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Abstract: Although the exact neutrino mass generation mechanism is unknown, minimal extension of the Standard Model of elementary particle physics can incorporate neutrino masses using the Yukawa coupling mechanism that is already used for generating masses of the other fundamental fermions. However, this requires Higgs-neutrino Yukawa coupling coefficients that are considered unnaturally small. To mitigate this potential issue, models have been proposed using a second Higgs field with a vacuum expectation value (VEV) much smaller than that of the Standard Model Higgs field. In these so-called 'neutrinophilic' two Higgs doublet models (2HDMs), which are also appealing for their natural incorporation of supersymmetry and matter/antimatter asymmetry, the degrees of freedom of the second Higgs field include a mode with a Compton wavelength in the micrometer range. This is large enough to contemplate the use of an electromagnetic cavity with properly designed macroscopic boundary conditions to modulate the light Higgs VEV. We use the neutrinophilic 2HDM to calculate higher order interactions arising from quantum fluctuations that couple the Higgs and the electromagnetic field, which we then use to estimate how the Higgs VEV might be modulated in a cavity. We then discuss the feasibility of using mass modulated neutrino time-of-flight experiments at the next generation of high-intensity neutrino beams in constraining this neutrinophilic 2HDM.

Advisor: Roberto Onofrio

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https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/94570592268?pwd=q4q4LR8iopygYCBgXun0BNBejsncXU.1

Meeting ID: 945 7059 2268
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