Flavorful lepton number violation at the EIC
4 affiliations
- 1University of Washington
- 2Northwestern University, Department of Physics & Astronomy
- 3KEK Theory Center, IPNS, KEK
- 4Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Abstract
A bstract : 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→ ℓα++k j+X e − p → ℓ α + + k j + X , where α ∈ { 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 10−100ĠeV, 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 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.
Related
- Flavorful Lepton-Number-Violating SMEFT: Loop Mixing, 0νββ and Rare Meson Decays
- Lepton-Number Violation in Higgs Effective Field Theory: Complete Operator Basis and Type-II Seesaw Matching
- Precision-Era Reassessment of Modified Quark--Lepton Complementarity: NuFIT 6.1, Phase-Convention Covariance and Lepton-Number Violation
- Lepton number and flavor violation mediated by doubly charged scalars at μTRISTAN μ+ μ+ collider
- Charged Lepton Flavor Violation: A Theory Overview
BibTeX
@article{quiroga2026flavorful,
title = {{Flavorful lepton number violation at the EIC}},
author = {Sebastián Urrutia Quiroga and Vincenzo Cirigliano and Wouter Dekens and Kaori Fuyuto and Emanuele Mereghetti},
journal = {Journal of High Energy Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/jhep10(2026)066},
url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/JHEP10(2026)066},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Flavorful lepton number violation at the EIC
AU - Sebastián Urrutia Quiroga
AU - Vincenzo Cirigliano
AU - Wouter Dekens
AU - Kaori Fuyuto
AU - Emanuele Mereghetti
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Journal of High Energy Physics
DO - 10.1007/jhep10(2026)066
UR - https://link.springer.com/10.1007/JHEP10(2026)066
AB - A bstract : 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→ ℓ_α^++k j+X e − p → ℓ α + + k j + X , where α ∈ { 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 10−100ĠeV, 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 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.
SN - 1029-8479
ER -