Publications (42)
Heavy concerns about the light axino explanation of the 3.5 keV X-ray line
Stefano Colucci, Herbi K. Dreiner, Florian Staub +1
An unidentified 3.5 keV line from X-ray observations of galaxy clusters has been reported recently. Although still under scrutiny, decaying dark matter could be responsible for thi…
Some Remarks on Anthropic Approaches to the Strong CP Problem
Michael Dine, Laurel Stephenson Haskins, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
The peculiar value of is a challenge to the notion of an anthropic landscape. We briefly review the possibility that a suitable axion might arise from an anthropic requirement…
Reheating-Induced Axion Dark Matter After Low Scale Inflation
Takeshi Kobayashi, Lorenzo Ubaldi
A kinetic mixing between the axion and the inflaton allows for a production of axion dark matter even if the inflationary Hubble scale is smaller than the zero-temperature axion ma…
Classical constant electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter
Mar Bastero-Gil, Paulo B. Ferraz, António Torres Manso +2
We study constant classical electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter space, with potential implications for magnetogenesis and inflationary dark matter production. Tre…
Schwinger dark matter production
Mar Bastero-Gil, Paulo B. Ferraz, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
Building on recently constructed inflationary vector dark matter production mechanisms as well as studies of magnetogenesis, we show that an inflationary dark Schwinger mechanism c…
"What's (the) Matter?", A Show on Elementary Particle Physics with 28 Demonstration Experiments
Herbi K. Dreiner, Max Becker, Mikolaj Borzyszkowski +26
We present the screenplay of a physics show on particle physics, by the Physikshow of Bonn University. The show is addressed at non-physicists aged 14+ and communicates basic conce…
Accidental Peccei-Quinn symmetry protected to arbitrary order
Luca Di Luzio, Enrico Nardi, Lorenzo Ubaldi
A gauge theory for a scalar multiplet transforming in the bi-fundamental representation preserves, for , an accidental symmetry…
Is the Relaxion an Axion?
Rick S. Gupta, Zohar Komargodski, Gilad Perez +1
We consider the recently proposed cosmological relaxation mechanism where the hierarchy problem is ameliorated, and the electroweak scale is dynamically selected by a slowly rollin…
Super heavy dark matter from inflationary Schwinger production
Mar Bastero-Gil, Paulo B. Ferraz, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
We consider a simple setup with a dark sector containing dark electrons charged under an abelian gauge symmetry. We show that if the massless dark photon associated to the…
Axions in Gauge Mediation
Linda M. Carpenter, Michael Dine, Guido Festuccia +1
In supersymmetric theories, the presence of axions usually implies the existence of a non-compact, (pseudo)moduli space. In gauge mediated models, the axion would seem a particular…
Supersymmetric QCD: Exact Results and Strong Coupling
Michael Dine, Guido Festuccia, Lawrence Pack +3
We revisit two longstanding puzzles in supersymmetric gauge theories. The first concerns the question of the holomorphy of the coupling, and related to this the possible definition…
Probing Dark Matter with AGN Jets
Mikhail Gorchtein, Stefano Profumo, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We study the possibility of detecting a signature of particle dark matter in the spectrum of gamma-ray photons from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) resulting from the scattering of h…
The COSMIC WISPers White Paper: The physics case for Weakly Interacting Slim Particles
Ariel Arza, Deniz Aybas, Shyam Balaji +124
Axions and other very weakly interacting slim particles (WISPs), with masses below 1 GeV, arise naturally in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. In particula…
Analytic thin wall false vacuum decay rate
Aleksandar Ivanov, Marco Matteini, Miha Nemevšek +1
We derive a closed-form false vacuum decay rate at one loop in the thin wall limit, where the true and false vacua are nearly degenerate. We obtain the bounce configuration in …
Relaxed Inflation
Walter Tangarife, Kohsaku Tobioka, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
We present an effective model where the inflaton is a relaxion that scans the Higgs mass and sets it at the weak scale. The dynamics consist of a long epoch in which inflation is d…
Dynamical generation of the Peccei-Quinn scale in gauge mediation
Guido Festuccia, Toby Opferkuch, Lorenzo Ubaldi
The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism provides an elegant solution to the strong CP problem. However astrophysical constraints on axions require the PQ breaking scale to be far higher th…
Phenomenology of WIMPy baryogenesis models
Nicolas Bernal, Francois-Xavier Josse-Michaux, Lorenzo Ubaldi
A possible connection between the abundances of baryonic and dark matter (DM) has been explored so far mostly in the context of the so-called asymmetric DM. Recently, a very differ…
Effects of theta on the deuteron binding energy and the triple-alpha process
Lorenzo Ubaldi
We study the effects that a non zero strong-CP-violating parameter theta would have on the deuteron and diproton binding energies and on the triple-alpha process. Both these system…
Singlet Scalar Dark Matter: monochromatic gamma rays and metastable vacua
Stefano Profumo, Lorenzo Ubaldi, Carroll Wainwright
We calculate the pair-annihilation cross section of real scalar singlet dark matter into two mono-energetic photons. We derive constraints on the theory parameter space from the Fe…
Analytic false-vacuum decay rate in the thin-wall approximation
Marco Matteini, Miha Nemevšek, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We present a fully analytical calculation of the false vacuum decay rate for a self-interacting scalar field in the thin-wall approximation. We obtain the bounce solution, together…
White Dwarfs constrain Dark Forces
Herbert K. Dreiner, Jean-François Fortin, Jordi Isern +1
The white dwarf luminosity function, which provides information about their cooling, has been measured with high precision in the past few years. Simulations that include well know…
Vector dark matter production at the end of inflation
Mar Bastero-Gil, Jose Santiago, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
It has been shown that the longitudinal mode of a massive vector boson can be produced by inflationary fluctuations and account for the dark matter content of the Universe. In this…
Accretion of Dissipative Dark Matter onto Active Galactic Nuclei
Nadav Joseph Outmezguine, Oren Slone, Walter Tangarife +2
We examine the possibility that accretion of Dissipative Dark Matter (DDM) onto Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) contributes to the growth rate of Super Massive Black Holes (SMBHs). Su…
Functional Determinants for False Vacuum Decay
Pietro Baratella, Miha Nemevšek, Yutaro Shoji +2
We derive simple expressions to regularise functional determinants from fluctuations of fields with spin 0, 1/2, and 1. These are important for the precise dimensionful determinati…
Combined explanations of B-physics anomalies: the sterile neutrino solution
Aleksandr Azatov, Daniele Barducci, Diptimoy Ghosh +2
In this paper we provide a combined explanation of charged- and neutral-current -physics anomalies assuming the presence of a light sterile neutrino which contributes to t…
From the unification scale to the weak scale: A self consistent supersymmetric Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky axion model
Herbi K. Dreiner, Florian Staub, Lorenzo Ubaldi
The distinguishing feature of the Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky (DFSZ) axion is that it couples to the electroweak Higgs fields. There is thus an immediate connection between…
Can we discover dual-component thermal WIMP dark matter?
