Flavorful Lepton Number Violation at the EIC

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Quiroga, Sebastián Urrutia, Cirigliano, Vincenzo, Dekens, Wouter, Fuyuto, Kaori, Mereghetti, Emanuele
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866917294971551744
author Quiroga, Sebastián Urrutia
Cirigliano, Vincenzo
Dekens, Wouter
Fuyuto, Kaori
Mereghetti, Emanuele
author_facet Quiroga, Sebastián Urrutia
Cirigliano, Vincenzo
Dekens, Wouter
Fuyuto, Kaori
Mereghetti, Emanuele
contents We explore the prospects of detecting flavorful lepton number violation at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) through resonant production of heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), resulting in $e^- p \to \ell^+_α+ k\, j+X$, where $α\in \{e, μ, τ\}$ and $k$ denotes the number of jets. We work in the $ν$SMEFT framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory augmented with $n$ singlet HNLs, one of which is in the mass range $10-100$~GeV, within kinematic reach of the EIC. To explore the EIC sensitivity, we focus on the HNL production mechanism induced by mixing with light neutrinos. We study kinematic distributions for signal and backgrounds, including hadronization and detector effects, and suggest a set of cuts to minimize backgrounds. In the mass range considered, we find that the EIC with muon detection capabilities and an integrated luminosity of $100~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ can reach sensitivities comparable to the strongest direct (LHC) and indirect constraints, and is especially relevant in the $ν$SMEFT framework beyond dimension four. Our study motivates further assessment of muon detection capabilities at the EIC and $τ$ hadronic reconstruction, as well as a more general theoretical analysis involving production mechanisms mediated by higher-dimensional operators in the effective theory.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_22355
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Flavorful Lepton Number Violation at the EIC
Quiroga, Sebastián Urrutia
Cirigliano, Vincenzo
Dekens, Wouter
Fuyuto, Kaori
Mereghetti, Emanuele
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Experiment
Nuclear Experiment
Nuclear Theory
We explore the prospects of detecting flavorful lepton number violation at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) through resonant production of heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), resulting in $e^- p \to \ell^+_α+ k\, j+X$, where $α\in \{e, μ, τ\}$ and $k$ denotes the number of jets. We work in the $ν$SMEFT framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory augmented with $n$ singlet HNLs, one of which is in the mass range $10-100$~GeV, within kinematic reach of the EIC. To explore the EIC sensitivity, we focus on the HNL production mechanism induced by mixing with light neutrinos. We study kinematic distributions for signal and backgrounds, including hadronization and detector effects, and suggest a set of cuts to minimize backgrounds. In the mass range considered, we find that the EIC with muon detection capabilities and an integrated luminosity of $100~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ can reach sensitivities comparable to the strongest direct (LHC) and indirect constraints, and is especially relevant in the $ν$SMEFT framework beyond dimension four. Our study motivates further assessment of muon detection capabilities at the EIC and $τ$ hadronic reconstruction, as well as a more general theoretical analysis involving production mechanisms mediated by higher-dimensional operators in the effective theory.
title Flavorful Lepton Number Violation at the EIC
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Experiment
Nuclear Experiment
Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22355