Probe Of New Physics Research Articles

Top-quark pair production as a probe of light top-philic scalars and anomalous Higgs interactions

We compute the effects due to the virtual exchange (or the soft emission) of a scalar particle with generic couplings to the top quark in tt¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ t\\overline{t} $$\\end{document} pair production at the LHC. We apply the results to two cases of interest, extending and completing previous studies. First, we consider the indirect search for light (mS < 2mt) top-philic scalars with CP-even and/or CP-odd interactions. Second, we investigate how to set constraints on anomalous Yukawa couplings of the Higgs boson to the top quark. Our results show that the current precision of experimental data together with the accuracy of the SM predictions make such indirect determinations a powerful probe for new physics.

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.

A new purpose for the W-boson mass measurement: Searching for New Physics in lepton+MET

We show that the mW measurement is a direct probe of New Physics (NP) contributing to ℓ+MET, independently from indirect tests via the electroweak fit. Such NP modifies the kinematic distributions used to extract mW, necessitating a simultaneous fit to mW and NP. This effect can in principle bias the mW measurement, but only to a limited extent for our considered models. Given that, we demonstrate that the agreement at high-precision with SM-predicted shapes results in bounds competitive to, if not exceeding, existing ones for two examples: anomalous W decay involving a Lμ−Lτ gauge boson and ν˜ll˜ production in the MSSM.

A cosmological tachyon collider: enhancing the long-short scale coupling

The squeezed limit of the primordial curvature bispectrum is an extremely sensitive probe of new physics and encodes information about additional fields active during inflation such as their masses and spins. In the conventional setup, additional fields are stable with a positive mass squared, and hence induce a decreasing signal in the squeezed limit, making a detection challenging.Here we consider a scalar field that is temporarily unstable by virtue of a transient tachyonic mass, and we construct models in which it is embedded consistently within inflation. Assuming IR-finite couplings between the tachyon and the inflaton, we find an exchange bispectrum with an enhanced long-short scale coupling that grows in the squeezed limit parametrically faster than local non-Gaussianity. Our approximately scale-invariant signal can be thought of as a cosmological tachyon collider.In a sizeable region of parameter space, the leading constraint on our signal comes from the cross correlation of μ-type spectral distortions and temperature anisotropies of the microwave background, whereas temperature and polarization bispectra are less sensitive probes. By including anisotropic spectral distortions in the analysis, future experiments such as CMB-S4 will further reduce the allowed parameter space.

Gluon–gluon fusion contribution to the productions of three gauge bosons at the LHC

Productions of multiple gauge bosons at the LHC are sensitive to triple or quartic gauge couplings and thus provide a sensitive test for the electroweak sector of the Standard Model and allow for a probe of new physics. In this work we calculate the gluon–gluon initiate state contribution to the productions of three gauge bosons (Zγγ,\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Z\\gamma \\gamma ,$$\\end{document}ZZγ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ZZ\\gamma $$\\end{document} and W+W-γ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$W^+W^-\\gamma $$\\end{document}) at the LHC, which is formally part of NNLO effects compared to the LO quark–antiquark channels corrections. For each process we present the ratio between the gluon–gluon channels contribution and the quark–antiquark channels contribution. We found that such a ratio for Zγγ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Z\\gamma \\gamma $$\\end{document}(ZZγ)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$(ZZ\\gamma )$$\\end{document} is of the order of 10-3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-3}$$\\end{document}(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} much smaller than the corresponding ratio for the diboson production due to the decrease of gluon PDF when more particles appear in the final states. These small ratios imply that gluon–gluon fusion contribution is phenomenological negligible for the productions of Zγγ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Z\\gamma \\gamma $$\\end{document} and ZZγ.\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ZZ\\gamma .$$\\end{document} However, for W+W-γ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$W^+W^-\\gamma $$\\end{document} production, the ratio is about 5%, which is of the same order of magnitude as the ratio for W+W-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$W^+W^-$$\\end{document} production due to the big cancellation between the amplitudes of quark–antiquark channels. While such an effect can be neglected currently at the LHC, it may be accessible at the HL-LHC.

