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Title: β Decays as Sensitive Probes of Lepton Flavor Universality

Abstract

Nuclear $$\textit{β}$$ decays as well as the decay of the neutron are well-established low-energy probes of physics beyond the standard model (SM). In particular, with the axial-vector coupling of the nucleon $$g_A$$ determined from lattice QCD, the comparison between experiment and SM prediction is commonly used to derive constraints on right-handed currents. Further, in addition to the CKM element $$V_{us}$$ from kaon decays, $$V_{ud}$$ from $$\textit{β}$$ decays is a critical input for the test of CKM unitarity. Here, we point out that the available information on $$\textit{β}$$ decays can be reinterpreted as a stringent test of lepton flavor universality (LFU). In fact, we find that the ratio of $$V_{us}$$ from kaon decays over $$V_{us}$$ from $$\textit{β}$$ decays (assuming CKM unitarity) is extremely sensitive to LFU violation (LFUV) in $$W_{-μ-ν}$$ couplings thanks to a CKM enhancement by $$(V_{ud}/V_{us})^2$$ ~20. From this perspective, recent hints for the violation of CKM unitarity can be viewed as further evidence for LFUV, fitting into the existing picture exhibited by semileptonic $$\textit{B}$$ decays and the anomalous magnetic moments of muon and electron. Finally, we comment on the future sensitivity that can be reached with this LFU violating observable and discuss complementary probes of LFU that may reach a similar level of precision, such as $$\Gamma(π → μν)/\Gamma(π → eν)$$ at the PEN and PiENu experiments or even direct measurements of $$\textit{W → μν}$$ at an FCC-ee.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
OSTI Identifier:
1659362
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1799989
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-00ER41132
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Volume: 125 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; Physics

Citation Formats

Crivellin, Andreas, and Hoferichter, Martin. β Decays as Sensitive Probes of Lepton Flavor Universality. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.111801.
Crivellin, Andreas, & Hoferichter, Martin. β Decays as Sensitive Probes of Lepton Flavor Universality. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.111801
Crivellin, Andreas, and Hoferichter, Martin. Thu . "β Decays as Sensitive Probes of Lepton Flavor Universality". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.111801.
@article{osti_1659362,
title = {β Decays as Sensitive Probes of Lepton Flavor Universality},
author = {Crivellin, Andreas and Hoferichter, Martin},
abstractNote = {Nuclear $\textit{β}$ decays as well as the decay of the neutron are well-established low-energy probes of physics beyond the standard model (SM). In particular, with the axial-vector coupling of the nucleon $g_A$ determined from lattice QCD, the comparison between experiment and SM prediction is commonly used to derive constraints on right-handed currents. Further, in addition to the CKM element $V_{us}$ from kaon decays, $V_{ud}$ from $\textit{β}$ decays is a critical input for the test of CKM unitarity. Here, we point out that the available information on $\textit{β}$ decays can be reinterpreted as a stringent test of lepton flavor universality (LFU). In fact, we find that the ratio of $V_{us}$ from kaon decays over $V_{us}$ from $\textit{β}$ decays (assuming CKM unitarity) is extremely sensitive to LFU violation (LFUV) in $W_{-μ-ν}$ couplings thanks to a CKM enhancement by $(V_{ud}/V_{us})^2$ ~20. From this perspective, recent hints for the violation of CKM unitarity can be viewed as further evidence for LFUV, fitting into the existing picture exhibited by semileptonic $\textit{B}$ decays and the anomalous magnetic moments of muon and electron. Finally, we comment on the future sensitivity that can be reached with this LFU violating observable and discuss complementary probes of LFU that may reach a similar level of precision, such as $\Gamma(π → μν)/\Gamma(π → eν)$ at the PEN and PiENu experiments or even direct measurements of $\textit{W → μν}$ at an FCC-ee.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.111801},
journal = {Physical Review Letters},
number = 11,
volume = 125,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}

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