118902201
A Telescope to Detect VHE Gamma Ray Sources
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.
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(...
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.
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
14324310
Minimal schemes for large neutrino mixings with inverted hierarchy
Abstract Existing oscillation data point to non-zero neutrino masses with large mixings. We analyze the generic features of the neutrino Majorana mass matrix with inverted hierarchy and construct realistic minimal schemes for the neutrino mass matrix that can explain the large (but not maximal) ν e – ν μ mixing of MSW-LAM as well as the nearly maximal ν μ – ν τ mixing and the small (or negligible) ν e → ν τ transition. These minimal schemes are quite unique and turn out to be extremely predictive. Implications for neutrinoless double beta decay, tritium beta decay and cosmology are analyzed.
119074305
LHC Higgs signatures from topflavor seesaw mechanism
We study LHC Higgs signatures from topflavor seesaw realization of electroweak symmetry breaking with a minimal gauge extension SU(2) circle times SU(2) circle times U(1). This elegant renormalizable construction singles out top quark sector (instead of all other light fermions) to join the new SU(2) gauge force. It predicts extra vector-like spectator quarks (T, B), new gauge bosons (W', Z'), and a pair of neutral Higgs bosons (h, H). We demonstrate that for the lighter Higgs boson h of mass 125 GeV, this model predicts modified Higgs signal rates in h -> gamma gamma, WW*, ZZ* channels via gluon fusions, in h -> tau(tau) over bar mode via vector boson fusions, and in h -> b (b) over bar mode via gauge boson associate productions. We perform a global fit for our theory by including both direct search data (LHC and Tevatron) and indirect precision constraints. We further analyze the LHC discovery potential for detecting the heavier Higgs state H. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.