Limiting majoron self-interactions from gravitational wave experiments

We show how majoron models may be tested/limited in gravitational wave experiments. In particular,the majoron self-interaction potential may induce a first order phase transition, producing gravitational waves from bubble collisions. We dub such a new scenario the violent majoron model, because it would be associated with a violent phase transition in the early Universe. Sphaleron constraints can be avoided if the global U(1)_(B-L) is broken at scales lower than the electroweak scale, provided that the B-L spontaneously breaking scale is lower than10 TeV in order to satisfy the cosmological mass density bound. The possibility of a sub-electroweak phase transition is practically unconstrained by cosmological bounds and it may be detected within the sensitivity of the next generation of gravitational wave experiments: eLISA, DECIGO and BBO. We also comment on its possible detection in the next generation of electron-positron colliders, where majoron production can be observed from the Higgs portals in missing transverse energy channels.     

Strongly first order phase transitions near an enhanced discrete symmetry point

We propose a group theoretic condition which may be applied to extensions of the Standard Model in order to locate regions of parameter space in which the electroweak phase transition is strongly first order, such that electroweak baryogenesis may be a viable mechanism for generating the baryon asymmetry of the universe. Specifically, we demonstrate that the viable corners of parameter space may be identified by their proximity to an enhanced discrete symmetry point. At this point, the global symmetry group of the theory is extended by a discrete group under which the scalar sector is non-trivially charged, and the discrete symmetry is spontaneously broken such that the discrete symmetry relates degenerate electroweak preserving and breaking vacua. This idea is used to investigate several specific models of the electroweak symmetry breaking sector. The phase transitions identified through this method suggest implications for other relics such as dark matter and gravitational waves.     

Quasi-degenerate dark matter for DAMPE excess and 3.5 keV line

We propose a quasi-degenerate dark matter scenario to simultaneously explain the 1.4 Te V peak in the high-energy cosmic-ray electron-positron spectrum reported by the DAMPE collaboration very recently and the 3.5 ke V X-ray line observed in galaxies clusters and from the Galactic centre and confirmed by the Chandra and Nu STAR satellites. We consider a dark S U(2)′× U(1)′gauge symmetry under which the dark matter is a Dirac fermion doublet composed of two S U(2)′doublets with non-trivial U(1)′charges. At the one-loop level the two dark fermion components can have a mass split as a result of the dark gauge symmetry breaking. Through the exchange of a mediator scalar doublet the two quasi-degenerate dark fermions can mostly annihilate into the electron-positron pairs at the tree level for explaining the 1.4 Te V positron anomaly, meanwhile, the heavy dark fermion can very slowly decay into the light dark fermion with a photon at the one-loop level for explaining the 3.5 ke V X-ray line. Our dark fermions can be also verified in the direct detection experiments.     

Lepton Electric Charge Swap at the 10 TeV Energy Scale

We investigate the nature of the dark matter by proposing a mechanism for the breaking of local rotational symmetry between ordinary third family leptons and proposed non-regular leptons at energy scales below 10 TeV. This symmetry breaking mechanism involves electric charge swap between ordinary families of leptons can and produces highly massive non-regular leptons of order 0 （1 TeV） mass unobservable at energy scales below 10 TeV （the scale of LEP Ⅰ, Ⅱ and neutrino oscillation experiments）. Electric charge swap between ordinary families of leptons produces heavy neutral non-regular leptons with order 0 （1 TeV） masses, which may form cold dark matter. The existence of these proposed leptons can be tested once the Large Hadron Collider （LHC） becomes operative at 10 TeV energy-scales. This proposition may have far reaching applications in astrophysics and cosmology.     

Lepton Electric Charge Swap at the 10 TeV Energy Scale

We investigate the nature of the dark matter by proposing a mechanism for the breaking of local rotational symmetry between ordinary third family leptons and proposed non-regular leptons at energy scales below 10 TeV. This symmetry breaking mechanism involves electric charge swap between ordinary families of leptons can and produces highly massive non-regular leptons of order O (1 TeV) mass unobservable at energy scales below 10 TeV (the scale of LEP Ⅰ, Ⅱ and neutrino oscillation experiments). Electric charge swap between ordinary families of leptons produces heavy neutral non-regular leptons with order O (1 TeV) masses, which may form cold dark matter. The existence of these proposed leptons can be tested once the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) becomes operative at 10 TeV energy-scales. This proposition may have far reaching applications in astrophysics and cosmology.     

Mach's Principle and Model for a Broken Symmetric Theory of Gravity

We investigate spontaneous symmetry breaking in a conformally invariant gravitational model. In particular, we use a conformally invariant scalar tensor theory as the vacuum sector of a gravitational model to examine the idea that gravitational coupling may be the result of a spontaneous symmetry breaking. In this model matter is taken to be coupled with a metric which is different but conformally related to the metric appearing explicitly in the vacuum sector. We show that after the spontaneous symmetry breaking the resulting theory is consistent with Mach's principle in the sense that inertial masses of particles have variable configurations in a cosmological context. Moreover, our analysis allows to construct a mechanism in which the resulting large vacuum energy density relaxes during evolution of the universe.     

