My Research

You can find here the articles I have been happy to co-author. You can see my complete research statement for further information about my work or my publication record on InSPIRE.

Selected papers

• The axion flavour connection
  The axion flavour connection
  A local flavour symmetry acting on the quarks of the Standard Model can automatically give rise to an accidental global U(1)U(1) which remains preserved from sources of explicit breaking up to a large operator dimension, while it gets spontaneously broken together with the flavour symmetry. Such non-fundamental symmetries are often endowed with a mixed QCD anomaly, so that the strong CP problem is automatically solved via the axion mechanism. We illustrate the general features required to realise this scenario, and we discuss a simple construction based on the flavour group SU(3)×SU(2)×U(1)FSU(3)×SU(2)×U(1)F​ to illustrate how mass hierarchies can arise while ensuring at the same time a high quality Peccei-Quinn symmetry.
  
• Resonant search for the X17 boson at PADME
  Resonant search for the X17 boson at PADME (Submitted to Phys.Rev.D):
  We discuss the experimental reach of the Frascati PADME experiment in searching for new light bosons via their resonant production in positron annihilation on fixed target atomic electrons. A scan in the mass range around 17 MeV will thoroughly probe the particle physics interpretation of the anomaly observed by the ATOMKI nuclear physics experiment. In particular, for the case of a spin-1 boson, the viable parameter space can be fully covered in a few months of data taking.
  
• Atmospheric resonant production for light dark sectors
  Atmospheric resonant production for light dark sectors (Phys.Rev.D 106, 2022):
  Cosmic ray atmospheric showers provide an effective environment for the production of MeV-scale dark sector particles. We show that, when available, the resonant annihilation of positrons from the shower on atmospheric electrons is the dominant production mechanism by more than an order of magnitude. We provide a quantitative example based on dark photon production and update existing constraints on a corresponding light dark matter model from kilotons neutrino experiments and xenon-based direct detection experiments.
  
• The muon g-2 anomaly confronts new physics in electrons and muons final states scattering
  The muon g-2 anomaly confronts new physics in electrons and muons final states scattering (JHEP 03 - 2022): with Giovanni Grilli di Cortona, Enrico Nardi. The long-standing discrepancy between the standard model prediction for the muon anomalous magnetic moment and the experimental result is accompanied by other anomalies. A crucial input for the prediction is the hadronic vacuum polarization​ inferred from data. However, the two most accurate determinations from KLOE and BaBar strongly disagree, and their average also disagree with the latest lattice QCD estimates. We show that all these discrepancies could be accounted for by a new boson produced resonantly around the KLOE centre of mass energy and decaying promptly. This gives rise to three different effects: (i) the additional e+e−e^+e^-e+e− events will affect the KLOE luminosity determination based on measurements of the Bhabha cross section​; (ii) the additional di-muons events will affect the hadronic vacuum polarization determination via the measurement; (iii) loops involving the new boson would contribute directly​. We discuss in detail this possibility, and we present a simple model that can reconcile the KLOE and BaBar results, the data-driven and the lattice approaches, and the predicted and measured values of the muon anomalous magnetic moment.
• Flavour anomalies and the muon g − 2 from feebly interacting particles
  Flavour anomalies and the muon g − 2 from feebly interacting particles (JHEP03, 2022): with Marco Fedele, Kamila Kowalska, Enrico Sessolo
  We perform a phenomenological analysis of simplified models of light, feebly interacting particles (FIPs) that can provide a combined explanation of the anomalies in b → sll transitions at LHCb and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Different scenarios are categorised according to the explicit momentum dependence of the FIP coupling to the b−s and μ−μ vector currents and they are subject to several constraints from flavour and precision physics. We show that viable combined solutions to the muon g − 2 and flavour anomalies exist with the exchange of a vector FIP with mass larger than 4 GeV. Interestingly, the LHC has the potential to probe this region of the parameter space by increasing the precision of the Z → 4μ cross-section measurement. Conversely, we find that solutions based on the exchange of a lighter vector, in the GeV range, are essentially excluded by a combination of B to K+ invisible and W-decay precision bounds.
  
