgs singlet, a vector-like singlet quark, and two neutral leptons, it is found that, with relevant constraints taken into account, the t → c(h, Z), h → μ τ, and τ → ℓ γ decays can be enhanced up to the expected sensitivities in experiments. The branching ratios of h → μ + μ −/τ + τ − from only new physics effects can reach up to O(10−3) . Intriguingly, the resulting muon g − 2 can fit the combined data within 2 standard deviations, whereas the electron g − 2 can have either sign with a magnitude of O(10−13−10−12) . In addition, we examine the oblique parameters in the model and find that the resulting W-mass anomaly observed by CDF II can be accommodated.

Interpreting the W-mass and muon (gμ − 2) anomalies within a 2-Higgs doublet model

In this study, we investigate the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (gμ−2) as reported by Fermilab (FNAL), along with the recent measurement of the W-boson mass by the CDF-II collaboration. Both findings show significant deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model (SM), hinting at the possibility of new physics. Our focus is on the Type III two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM), wherein both Higgs doublets couple with all fermions, leading to the induction of flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) at the tree level. Within this framework, we investigate a lepton-flavour-violating (LFV) scenario, aiming to explain both observed anomalies, while satisfying the up-to-date theoretical and experimental constraints.

Phenomenological aspects of the fermion and scalar sectors of a S4 flavored 3-3-1 model

We proposed a viable and predictive model based on the SU(3)C×SU(3)L×U(1)X gauge symmetry, supplemented by the global U(1)Lg symmetry, the S4 family symmetry and several auxiliary cyclic symmetries, which successfully reproduces the experimentally observed SM fermion mass and mixing pattern. The tiny active neutrino masses are generated through an inverse seesaw mechanism mediated by right-handed Majorana neutrinos. The model is consistent with the SM fermion masses and mixings and successfully accommodates the current Higgs diphoton decay rate constraints as well as the constraints arising from oblique S, T and U parameters and we studied the meson mixing due to flavor changing neutral currents mediated by heavy scalars, finding parameter space consistent with experimental constraints.

Selection on the joint actions of pairs leads to divergent adaptation and coadaptation of care-giving parents during pre-hatching care.

The joint actions of animals in partnerships or social groups evolve under both natural selection from the wider environment and social selection imposed by other members of the pair or group. We used experimental evolution to investigate how jointly expressed actions evolve upon exposure to a new environmental challenge. Our work focused on the evolution of carrion nest preparation by pairs of burying beetles Nicrophorus vespilloides, a joint activity undertaken by the pair but typically led by the male. In previous work, we found that carrion nest preparation evolved to be faster in experimental populations without post-hatching care (No Care: NC lines) than with post-hatching care (Full Care: FC lines). Here, we investigate how this joint activity evolved. After 15 generations of experimental evolution, we created heterotypic pairs (NC females with FC males and NC males with FC females) and compared their carrion nest making with homotypic NC and FC pairs. We found that pairs with NC males prepared the nest more rapidly than pairs with FC males, regardless of the female's line of origin. We discuss how social coadaptations within pairs or groups could act as a post-mating barrier to gene flow.

Gauge SU(2)f flavour transfers

We introduce the idea of flavour transfer from a non-abelian horizontal SU(2)f flavour gauge group embedded in the Standard Model flavour structure. The new flavour vector bosons, in the mass range from the tens of GeV to multi-TeV, do not induce large flavour-changing neutral currents and meson oscillations, which usually provide the dominant constraints on this type of structure. Instead, the main constraints arise from “flavour-transfer” operators that we will study in detail. Several explicit models are presented and their prospects are thoroughly explored, including their phenomenology in the lepton and quark sectors at colliders and lower energy experiments. We perform a complete numerical fit in one such scenario, showing that LHC-based lepton-flavour violating searches are competitive with intensity frontier observables.

