Instituto de Física Teórica

Quantum Information Journal Club: Randomized truncation
2025-10-29 11:30 - 12:30 (Europe/Madrid) | Gray Room 3, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Aram Harrow (MIT)
Venue&Time: Grey Room 3 / 11:30
Abstract: Given a vector v, what is the closest k-sparse vector? The answer to this question is usually that we should take the largest k entries of v. It turns out that we can do better with randomized approximations. When approximating pure bipartite entangled states with states of low Schmidt rank, this means that mixed approximations outperform pure approximations. This fact has application to classical algorithms for matrix product states by improving the truncation step, and to quantum algorithms for Hamiltonian simulation.
Joint work with Angus Lowe and Freek Witteveen.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08518

SPS Journal Club: Weak Gravity and Perturbative Black Holes
2025-10-30 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Matteo Lotito (IFT)
Venue&Time: Red Room / 12:00
Abstract:
I present a brief summary of the derivation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture within perturbative string theory, following [2403.14449], and highlight possible gaps that may hinder a fully consistent proof. I then analyze the existence and properties of the black hole solutions whose extremality bounds are compared to the string spectrum in the statement of the WGC. This analysis demonstrates that the black hole solutions we employ in our setup are reliable and do not undermine the validity of our results.

Old Journal Club: Neutrino Masses and Mixings in Gauge Models with Spontaneous Parity Violation
2025-10-30 17:00 - 18:00 | Blue Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) - C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Pablo Blanco (IFT) will present Neutrino Masses and Mixings in Gauge Models with Spontaneous Parity Violation de Rabindra N. Mohapatra, Goran Senjanovic, Jul, 1980 Phys.Rev.D 23 (1981) 165.
Abstract:
Unified electroweak gauge theories based on the gauge group SU(2)L×SU(2)R×U(1)B−L, in which the breakdown of parity invariance is spontaneous, lead most naturally to a massive neutrino. Assuming the neutrino to be a Majorana particle, we show that smallness of its mass can be understood as a result of the observed maximality of parity violation in low-energy weak interactions. This result is shown to be independent of the number of generations and unaffected by renormalization effects. Phenomenological consequences of this model at low energies are studied. Observation of neutrinoless double-β decay will provide a crucial test of this class of models. Implications for rare decays such as μ→eγ, μ→eee¯, etc. are also noted. It is pointed out that in the realm of neutral-current phenomena, departure from the predictions of the standard model for polarized-electron-hadron scattering, forward-backward asymmetry in e+e−→μ+μ−, and neutrino interactions has a universal character and may be therefore used as a test of the model.

Top Ten Foundational Ideas of Theoretical Physics
2025-11-03 15:00 - 16:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Anthony Zee from Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Departmentof Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Venue&Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM

Abstract:

I will list and discuss the ten foundational ideas of theoretical physics. The lecture is based on a popular book with the same title published by Princeton University Press on June 17, 2025. The book is meant to provide a sweeping overview of theoretical physics rather than a morass of details, and thus this talk may be suitable, not only for students of physics, but also for those who are interested in theoretical physics but do not know much about it.

10th IBS/IFT workshop: Dark World to the Swampland
2025-11-04 09:00 - 2025-11-07 19:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
The IBS-IFT Workshop is a regular event organized jointly by IFT and IBS-CTPU, this year reaching its tenth anniversary.
The aim of the workshop is share ideas, foster collaborations, and to discuss recent developments in theoretical physics.
The event is organized over two weeks. The first week, November 4-7, will focus on String Phenomenology
The Center for Theoretical Physics of the Universe is one of the 30 centers of the Institute of Basic Science in South Korea. The IBS-CTPU carries out research on particle physics and cosmology, which aims to understand nature at the most fundamental level and answer the big questions about the origin of the universe.
The Institute for Theoretical Physics IFT UAM-CSIC is a joint research center belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). It is the only Spanish center dedicated entirely to research in Theoretical Physics. The IFT members develop research in the frontiers of Elementary Particle Physics, Astroparticles, and Cosmology, in order to understand the fundamental keys of Nature and the Universe.
With this workshop we want to try to advance our understanding of quantum gravity, mainly through the swampland program, by refining several of the conjectures that have been put forth in the program to bridge the gap between effective field theories and the UV completion as quantum gravity.