• Inelastic dark matter at the Fermilab Short Baseline Neutrino Program
  Inelastic dark matter at the Fermilab Short Baseline Neutrino Program (Phys.Rev.D 104, 2021): with Brian Batell, Joshua Berger and Claudia Frugiuele
  We study the sensitivity of the Fermilab Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) experiments, MicroBooNE, ICARUS, and SBND, to MeV- to GeV-scale inelastic dark matter interacting through a dark photon mediator. These models provide interesting scenarios of light thermal dark matter, which, while challenging to probe with direct and indirect detection experiments, are amenable to accelerator-based searches. We consider production of the dark sector states with both the Fermilab Booster 8 GeV and NuMI 120 GeV proton beams and study the signatures of scattering and decay of the heavy excited dark state in the SBN detectors. These distinct signatures probe complementary regions of parameter space. All three experiments will be able to cover new ground, with an excellent near-term opportunity to search for cosmologically motivated targets explaining the observed dark matter abundance.
  
• Selective enhancement of the QCD axion couplings
  Selective enhancement of the QCD axion couplings (Phys.Rev.D 103, 2021): with Luca Di Luzio, Maurizio Giannotti, Enrico Nardi.
  We present a mechanism wherein the QCD axion coupling to nucleons, photons, or electrons can be enhanced selectively without increasing the axion mass. We focus in particular on the axion-nucleon couplings that are generally considered to be largely model independent, and we show how nucleophilic axion models can be constructed. We discuss the implications of a nucleophilic axion for astrophysics, cosmology, and laboratory searches. We present a model with enhanced axion couplings to nucleons and photons that can provide an excellent fit to the anomalous emission of hard x-rays recently observed from a group of nearby neutron stars, and we argue that such a scenario can be thoroughly tested in forthcoming axion-search experiments.
  