The quark flavor-violating ALPs in light of B mesons and hadron colliders

The axion-like particle (ALP) may induce flavor-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) when the fermions’ Peccei-Quinn charges are not generation universal. The search for flavor-violating ALP couplings with a bottom quark so far focused on FCNC processes of B mesons at low energies. The recent measurements of B → K + X rare decays place stringent bounds on the quark flavor violations of a light ALP in different decay modes. In this work we propose a novel direct search for bottom flavor-violating interaction of a heavy ALP at the LHC and its upgrades, namely QCD production of an ALP associated with one b jet and one light jet p p → b j a. We consider the decay of the ALP to photons, muons and invisible ALP decays. The Boosted Decision Tree (BDT) algorithm is used to analyze the events and we train the BDT classifier by feeding in the kinematic observables of signal and backgrounds. Finally, we show the complementarity between the search prospects of hadron colliders and the low-energy B meson constraints from B meson mixing and B meson decays to a light ALP.

Domain walls in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model and their charge and CP-violating interactions with Standard Model fermions

Discrete symmetries play an important role in several extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. For instance, in order to avoid flavor changing neutral currents, a discrete Z2 symmetry is imposed on the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). This can lead to the formation of domain walls (DW) as the Z2 symmetry gets spontaneously broken during electroweak symmetry breaking in the early universe and domain walls form between regions whose vacua are related by the discrete symmetry. Due to this simultaneous spontaneous breaking of both the discrete symmetry and the electroweak symmetry, the vacuum manifold consists of two disconnected 3-spheres. Such a non-trivial disconnected vacuum manifold leads to several choices for the vacua at two adjacent regions, in contrast to models where only the discrete symmetry gets spontaneously broken and the vacuum manifold consists of several disconnected points. Due to this, we end up with several classes of DW solutions having different properties localized inside the wall, such as electric charge and/or CP violating vacua. We discuss the properties of these different classes of DW solutions as well as the interaction of SM fermions with such topological defects leading to different exotic phenomena such as, for example, the top quark being transmitted or reflected off the wall as a bottom quark.

Bs → μ+μ− in a two-Higgs-doublet model with flavour-changing up-type Yukawa couplings

We present a Two-Higgs-Doublet Model in which the structure of the quark Yukawa matrices is governed by three spurions breaking the flavour symmetries of the quark Yukawa sector. The model naturally suppresses flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) amplitudes in the down-type sector, but permits sizable FCNC couplings in the up sector. We calculate the branching ratio of Bs → μ+μ− to leading and next-to-leading order of QCD for the case with FCNC couplings of the heavy neutral Higgs bosons to up-type quarks and verify that all counterterms follow the pattern dictated by the spurion expansion of the Yukawa matrices. We find correlations between Bs → μ+μ−, b → sγ, and the Higgs masses. The \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${B}_{s}-{\\overline{B} }_{s}$$\\end{document} mixing amplitude is naturally suppressed in the model but can probe a portion of the parameter space with very heavy Higgs bosons.

Flavor physics constraints on left-right symmetric models with universal seesaw

We study the phenomenological constraints on the parameter space of a class of left-right symmetric models in which the fermion masses are generated through a universal seesaw mechanism. Motivated by the axionless solution to the strong CP problem, the model features a simple Higgs sector consisting of left- and right-handed doublets. The fermion masses are then generated through their mixing with heavy vector-like fermions, which leads to flavor changing neutral currents arising at tree-level and also introduces non-unitarity in the charged current interactions. These new contributions induce flavor and flavor-universality violating processes which are used to derive constraints on the parameter space of the model. We also argue that although the model has the potential to resolve flavor anomalies, it falls short in the case of B-anomalies RK(⁎) and anomalous magnetic moment of muon aμ.

A New Look at b → s Observables in 331 Models

Flavour changing neutral current (FCNC) processes are described by loop diagrams in the Standard Model (SM), while in 331 models, based on the gauge group SU(3)C×SU(3)L×U(1)X, they are dominated by tree-level exchanges of a new heavy neutral gauge boson Z′. By exploiting this feature, observables related to FCNC decays of K, Bd and Bs mesons can be considered in several variants of 331 models. The variants are distinguished by the value of a parameter β that plays a key role in this framework. Imposing constraints on the ΔF=2 observables, we select possible ranges for the mass of the Z′ boson in correspondence to the values β=±k/3, with k=1,2. The results are used to determine the impact of 331 models on b→s processes and on the correlations among them, in the light of new experimental data recently released.

