Invisible Decay Research Articles

Electrolyte Reconfiguration by Cation/Anion Cross‐coordination for Highly Reversible and Facile Sodium Storage

Hard carbon (HC) materials are promising anodes for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) owing to low cost, high specific capacity and low working potential. However, the poor compatibility of the electrolyte with HC leads to low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) and sluggish Na+ transport kinetics. Here, we propose an electrolyte reconfiguration strategy based on the hard and soft acid and base (HSAB) theory by introducing methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (MTPPB). MTPPB can realize a spontaneous cross‐coordination solvation structure with NaPF6 by selective affinity, synchronously optimizing the interfacial chemistry and sodium storage process. The advantages of the chemical π‐π bridging of MTPP+‐HC and interaction of MTPP+‐PF6− contribute to preferential and oriented reduction of PF6−, forming a low‐resistance supramolecular SEI. Additionally, Na+‐Br− coordination weakens the Na+‐solvent interactions, facilitating Na+ de‐solvation kinetics. Consequently, the HC||Na cell achieves a superior ICE of 96.6%, desirable rate capability under 25 °C and invisible capacity decay after 500 cycles at 1 C under −20 °C. The Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7||HC pouch battery displays a high ICE of 90.3% and a 15% increment of energy density under 25 °C. This work provides a guidance through electrolyte reconfiguration engineering for designing practical HC‐based SIBs with high energy/power density and long‐life span in the extended operating‐temperature range.

Electrolyte Reconfiguration by Cation/Anion Cross-coordination for Highly Reversible and Facile Sodium Storage.

Hard carbon (HC) materials are promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to low cost, high specific capacity and low working potential. However, the poor compatibility of the electrolyte with HC leads to low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) and sluggish Na+ transport kinetics. Here, we propose an electrolyte reconfiguration strategy based on the hard and soft acid and base (HSAB) theory by introducing methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (MTPPB). MTPPB can realize a spontaneous cross-coordination solvation structure with NaPF6 by selective affinity, synchronously optimizing the interfacial chemistry and sodium storage process. The advantages of the chemical π-π bridging of MTPP+-HC and interaction of MTPP+-PF6- contribute to preferential and oriented reduction of PF6-, forming a low-resistance supramolecular SEI. Additionally, Na+-Br- coordination weakens the Na+-solvent interactions, facilitating Na+ de-solvation kinetics. Consequently, the HC||Na cell achieves a superior ICE of 96.6%, desirable rate capability under 25 °C and invisible capacity decay after 500 cycles at 1 C under -20 °C. The Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7||HC pouch battery displays a high ICE of 90.3% and a 15% increment of energy density under 25 °C. This work provides a guidance through electrolyte reconfiguration engineering for designing practical HC-based SIBs with high energy/power density and long-life span in the extended operating-temperature range.

Asymmetries in invisible dark matter mediator production associated with tt¯ final states

In this paper, we propose two sets of different CP-sensitive observables inspired by the Higgs production in association with the top quark. We employ a dark matter simplified model that couples a scalar mediator with top quarks. The reconstruction of the kinematic variables is presented at next to leading order (NLO) accuracy for events associated with this massive scalar particle, which is assumed to be vanishing to invisible decays in a detector such as ATLAS. We build these observables by taking advantage of the similarity between the scalar coupling with the top quark and the factorization theorem in the total scattering amplitude, in order to represent the basis in which the phase space is parametrized. A twofold approach employs the direct implementation of the four-momentum phase space measure in building CP sensitive observables such as b2 for the Higgs, and the spin polarization of the top-quark decays in the narrow width approximation for the employed model. We studied the asymmetries of these distributions to test for any improvement in increasing the exclusion region for the gu33S−gu33P parameters associated with this vanishing scalar particle. We have found no significant effect in the exclusion limits by using the forward-backward asymmetry distributions and the full-shaped ones. Considering the case of an invisible mediator with mass of 10−2 GeV for a luminosity of 300 fb−1 expected at the end of Run 3, the best limits for gu33S and gu33P at NLO accuracy were obtained using the variables b˜2y^ and b2 respectively, with corresponding limits set to [−0.0425,0.0425] and [−0.83,0.83] at 68% CL. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Dark-Sector Search via Pion-Produced η and η^{'} Mesons Decaying Invisibly in the NA64h Detector.

