121671514
New experimental limit on the electron stability and non-paulian transitions in Iodine atoms
A new limit on the mean life of the electron in the "disappearance" approach has been established: tau(e) > 4.2(2.4).10(24) yr at 68% (90%) C.L., by using the similar or equal to 100 kg DAMA Nal(Tl) set-up at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of INFN. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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.
124862840
DIRECT DETECTION OF DARK MATTER PARTICLES
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(...
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.
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.
8894898
Scales of fermion mass generation and electroweak symmetry breaking
The scale of mass generation for fermions (including neutrinos) and the scale for electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) can be bounded from above by the unitarity of scattering involving longitudinal weak gauge bosons or their corresponding would-be Goldstone bosons. Including the exact n-body phase space we analyze the 2{yields}n (n{>=}2) processes for the fermion-(anti)fermion scattering into multiple gauge boson final states. Contrary to naieve energy power counting, we demonstrate that as n becomes large, the competition between an increasing energy factor and a phase-space suppression leads to a strong new upper bound on the scale of fermion mass generation at a finite value n=n{sub s}, which is independent of the EWSB scale, v=({radical}(2)G{sub F}){sup -1/2}. For quarks, leptons, and Majorana neutrinos, the strongest 2{yields}n limits range from about 3 TeV to 130-170 TeV (with 2 < or approx. s < or approx. 24), depending on the measured fermion masses. Strikingly, given the tiny neutrino masses as constrained by the neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double-beta decays and astrophysical observations, the unitarity violation of {nu}{sub L}{nu}{sub L}{yields}nW{sub L}{sup a} scattering actually occurs at a scale no higher than {approx}170 TeV. Implications for various mechanisms of neutrino mass generation are analyzed. On the other hand,more » for the 2{yields}n pure Goldstone boson scattering, we find that the decreasing phase-space factor always dominates over the growing overall energy factor when n becomes large, so that the best unitarity bound on the scale of EWSB remains at n=2.« less
5881766
Scale of mass generation for Majorana neutrinos
Scales of mass generation for Majorana neutrinos (as well as quarks and leptons) can be probed from high energy 2 → n inelastic scattering involving a multiple longitudinal gauge boson final state. We demonstrate that the unitarity of 2 → n scattering puts the strongest new upper limit on the scale of fermion mass generation, independent of the electroweak symmetry breaking scale v = ( √ 2GF) 1 2 . Strikingly, for Majorana neutrinos (quarks and leptons), we find that the strongest 2 → n limits fall in a narrow range, 136 − 170 TeV (3 − 107 TeV) with n = 20 − 24 (n = 2 − 12), depending on the observed fermion masses. Physical implications are discussed.
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.
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.
118595287
Spontaneous Spacetime Reduction and Unitary Weak Boson Scattering at the LHC
Theories of quantum gravity predict spacetime dimensions to become reduced at high energies, a striking phenomenon known as spontaneous dimensional reduction (SDR). It has found nice applications to astrophysics and collider phenomenologies. We construct an effective electroweak theory based on the standard model (SM) and incorporate the TeV-scale SDR, which exhibits good high energy behavior and ensures the unitarity of weak gauge boson scattering. This also provides a natural solution to the hierarchy problem in the presence of a SM-like Higgs boson. We demonstrate that this model predicts the unitary longitudinal weak boson scattering, and can be discriminated from the conventional 4d SM by the WW scattering experiments at the CERN LHC. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.