NANOGrav results and dark first order phase transitions

The recent NANOGrav evidence of a common-source stochastic background provides a hint to gravitational waves(GW) radiation from the Early Universe. We show that this result can be interpreted as a GW spectrum produced from first order phase transitions(FOPTs) around a temperature in the keV-MeV window. Such a class of FOPTs at temperatures much below the electroweak scale can be naturally envisaged in several warm dark matter models such as Majoron dark matter.     

Gravitational waves as a probe of the gravitino mass

If gaugino condensations occur in the early universe, domain walls are produced as a result of the spontaneous breaking of a discrete R symmetry. Those domain walls eventually annihilate with one another, producing the gravitational waves. We show that the gravitational waves can be a probe for measuring the gravitino mass, if the constant term in the superpotential is the relevant source of the discrete R symmetry breaking.     

Collider search of light dark matter model with dark sector decay

We explore the possibility that the dark matter relic density is not produced by a thermal mechanism directly, but by the decay of other heavier dark-sector particles which themselves can be produced by the thermal freeze-out mechanism. Using a concrete model with light dark matter from dark sector decay, we study the collider signature of the dark sector particles associated with Higgs production processes. We find that future lepton colliders could be a better place to probe the signature of this kind of light dark matter model than hadron colliders such as LHC. Also, we find that a Higgs factory with center-of-mass energy 250 GeV has a better potential to resolve the signature of this kind of light dark matter model than a Higgs factory with center-of-mass energy 350 GeV.     

Employing Higgs boson production at photon colliders to discriminate between the two Higgs doublet model and the standard model in the process <Emphasis Type="Italic">eγ</Emphasis> → <Emphasis Type="Italic">eh</Emphasis>

The possibility of employing experiments at photon colliders to discriminate between various models of electroweak-symmetry breaking is discussed for the case where experiments at LHC and at future linear electron-positron colliders reveal no disagreement with the predictions of the Standard Model (SM)—that is, the case of an SM-like scenario. The two Higgs boson doublet model (2HDM) is considered as an alternative to the SM. A comparison of the cross sections obtained for the process eγ → eh within the SM and the natural 2HDM shows that investigation of this cross section would make it possible to discriminate between these models of electroweak-symmetry breaking reliably and to confirm or disprove the results obtained by studying the reaction γγ → h.     

Light dark sector searches at low-energy high-luminosity e+e− colliders

Although the standard model (SM) is extremely successful, there are various motivations for considering the physics beyond the SM. For example, the SM includes neither dark energy nor dark matter, which has been confirmed through astrophysical observations. Examination of the dark sector, which contains new, light, weakly-coupled particles at the GeV scale or lower, is well motivated by both theory and dark-matter detection experiments. In this mini-review, we focus on one particular case in which these new particles can interact with SM particles through a kinematic mixing term between U(1) gauge bosons. The magnitude of the mixing can be parameterized by a parameter ϵ. Following a brief overview of the relevant motivations and the constraints determined from numerous experiments, we focus on the light dark sector phenomenology at low-energy high-luminosity e⁺e⁻ colliders. These colliders are ideal for probing the new light particles, because of their large production rates and capacity for precise resonance reconstruction. Depending on the details of a given model, the typical observed signatures may also contain multi lepton pairs, displaced vertices, and/or missing energy. Through the use of extremely large data samples from existing experiments, such as KLOE, CLEO, BABAR, Belle, and BESIII, the ϵ<10⁻⁴–10⁻³ constraint can be obtained. Obviously, future experiments with larger datasets will provide opportunities for the discovery of new particles in the dark sector, or for stricter upper limits on ϵ. Once the light dark sector is confirmed, the particle physics landscape will be changed significantly.     

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in general relativity. Vector order parameter

Gravitational properties of a hedgehog-type topological defect in two extra dimensions are considered in general relativity using a vector as the order parameter. All previous considerations were done using the order parameter in the form of a multiplet in the target space of scalar fields. The difference of these two approaches is analyzed and demonstrated in detail. Regular solutions to the Einstein equations are studied analytically and numerically. It is shown that the existence of a negative cosmological constant is sufficient for the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the initially flat bulk. Regular configurations have an increasing gravitational potential and are able to trap the matter on the brane. If the energy of spontaneous symmetry breaking is high, the gravitational potential has several minimum points. Spinless particles that are identical in the uniform bulk, being trapped at separate minima, acquire different masses and appear to the observer on the brane as different particles with integer spins. The article is published in the original.     