We present the first results from a proof-of-concept search for dark sectors via invisible decays of pseudoscalar η and η^{'} mesons in the NA64h experiment at the CERN SPS. Our novel technique uses the charge-exchange reaction of 50GeV π^{-} on nuclei of an active target as the source of neutral mesons. The η,η^{'}→invisible events would exhibit themselves via a striking signature-the complete disappearance of the incoming beam energy in the detector. No evidence for such events has been found with 2.9×10^{9} pions on target accumulated during one day of data taking. This allows us to set a stringent limit on the branching ratio Br(η^{'}→invisible)<2.1×10^{-4} improving the current bound by a factor of ≃3. We also set a limit on Br(η→invisible)<1.1×10^{-4} comparable with the existing one. These results demonstrate the great potential of our approach and provide clear guidance on how to enhance and extend the sensitivity for dark sector physics from future searches for invisible neutral meson decays.

Synergy between DUNE and T2HKK to probe invisible neutrino decay

We address the consequence of invisible neutrino decay within the framework of two long base-line neutrino experiments: T2HKK (Tokai-to-Hyper-Kamiokande-to-Korea) and DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino experiment). Our primary objective is to bring out the aspects of CC (charged current) and NC (neutral current) measurements at DUNE in the context of invisible neutrino decay. We find that the inclusion of NC measurements with the CC measurements enhances its ability to constrain invisible neutrino decay. Further, the synergy between DUNE and T2HKK improves the constraints on invisible neutrino decay. At 3σ C.L. (confidence level) the derived constraint is τ3/m3 ≥ 6.21 × 10−11 s/eV. Additionally, if nature prefers ν3 to be unstable and the decay width is τ3/m3 = 2.2 × 10−11 s/eV, this combination can exclude the no-decay scenario at more than 5σ C.L. Although the CP sensitivity is not much hindered in the presence of invisible neutrino decay, the measurements of θ23 and the ability to resolve octant of θ23 is significantly influenced in these individual experiments. In the presence of invisible neutrino decay, the synergy between DUNE and T2HKK can exclude the wrong octant somewhat more effectively than either experiment alone.

Helicity-changing decays of cosmological relic neutrinos

In this paper, we examine the possibility that massive neutrinos are unstable due to their invisible decays ν i → ν j + ϕ, where ν i and ν j (for i, j = 1, 2, 3) are any two of neutrino mass eigenstates with masses m i > m i and ϕ is a massless Nambu-Goldstone boson, and explore the implications for the detection of cosmological relic neutrinos in the present Universe. First, we carry out a complete calculation of neutrino decay rates in the general case where the individual helicities of parent and daughter neutrinos are specified. Then, the invisible decays of cosmological relic neutrinos are studied and their impact on the capture rates on the beta-decaying nuclei (e.g., ν e + 3H → 3He + e -) is analyzed. The invisible decays of massive neutrinos could substantially change the capture rates in the PTOLEMY-like experiments when compared to the case of stable neutrinos. In particular, we find that the helicity-changing decays of Dirac neutrinos play an important role whereas those of Majorana neutrinos have no practical effects. However, if a substantial fraction of heavier neutrinos decay into the lightest one, the detection of relic neutrinos will require a much higher energy resolution and thus be even more challenging.

