Neutrino pair annihilation ($$\nu {\bar{\nu }}\rightarrow e^-e^+$$) in the presence of quintessence surrounding a black hole

Quintessence fields, introduced to explain the speed-up of the Universe, might affect the geometry of spacetime surrounding black holes, as compared to the standard Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries. In this framework, we study the neutrino pairs annihilation into electron-positron pairs ($$\nu {\bar{\nu }}\rightarrow e^-e^+$$ ν ν ¯ → e - e + ) near the surface of a neutron star, focusing, in particular, on the Schwarzschild-like geometry in presence of quintessence fields. The effect of the latter is to increase the photon-sphere radius ($$R_{ph}$$ R ph ), increasing in such a way the maximum energy deposition rate near to $$R_{ph}$$ R ph . The rate turns out to be several orders of magnitude greater than the rate computed in the framework of General Relativity. These results might provide a rising in the GRBs energy emitted from a close binary neutron star system and might be used to constraints the parameters of the quintessence model. Finally we theoretically study the effects of rotation on the neutrino energy deposition.

Neutrino energy-loss rate in 331β model

We evaluate the stellar energy-loss rates [Formula: see text] due to the production of neutrino pair in 3-3-1 models. The energy loss rate [Formula: see text] is evaluated for different values of [Formula: see text] in which [Formula: see text] is a parameter used to define the charge operator in the 331 models. We show that the contribution of dipole moment to the energy loss rate is small compared to the contribution of new natural gauge boson [Formula: see text]. The correction [Formula: see text] compared with that of Standard Model is evaluated and do not exceed 14% and is highest with [Formula: see text]. Of all the evaluated models, model with [Formula: see text] give a relative large [Formula: see text] correction for the mass of [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] GeV. This mass range is within the searching range for [Formula: see text] boson at LHC.

Charged current Drell-Yan production at N3LO

We present the production cross section for a lepton-neutrino pair at the Large Hadron Collider computed at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) in QCD perturbation theory. We compute the partonic coefficient functions of a virtual W± boson at this order. We then use these analytic functions to study the progression of the perturbative series in different observables. In particular, we investigate the impact of the newly obtained corrections on the inclusive production cross section of W± bosons, as well as on the ratios of the production cross sections for W+, W− and/or a virtual photon. Finally, we present N3LO predictions for the charge asymmetry at the LHC.

Neutrino-pair interactions in astrophysical systems

We study the effects produced by interactions among neutrinos upon extra-galactic neutrino-fluxes. We have assumed a separable type of pair interactions and performed a transformation to a quasi-particle mean field followed by a Tamm–Damcoff diagonalization. In doing so, we have adopted techniques originated in the quantum many-body problem, and adapted them to this specific case. The solutions of the associated eigenvalue problem provide us with energies and amplitudes which are then used to construct the neutrino response functions at finite density and temperature. The formalism is applied to the description of neutrinos produced in a SN environment.

Squeezing the Parameter Space for Lorentz Violation in the Neutrino Sector with Additional Decay Channels

The hypothesis of Lorentz violation in the neutrino sector has intrigued scientists for the last two to three decades. A number of theoretical arguments support the emergence of such violations, first and foremost for neutrinos, which constitute the “most elusive” and “least interacting” particles known to mankind. It is of obvious interest to place stringent bounds on the Lorentz-violating parameters in the neutrino sector. In the past, the most stringent bounds have been placed by calculating the probability of neutrino decay into a lepton pair, a process made kinematically feasible by Lorentz violation in the neutrino sector, above a certain threshold. However, even more stringent bounds can be placed on the Lorentz-violating parameters if one takes into account, additionally, the possibility of neutrino splitting, i.e., of neutrino decay into a neutrino of lower energy, accompanied by “neutrino-pair Čerenkov radiation.” This process has a negligible threshold and can be used to improve the bounds on Lorentz-violating parameters in the neutrino sector. Finally, we take the opportunity to discuss the relation of Lorentz and gauge symmetry breaking, with a special emphasis on the theoretical models employed in our calculations.

Simulating hard photon production with Whizard

One of the important goals of the proposed future $$\hbox {e}^{+}\hbox {e}^{-}$$e+e- collider experiments is the search for dark matter particles using different experimental approaches. The most general search approach is based on the mono-photon signature, which is expected when production of the invisible final state is accompanied by a hard photon from initial state radiation. Analysis of the energy spectrum and angular distributions of those photons can shed light on the nature of dark matter and its interactions. Therefore, it is crucial to be able to simulate the signal and background samples in a uniform framework, to avoid possible systematic biases. The Whizard program is a flexible tool, which is widely used by $$\hbox {e}^{+}\hbox {e}^{-}$$e+e- collaborations for simulation of many different “new physics” scenarios. We propose the procedure of merging the matrix element calculations with the lepton ISR structure function implemented in Whizard. It allows us to reliably simulate the mono-photon events, including the two main Standard Model background processes: radiative neutrino pair production and radiative Bhabha scattering. We demonstrate that cross sections and kinematic distributions of mono-photon in neutrino pair-production events agree with corresponding predictions of the $$\mathcal{KK}$$KK MC, a Monte Carlo generator providing perturbative predictions for SM and QED processes, which has been widely used in the analysis of LEP data.