HoloClub: 'N=1 Supergravity from Super Virasoro TQFT'
2025-11-04 11:30 - 13:00
Speaker: Sounak Pal (Indian Institute of Technology)
Venue&Time: Grey Room 3 / 11:30
Abstract: I will discuss some aspects of 2D and 3D quantum gravity in
the language of Topological quantum field theory (TQFT). Recent
developments include calculating various gravity partition functions
in AdS3 using descriptions of Liouville conformal field theory (CFT).
We extend this formalism for the N=1 super Liouville case and use
super-Teichmüller TQFT to compute various partition functions of
different on-shell manifolds (admitting a hyperbolic metric with
constant negative Ricci scalar). I will also touch upon some aspects
of quantum chaos and ensemble holography. I will also discuss some
possible future extensions at the end.

Cosmology Journal Club
2025-11-04 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-11-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Discussion room 5th floor, C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, Madrid, 28049, Spain
Every Tuesday at 2:00 PM in the discussion room on the 5th floor.
Join the IFT cosmology/gravity journal club at benty-fields.com to vote for papers and volunteer to present them.

Towards spectral bounds in 6d N=(1,0) supergravity
2025-11-04 17:00 - 18:00 | Blue Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) - C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Seung-Joo

Venue & Time: Tuesday, Nov. 4th / 17:00

Abstract: In this talk we will discuss spectral bounds in 6-dimensional N=(1,0) supergravity. Specifically, considering F-theory vacua on generic base surfaces, we will constrain the U(1) vector and the tensor sectors in turn, to present explicit spectral bounds on the respective sectors. Speculations will also be made as to how the F-/string-theoretic bounds may possibly generalize to the EFT counterparts.

Machine Learning for Time-Domain Astrophysics
2025-11-05 15:00 - 16:00 | Blue Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) - C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Alex Gagliano (IAIFI/MIT)
Venue&Time: Blue Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: The time-evolving night sky is rich with variable stars, supernovae, and merging neutron stars. Wide-field imaging surveys that monitor this variability produce gappy, multi-modal observations that demand scalable, uncertainty-aware models for physical inference. In this talk, I’ll survey my recent work in building machine learning methods for time-domain astrophysics, with a focus on learning representations of our data for classification, physical inference and the discovery of astrophysical anomalies. I’ll introduce Minuet, a compact host-galaxy image encoder trained with diffusion modeling; and a mixture-of-experts model that fuses supernova light curves and spectra while preserving modality-specific information and yielding calibrated posteriors. I’ll conclude by outlining three areas at this intersection with the greatest potential to drive discovery in the coming years: better physical models, scalable population studies, and ML-guided survey optimization.

Machine Learning Journal Club: 'Hierarchical Simulation-Based Inference of Supernova Physics'
2025-11-06 11:00 - 12:00 | Grey Room 2, Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid, Madrid, 28037, Spain
Speaker: Alex Gagliano (IAIFI/MIT)
Venue&Time: 11:00 / Grey Room 2
Absrtact: Supernovae are powered by diverse physical mechanisms such as radioactive decay, circumstellar interaction, and magnetar spin-down, but distinguishing among them from light curves alone remains a major challenge. In this talk, I’ll present a hierarchical simulation-based inference framework that jointly infers both the dominant power source and the key physical parameters of supernovae. By training conditional neural density estimators end-to-end across multiple physical models, this approach yields calibrated posteriors even in regions of strong degeneracy. I’ll highlight the model’s performance on synthetic data and outline plans to fine-tune the model for population-level studies of diverse explosion physics.

DIFT Colloquium: 'String Theory and the Dark Sector'
2025-11-06 15:30 - 17:30 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Cumrun Vafa (Harvard)

Venue & Time: Aula Polivalente, Plaza Mayor UAM / 15:30
Abstract: The dark sector — comprising dark energy and dark matter — has remained a profound mystery for decades. In this talk, I will review this subject and show how string theory naturally leads to a predictive framework for a unified dark sector. I will also discuss how these string-theoretic predictions align with exciting recent cosmological observations from the DES and DESI collaborations.