Contribution of BSM Particles on Electric Dipole Moment of Charged Leptons in the Minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model

In this paper, the contribution of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) particles on the Electric Dipole Moment (EDM) of charged lepton is calculated in a minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model. First-order quantum correction i.e., one loop correction, from relevant diagrams in the unitary gauge using Feynman parameterization is used because there is no tree-level contribution in Electric Dipole Moment due to non-renormalizability of the dipole term in the Lagrangian. This study mainly focuses on the BSM Higgs sector contribution to the EDM of charged leptons due to phenomenological interest. CP violation is directly connected to the EDM of fundamental particles. Matter-antimatter asymmetry is a mystery of the universe that demands CP symmetry to be violated. The standard model cannot explain the observed CP violation. Standard Model (SM) is so far the best description of nature. Despite having tremendous success, e.g., Electro-weak Symmetry Breaking and Higgs discovery, the Standard model is not complete. Moreover, experimentally, we observed small neutrino mass and neutrino mixing. The Seesaw Mechanism can explain neutrino mass smallness and mixing introducing a large Majorana mass. Left-right symmetric model is the most natural extension of SM which can accommodate the Seesaw mechanism. So EDM contributions from BSM particles in the Left-Right symmetric Model are a good probe of new physics beyond the SM. These contributions then can be used to do phenomenology and test the Model.

Kaluza-Klein spectroscopy from neutron oscillations into hidden dimensions

Neutrons and neutrinos are natural probes for new physics. Since they carry no conserved gauge quantum numbers, both can easily mix with the fermions from hidden sectors. A particularly interesting effect is the oscillation of a neutron or a neutrino into a fermion propagating in large extra dimensions. In fact, such a mixing has been identified as the possible origin of small neutrino mass. In this paper, we study neutron oscillations into an extradimensional fermion and show that this effect provides a resonance imaging of the Kaluza-Klein tower. The remarkable feature of this phenomenon is its generic nature: because of a fine spacing of the Kaluza-Klein tower, neutrons at a variety of energy levels, both free or within nuclei, find a bulk oscillation partner. In particular, the partner can be a Kaluza-Klein mode of the same species that gives mass to the neutrino. The existence of bulk states matching the neutron energy levels of nuclear spectra gives rise to tight constraints as well as to potentially observable effects. For a free neutron, we predict recurrent resonant oscillations occurring with the values of the magnetic field correlated with the KK levels. We derive bounds on extra dimensions from ultracold neutron experiments and suggest signatures for refined measurements, which, in particular, can probe the parameter space motivated by the hierarchy problem. Ultracold neutron experiments offer a unique way of Kaluza-Klein spectroscopy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Neutrino Flavor Model Building and the Origins of Flavor and CP Violation

The neutrino sector offers one of the most sensitive probes of new physics beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM). The mechanism of neutrino mass generation is still unknown. The observed suppression of neutrino masses hints at a large scale, conceivably of the order of the scale of a rand unified theory (GUT), which is a unique feature of neutrinos that is not shared by the charged fermions. The origin of neutrino masses and mixing is part of the outstanding puzzle of fermion masses and mixings, which is not explained ab initio in the SM. Flavor model building for both quark and lepton sectors is important in order to gain a better understanding of the origin of the structure of mass hierarchy and flavor mixing, which constitute the dominant fraction of the SM parameters. Recent activities in neutrino flavor model building based on non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetries and modular flavor symmetries have been shown to be a promising direction to explore. The emerging models provide a framework that has a significantly reduced number of undetermined parameters in the flavor sector. In addition, such a framework affords a novel origin of CP violation from group theory due to the intimate connection between physical CP transformation and group theoretical properties of non-Abelian discrete groups. Model building based on non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetries and their modular variants enables the particle physics community to interpret the current and anticipated upcoming data from neutrino experiments. Non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetries and their modular variants can result from compactification of a higher-dimensional theory. Pursuit of flavor model building based on such frameworks thus also provides the connection to possible UV completions: in particular, to string theory. We emphasize the importance of constructing models in which the uncertainties of theoretical predictions are smaller than, or at most compatible with, the error bars of measurements in neutrino experiments. While there exist proof-of-principle versions of bottom-up models in which the theoretical uncertainties are under control, it is remarkable that the key ingredients of such constructions were discovered first in top-down model building. We outline how a successful unification of bottom-up and top-down ideas and techniques may guide us towards a new era of precision flavor model building in which future experimental results can give us crucial insights into the UV completion of the SM.

