Neutrino Mass Generation Research Articles

Non-Abelian vector boson as FIMP dark matter

In this analysis we demonstrate the freeze-in realization of a non-abelian vector boson dark matter (DM). We choose to elaborate an existing SU(2)N extension (N stands for neutral) of the Standard Model (SM) with an additional U(1)=S′ global symmetry, which stabilizes the vector boson (X,X̄) as DM through unbroken S=T3N+S′ as the lightest odd S particle. Apart from showing the right order of the SU(2)N coupling (∼ 10−12–10−13) required for the correct relic of DM via freeze in, the analysis reveals that the contribution to the freeze-in production of DM from the decay of a heavier scalar bi-doublet ζ10,± → ζ20,±X is equally important even after the decoupling of ζ10,± from the thermal bath. This treatment of computing the relic abundance in context with freeze-in is practically model-independent and can be applied to all the scenarios where the DM is produced from the decay of a massive particle which was once in equilibrium with the thermal bath. This bi-doublet earlier was in equilibrium with the visible sector due to SM SU(2)L coupling. Moreover, the neutral component of SU(2)N scalar triplet (Δ), responsible for neutrino mass generation in this framework, turns out to serve as additional DMs in the model and offers a multipartite freeze-in DM set up to explore. The allowed parameter space is obtained after estimating constraints from CMB, BBN and AMS-02 bound. This exercise nicely complements the freeze-out realization of (X,X̄) as weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) and distinguishes it through stable charge track signature at collider compared to leptonic signal excess as in WIMP scenario.

Zee-Burst: A New Probe of Neutrino Nonstandard Interactions at IceCube.

We propose a new way to probe nonstandard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter using the ultrahigh energy (UHE) neutrino data at current and future neutrino telescopes. We consider the Zee model of radiative neutrino mass generation as a prototype, which allows two charged scalars-one SU(2)_{L} doublet and one singlet, both being leptophilic, to be as light as 100GeV, thereby inducing potentially observable NSI with electrons. We show that these light charged Zee scalars could give rise to a Glashow-like resonance feature in the UHE neutrino event spectrum at the IceCube neutrino observatory and its high-energy upgrade IceCube-Gen2, which can probe a sizable fraction of the allowed NSI parameter space.

Towards a minimal SU(5) GUT

We propose a simple $SU(5)$ model that connects the neutrino mass generation mechanism to the observed disparity between the masses of charged leptons and down-type quarks. The model is built out of $5$-, $10$-, $15$-, $24$-, and $35$-dimensional representations of $SU(5)$ and comprises two (three) $3 \times 3$ ($3 \times 1$) Yukawa coupling matrices to accommodate all experimentally measured fermion masses and mixing parameters. The gauge coupling unification considerations, coupled with phenomenological constraints inferred from experiments that probe neutrino masses and mixing parameters and/or look for proton decay, fix all relevant mass scales of the model. The proposed scenario places several multiplets at the scales potentially accessible at the LHC and future colliders and correlates this feature with the gauge boson mediated proton decay signatures. It also predicts that one neutrino is massless.

Double type II seesaw mechanism accompanied by Dirac fermionic dark matter

In the type-II seesaw mechanism, the neutrino mass generation could be tested experimentally if the Higgs triplet is at the TeV scale and has a small cubic coupling to the standard model Higgs doublet. We show such small triplet-doublet coupling and the cosmic baryon asymmetry can be simultaneously induced by an additional seesaw mechanism involving a $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge symmetry. Meanwhile, three neutral fermions for cancelling the gauge anomalies can form a stable Dirac fermionic dark matter besides an acceptably massless fermion.