10th IBS/MultiDark WS: Dark Matter and Axions
2025-11-10 09:00 - 2025-11-13 19:00 | Gray Room 3, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
The IBS-MultiDark-IFT Workshop is a regular event organized jointly by MultiDark and IBS-CTPU, this year reaching its tenth anniversary.
The aim of the workshop is share ideas, foster collaborations, and to discuss recent developments in the field of axion and Dark Matter physics.
The second week, November 10-13, will focus on Dark Matter/Axions.
PROGRAM
Monday, Nov. 10:
(Chair: Alejandra)
15.15h: welcome (Sven & Miguel Angel)
15.30h: Chui-Fan Kong (CTPU/IBS)
“Testing neutrino mass origins with supernova neutrinos”
16.00h: Marina Cermeno (UPM)
“New probes of supernova axion-like particles in neutrino water Cherenkov detectors”
16.30h: coffee
(Chair: Marina)
17.00h: Mario Reig (CERN)
“Testing the heterotic string theory with the axion-photon coupling”
18.00h: reception

Tuesday, Nov. 11:
(Chair: David)
10.00h: Sven Heinemeyer (IFT)
“SUSY DM in GUTs: Fitting the LHC Excesses”
10.30h: Suruj Jyoti Das (CTPU/IBS)
“Affleck-Dine origins of Baryons, Dark Matter and Inflation”
11.00h: coffee
(Chair: Sven)
11.30h: Jose Valle (IFIC)
“Collider signatures of fermionic scotogenic dark matter”
12.00h: Iván Coarasa (UZ)
“Eight Years of Dark Matter Search at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory with ANAIS”
12.30h: Elias Lopez Asamar (IFT)
“Direct searches for dark matter in the sub-GeV regime”
13.00h: lunch
(Chair: Jose)
15.30h: Alejandra Aguirre Santaella (UV)
“New insights on low-mass dark matter subhalo tidal tracks via numerical simulations”
16.00h: David Alonso-González (IFT)
“Cornered but alive: GeV-scale thermal dark matter from dark photons”
16.30h: coffee

Wednesday, Nov. 12:
11.00h: coffee
(Chair: Mario)
11.30h: Sang Hui Im (CTPU/IBS)
“The EDM inverse problem”
12.00h: Sougata Gangly (CTPU/IBS)
“Consistent N_eff fitting in big bang nucleosynthesis analysis”
12.30h: discussion time
13.00h: lunch
(Chair: Sang Hui)
15.30h: Huayang Song (CTPU/IBS)
“Mediator-induced Decay Chains from Non-Minimal Dark Sectors and Multi-Jet Collider Signatures”
16.00h:Karen Macías Cárdenas (IFT)
“Cooling core-collapse supernovae with neutrinophilic dark sectors”
16.30h: coffee
21.00h: workshop dinner

Thursday, Nov 13
(Chair: Miguel Angel)
10.30h: Andrew Buchanan (IFT)
“High Mass Dark Matter Searches With the High Speed LMC”
11.00h: coffee
11.30h: Gaetano di Marco (IFT)
“The interconversion between gamma rays and ALP across various astrophysical environments: a new numerical approach”
12.00h: Pedro Jose de la Torre Luque (IFT)
“Multimessenger constraints for electrophilic feebly interacting particles”
12.30h: farewell

Cosmology Journal Club
2025-11-11 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-11-25 14:00 - 15:00

SPS Journal Club: Holographic constraints on AdS flux vacua
2025-11-13 12:00 - 13:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Antonia Paraskevopoulou (Munich, Max Planck Inst. and LMU Munich)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 12:00
Abstract: In this talk, I will argue that the covariant entropy bound poses non-trivial restrictions on anti-de Sitter(AdS) flux vacua. After motivating the bound on AdS, we will see how it naturally arises in the context of the supergravity equations of motion, based on some reasonable assumptions. In four dimensions, we argue that the bound suggests a lower bound on the superpotential, as we will verify in examples. Based on work in progress with N. Cribiori and T. Van Riet.

Seminar: 'BipoSH: Structured test bed for cosmic isotropy violation'
2025-11-13 15:00 - 16:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Tarun Souradeep (Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, India)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: The Cosmological Principle, a fundamental tenet of the ‘standard model of cosmology’, predicates a statistically isotropic distribution of fluctuations in the measured cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization sky maps. Enigmatic anomalies claimed in the WMAP and Planck CMB sky maps, and some other recent observations, could challenge the standard model. However, these claims need to be cast in an objective mathematical framework and established with statistical rigor. Bayesian inference of the underlying covariance structure of random fields on the sphere in the Bipolar Spherical Harmonic (BipoSH) representation, developed in our research program, provides such a framework. We review some recent inferences drawn from Planck data and discuss the future prospects with proposed CMB observations.

