55448767
New results and perspectives of DAMA/LIBRA
The results obtained with the total exposure of 1.04 ton × yr collected by DAMA/LIBRA–phase1 deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. during 7 annual cycles are brieﬂy summarized. The DAMA/LIBRA–phase1 and the former DAMA/NaI data (cumulative exposure 1.33 ton × yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles) give evidence at 9.3 σ C.L. for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo, on the basis of the exploited model independent DM annual modulation signature by using highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target. The modulation parameters are well in agreement with those expected for DM particles. No systematic or side reaction able to mimic the exploited DM signature has been found or suggested by anyone over more than a decade. Some of the perspectives of the presently running DAMA/LIBRA–phase2 are outlined.
124862840
DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK MATTER PARTICLES
119701812
Signals from dark Universe: DAMA/LIBRA at LNGS
The DAMA/LIBRA set-up (about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl) sensitive mass) is running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN. The first DAMA/LIBRA results point out the presence of a dark matter particle component in the galactic halo, as well as the former DAMA/NaI set-up; cumulatively the data support such evidence at 8.2σ CL and satisfy all the peculiarities of the dark matter annual modulation signature.
17766827
Investigating electron interacting dark matter
Some extensions of the standard model provide dark matter candidate particles which can have a dominant coupling with the lepton sector of the ordinary matter. Thus, such dark matter candidate particles (chi(0)) can be directly detected only through their interaction with electrons in the detectors of a suitable experiment, while they are lost by experiments based on the rejection of the electromagnetic component of the experimental counting rate. These candidates can also offer a possible source of the 511 keV photons observed from the galactic bulge. In this paper this scenario is investigated. Some theoretical arguments are developed and related phenomenological aspects are discussed. Allowed intervals and regions for the characteristic phenomenological parameters of the considered model and of the possible mediator of the interaction are also derived considering the DAMA/NaI data.
118311956
DAMA investigations on Dark Matter at Gran Sasso: results and perspectives
The DAMA/NaI experiment (≃ 100 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. had the unique feature to effectively investigate the presence of Dark Matter particles in the galactic halo by exploiting the model independent annual modulation signature. A total exposure of more than 105 kg × day, collected over seven annual cycles, has pointed out at 6.3 σ C.L. an effect which satisfies all the many peculiarities of the signature. Neither systematics nor side reactions able to account for the observed effect were found. No experiment whose result can be directly compared in a model independent way with the experimental one of DAMA/NaI is available so far. Searches in space experiments are not in contradiction with DAMA/NaI. Several (but still few with respect to the possibilities) corollary model dependent quests for the candidate particle have also been carried out; others are in progress. At present the second generation DAMA/LIBRA set‐up (≃ 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(...
117048271
First DAMA/LIBRA Results and Beyond
The DAMA project is an observatory for rare processes and it is operative deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. Its main apparatus is the DAMA/LIBRA set-up, consisting of ≃250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl) detectors. Its first results — obtained by exploiting over four annual cycles the model independent annual modulation signature for Dark Matter (DM) particles — confirm by those of the former DAMA/NaI, supporting the evidence for Dark Matter presence in the galactic halo at 8.2 σ C.L.. The DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA data, in fact, satisfy all the many peculiarities of the DM annual modulation signature. Neither systematic effects nor side reactions able to account for the observed modulation amplitude and to contemporaneously satisfy all the several requirements of the DM signature are available. Future perspectives are also addressed.
119221143
Octahedral symmetry with geometrical breaking: New prediction for neutrino mixing angle theta(13) and CP violation
We propose octahedral group O-h as the family symmetry of the neutrino-lepton sector. We find that O-h contains subgroups Z(2)(mu tau) circle times Z(2)(s) and Z(4)(l) for realizing the bimaximal (BM) mixings theta(23) = theta(12) = 45 degrees, where Z(2)(mu tau) circle times Z(2)(s) and Z(4)(l) serve as the residual symmetries of neutrinos and charged leptons, respectively. We present geometric interpretations of BM mixing in the octahedron, and construct natural geometrical breaking of Z(4)(l), leading to nontrivial deviations from the BM mixings. Our theory makes truly simple predictions of a relatively large reactor angle, theta(13) similar or equal to 45 degrees - theta(12) = 7.5 degrees-13.7 degrees(3 sigma), the nearly maximal atmospheric angle and the approximate maximal Dirac CP violation. These agree well with the current neutrino data, and will be further probed by the on-going and upcoming oscillation experiments.