Gauging the accidental symmetries of the standard model, and implications for the flavor anomalies

We explore the possibility that lepton family numbers and baryon number are such good symmetries of Nature because they are the global remnant of a spontaneously broken gauge symmetry. An almost arbitrary linear combination of these symmetries (together with a component of global hypercharge) can be consistently gauged, if the Standard Model (SM) fermion content is augmented by three chiral SM singlet states. Within this framework of $U(1)$ extensions of the SM one generically expects flavour non-universality to emerge in the charged leptons, in such a way that naturally prevents lepton flavour violation, by aligning the mass and weak eigenbases. For quarks, all the SM Yukawa couplings responsible for their observed masses and mixings arise at the renormalisable level. We perform fits to show that models in this class can explain $R_{K^{(\ast)}}$ and the other neutral current $B$ anomaly data if we introduce a heavy vector-like quark to mediate the required quark flavour violation, while simultaneously satisfying other constraints from direct $Z^\prime$ searches at the LHC, $B_s$ meson mixing, a number of electroweak precision observables, and neutrino trident production. Within this symmetry-motivated framework of models, we find interesting implications for the flavour anomalies; notably, any axial couplings of the $Z^\prime$ to electrons and muons must be flavour universal, with the flavour universality violation arising solely from the vector-like couplings. We also comment on the generation of neutrino masses in these models.

Low-scale seesaw from neutrino condensation

Knowledge of the mechanism of neutrino mass generation would help understand a lot more about Lepton Number Violation (LNV), the cosmological evolution of the Universe, or the evolution of astronomical objects. Here we propose a verifiable and viable extension of the Standard model for neutrino mass generation, with a low-scale seesaw mechanism via LNV condensation in the sector of sterile neutrinos. To prove the concept, we analyze a simplified model of just a single family of elementary particles and check it against a set of phenomenological constraints coming from electroweak symmetry breaking, neutrino masses, leptogenesis and dark matter. The model predicts (i) TeV scale quasi-degenerate heavy sterile neutrinos, suitable for leptogenesis with resonant enhancement of the CP asymmetry, (ii) a set of additional heavy Higgs bosons whose existence can be challenged at the LHC, (iii) an additional light and sterile Higgs scalar which is a candidate for decaying warm dark matter, and (iv) a majoron. Since the model is based on simple and robust principles of dynamical mass generation, its parameters are very restricted, but remarkably it is still within current phenomenological limits.

Inflation and leptogenesis in high-scale supersymmetry

No-scale supergravity provides a successful framework for Starobinsky-like inflation models. Two classes of models can be distinguished depending on the identification of the inflaton with the volume modulus, $T$ (C-models), or a matter-like field, $\phi$ (WZ-models). When supersymmetry is broken, the inflationary potential may be perturbed, placing restrictions on the form and scale of the supersymmetry breaking sector. We consider both types of inflationary models in the context of high-scale supersymmetry. We further distinguish between models in which the gravitino mass is below and above the inflationary scale. We examine the mass spectra of the inflationary sector. We also consider in detail mechanisms for leptogenesis for each model when a right-handed neutrino sector, used in the seesaw mechanism to generate neutrino masses, is employed. In the case of C-models, reheating occurs via inflaton decay to two Higgs bosons. However, there is a direct decay channel to the lightest right-handed neutrino which leads to non-thermal leptogenesis. In the case of WZ-models, in order to achieve reheating, we associate the matter-like inflaton with one of the right-handed sneutrinos whose decay to the lightest right handed neutrino simultaneously reheats the Universe and generates the baryon asymmetry through leptogenesis.

Strong CP problem with low-energy emergent QCD: The 4321 case

We analyze the strong CP problem and the implications for axion physics in the context of $U_1$ vector leptoquark models, recently put forward as an elegant solution to the hints of lepton flavor universality violation in B-meson decays. It is shown that in minimal gauge models containing the $U_1$ as a gauge boson, the Peccei-Quinn solution of the strong CP problem requires the introduction of two axions. Characteristic predictions for the associated axions can be deduced from the model parameter space hinted by B-physics, allowing the new axion sector to account for the dark matter of the Universe. We also provide a specific ultraviolet completion of the axion sector that connects the Peccei-Quinn mechanism to the generation of neutrino masses.