Colloquium: 'The Promise of Gravitational Wave Cosmology'
2025-11-17 15:00 - 16:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Tarun Souradeep (Raman Research Institute, India)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: The 10th anniversary of the first detection of gravitational waves (GWs) is an apt time to assess the promise of this across all GW windows to the understanding of our Universe. The talk briefly reviews the status and successes achieved. The focus will be on the promise for cosmology of the upcoming LIGO-India observatory in early 2030s, LISA space mission in mid 2030s, and the proposed next generation cosmic microwave background and terrestrial/lunar missions.

Seminar: 'Quantum Field Theory, an Overview'
2025-11-18 15:00 - 16:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Anthony Zee (Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: I give an overview and appreciation of quantum field theory, the most precisely tested theory in physics. The talk is addressed to those without any knowledge of quantum field theory. It is based on my textbook Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell and my semi-popular book Quantum Field Theory, as Simply as Possible (both published by Princeton University Press.)

Pheno Journal Club
2025-11-18 15:00 - 16:00 | Gray Room 3, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Every Tuesday at 15:00 in Grey Room 3.

Seminar: Average-case quantum complexity from glassiness
2025-11-19 11:30 - 13:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Alexander Zlokapa (MIT)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 11:30
Abstract: In the classical setting, glassiness characterizes many natural problems (e.g., random k-SAT) and underlies average-case hardness by obstructing a family of “stable” classical algorithms (e.g., constant-time Langevin dynamics). In this work, we develop analogous quantum results. Our techniques, based on quantum optimal transport, differ significantly from classical probabilistic approaches due to the sign problem in the absence of a known eigenbasis. We show that quantum glassiness obstructs stable quantum algorithms, including constant-time Lindbladian dynamics (even when starting from the maximally mixed state). Using the replica trick, we also find that random 3-local Pauli Hamiltonians are quantumly hard and give evidence that random k-local Hamiltonians are quantumly easy for sufficiently large constant k. This differs from the analogous classical (Ising, glassy phase for all k) and fermionic (SYK, never glassy for any k) k-local ensembles. (Talk based on arXiv:2510.08497.)

SPS Journal Club: 'Flux Backtracking and Decoupling of Scale Separated AdS Vacua'
2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Fien Apers (IFT)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 12:00
Abstract: I will explain how the flux backtracking method (https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.03314) can be used to reconstruct the D-brane configuration whose near-horizon region realises the DGKT vacua. As an application, I will show how this reconstructed geometry allows one to verify whether the corresponding D-brane theory decouples from bulk gravity.

Seminar: 'Classical constant electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter'
2025-11-20 15:00 - 16:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Roberto Vega-Morales
Venue&Time: Red Room / 15:00
Abstract: In this talk I will discuss constant classical electric fields and the Schwinger effect in de Sitter space, which has potential implications for magnetogenesis and inflationary dark matter production. I will first go through the conditions for sustaining a constant electric field in de Sitter space before reviewing the calculation of the Schwinger current, pointing out puzzling results in previous calculations found in the literature and how we have resolved them. I will then comment on current and future directions related to this topic. This talk is based on arXiv:2508.14973.

Old Journal Club en la Facultad: "Rotura de simetría y mecanismo de Higgs"
2025-11-20 17:30 - 18:30
Speaker: Marta F. Zamoro (IFT)
Venue & Time: Aula M15-201. Facultad de Ciencias, UAM / 17:30

2 Minutes Meeting
2025-11-24 10:00 - 13:00
The Institute for Theoretical Physics (IFT) and the Department of Theoretical Physics (DFT) would like to invite you to the “2 Minutes Meeting”, which will take place on Monday, November 24 at 10:00 AM in the Aula Polivalente (UAM).

This event is open to all DFT and IFT members and aims to help us get to know each other better in a relaxed and informal setting. Each participant will have about 2 minutes to introduce themselves and share some of their personal or recreational interests.

If you’d like to use one slide during your brief presentation, you may send one only slide to comunicacion@ift.csic.es before Friday, November 21.

We’ll finish with a coffee at 13:00 PM in the Sala de Profesores – Ramiro Cafeteria.

We hope you’ll take part — it’s a perfect moment to meet and connect with all your colleagues.

Join us!