Baryon-number-violating nucleon decays in ALP effective field theories

The search for baryon-number-violating (BNV) nucleon decay is an intriguing probe of new physics beyond the SM in future neutrino experiments with enhanced sensitivity. The dark sector states such as an axion or axion-like particle (ALP) can induce nucleon decays with distinct signature and kinematics from the conventional nucleon decays. In this work, we study the ALP effective field theories (EFTs) with baryon number violation and the impact of light ALP on BNV nucleon decays. We revisit the dimension-8 BNV operators in the extended EFTs with an ALP field a respecting shift symmetry. The low-energy EFT operators with |∆(B – L)| = 2 and |∆(B – L)| = 0 are matched to the baryon chiral perturbation theory. We obtain the effective chiral Lagrangian and the BNV interactions between ALP and baryons/mesons. The ALP interactions lead to two-body baryon decays B → ℓ (or ν) a and three-body nucleon decays N → M ℓ (or ν) a. We obtain the constraints on the UV scale from the invisible Λ0 decay search at BESIII, the invisible neutron decay search at KamLAND and proton decay search at Super-K. We also show the projections of some other baryon/nucleon decays and present the distinct distributions of kinematic observable.

Stau pairs from natural SUSY at high luminosity LHC

Natural supersymmetry (SUSY) with light Higgsinos is perhaps the most plausible of all weak scale SUSY models while a variety of motivations point to (right) tau sleptons as the lightest of all the sleptons. We examine a SUSY model line with rather light right staus embedded within natural SUSY. For light τ˜1 of a few hundred GeV, the decays τ˜1→τχ˜1,20 and ντχ˜1− occur at comparable rates where the (Higgsino-like) χ˜1± and χ˜20 release only small visible energy: in this case, the expected τ+τ−+ET signature is diminished from the usual expectations due to the presence of the nearly invisible decay mode τ˜1→ντχ˜1−. However, once mτ˜1≳m(bino), decays to binos such as τ˜1→τχ˜30 open up where χ˜30 decays to Higgsinos plus W±, Z0, and h at comparable rates. For these heavier staus, the stau pair production gives rise to diboson+ET events, which may contain 0, 1, or 2 additional hard τ leptons. From these considerations, we examine the potential for future discovery of tau-slepton pair production at a high-luminosity LHC. While we do not find a 5σ HL-LHC discovery reach for 3000 fb−1, we do find a 95% CL exclusion reach, ranging between mτ˜1: 100–450 GeV for mχ˜10∼100 GeV. This latter reach disappears for mχ˜10≳200 GeV. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Higgs portal dark matter freeze-in at stronger coupling: observational benchmarks

We study freeze-in production of Higgs portal dark matter (DM) at temperatures far below the dark matter mass. The temperature of the Standard Model (SM) thermal bath may have never been high such that dark matter production via thermal emission has been Boltzmann-suppressed. This allows for a significant coupling between the Higgs field and DM, which is being probed by the direct DM detection experiments and invisible Higgs decay searches at the LHC. We delineate the corresponding parameter space in the Higgs portal framework with dark matter of spin 0, 1/2 and 1.

Limits on non-relativistic matter during Big-bang nucleosynthesis

Big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) probes the cosmic mass-energy density at temperatures ∼ 10 MeV to ∼ 100 keV. Here, we consider the effect of a cosmic matter-like species that is non-relativistic and pressureless during BBN. Such a component must decay; doing so during BBN can alter the baryon-to-photon ratio, η, and the effective number of neutrino species. We use light element abundances and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints on η and Nν to place constraints on such a matter component. We find that electromagnetic decays heat the photons relative to neutrinos, and thus dilute the effective number of relativistic species to N eff < 3 for the case of three Standard Model neutrino species. Intriguingly, likelihood results based on Planck CMB data alone find Nν = 2.800 ± 0.294, and when combined with standard BBN and the observations of D and 4He give Nν = 2.898 ± 0.141. While both results are consistent with the Standard Model, we find that a nonzero abundance of electromagnetically decaying matter gives a better fit to these results. Our best-fit results are for a matter species that decays entirely electromagnetically with a lifetime τX = 0.89 sec and pre-decay density that is a fraction ξ = (ρX /ρ rad|10 MeV = 0.0026 of the radiation energy density at 10 MeV; similarly good fits are found over a range where ξτX 1/2 is constant. On the other hand, decaying matter often spoils the BBN+CMB concordance, and we present limits in the (τX ,ξ) plane for both electromagnetic and invisible decays. For dark (invisible) decays, standard BBN (i.e. ξ = 0) supplies the best fit. We end with a brief discussion of the impact of future measurements including CMB-S4.