Radiative type-I seesaw neutrino masses

We discuss a radiative type-I seesaw. In these models, the radiative generation of Dirac neutrino masses allows to explain the smallness of the observed neutrino mass scale for rather light right-handed neutrino masses in a type-I seesaw. We first present the general idea in a model independent way. This allows us to estimate the typical scale of right-handed neutrino mass as a function of the number of loops. We then present two example models, one at one-loop and another one at two-loop, in which we discuss neutrino masses and lepton flavour violating constraints in more detail. For the two-loop example, right-handed neutrino masses must lie below 100 GeV, thus making this class of models testable in heavy neutral lepton searches.

ν solution to the strong CP problem

We present a new solution to the strong CP problem in which the imaginary component of the up quark mass, $\mathcal{I}[m_u]$, acquires a tiny, but non-vanishing value. This is achieved via a Dirac seesaw mechanism, which is also responsible for the generation of the small neutrino masses. Consistency with the observed value of the up quark mass is achieved via instanton contributions arising from QCD-like interactions. In this framework, the value of the neutron electric dipole moment is directly related to $\mathcal{I}[m_u]$, which, due to its common origin with the neutrino masses, implies that the neutron electric dipole moment is likely to be measured in the next round of experiments. We also present a supersymmetric extension of this Dirac seesaw model to stabilize the hierarchy among the scalar mass scales involved in this new mechanism.

Constraining the Self-Interacting Neutrino Interpretation of the Hubble Tension.

Large, nonstandard neutrino self-interactions have been shown to resolve the ∼4σ tension in Hubble constant measurements and a milder tension in the amplitude of matter fluctuations. We demonstrate that interactions of the necessary size imply the existence of a force carrier with a large neutrino coupling (>10^{-4}) and mass in the keV-100MeV range. This mediator is subject to stringent cosmological and laboratory bounds, and we find that nearly all realizations of such a particle are excluded by existing data unless it carries spin 0 and couples almost exclusively to τ-flavored neutrinos. Furthermore, we find that the light neutrinos must be Majorana particles, and that a UV-complete model requires a nonminimal mechanism to simultaneously generate neutrino masses and appreciable self-interactions.

Neutrino mass generation from the perspective of presymmetry

The Standard Model (SM) with one right-handed neutrino per generation is revisited with presymmetry being the global [Formula: see text] symmetry of an electroweak theory of leptons and quarks with initially postulated symmetric fractional charges. The cancellation of gauge anomalies and the non-perturbative normalization of lepton charges proceed through the mixing of local and topological charges, the global [Formula: see text] measuring the induced charge associated with a unit of topological charge, and the mathematical replacement of the original fractional charges with the experimentally observed ones. The [Formula: see text] symmetry of the SM with Dirac neutrinos is seen as a residual presymmetry. High-scale and low-scale seesaw mechanisms proposed to explain the mass of neutrinos are examined from the perspective of presymmetry, be they of Majorana or pseudo-Dirac type. We find that the tiny mass splitting in pseudo-Dirac neutrinos and the mass of heavy neutrinos ride on the opposite ends of the seesaw. We show that pseudo-Dirac neutrinos contain extra sterile neutrinos with imprints of presymmetry and for heavy ones we get constraints favoring the low-scale linear seesaw over the inverse variant.

Neutrino Masses from the Point of View of Economy and Simplicity

In the framework of such basic principles as local gauge invariance, unification of the weak and electromagnetic interactions and spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Standard Model the most economical and simplest possibilities are realized. We discuss the problem of neutrino masses from the point of view of economy and simplicity. It is unlikely that neutrino masses are of the same SM origin as masses of leptons and quarks. The Weinberg effective Lagrangian is the simplest and the most economical, beyond the Standard Model mechanism of the generation of small Majorana neutrino masses. The resolution of the sterile neutrino anomaly and observation of the neutrinoless double $\beta$-decay would be crucial tests of this mechanism.