102507809
Natural electroweak symmetry breaking from scale invariant Higgs mechanism
We construct a minimal viable extension of the standard model (SM) with classical scale symmetry. Its scalar sector contains a complex singlet in addition to the SM Higgs doublet. The scale-invariant and CP-symmetric Higgs potential generates radiative electroweak symmetry breaking ` a la Coleman-Weinberg, and gives a natural solution to the hierarchy problem, free from fine-tuning. Besides the 125 GeV SM-like Higgs particle, it predicts a new CP-even Higgs (serving as the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of scale symmetry breaking) and a CP-odd scalar singlet (providing the dark matter candidate) at weak scale. We systematically analyze experimental constraints from direct LHC Higgs searches and electroweak precision tests, as well as theoretical bounds from unitarity, triviality and vacuum stability. We demonstrate the viable parameter space, and discuss implications for new Higgs and dark matter (DM) searches at the upcoming LHC runs and for the on-going direct detections of DM.
55815188
Probing Gravitational Dark Matter
So far all evidences of dark matter (DM) come from astrophysical and cosmological observations, due to gravitational interactions of the DM. It is possible that the true DM particle in the universe joins gravitational interactions only, but nothing else. Such a Gravitational DM (GDM) may act as a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP), which is conceptually simple and attractive. In this work, we explore this direction by constructing the simplest scalar GDM particle s . It is a Z 2 odd singlet under the standard model (SM) gauge group, and naturally joins the unique dimension-4 interaction with Ricci curvature, s 2 R , where s is the dimensionless nonminimal coupling. We demonstrate that this gravitational interaction s 2 R , together with Higgs-curvature nonminimal coupling term h H y HR , induces eective couplings between 2 and SM elds, and can account for the observed DM thermal relic abundance. We analyze the annihilation cross sections of GDM particles and derive the viable parameter space for realizing the DM thermal relic density. We further study the direct/indirect detections and the collider signatures of such a scalar GDM. These turn out to be highly predictive and testable.
119298728
Gravitational Interaction of Higgs Boson and Weak Boson Scattering
With the LHC discovery of a 125 GeV Higgs-like boson, we study the gravitational interaction of the Higgs boson via the unique dimension-four operator involving the Higgs doublet and scalar curvature, xi HyHR, with nonminimal coupling xi. This Higgs portal term can be transformed away in the Einstein frame and induces gauge-invariant effective interactions in the Higgs sector. We study the weak boson scattering in the Einstein frame and explicitly demonstrate the longitudinal-Goldstone boson equivalence theorem in the presence of xi coupling. With these, we derive a perturbative unitarity bound on the Higgs gravitational coupling xi in the Einstein frame, which is stronger than that inferred from the LHC Higgs measurements. We further study xi -dependent weak boson scattering cross sections at the TeV scale and propose a new LHC probe of Higgs-gravity coupling xi via weak boson scattering experiments.
657584
Electroweak corrections and unitarity in linear moose models
We calculate the form of the corrections to the electroweak interactions in the class of Higgsless models which can be deconstructed to a chain of SU(2) gauge groups adjacent to a chain of U(1) gauge groups, and with the fermions coupled to any single SU(2) group and to any single U(1) group along the chain. The primary advantage of our technique is that the size of corrections to electroweak processes can be directly related to the spectrum of vector bosons ('KK modes'). In Higgsless models, this spectrum is constrained by unitarity. Our methods also allow for arbitrary background 5D geometry, spatially dependent gauge-couplings, and brane kinetic energy terms. We find that, due to the size of corrections to electroweak processes in any unitary theory, Higgsless models with localized fermions are disfavored by precision electroweak data. Although we stress our results as they apply to continuum Higgsless 5D models, they apply to any linear moose model including those with only a few extra vector bosons. Our calculations of electroweak corrections also apply directly to the electroweak gauge sector of 5D theories with a bulk scalar Higgs boson; the constraints arising from unitarity do not apply in this case.