Seminar: 'Gravitational Lensing of Waves: a new window into cosmology and fundamental physics'
2025-11-24 15:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Miguel Zumalacárregui from Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute).
Venue&Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: Gravitational lensing, the bending of light by gravity, is essential for interpreting astronomical observations and provides key insight into astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. A new frontier in gravitational lensing intersects with another key prediction of Einstein’s theory: gravitational waves, fluctuations of space-time produced by the collision of black holes and neutron stars. Like light, gravitational waves are deflected and magnified by the intervening matter distribution, but their unique properties (low frequency, lack of absorption and ab-initio emission models) enable novel signatures and applications. I will present the phenomenology of lensed gravitational waves and the science they will deliver to identify high-redshift sources and probe dark-matter and new gravitational fields. As guiding example I will focus on GW231123: the first compelling lensed black hole merger candidate, its interpretation and consequences.

Pheno Journal Club: 'Is the Strong CP Problem Really a Problem?'
2025-11-25 15:00 - 16:00 | Gray Room 3, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Giulio Barni (IFT)
Venue & Time: 14:30 – 15:30
Abstract: The vanishingly small value of the QCD θ-angle inferred from neutron EDM bounds is usually taken as evidence for the Strong CP Problem, prompting a wide range of proposed solutions. In this talk, I will first review what the Strong CP Problem is: why a generic θ term in QCD leads to large CP violation, and how current experiments force θ ≲ 10e-10. I will then summarize the main solution strategies, including the Peccei–Quinn axion, parity- or CP-based models, and other less conventional ideas. The second part of the talk will focus on a more conceptual question raised in recent years: does the Strong CP Problem actually exist, or could θ be unphysical once confinement and the full structure of QCD are properly taken into account? Building on the recent analysis of Benabou, Hook, Manzari, Murayama and Safdi (arXiv:2510.18951), I will discuss this debate, highlighting what lattice QCD teaches us about θ-dependence, topological sectors, and the neutron EDM.

EDI Trainings: 'Intersectionality. Reflection on identity, privilege and positioning in academia'
2025-11-25 15:30 - 17:00 | Blue Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) - C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Shannah Khan. Director of Intersect Madrid
Venue & Time: Blue Room / 3:30 PM
Abstract: This workshop offers a space for reflection and dialogue to explore how our personal identities, experiences, and social positions influence the way we participate in academic contexts. Through participatory activities, it seeks to foster a deeper understanding of intersectionality and the role that privilege and position play in our interactions and perspectives within academia.

String, Pheno and the Swampland Journal Club: 'Anomaly-induced vanishing of brane partition functions'
2025-11-27 12:00 - 13:00 | IFT Seminar Room/Red Room, Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) -C. Nicolás Cabrera, 13-15, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, 28049,, Spain
Speaker: Michelangelo Tartaglia (IFT)
Venue & Time: Red Room / 12:00
Abstract: In the presence of ‘t Hooft anomalies, backgrounds for the symmetries of a quantum field theory can lead to non-conservation of Noether currents, or more generally, to the presence of charged insertions in the path integral. When there is a net background charge, the partition function evaluated on closed manifolds will vanish. For anomalous symmetries, this statement can also be understood as the anomaly theory giving rise to a non-trivial anomalous phase for the partition function even for “rigid” transformations which leave all background fields unchanged. We use the generalisation of this second viewpoint to the setting of anomalous higher-form symmetries in order to show vanishing of the partition function for a number of examples, both with and without a Lagrangian description. In particular, we show how to derive from these considerations the analogue of the Freed-Witten anomaly cancellation condition for the M5-brane, and also that for the D3-brane in S-fold backgrounds.

Seminar: Constraining Muon decay parameters from CEvNS measurements at Spallation Sources
2025-11-27 15:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Suraj Prakash, IFIC (Valencia)

Venue&Time: Red Room / 3:00 PM
Abstract: The talk will present a study of the sensitivity of COHERENT-like experiments to non-standard neutrino interactions within the vWEFT framework, i.e. low-energy EFT with additional right-handed Dirac neutrinos. Our analysis incorporates, for the first time, flavor-general New Physics effects in both neutrino production (from pion and muon decays) and neutrino detection, through Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS). As a special case, we will highlight how CEvNS data provide an alternative probe for muon decay parameters, for neutrino experiments where muon decay is a source of neutrinos. We will further illustrate how the results can be conveniently formulated in compact form and the ease with which they can be implemented in existing or future analyses using effective nuclear charges. Finally, We will discuss numerical results based on current COHERENT data, and also present estimates for the sensitivity of future measurements.