An unfamiliar way to generate the hierarchy of standard model fermion masses

While the properties of the observed Higgs boson agree with the Standard Model predictions, the hierarchy of fermion masses lacks an explanation within the model. In this work, we consider a fresh approach to this problem, involving a different Higgs doublet responsible for each quark mass. We construct a model with a gauged, non-anomalous U(1) family symmetry that fixes which fermion couples to which doublet with an O\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{O} $$\\end{document}(1) Yukawa coupling. The hierarchy of masses is generated by the hierarchy of vacuum expectation values of the Higgs fields. The model generically predicts a light, weakly coupled pseudoscalar. We verify that the model satisfies constraints from flavour changing neutral currents, Higgs phenomenology and electroweak precision tests.

Alternative 3-3-1 models with exotic electric charges

We report the most general classification of 3-3-1 models with β=3 . We found several solutions where anomaly cancellation occurs among fermions of different families. These solutions are particularly interesting as they generate non-universal heavy neutral vector bosons. Non-universality in the standard model fermion charges under an additional gauge group generates charged lepton flavor violation and flavor changing neutral currents; we discuss under what conditions the new models can evade constraints coming from these processes. In addition, we also report the Large Hadron Collider~(LHC) constraints.

Sequestered string models imply split supersymmetry

Sequestering is a promising mechanism in 4D string models to reconcile high-scale inflation with low-energy supersymmetry. In this scenario the MSSM lives on branes at singularities and it is sequestered from the sources of supersymmetry breaking in the bulk. The soft-terms are suppressed with respect to the gravitino mass so that all moduli are heavy enough to avoid any cosmological moduli problem. In this paper we study stability bounds and flavour constraints on sequestered string models, finding that they can be satisfied if the soft-terms give rise to a mass spectrum typical of split supersymmetry with TeV-scale gauginos and sfermions around 107 GeV. When instead scalar and gaugino masses are of the same order of magnitude, large flavour changing neutral currents can be avoided only by pushing the soft-terms above 106 GeV. However this scenario is in tension with stability bounds due to the presence of charge and colour breaking vacua which could be populated in the early universe, and the possible emergence of directions along which the potential is unbounded from below.

On the role of LHC and HL-LHC in constraining flavor changing neutral currents

The Standard Model has no Flavor-Changing Neutral Current (FCNC) processes at the tree level. Therefore, processes featuring FCNC in new physics are tightly constrained by data. Typically, the lower bounds on the scale of new physics obtained from K−K¯ or B−B¯ mixing lie well above 10 TeV, surpassing the reach of current and future colliders. In this paper, we demonstrate, using a specific Z′ model that features flavor-changing interactions, that such limits can be severely weakened by specific choices of the quark mixing matrices with no prejudice while maintaining the CKM matrix in agreement with the data. We highlight the valuable role of the often-overlooked D0 mixing in deriving robust FCNC limits and show that the LHC and HL-LHC are promising probes for flavor-changing interactions mediated by a Z′ boson.

FCNC charmed-hadron decays with invisible singlet particles in light of recent data

The flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) decays of charmed hadrons with missing energy (Ɇ) can serve as potentially promising hunting grounds for hints of new physics, as the standard-model backgrounds are very suppressed. A few of such processes have been searched for in recent experiments, specifically D0→ Ɇ by Belle and D0→ π0Ɇ and Λc+\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\Lambda}_c^{+} $$\\end{document}→ pɆ by BESIII, resulting in upper bounds on their branching fractions. We consider them to illuminate the possible contributions of the quark transition c → uɆ with a couple of invisible spinless bosons carrying away the missing energy, assuming that they are not charge conjugates of each other and hence can have unequal masses. We find that these data are complementary in that they constrain different sets of the underlying operators and do not cover the same ranges of the bosons’ masses, but there are regions not yet accessible. From the allowed parameter space, we show that other D-meson decays, such as D → ρɆ, and the charmed-baryon ones Ξc → (Σ, Λ)Ɇ can have sizable branching fractions and therefore may offer further probes of the new-physics interactions. We point out the importance of D0 → γɆ which are not yet searched for but could access parts of the parameter space beyond the reach of the other modes. In addition, we look at a scenario where the invisibles are instead fermionic, namely sterile neutrinos, and a scalar leptoquark mediates c → uɆ. We discuss the implications of the aforesaid bounds for this model. The predictions we make for the various charmed-hadron decays in the different scenarios may be testable in the near future by BESIII and Belle II.