Search

Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 04(04), 010 (2022). doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2022/04/010, We revisit the computation of bubble wall friction during a cosmological first-order phase transition, using an extended fluid Ansatz to solve the linearized Boltzmann equation. A singularity is found in the fluctuations of background species as the wall approaches the speed of sound. Using hydrodynamics, we argue that a discontinuity across the speed of sound is expected on general grounds, which manifests itself as the singularity in the solution of the linearized system. We discuss this result in comparison with alternative approaches proposed recently, which find a regular behaviour of the friction for all velocities., Published by IOP, London

Seminar, Hamburg, Germany; Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 02, 014 (2022). doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2022/02/014, Stochastic gravitational wave (GW) backgrounds from first-order phase transitions are an exciting target for future GW observatories and may enable us to study dark sectors with very weak couplings to the Standard Model. In this work we show that such signals may be significantly enhanced for hot dark sectors with a temperature larger than the one of the SM thermal bath. The need to transfer the entropy from the dark sector to the SM after the phase transition can however lead to a substantial dilution of the GW signal. We study this dilution in detail, including the effect of number-changing processes in the dark sector (so-called cannibalism), and show that in large regions of parameter space a net enhancement remains. We apply our findings to a specific example of a dark sector containing a dark Higgs boson and a dark photon and find excellent detection prospects for LISA and the Einstein telescope., Published by IOP, London

Axion-like particles (ALPs) decaying into photons are known to affect a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological observables. In this study we focus on ALPs with masses in the keV-MeV range and lifetimes between $10^4$ and $10^{13}$ seconds, corresponding to decays between the end of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the formation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Using the CosmoBit module of the global fitting framework GAMBIT, we combine state-of-the-art calculations of the irreducible ALP freeze-in abundance, primordial element abundances (including photodisintegration through ALP decays), CMB spectral distortions and anisotropies, and constraints from supernovae and stellar cooling. This approach makes it possible for the first time to perform a global analysis of the ALP parameter space while varying the parameters of $\Lambda$CDM as well as several nuisance parameters. We find a lower bound on the ALP mass of around $m_a > 300\,\text{keV}$, which can only be evaded if ALPs are stable on cosmological timescales. Future observations of CMB spectral distortions with a PIXIE-like mission are expected to improve this bound by two orders of magnitude., Comment: 29+16 pages, 9 figures. V2 corresponds to the published version. Auxiliary material available on Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/record/6573347

A search for Beyond the Standard Model double-β decay modes of 76Ge has been performed with data collected during the Phase II of the GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN (Italy). Improved limits on the decays involving Majorons have been obtained, compared to previous experiments with 76Ge, with half-life values on the order of 1023 yr. For the first time with 76Ge, limits on Lorentz invariance violation effects in double-β decay have been obtained. The isotropic coefficient åof (3), which embeds Lorentz violation in double-β decay, has been constrained at the order of 10-6 GeV. We also set the first experimental limits on the search for light exotic fermions in double-β decay, including sterile neutrinos.

Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 05(5), 004 (2022). doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2022/05/004, The U$\mu \nu$SSM is a U(1)' extension of the U$\mu \nu$SSM supersymmetric model, where baryon-number-violating operators as well as explicit mass terms are forbidden, and the potential domain wall problem is avoided. The gauge anomaly-cancellation conditions impose the presence of exotic quark superfields in the spectrum of U$\mu \nu$SSM models, and allow the presence of several singlet superfields under the standard model gauge group, in addition to the right-handed neutrino superfields. The gauge structure implies an additional discrete Z $_{2}$ symmetry in the superpotential, ensuring the stability of a singlet which behaves as WIMP dark matter without invoking R-parity. We analyze this novel possibility in detail, using the fermionic component of the singlet as the dark matter candidate. In particular, we compute its amount of relic density via Z', Higgs-right sneutrino and dark matter mediated annihilations, and its potential signals in dark matter direct detection experiments. The constraints on the parameter space due to Z'; direct searches at the LHC are imposed in the analysis, as well as those from the hadronization inside the detector of the exotic quarks. Large regions of the parameter space turn out to be in the reach of the upcoming Darwin experiment., Published by IOP, London

Dark matter (DM) from freeze-in or superWIMP production is well known to imprint non-cold DM signatures on cosmological observables. We derive constraints from Lyman-$\alpha$ forest observations for both cases, basing ourselves on a reinterpretation of the existing Lyman-$\alpha$ limits on thermal warm DM. We exclude DM masses below 15 keV for freeze-in, in good agreement with previous literature, and provide a generic lower mass bound for superWIMPs that depends on the mother particle decay width. Special emphasis is placed on the mixed scenario, where contributions from both freeze-in and superWIMP are similarly important. In this case, the imprint on cosmological observables can deviate significantly from thermal warm DM. Furthermore, we provide a modified version of the Boltzmann code CLASS, analytic expressions for the DM distributions, and fits to the DM transfer functions that account for both mechanisms of production. Moreover, we also derive generic constraints from $\Delta N_\mathrm{eff}$ measurements and show that they cannot compete with those arising from Lyman-$\alpha$ observations. For illustration, we apply the above generic limits to a coloured $t$-channel mediator DM model, in which case contributions from both freeze-in through scatterings and decays, as well as superWIMP production can be important. We map out the entire cosmologically viable parameter space, cornered by bounds from Lyman-$\alpha$ observations, the LHC, and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis., Comment: 31 pages + references, 5 figures, v2: Legend of Fig. 2 corrected, Appendix A expanded, references added

We study the origin of fifth forces in scalar-tensor theories of gravity in the so-called Jordan frame, where the modifications to the gravitational sector are manifest. We focus on theories of Brans-Dicke type in which an additional scalar field is coupled directly to the Ricci scalar of General Relativity. We describe how the necessary diffeomorphism invariance of the modified gravitational sector leads to a modification of the usual gauge fixing term (for the harmonic gauge), as compared to Einstein gravity. This allows us to perform a consistent linearization of the gravitational sector in the weak-field limit, which gives rise to a kinetic mixing between the non-minimally coupled scalar field and the graviton. It is through this mixing that a fifth force can arise between matter fields. We are then able to compute the matrix elements for fifth-force exchanges directly in the Jordan frame, without the need to perform a conformal transformation to the so-called Einstein frame, where the gravitational sector is of Einstein-Hilbert form. We obtain results that are in agreement with the equivalent Einstein-frame calculations and illustrate, still in the Jordan frame, the pivotal role that sources of explicit scale symmetry breaking in the matter sector play in admitting fifth-force couplings., Comment: revtext format, 36 pages, 3 figures