Sensitivity potential to a light flavor-changing scalar boson with DUNE and NA64mu

In this work, we report on the sensitivity potential of complementary muon-on-target experiments to new physics using a scalar boson benchmark model associated with charged lepton flavor violation. The NA64mu experiment at CERN uses a 160-GeV energy muon beam with an active target to search for excess events with missing energy and momentum as a probe of new physics. At the same time, the proton beam at Fermilab, which is used to produce the neutrino beam for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), will also produce a high-intensity muon beam dumped in an absorber. Combined with the liquid argon near detector, the system could be used to search for similar scalar boson particles with a lower-energy but higher-intensity beam. We find that both NA64mu and DUNE could cover new, unexplored parts of the parameter space of the same benchmark model, providing a complementary way to search for new physics.

Extremal Kerr Black Holes as Amplifiers of New Physics.

We show that extremal Kerr black holes are sensitive probes of new physics. Stringy or quantum corrections to general relativity are expected to generate higher-curvature terms in the gravitational action. We show that in the presence of these terms, asymptotically flat extremal rotating black holes have curvature singularities on their horizon. Furthermore, near-extremal black holes can have large yet finite tidal forces for infalling observers. In addition, we consider five-dimensional extremal charged black holes and show that higher-curvature terms can have a large effect on the horizon geometry.

Probing lepton flavor violation at Circular Electron-Positron Colliders

Lepton flavor violation is one of the cleanest probes of physics beyond the standard model. In this work, we explore the sensitivity of the process e+e− → τμ to new physics above the TeV scale at the proposed circular electron-positron colliders FCC-ee and CEPC. We compute the e+e− → τμ cross-section in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory and assess the relevant backgrounds. We compare our sensitivity projections to existing and expected constraints from tau decays and Z decays and find that the future electron-positron colliders provide competitive probes of new physics. We highlight the complementarity of searches for resonant e+e−→ Z → τμ production on the Z pole and searches for non-resonant e+e−→ τμ at higher center-of-mass energies.

Investigating the effects of Lorentz Invariance Violation on the CP-sensitivities of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

The phenomena of neutrino oscillations offer a great potential for probing new-physics beyond the Standard Model. Any additional effects on neutrino oscillations can help understand the nature of the non-standard effects. The violation of fundamental symmetries may appear as a probe for new-physics in various neutrino experiments. Lorentz symmetry is one such fundamental symmetry in nature and the breakdown of spacetime is a possible motivation for a departure from the standard Lorentz symmetry picture. The Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) is intrinsic in nature and its effects exist even in a vacuum. Neutrinos can be an intriguing probe for exploring such violations of Lorentz symmetry. The effect of violation of Lorentz invariance can be explored through its impact on the neutrino oscillation probabilities. The effect of LIV is treated as a perturbation to the standard neutrino Hamiltonian considering the Standard Model Extension (SME) framework. In this work, we have probed the effects of LIV on the measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters considering Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) as a case study. The inclusion of LIV affects the measurements of various neutrino oscillation parameters as it modifies the standard neutrino oscillation probabilities. We looked into the capability of DUNE in constraining the LIV parameters and then explored the impact of CPT-violating LIV terms on the mass-induced neutrino oscillation probabilities. We have also probed the impact of LIV parameters on the CP-measurement sensitivities at DUNE.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Experiment with Two Bose-Einstein Condensates