Conformal GUT inflation, proton lifetime and non-thermal leptogenesis

In this paper, we generalize Coleman–Weinberg (CW) inflation in grand unified theories (GUTs) such as text {SU}(5) and text {SO}(10) by means of considering two complex singlet fields with conformal invariance. In this framework, inflation emerges from a spontaneously broken conformal symmetry. The GUT symmetry implies a potential with a CW form, as a consequence of radiative corrections. The conformal symmetry flattens the above VEV branch of the CW potential to a Starobinsky plateau. As a result, we obtain n_{s}sim 1-frac{2}{N} and rsim frac{12}{N^2} for Nsim 50–60 e-foldings. Furthermore, this framework allow us to estimate the proton lifetime as tau _{p}lesssim 10^{40} years, whose decay is mediated by the superheavy gauge bosons. Moreover, we implement a type I seesaw mechanism by weakly coupling the complex singlet, which carries two units of lepton number, to the three generations of singlet right handed neutrinos (RHNs). The spontaneous symmetry breaking of global lepton number amounts to the generation of neutrino masses. We also consider non-thermal leptogenesis in which the inflaton dominantly decays into heavy RHNs that sources the observed baryon asymmetry. We constrain the couplings of the inflaton field to the RHNs, which gives the reheating temperature as 10^{6}text { GeV}lesssim T_{R}<10^{9} GeV.

Minimal dirac neutrino mass models from hbox {U}(1)_{mathrm{R}} gauge symmetry and left\u2013right asymmetry at colliders

In this work, we propose minimal realizations for generating Dirac neutrino masses in the context of a right-handed abelian gauge extension of the Standard Model. Utilizing only U(1)_R symmetry, we address and analyze the possibilities of Dirac neutrino mass generation via (a) tree-level seesaw and (b) radiative correction at the one-loop level. One of the presented radiative models implements the attractive scotogenic model that links neutrino mass with Dark Matter (DM), where the stability of the DM is guaranteed from a residual discrete symmetry emerging from U(1)_R. Since only the right-handed fermions carry non-zero charges under the U(1)_R, this framework leads to sizable and distinctive Left–Right asymmetry as well as Forward–Backward asymmetry discriminating from U(1)_{B-L} models and can be tested at the colliders. We analyze the current experimental bounds and present the discovery reach limits for the new heavy gauge boson Z^{prime } at the LHC and ILC. Furthermore, we also study the associated charged lepton flavor violating processes, dark matter phenomenology and cosmological constraints of these models.

Lepton flavor violation and collider searches in a type I + II seesaw model

Neutrinos are massless in the Standard Model. The most popular mechanism to generate neutrino masses are the type I and type II seesaw, where right-handed neutrinos and a scalar triplet are augmented to the Standard Model, respectively. In this work, we discuss a model where a type I + II seesaw mechanism naturally arises via spontaneous symmetry breaking of an enlarged gauge group. Lepton flavor violation is a common feature in such setup and for this reason, we compute the model contribution to the mu rightarrow egamma and mu rightarrow 3e decays. Moreover, we explore the connection between the neutrino mass ordering and lepton flavor violation in perspective with the LHC, HL-LHC and HE-LHC sensitivities to the doubly charged scalar stemming from the Higgs triplet. Our results explicitly show the importance of searching for signs of lepton flavor violation in collider and muon decays. The conclusion about which probe yields stronger bounds depends strongly on the mass ordering adopted, the absolute neutrino masses and which much decay one considers. In the 1–5 TeV mass region of the doubly charged scalar, lepton flavor violation experiments and colliders offer orthogonal and complementary probes. Thus if a signal is observed in one of the two new physics searches, the other will be able to assess whether it stems from a seesaw framework.

Radiative neutrino masses and successful SU(5) unification

Minimal $SU(5)$ Grand Unified models predict massless neutrinos and struggle to achieve gauge coupling unification compatible with the observed lower limit on the proton lifetime. Both of these issues can be resolved by embedding minimal radiative neutrino mass models into $SU(5)$. We systematically analyze the possible ways to realize radiative neutrino mass generation in $SU(5)$ and provide a list of the minimal models. We find various models that have not been considered in the literature and demonstrate the compatibility of radiative neutrino masses with gauge coupling unification and proton decay for a new class of models with vector-like fermions.

