Search for Sphalerons: LHC vs. Ice Cube

Abstract

In a recent paper, Tye and Wong (TW) have argued that sphaleron-induced transitions in high-energy interactions should be enhanced compared to previous calculations, based on a construction of a Bloch wave function in the periodic sphaleron potential and the corresponding pass band structure. In this talk, the speaker will present his resent work studying future prospects of observing sphaleron transitions at high energy hadron colliders and Ice Cube, based on TW results. He will first discuss the production rate and possible signatures of the sphaleron-induced processes at high energy hadron colliders. He recasts the early ATLAS Run-2 search for microscopic black holes to constrain the rate of sphaleron transitions at 13 TeV LHC. In the second half of the talk, he will discuss the possibility of observing sphaleron transitions induced by cosmogenic neutrinos at Ice Cube. He calculates the sphaleron event rate at Ice Cube and discuss the signature of such events. Finally, he will compare the performance of the sphaleron searches at the LHC and Ice Cube and find complementarity of these experiments.

About the program

For more information, please refer to the program website at http://iasprogram.ust.hk/particle_theory.