Nonminimal Higgs models,dark matter,and evolution of the universe

The set of sum rules for a wide class of nonminimal Higgs models has been obtained. Difficulties and ways for revealing the possibilities of studying extended Higgs models at colliders have been revealed with the use of these sum rules and recent LHC results. New methods of studying multidoublet Higgs models with various symmetry groups have been applied to solve problems of classification of these groups, breaking of symmetries in vacuum, etc. A method for the determination of masses and spins of dark-matter particles D and their partners via the energy spectrum of a lepton in the e ⁺ e ^? → DDW ⁺ W ^? process has been proposed. The possibility of the existence of strongly interacting dark matter has been revealed. Variants of the evolution of the phase states of the Universe have been analyzed within the inert doublet model.     

The Impact of the LHC on Cosmology

The last 2 years has seen an immense amount of activity and results from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Most notable is the discovery of a new particle which may very well be the long sought Higgs boson associated with electroweak symmetry breaking. There have also been many (up to now) unsuccessful searches for new particles associated with supersymmetry. One of the most attractive candidates for dark matter is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The recent results from the LHC have had a dramatic impact on our expectations for the properties of the LSP. These results can be used to revise expectations for both direct and indirect detection of dark matter.     

Spontaneous symmetry breaking of population in a nonadiabatically driven atomic trap: an Ising-class phase transition

We have observed spontaneous symmetry breaking of the population of Brownian particles between two moving potentials in the spatiotemporally symmetric system. Cold atoms preferentially occupy one of the dynamic double-well potentials, produced in the parametrically driven dissipative magneto-optical trap far from equilibrium, above a critical number of atoms. We find that the population asymmetry, which may be interpreted as the biased Brownian motion, can be qualitatively described by the mean-field Ising-class phase transition. This in situ study may be useful for investigation of dynamic phase transition or temporal behavior of critical phenomena.     

Unimodular bimode gravity and the coherent scalar-graviton field as galaxy dark matter

An explicit violation of the general gauge invariance/relativity is adopted as the origin of dark matter and dark energy in the context of gravitation. The violation of the local scale invariance alone, with the residual unimodular one, is considered. Besides the four-volume preserving deformation mode—the transverse-tensor graviton—the metric comprises a compression mode—the scalar graviton, or the systolon. A unimodular invariant and general covariant metric theory of the bimode/scalar-tensor gravity is consistently worked out. To reduce the primordial ambiguity of the theory a dynamical global symmetry is imposed, with its subsequent spontaneous breaking revealed. The static spherically symmetric case in empty space, except possibly for the origin, is studied. A three-parameter solution describing a new static space structure—the dark lacuna—is constructed. It enjoys the property of gravitational confinement, with the logarithmic potential of gravitational attraction at the periphery, and results in asymptotically flat rotation curves. Comprising a super-massive dark fracture (a scalar-modified black hole) at the origin surrounded by a cored dark halo, the dark lacunas are proposed as a prototype model of galaxies, implying an ultimate account for the distributed non-gravitational matter and putative asphericity or rotation.     

Spontaneous phase symmetry breaking in a four-frequency ring gas laser

Lasing regimes of a single-mode four-frequency class-A ring gas laser with elliptical polarization of the emitted waves are studied numerically. Stationary regimes typical of both standing-and traveling-wave lasing are discovered. Self-oscillations exhibiting the properties of asymmetric and symmetric limit cycles are also found. It is shown that transition between cycles with different symmetry may result in the spontaneous phase symmetry breaking and the appearance of chaos arising due to the period doubling bifurcation cascade of the asymmetric limit cycle.     

Gravitational wave imprint of new symmetry breaking

It is believed that there are more fundamental gauge symmetries beyond those described by the Standard Model of particle physics. The scales of these new gauge symmetries are usually too high to be reachable by particle colliders. Considering that the phase transition (PT) relating to the spontaneous breaking of new gauge symmetries to the electroweak symmetry might be strongly first order, we propose considering the stochastic gravitational waves (GW) arising from this phase transition as an indirect way of detecting these new fundamental gauge symmetries. As an illustration, we explore the possibility of detecting the stochastic GW generated from the PT of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} in the space-based interferometer detectors. Our study demonstrates that the GW energy spectrum is reachable by the LISA, Tianqin, Taiji, BBO, and DECIGO experiments only for the case where the spontaneous breaking of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} is triggered by at least two electroweak singlet scalars.     

Einstein gravity as spontaneously broken Weyl gravity

We study the locally conformal invariant Weyl theory of gravitation and introduce a conformally coupled scalar field. Einstein gravity is induced by spontaneous breaking of the local conformal symmetry in an effective long range approximation. The effective potential for the scalar field is calculated at the one-loop level up to curvature squared in order in an arbitrary curved background. The non-zero vacuum expectation value of the scalar field induces the dimensional Einstein's gravitational coupling constant stably in case ofR > 0. ForR < 0, the phase transition occurs from the symmetric phase to the broken phase as the curvature decreases. This theory may be an attractive candidate for the primordial inflationary universe scenario.