Unravelling the Origin of the Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry in the Universe

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Even with the extraordinary success of the the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM), certain phenomena observed in the Universe that have profound consequences to life as we know it, such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry, the hierarchy problem, and the existence of dark matter and dark energy, remain unexplained. Therefore any physical description of such phenomena requires a theory that goes beyond the Standard Model (BSM), while at the same time encompassing the Standard Model and its predictions related to ordinary matter. A physical quantity potentially sensitive to the source responsible of the matter-antimatter asymmetry is the electric dipole moment (EDM) of particles such as the neutron and proton. The PI will study the impact of theories beyond the Standard Model to the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe by calculating the electric dipole moments of protons and neutrons induced by such theories. In addition to investigating the role played by theories beyond the Standard Model to the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, which is one of the biggest unanswered questions in particle and nuclear physics, the PI will mentor a student engaged in this research.This project uses a new method, based on the so-called gradient flow, for the determination of the Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) component of key BSM matrix elements related to quark and strong theta-CP violations. This set of matrix elements impacts the understanding of electric dipole moments (EDMs) within nucleons and nuclei (a key signature of BSM physics), and their determination will lay the foundation for extraction of BSM observables from future low-energy, high-intensity experimental measurements. The use of the gradient flow will circumvent some of the big challenges posed by the determination of the above-mentioned matrix elements by introducing a new scale, the flow time, that will mitigate divergences present in the calculations. Additionally the gradient flow is perfectly suited to be adopted to QCD calculations on the lattice. Lattice QCD is, as today, the only robust and theoretically sound approach to non-perturbative QCD calculations. The new method the PI has developed is ideally suited for calculating all the CP-violating contributions to the EDM of nucleons and light nuclei. Most of the tools and technique developed in this project are alternative to traditional methods and can be easily applied to other matrix element calculations contributing to the study of dark matter candidates.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.