Stefano Profumo, Kris Sigurdson, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We address the question of whether the upcoming generation of dark matter search experiments and colliders will be able to discover if the dark matter in the Universe has two compo…
The Supersymmetric R-Parity Violating Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky Axion Model
Stefano Colucci, Herbi K. Dreiner, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We propose a complete R-parity violating supersymmetric model with baryon triality that contains a Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky axion chiral superfield. We parametrize supers…
Colliders are Testing neither Locality via Bell's Inequality nor Entanglement versus Non-Entanglement
Steven A. Abel, Herbi K. Dreiner, Rhitaja Sengupta +1
Recently there has been an increased interest in possible tests of locality via Bell's inequality or tests of entanglement at colliders, in particular at the LHC. These have involv…
Closing in on singlet scalar dark matter: LUX, invisible Higgs decays and gamma-ray lines
Lei Feng, Stefano Profumo, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We study the implications of the Higgs discovery and of recent results from dark matter searches on real singlet scalar dark matter. The phenomenology of the model is defined by on…
Revising the full one-loop gauge prefactor in electroweak vacuum stability
Pietro Baratella, Miha Nemevšek, Yutaro Shoji +2
We revisit the decay rate of the electroweak vacuum in the Standard Model with the full one-loop prefactor. We focus on the gauge degrees of freedom and derive the degeneracy facto…
Dynamics of Relaxed Inflation
Walter Tangarife, Kohsaku Tobioka, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
The cosmological relaxation of the electroweak scale has been proposed as a mechanism to address the hierarchy problem of the Standard Model. A field, the relaxion, rolls down its…
Precision tools and models to narrow in on the 750 GeV diphoton resonance
Florian Staub, Peter Athron, Lorenzo Basso +8
The hints for a new resonance at 750 GeV from ATLAS and CMS have triggered a significant amount of attention. Since the simplest extensions of the standard model cannot accommodate…
Gamma Rays from Cosmic-Ray Proton Scattering in AGN Jets: the Intra-Cluster Gas vastly outshines Dark Matter
Stefano Profumo, Lorenzo Ubaldi, Mikhail Gorchtein
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) host powerful jets containing high-energy electrons and protons. The astrophysical environment where AGNs and their jets are found is characterized by…
On baryogenesis from dark matter annihilation
Nicolas Bernal, Stefano Colucci, Francois-Xavier Josse-Michaux +2
We study in detail the conditions to generate the baryon asymmetry of the universe from the annihilation of dark matter. This scenario requires a low energy mechanism for thermal b…
White dwarfs constraints on dark sector models with light particles
Lorenzo Ubaldi
The white dwarf luminosity function is well understood in terms of standard model physics and leaves little room for exotic cooling mechanisms related to the possible existence of…
Supernova Constraints on MeV Dark Sectors from e+ e- Annihilations
Herbert K. Dreiner, Jean-François Fortin, Christoph Hanhart +1
Theories with dark forces and dark sectors are of interest for dark matter models. In this paper we find the region in parameter space that is constrained by supernova cooling cons…
Cosmic Ray-Dark Matter Scattering: a New Signature of (Asymmetric) Dark Matter in the Gamma Ray Sky
Stefano Profumo, Lorenzo Ubaldi
We consider the process of scattering of Galactic cosmic-ray electrons and protons off of dark matter with the radiation of a final-state photon. This process provides a novel way…
Schwinger Current in de Sitter Space
Mar Bastero-Gil, Paulo B. Ferraz, António Torres Manso +2
We study classical background electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter space. We show that having a constant electric field in de Sitter requires the photon to have a…
Dark photon dark matter from a rolling inflaton
Mar Bastero-Gil, Jose Santiago, Lorenzo Ubaldi +1
We study in detail a recently proposed mechanism for producing non-thermal dark photon dark matter at the end of inflation in the mass range $μ\,{\rm eV} \lesssim m \lesssim 10\,{\…
False Vacuum Decay Rate From Thin To Thick Walls
Marco Matteini, Miha Nemevšek, Yutaro Shoji +1
We consider a single real scalar field in flat spacetime with a polynomial potential up to , that has a local minimum, the false vacuum, and a deeper global minimum, the true…
Inflaxion Dark Matter
Takeshi Kobayashi, Lorenzo Ubaldi
A new mechanism for producing axion dark matter is proposed. By invoking low-scale inflation and a kinetic mixing between the axion and the inflaton, it is shown that the axion is…