• New production channels for light dark matter in hadronic showers
  New production channels for light dark matter in hadronic showers (Phys. Rev. D 102, 2020): with Andrea Celentano, Luca Marsicano, Enrico Nardi Hadronic showers transfer a relevant amount of their energy to electromagnetic subshowers. We show that the generation of “secondary” dark photons in these subshowers is significant and typically dominates the production at low dark photon masses. The resulting dark photons are however substantially less energetic than the ones originating from mesons decay. We illustrate this point both semianalytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Existing limits on vector-mediator scenarios for light dark matter are updated with the inclusion of the new production processes.
• Flavour anomalies from a split dark sector
  Flavour anomalies from a split dark sector (JHEP08 2020): with Marco Fedele, Kamila Kowalska, and Enrico Sessolo. We show that the set of flavor anomalies observed in kaonic B-meson decays can point to new GeV scale neutral particles in certain new physics extension of the Standard Model, and study in details their signatures in various experiments.
• Light Dark Sectors through the Fermion Portal
  Light Dark Sectors through the Fermion Portal (JHEP07 2020): with Sebastian Ellis and Tevong You. Light new dark sector communicates with the Standard Model via so-called "portal operators". We present in this work an effective portal, suited to describe the setup where the new dark sector interacts with the Standard Model via heavy new particles (typically at the TeV scale or above)
• Forbidden frozen-in dark matter
  Forbidden frozen-in dark matter (JHEP 1911): with Andrzej Hryczuk, Dimitris Karamitros and Leszek Roszkowski. We present a new mechanism to generate the dark matter density via freeze-in, based on the thermal mass generated by the high temperature in the early universe.
• Generalised escape paths for dynamical tunneling in QFT
  Generalised escape paths for dynamical tunneling in QFT (Phys. Rev. D 100): with Joerg Jaeckel and Marek Lewicki. A theoretical study of the probability of tunneling from a dynamical initial state in QFT, using the formalism of the functional Schrodinger equation.
• Signatures of dark Higgs boson in light fermionic dark matter scenarios
  Signatures of dark Higgs boson in light fermionic dark matter scenarios (JHEP 1812): with Soumya Rao and Leszek Roszkowski. An extension of our previous paper on the same topic, examining in more details the semi-visible 3-body signatures which often characterise such scenarios.
• Flavor anomalies and dark matter in SUSY with an extra U(1)
  Flavor anomalies and dark matter in SUSY with an extra U(1) (JHEP 1810): with Kamila Kowalska, Leszek Roszkowski and Enrico Sessolo. This article is a proof-of-principle that supersymmetry is not incompatible with the set of flavor anomalies observed in kaonic B-meson decays, although at the price of additional particles.
• Cornering sgluons with four-top-quark events
  Cornering sgluons with four-top-quark events (Phys. Lett. B): with Benjamin Fuks and Mark Goodsell. We search for the presence of elusive color octet particles via a recasting of four-top searches at LHC.
• Light dark Higgs boson in minimal sub-GeV dark matter scenarios
  Light dark Higgs boson in minimal sub-GeV dark matter scenarios (JHEP 1803): with Soumya Rao and Leszek Roszkowski. We explore two minimal and self-consistent models with a light Dark matter candidate.
• Towards the fate of the oscillating false vacuum
  Towards the fate of the oscillating false vacuum (Phys. Rev. D 96): with Joerg Jaeckel and Marek Lewicki. This work focus on phase transitions in the early universe and their probability of occurence when the initial state is a dynamical, oscillating scalar field.
• Muon g-2 and related phenomenology in constrained vector-like extensions of the MSSM
  Muon g-2 and related phenomenology in constrained vector-like extensions of the MSSM (JHEP 1705): with Enrico Sessolo, Arghya Choudhury, Leszek Roszkowski and Sebastian Trojanowski. We explain one the most famous anomaly of the precision frontier of particle physics within the framework of certain supersymmetric models.
• Unconventional particle behaviours in supersymmetric theories and gravity
  Unconventional particle behaviours in supersymmetric theories and gravity : My PhD thesis which contains, explains and extend all of the results presented below.
• The Di-Photon Excess in a Perturbative SUSY Model
  The Di-Photon Excess in a Perturbative SUSY Model (Nucl. Phys. B 911): with Karim Benakli, Mark Goodsell and Julia Harz. We study the signature in the di-photon channel at LHC of the supersymmetric Dirac Gaugino models.
• Superluminal graviton propagation
  Superluminal graviton propagation (Phys. Rev. D 94): with Karim Benakli, Shira Chapman, and Yaron Oz. We investigate some extended gravity theories described by actions constructed from Riemman tensors and especially the superluminal gravitons propagation that they can induce.
• (O)mega Split
  (O)mega Split (JHEP 1511): with Karim Benakli, and Mark Goodsell. We further develop the Fake Split SUSY models we have considered in our previous paper, studying in particular their cosmology.
• The Slow Gravitino
  The Slow Gravitino (JHEP 1410): with Karim Benakli, and Yaron Oz. We considered a Lagrangian originating from embedding SUSY-breaking through finite-temperature in supergravity. Following the super-Higgs mechanism, the gravitino has a Lorentz-violating mass term.
• A Fake Split Supersymmetry Model for the 126 GeV Higgs
  A Fake Split Supersymmetry Model for the 126 GeV Higgs (JHEP 1405) : with Karim Benakli, Pietro Slavich and Mark Goodsell. We study a interesting model derived from Split SUSY.

The presentations that I gave (or will give soon) :

