The generation of knowledge based on scientific evidence is one of the main missions of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), which, since its origins, has promoted research in various areas through different types of funding. One of these is the FONDECYT (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) competition, which, since 1981, has financed nearly 16,000 proposals.
Our millennium institute has a group of first level researchers, who, throughout their trajectory, have obtained FONDECYT in its different categories (postdoctoral, initiation and regular). This year, in the highly competitive competition of the High Energy Physics group, our researchers Giovanna Cottin (associate category) and Toshihiko Ota (young category) were winners of the fund, which will allow them to finance their research for the next 2 to 4 years (average duration of a regular FONCEYT).
Giovanna Cottin: "Long-lived particles as probes of dark sectors".
In the case of Giovanna Cottin (PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge), who is also an academic at the Institute of Physics of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, this project entitled "Long-lived particles as probes of dark sectors", further consolidates her strong further consolidates her solid trajectory in the area of long-lived particles, which have been predicted in several models of new physics, beyond the standard model.
"The formulation of my project is motivated by open questions that arose during my FONDECYT Initiation, which have to do with how theoretical predictions of long-lived particles in models with 'dark' sectors (where new physics is weakly coupled to standard model particles), could manifest themselves at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and, at the Future Circular Collider (FCC)," says Cottin.
What Giovanna will develop will be a study in which she will investigate effective models of neutrino masses, departing from those already described within the standard model, in which a more massive neutrino is predicted. "These hypothetical states could have little mixing with known neutrinos and occur frequently in effective theories, boosting their "long-lived" particle signals at colliders. In addition, models that predict dark matter particles could hide long-lived mediators that coexist with dark matter in the dark sector and mix with the Higgs boson of the standard model," he explains.
One of Giovanna's goals is to be able to study more systematically the state of certain electrically charged long-lived particles, which are explained by models that, in turn, clarify the origin of the mass of neutrinos and dark matter. In this sense, different models capable of simultaneously explaining the origin of neutrino mass and dark matter can also predict electrically charged long-lived particles. In the words of the academic, this motivation arises because these states: "give rise to even more exotic signals than long-lived neutral particles (such as the most massive neutrinos), and could be very useful to distinguish between classes of theories".
Among the researcher's expectations for what she will be able to develop in this project are to understand and identify new regions in the parameter space of modern models that explain the masses of neutrinos and/or dark matter, not yet tested by the LHC, which could be accessed at colliders if the model particles are "long-lived". "I hope to be able to devise novel strategies for their search at future FCC and LHC main detectors, in addition to specific detectors that have been proposed at both colliders to identify long-lived particles. I also hope to further enhance my international collaborations on these topics. I also hope to be able to train and collaborate efficiently with my graduate students in this project", he concludes.
Toshihiko Ota: "New neutrino effective theory in the Universe: Exploring theories using neutrinos as a window to new physics".
In the case of Toshihiko Ota, an academic at the Physics Department of the Universidad de La Serena since 2023, this project aims to explore theories beyond the standard model of particle physics, using experimental results and cosmological observations related to neutrinos.
It should be noted that the standard model, which describes the fundamental particles that form matter and the interactions between them, was developed in the 1970s and is linked to key questions such as: the formation of protons, neutrons and electrons; and the relationship of these particles with the electromagnetic, strong and weak forces.
The SAPHIR junior researcher specializes in the fields of elementary particle phenomenology, cosmology and astrophysics, with a particular focus on the nature of neutrinos.
"The FONDECYT grant gives me the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with researchers and experts from all over the world. I am very excited. I look forward to fruitful joint research in both theoretical and phenomenological aspects of neutrinos. In particular, I am currently interested in the impact of neutrino properties on cosmological observations and the role of neutrinos in cosmic history. With the help of the upcoming high-precision cosmological observations, I hope to be able to continue my theoretical exploration and deepen the understanding of the Theory of the Universe," he explains.