A near-minimal leptoquark model for reconciling flavour anomalies and generating radiative neutrino masses

We introduce two scalar leptoquarks, the SU(2)L isosinglet denoted ϕ ∼ (3,1, −1/3) and the isotriplet φ ∼ (3,3, −1/3), to explain observed deviations from the standard model in semi-leptonic B-meson decays. We explore the regions of parameter space in which this model accommodates the persistent tensions in the decay observables RD(∗), RK (∗) , and angular observables in b → sμμ transitions. Additionally, we exploit the role of these exotics in existing models for one-loop neutrino mass generation derived from ∆L = 2 effective operators. Introducing the vector-like quark χ ∼ (3,2, −5/6) necessary for lepton-number violation, we consider the contribution of both leptoquarks to the generation of radiative neutrino mass. We find that constraints permit simultaneously accommodating the flavour anomalies while also explaining the relative smallness of neutrino mass without the need for cancellation between leptoquark contributions. A characteristic prediction of our model is a rate of muon-electron conversion in nuclei fixed by the anoma- lies in b → sμμ and neutrino mass; the COMET and Mu2e experiments will thus test and potentially falsify our scenario. The model also predicts signatures that will be tested at the LHC and Belle II.

Phenomenology of TeV-scale scalar leptoquarks in the EFT

We examine new aspects of leptoquark (LQ) phenomenology using effective field theory (EFT). We construct a complete set of leading effective operators involving SU(2) singlets scalar LQ and the SM fields up to dimension six. We show that, while the renormalizable LQ-lepton-quark interaction Lagrangian can address the persistent hints for physics beyond the Standard Model in the B-decays $\bar B \to D^{(*)} \tau \bar\nu$, $\bar B \to \bar K \ell^+ \ell^-$ and in the measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, the LQ higher dimensional effective operators may lead to new interesting effects associated with lepton number violation. These include the generation of one-loop sub-eV Majorana neutrino masses, mediation of neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay and novel LQ collider signals. For the latter, we focus on 3rd generation LQ ($\phi_3$) in a framework with an approximate $Z_3$ generation symmetry, and show that one class of the dimension five LQ operators may give rise to a striking asymmetric same-charge $\phi_3 \phi_3$ pair-production signal, which leads to low background same-sign leptons signals at the LHC. For example, with $M_{\phi_3} \sim 1$ TeV and a new physics scale of $\Lambda \sim 5$ TeV, we expect about $5000$ positively charged $\tau^+ \tau^+$ events via $pp \to \phi_3 \phi_3 \to \tau^+ \tau^+ + 2 \cdot j_b$ ($j_b$=b-jet) at the 13 TeV LHC with an integrated luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$. It is interesting to note that, in the LQ EFT framework, the expected same-sign lepton signals have a rate which is several times larger than the QCD LQ-mediated opposite-sign leptons signals, $gg,q \bar q \to \phi_3 \phi_3^* \to \ell^+ \ell^- +X$. We also consider the same-sign charged lepton signals in the LQ EFT framework at higher energy hadron colliders such as a 27 TeV HE-LHC and a 100 TeV FCC-hh.

Unified explanation of b→sμ+μ− anomalies, neutrino masses, and B→πK puzzle

Anomalies in semi-leptonic $B$ decays could indicate new physics beyond the standard model(SM). There is an older puzzle in non-leptonic $B \to \pi K$ decays. The new particles, leptoquarks and diquarks, required to solve the semi-leptonic and the non-leptonic puzzles can also generate neutrino masses and mixing at loop level. We show that a consistent framework to explain the $B$ anomalies and the neutrino masses is possible and we make predictions for certain rare nonleptonic $B$ decays.