• 7th November 2022: LHCTop WG, invited talk , “The 4-top-quark BSM potential: resonant and non-resonant opportunities”
• 4th November 2022: GDR Intensity Frontier, “Feebly Interacting Particle searches with positrons”
• 20th October 2022: FIP 2022 , “Resonant FIP searches with positrons”
• 2nd September 2022: LFC22, invited talk , “A tale of two frontiers: low energy accelerators for high-energy physics”
• 8th July 2022: ICHEP 2022, “The muon g-2 and GeV-scale new physics”
• 22th June 2022: LIO, invited talk, “Feebly Interacting Particles from cosmic rays showers”
• 13th April 2022: Subatech Nantes, seminar, “Feebly Interacting Particles and B anomalies”
• 1st April 2022: IP2I Lyon, seminar, “Feebly-Interacting Particles”
• 31th March 2022: ICCUB Barcelone, seminar, “The muon g-2 anomaly and GeV-scale new physics”
• 13th January 2022: LAPTh Annecy, seminar, “Flavourful vector FIPs for B → K and g − 2 anomalies”
• 16th November 2021: GDR Intensity Frontier, LPNHE, “Feebly-Interacting Particles and g − 2 anomalies”
• 21th October 2021: JRJC, invited talk, “Theory session overview”
• 8th October 2021: LPSC Grenoble, seminar , “Feebly-Interacting Particles and g − 2 anomalies”
• 4th June 2021: g − 2 days, (Fully Remote), invited talk, “Constraints on “invisible” Feebly- Interacting Particles and g − 2 anomalies”
• 25th May 2021: PHENO2021 “ Flavourful vector FIPs for B → K and g − 2 anomalies”
• 5th May 2021: LPSC Grenoble, Seminar , “Four-top-quark signatures: from EFT to simplified models”
• 13th January 2021: LNF Frascati, Fundamental Physics in Frascati (FFF) , “Potential reach for Dark Photons and ALPs with improved e+/e− beam”
• 2th November 2020: IP2I Lyon, Tools 2020, “Tools for Feebly Interacting Particles”
• 5th June 2020: Dark Matter @ LHC 2020, “Dark photons from hadronic showers”
• Mars 2020: IJCLab Orsay, seminar "Light and flavoured dark sectors through the fermion portal"
• Jan 2020: Ecole Polytechnique, RPP 2020 "Light dark sector EFT and long-lived states"
• Dec 2019: LUPM Montpellier, seminar "The fermion portal: a dark sector EFT"
• Dec 2019: Rome 3, seminar " Light dark matter, dark sector EFT and long-lived states"
• Nov 2019: Light Dark Matter @ Accelerators 2019 "Light dark matter, dark sector EFT and long-lived states"
• June 2019: seminars, Warsaw University, LNF Frascati. "Searching for long-lived particles from light dark sectors"
• Mai 2019: invited talk , PAP 2019, Warsaw "Searching for long-lived particles from light dark sectors"
• Jan 2018: LPC Clermont, RPP 2019 "Hunting light dark sectors in sub-GeV dark matter scenarios"
• Nov-Dec. 2018: seminars in King's college London, University of Cambridge DAMPT/Cavendish laboratory, THEP Mainz, LPSC Grenoble, LAPTh Annecy, IPNL Lyon, LPT Orsay "Hunting light dark sectors in sub-GeV dark matter scenarios"
• Oct. 2018: invited talk , Symposium "The puzzle of dark matter - assembling the pieces", DESY: "Dark sectors with sub-GeV dark matter"
• Mai 2018: PLANCK 2018, Bonn: "Hunting light dark sectors in sub-GeV dark matter scenarios"
• Mai 2018, CERN workshop (Re)interpreting the results of new physics searches at the LHC: "Recasting four top quarks searches: the sgluon case"
• Mai 2018, seminar, Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology, Aachen: "Hunting light dark sectors in sub-GeV dark matter scenarios"
• Mars 2018, invited talk , Moriond QCD 2018, La Thuile: "Light dark sector at colliders and fixed target experiments"
• September 2017, invited talk , Polish Particle Astrophysics conference, Krakow: "Dark matter,on and off the beaten track"
• September 2017: invited talk , 44ZFP (Polish Science Society), Wroclaw: "Dark matter and the high-intensity frontier"
• May 2017: PLANCK 2017, Warsaw: "The fate of the oscillating false vaccum"
• June 2016: 28th Rencontres de Blois: "Diphoton excess and perturbative SUSY with Dirac Gauginos"
• May 2017: PLANCK 2016, Valencia: "Diphoton excess and perturbative SUSY with Dirac Gauginos"
• May 2016: ITP Heidelberg: "Diphoton excess and perturbative SUSY with Dirac Gaugins"
• November 2015: GDR Terascale, Grenoble, How high could SUSY go?
• November 2015: Terascale Alliance, DESY (Hamburg), How high could SUSY go?
• May 2014: PLANCK 2014, Paris, A Fake Split-Supersymmetry Model for the 126 GeV Higgs
• February 2014: LPTHE Internal seminar , Introduction to the FSSM and how to "predict" a 126 GeV Higgs