In 1935, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) conceived a gedanken experiment which became a cornerstone of quantum technology and still challenges our understanding of reality and locality today. While the experiment has been realized with small quantum systems, a demonstration of the EPR paradox with massive many-particle systems remains an important challenge, as such systems are particularly closely tied to the concept of local realism in our everyday experience and may serve as probes for new physics at the quantum-to-classical transition. In this work we report an EPR experiment with two spatially separated Bose-Einstein condensates, each containing about 700 rubidium atoms. Entanglement between the condensates results in strong correlations of their collective spins, allowing us to demonstrate the EPR paradox between them. Our results represent the first observation of the EPR paradox with spatially separated, massive many-particle systems. They show that the conflict between quantum mechanics and local realism does not disappear as the system size increases to more than a thousand massive particles. Furthermore, EPR entanglement in conjunction with individual manipulation of the two condensates on the quantum level, as we demonstrate here, constitutes an important resource for quantum metrology and information processing with many-particle systems.Received 9 November 2022Revised 20 February 2023Accepted 3 April 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.021031Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasBose-Einstein condensatesEntanglement detectionEntanglement in quantum gasesNonlocalityQuantum fluctuations & noiseQuantum metrologyQuantum InformationAtomic, Molecular & Optical

Constraints on lepton universality violation from rare B decays

The LHCb Collaboration has recently released a new study of ${B}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and $B\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{*0}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ($\ensuremath{\ell}=e$, $\ensuremath{\mu}$) decays, testing lepton universality with unprecedented accuracy using the whole Run 1 and 2 dataset. In addition, the CMS Collaboration has reported an improved analysis of the branching ratios ${B}_{(d,s)}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. While these measurements offer, per se, a powerful probe of new physics, global analyses of $b\ensuremath{\rightarrow}s{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ transitions also rely on the assumptions about nonperturbative contributions to the decay matrix elements. In this work, we perform a global Bayesian analysis of new physics in (semi)leptonic rare $B$ decays, paying attention to the role of charming penguins which are difficult to evaluate from first principles. We find data to be consistent with the Standard Model once rescattering from intermediate hadronic states is included. Consequently, we derive stringent bounds on lepton universality violation in $|\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}B|=|\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}S|=1$ (semi)leptonic processes.

Drell-Yan tails beyond the Standard Model

We investigate the high-pT tails of the pp → ℓν and pp → ℓℓ Drell-Yan processes as probes of New Physics in semileptonic interactions with an arbitrary flavor structure. For this purpose, we provide a general decomposition of the 2 → 2 scattering amplitudes in terms of form-factors that we match to specific scenarios, such as the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), including all relevant operators up to dimension-8, as well as ultraviolet scenarios giving rise to tree-level exchange of new bosonic mediators with masses at the TeV scale. By using the latest LHC run-II data in the monolepton (eν, μν, τν) and dilepton (ee, μμ, ττ, eμ, eτ, μτ) production channels, we derive constraints on the SMEFT Wilson coefficients for semileptonic four-fermion and dipole operators with the most general flavor structure, as well as on all possible leptoquark models. For the SMEFT, we discuss the range of validity of the EFT description, the relevance of mathcal{O} (1/Λ2) and mathcal{O} (1/Λ4) truncations, the impact of d = 8 operators and the effects of different quark-flavor alignments. Finally, as a highlight, we extract for several New Physics scenarios the combined limits from high-pT processes, electroweak pole measurements and low-energy flavor data for the b → cτν transition, showing the complementarity between these different observables. Our results are compiled in HighPT (https://highpt.github.io), a package in Mathematica which provides a simple way for users to extract the Drell-Yan tails likelihoods for semileptonic effective operators and for leptoquark models.

Parity violation in the scalar trispectrum: no-go theorems and yes-go examples

We derive a set of no-go theorems and yes-go examples for the parity-odd primordial trispectrum of curvature perturbations. We work at tree-level in the decoupling limit of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation and assume scale invariance and a Bunch-Davies vacuum. We show that the parity-odd scalar trispectrum vanishes in the presence of any number of scalar fields with arbitrary mass and any parity-odd scalar correlator vanishes in the presence of any number of spinning fields with massless de Sitter mode functions, in agreement with the findings of Liu, Tong, Wang and Xianyu [1]. The same is true for correlators with an odd number of conformally-coupled external fields. We derive these results using both the (boostless) cosmological bootstrap, in particular the Cosmological Optical Theorem, and explicit perturbative calculations. We then discuss a series of yes-go examples by relaxing the above assumptions one at the time. In particular, we provide explicit results for the parity-odd trispectrum for (i) violations of scale invariance in single-clock inflation, (ii) the modified dispersion relation of the ghost condensate (non-Bunch-Davies vacuum), and (iii) interactions with massive spinning fields. Our results establish the parity-odd trispectrum as an exceptionally sensitive probe of new physics beyond vanilla inflation.