The first limit on invisible decays of Bs\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_s$$\\end{document} mesons comes from LEP

Motivated by the recent evidence for B+→K+ν¯ν\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^+\\rightarrow K^+\\bar{\ u } \ u $$\\end{document} decays at Belle II, we point out that fully invisible Bd\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_d$$\\end{document} and Bs\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_s$$\\end{document} meson decays are strongly constrained by LEP. A reinterpretation of an old inclusive ALEPH search for b-hadron decays with large missing energy allows us to place the limits Br(Bd→invisible)<1.4×10-4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extrm{Br}(B_d \\rightarrow \ extrm{invisible}) < 1.4\ imes 10^{-4}$$\\end{document} and Br(Bs→invisible)<5.6×10-4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extrm{Br}(B_s \\rightarrow \ extrm{invisible}) < 5.6\ imes 10^{-4}$$\\end{document}, both at 90%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$90\\%$$\\end{document} CL. The Bd\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_d$$\\end{document} limit is only a factor of 6 looser than the world-leading one provided by the BaBar collaboration, while the Bs\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B_s$$\\end{document} one is the first limit in the literature on this decay mode. These results are relevant in the context of new light states coupled to quarks and exemplify the power of a future Tera-Z factory at FCC-ee to look for B meson decays containing missing energy.

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.

Invisible and semi-invisible decays of bottom baryons* *The work is partly Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0406400, 2023YFA1606000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12335003, 12275277)

The similar densities of dark matter and baryons in the universe imply that they may arise from the same ultraviolet model. B-Mesogenesis, which assumes dark matter is charged under the baryon number, attempts to simultaneously explain the origin of baryon asymmetry and dark matter in the universe. In particular, B-Mesogenesis may induce bottom-baryon decays into invisible or semi-invisible final states, which provide a distinctive signal for probing this scenario. In this work, we systematically study the invisible decays of bottom baryons into dark matter and the semi-invisible decays of bottom baryons into a meson or a photon together with a dark matter particle. In particular, the fully invisible decay can reveal the stable particles in B-Mesogenesis. Some QCD-based frameworks are used to calculate the hadronic matrix elements under the B-Mesogenesis model. We estimate the constraints on the Wilson coefficients or the product of some new physics couplings with the Wilson coefficients according to the semi-invisible and invisible decays of bottom baryons detectable at future colliders.

The Sun and core-collapse supernovae are leading probes of the neutrino lifetime

The large distances travelled by neutrinos emitted from the Sun and core-collapse supernovae together with the characteristic energy of such neutrinos provide ideal conditions to probe their lifetime, when the decay products evade detection. We investigate the prospects of probing invisible neutrino decay capitalising on the detection of solar and supernova neutrinos as well as the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) in the next-generation neutrino observatories Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, DARWIN, and RES-NOVA.We find that future solar neutrino data will be sensitive to values of the lifetime-to-mass ratio τ 1/m 1 and τ 2/m 2 of 𝒪(10-1–10-2) s/eV. From a core-collapse supernova explosion at 10 kpc, lifetime-to-mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates of 𝒪(105) s/eV could be tested. After 20 years of data taking, the DSNB would extend the sensitivity reach of τ 1/m 1 to 108 s/eV. These results promise an improvement of about 6–15 orders of magnitude on the values of the decay parameters with respect to existing limits.

Invisible neutrino decay at long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments

We perform an updated analysis of long-baseline accelerator data in the framework of neutrino oscillations in presence of invisible neutrino decay. We analyze data from T2K, NOvA and MINOS/MINOS+ and show that the combined analysis of all experiments improves the previous bound from long-baseline data by approximately one order of magnitude. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Test of the vector portal with dark fermions in the charge-exchange reactions in the NA64 experiment at CERN SPS

