123403021
Direct detection of dark-matter particles
In this conference the model-independent result on the presence of dark-matter paticles in the galactic halo obtained over seven annual cycles by the 100kg highly radiopure NaI(T1) DAMA/NaI has been presented and several corollary investigations have also been discussed. More recently the model-independent result obtaind over the first four annual cycles by the second generation 250kg highly radiopure NaI(T1) DAMA/LIBRA set-up at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN has also been released. Both the experiments have the unique feature to effectively investigate the presence of dark-matter particles in the galactic halo by exploiting the model-independent annual modulation signature. The data collected by the two experiments over elevn annual cycles for a total exposure of 0.82ton x y have pointed out at 8.2 sigma CL a positive result; several corollary model-dependent quests for the candidate particle(s) and related astrophysical, nuclear and particle physics scenarios are under updating. The future experimental activity can give rise to many new interesting results.
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.
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.
124862840
DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK MATTER PARTICLES
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.
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(...
8637975
A Three Site Higgsless Model
We analyze the spectrum and properties of a highly deconstructed Higgsless model with only three sites. Such a model contains sufficient complexity to incorporate interesting physics issues related to fermion masses and electroweak observables, yet remains simple enough that it could be encoded in a Matrix Element Generator program for use with Monte Carlo simulations. The gauge sector of this model is equivalent to that of the Breaking Electroweak Symmetry Strongly (BESS) model; the new physics of interest here lies in the fermion sector. We analyze the form of the fermion Yukawa couplings required to produce the ideal fermion delocalization that causes tree-level precision electroweak corrections to vanish. We discuss the size of one-loop corrections to b{yields}s{gamma}, the weak-isospin violating parameter {alpha}T and the decay Z{yields}bb. We find that the new fermiophobic vector states (the analogs of the gauge-boson Kaluza-Klein modes in a continuum model) can be reasonably light, with a mass as low as 380 GeV, while the extra (approximately vectorial) quark and lepton states (the analogs of the fermion Kaluza-Klein modes) must be heavier than 1.8 TeV.
119095037
Collider tests of compact space dimensions using weak gauge bosons
We present collider tests of the recent proposal for weak-scale quantum gravity due to new large compact space dimensions in which only the graviton $(G)$ propagates. We show that the existing high precision LEP-I $Z$-pole data can impose nontrivial constraints on the scale of the new dimensions, via the decay mode $Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}f\overline{f}+G$ $(f\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}q,\ensuremath{\ell})$. These bounds are comparable to those obtained at high energy colliders and provide the first sensitive probe of the scalar graviton. We also study $W(Z)+G$ production and the anomalous $\mathrm{WW}(\mathrm{ZZ})$ signal from virtual $G$-states at the Fermilab Tevatron and compare them with the LEP-I bound and those from LEP-II and future linear colliders.
119518408
New Method for Detecting Charged Scalars at Colliders
We propose a new method for detecting a charged (pseudo)scalar at colliders, based upon the observation that its Yukawa coupling to charm and bottom quarks can be large due to a significant mixing of the top and charm quarks. After analyzing the typical flavor mixing allowed by low energy data in the topcolor and the generic two-Higgs doublet models, we study the physics potential of the Tevatron, LHC, and linear colliders for probing such an $s$-channel charged resonance via the single-top (as well as ${W}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}{h}^{0}$) production. We show that studying its detection at colliders can also provide information on the dynamics of flavor-changing neutral current phenomena.
54201703
Higgs gravitational interaction, weak boson scattering, and Higgs inflation in Jordan and Einstein frames
We study gravitational interaction of Higgs boson through the unique dimension-4 operator xi(HHR)-H-dagger, with H the Higgs doublet and R the Ricci scalar curvature. We analyze the effect of this dimensionless nonminimal coupling xi on weak gauge boson scattering in both Jordan and Einstein frames. We explicitly establish the longitudinal-Goldstone equivalence theorem with nonzero xi coupling in both frames, and analyze the unitarity constraints. We study the xi-induced weak boson scattering cross sections at O(1 30) TeV scales, and propose to probe the Higgs-gravity coupling via weak boson scattering experiments at the LHC (14 TeV) and the next generation pp colliders (50 100 TeV). We further extend our study to Higgs inflation, and quantitatively derive the perturbative unitarity bounds via coupled channel analysis, under large field background at the inflation scale. We analyze the unitarity constraints on the parameter space in both the conventional Higgs inflation and the improved models in light of the recent BICEP2 data.
118867052
Constraining Astrophysical Neutrino Flavor Composition from Leptonic Unitarity
The recent IceCube observation of ultra-high-energy astrophysical neutrinos has begun the era of neutrino astronomy. In this work, using the unitarity of leptonic mixing matrix, we derive nontrivial unitarity constraints on the avor composition of astrophysical neutrinos detected by IceCube. Applying leptonic unitarity triangles, we deduce these unitarity bounds from geometrical conditions, such as triangular inequalities. These new bounds generally hold for three avor neutrinos, and are independent of any experimental input or the pattern of leptonic mixing. We apply our unitarity bounds to derive general constraints on the avor compositions for three types of astrophysical neutrino sources (and their general mixture), and compare them with the IceCube measurements. Furthermore, we prove that for any sources without neutrinos, a detected ux ratio < 1=4 will require the initial avor