Two-loop Electroweak Corrections to ϵK

The parameter εK measures CP violation in the neutral kaon system. It is a sensitive probe of new physics and plays a prominent role in the global fit of the Cabibbo-Kobabyashi-Maskawa matrix. As one of the first discovered sources of CP violation, it has been measured in experiment to permil precision. A simple reparametrization of the efFective Hamiltonian has been recently shown to drastically reduce the perturbative errors coming from the charm-quark corrections, making the electroweak corrections relevant. In this proceedings, I will present the two-loop electroweak corrections to ϵK .

Big Bang nucleosynthesis as a probe of new physics

The Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) model is a cornerstone for the understanding of the evolution of the early universe, making seminal predictions that are in outstanding agreement with the present observation of light element abundances in the universe. Perhaps, the only remaining issue to be solved by theory is the so-called “lithium abundance problem". Dedicated experimental efforts to measure the relevant nuclear cross sections used as input of the model have lead to an increased level of accuracy in the prediction of the light element primordial abundances. The rise of indirect experimental techniques during the preceding few decades has permitted the access of reaction information beyond the limitations of direct measurements. New theoreticaldevelopments have also opened a fertile ground for tests of physics beyond the standard model of atomic,nuclear, statistics, and particle physics. We review the latest contributions of our group for possible solutions of the lithium problem.

Parton distributions and new physics searches: the Drell–Yan forward–backward asymmetry as a case study

We discuss the sensitivity of theoretical predictions of observables used in searches for new physics to parton distributions (PDFs) at large momentum fraction x. Specifically, we consider the neutral-current Drell–Yan production of gauge bosons with invariant masses in the TeV range, for which the forward–backward asymmetry of charged leptons from the decay of the gauge boson in its rest frame is a traditional probe of new physics. We show that the qualitative behaviour of the asymmetry depends strongly on the assumptions made in determining the underlying PDFs. We discuss and compare the large-x behaviour of various different PDF sets, and find that they differ significantly. Consequently, the shape of the asymmetry observed at lower dilepton invariant masses, where all PDF sets are in reasonable agreement because of the presence of experimental constraints, is not necessarily reproduced at large masses where the PDFs are mostly unconstrained by data. It follows that the shape of the asymmetry at high masses may depend on assumptions made in the PDF parametrization, and thus deviations from the traditionally expected behaviour cannot be taken as a reliable indication of new physics. We demonstrate that forward–backward asymmetry measurements could help in constraining PDFs at large x and discuss the accuracy that would be required to disentangle the effects of new physics from uncertainties in the PDFs in this region.

Lepton Universality Test with MUSE at PSI

Lepton universality (LU) typically refers to the lepton coupling, which is considered to be the same for e, μ, and τ leptons, if the interaction is electroweak according to the Standard Model, and it is hence a compelling probe for New Physics. The same principle of universal electroweak lepton interaction leads to the expectation that lepton scattering yields are equal for e and μ beams under the same kinematic condition. The mere mass difference between e and μ affects kinematic quantities (such as the relation between scattering angle and Q 2), and the lepton mass dependence of elastic cross sections for leptons scattered from structured and pointlike objects are taken into account. By comparing e +, e −, μ +, and μ − scattering yields, two-photon exchange (TPE) effects, universal or not, can be separated from the general LU test of the e/μ yield ratio. With its separable mixed beams of e +/μ + and e −/μ −, respectively, the MUSE experiment at PSI is not only designed to measure the proton charge radius with four lepton species, but is also uniquely suited to probe TPE and LU, while benefitting from partial cancellations of certain shared systematics. An overview will be given of the MUSE experiment, the sensitivity, and the present status.