We consider an experiment to search for dark sector particles in invisible (or semi-invisible) decays of neutral mesons M0=π0, η, η′, ω, f2(1270), which produced the charge-exchange reactions π−+(A,Z)→M0+(A,Z−1);M0→ of high-energy pions (or kaons) on a nuclei target in the NA64 experiment at the CERN SPS. This reaction chain would lead to a striking signature of the signal event—the complete disappearance of the beam energy in the setup []. Using data obtained from the measurements at IHEP (Protvino) and Fermilab (Batavia) we show that the integral cross sections σ for the production of the M0 s slightly deviate from the phenomenological formula σ∼Z2/3, where Z is the nuclei charge. In particular, we present the formulas for the differential and integral cross sections that explicitly depend on the Mandelstam and Z variables. Derived formulas are used to predict the M0 yield as a function of beam energy for several target nuclei, and to estimate the projection sensitivity for the proposed search in the dark vector portal model. Sensitivity to different decay modes of M0s is explored. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Higgs portal interpretation of the Belle II B+→K+νν measurement

The Belle II experiment recently observed the decay B+→K+νν for the first time, with a measured value for the branching ratio of (2.3±0.7)×10−5. This result exhibits a ∼3σ deviation from the Standard Model (SM) prediction. The observed enhancement with respect to the Standard Model could indicate the presence of invisible light new physics. In this paper, we investigate whether this result can be accommodated in a minimal Higgs portal model, where the SM is extended by a singlet Higgs scalar that decays invisibly to dark sector states. We find that current and future bounds on invisible decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson completely exclude a new scalar with a mass ≳10 GeV. On the other hand, the Belle II results can be successfully accommodated if the new scalar is lighter than B mesons but heavier than kaons. We also investigate the cosmological implications of the new states and explore the possibility that they are part of an Abelian Higgs extension of the SM. Future Higgs factories are expected to place stringent bounds on the invisible branching ratio of the 125 GeV Higgs boson, and will be able to definitively test the region of parameter space favored by the Belle II results. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Probing light dark matter with positron beams at NA64

We present the results of a missing-energy search for light dark matter which has a new interaction with ordinary matter transmitted by a vector boson, called dark photon A′. For the first time, this search is performed with a positron beam by using the significantly enhanced production of A′ in the resonant annihilation of positrons with atomic electrons of the target nuclei, followed by the invisible decay of A′ into dark matter. No events were found in the signal region with (10.1±0.1)×109 positrons on target with 100 GeV energy. This allowed us to set new exclusion limits that, relative to the collected statistics, prove the power of this experimental technique. This measurement is a crucial first step toward a future exploration program with positron beams, whose estimated sensitivity is here presented. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Search for a muonphilic scalar X0 or vector X1 via J/ψ→μ+μ−+invisible decays at BESIII

A light scalar X0 or vector X1 particles have been introduced as a possible explanation for the (g−2)μ anomaly and dark matter phenomena. Using (8.998±0.039)×109 J/ψ events collected by the BESIII detector, we search for a light muon philic scalar X0 or vector X1 in the processes J/ψ→μ+μ−X0,1 with X0,1 invisible decays. No obvious signal is found, and the upper limits on the coupling g0,1′ between the muon and the X0,1 particles are set to be between 1.1×10−3 and 1.0×10−2 for the X0,1 mass in the range of 1&lt;M(X0,1)&lt;1000 MeV/c2 at 90% credibility level. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Heavy neutral lepton corrections to SM boson decays: lepton flavour universality violation in low-scale seesaw realisations

We study lepton flavour universality violation in SM boson decays in low-scale seesaw models of neutrino mass generation, also addressing other electroweak precision observables. We compute the electroweak next-to-leading order corrections, which turn out to be important – notably in the case of the invisible decay width of the Z boson, for which the corrections can be as large as the current experimental uncertainty. As a well-motivated illustrative study case, we choose a realisation of the Inverse Seesaw mechanism, and discuss the complementary role of lepton flavour conserving, lepton flavour violating and precision observables, both in constraining and in probing such models of neutrino mass generation. Our findings suggest that invisible Z decays are especially important, potentially at the origin of the most stringent constraints for certain regimes of the Inverse Seesaw (while complying with charge lepton flavour violation and other electroweak precision tests). We also discuss the probing power of the considered observables in view of the expected improvement in experimental precision at FCC-ee.