Mitchell Conference on Collider, Dark Matter, and Neutrino Physics 2026

Contribution List

1. Welcome

Kevin Kelly (Texas A&M University)

27/05/2026, 09:00

2. Closing

Kevin Kelly (Texas A&M University)

30/05/2026, 12:00

9. A likelihood analysis for gamma-ray background models

Jason Kumar

Indirect searches for dark matter using dwarf spheroidal galaxies are limited by systematic uncertainties in modeling diffuse gamma-ray backgrounds. We present a likelihood-based comparison of locally constructed empirical background models and theoretically-motivated models which incorporate the Fermi-LAT diffuse background. The empirical models include both an independent-binning approach...

11. Antineutrino Signals of Ultralight Vector Dark Matter

Asher Berlin (Fermilab)

Neutrinos oscillate into antineutrinos in a background of ultralight vector dark matter coupled to lepton number, such as the gauge boson of B-L. This effect is suppressed by the small neutrino mass, but the enhancement by long astrophysical baselines can enable uncharted parameter space to be explored by future searches for solar and supernova antineutrinos. For instance, the observation of a...

12. Axions or WIMPs?

Scott Watson

I will discuss recent work on the production of both axions and WIMPs in UV-complete theories of the early universe. This approach is naturally motivated by the challenge of embedding inflation and its aftermath, up to BBN, in a fundamental theory.

19. Kaon Factories and Vectors Coupled to Non-conserved Currents

Adrian Thompson

We study rare three- and four-body kaon decays as a probe of light vector and axial-vector bosons coupled to non-conserved currents. We find that searches for $K_L \to \pi^0 \pi^0 (X\to e^+e^-)$ decays constrain the couplings of light $X$ bosons to light quarks to be as small as $\mathcal{O}(10^{-5})$. The charged-pion modes $K^+ \to \pi^+ \pi^0 (X \to e^+e^-)$ and $K_L \to \pi^+ \pi^- (X \to...

14. Neutrinos in Muon Collisions

Dr Innes Bigaran (Fermilab and Northwestern University)

Future muon colliders offer direct access to neutrino interactions at TeV scales. At high energies, electroweak radiation qualitatively reshapes lepton collisions: energetic muons can radiate W bosons, generating an intense flux of neutrinos within the beam and effectively turning the collider into a source of neutrino–lepton collisions. In this talk, I introduce an electroweak parton...

20. Neutron Star Eclipses as Axion Laboratories

Vedran Brdar (Oklahoma State University (US))

Axion-like particles (ALPs) appear in many beyond-the-Standard-Model theories, either as candidates for dark matter or as partners of the axion that explains the apparent conservation of charge-parity symmetry, known as the strong CP problem. In this talk, I will present a novel method for probing ALPs using eclipsing binary systems which can serve as an astrophysical realization of...

10. Novel Signals from a Couple of Portals

Can Kilic

Portal models, where new physics lives in a hidden sector neutral under the SM gauge groups provide a relatively weakly constrained way to extend the SM at the GeV-to-TeV scale. In this talk I will focus on some novel experimental signatures of the neutrino portal to a non-minimal hidden sector, as well as the phenomenology of a Z-prime model coupled to a non-anomalous and flavor-universal...

5. Open system approach to neutrinos propagating in an ultralight scalar background

Gustavo Alves

We examine decoherence in neutrino oscillations induced by an ultralight scalar field coupled to neutrinos. The scalar induces time- and position-dependent shifts in the neutrino mass matrix. Neutrinos sample different field configurations throughout an experimental data-taking period, which leads to damping effects in the oscillation pattern in the form of decoherence. By recasting the...

21. Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter from Accretion During Early Matter Domination

Rouzbeh Allahverdi (University of New Mexico)

We present a scenario where primordial black holes (PBHs) formed in a radiation-dominated (RD) phase undergo significant accretion during a period of early matter dominated (EMD), as a result of which their mass can grow by up to two orders of magnitude. Restricting to the linear perturbation regime, we compute the gravitational wave (GW) spectrum that features two peaks: a high-frequency peak...

18. Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings

Dr Debasish Borah (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)

The persistent null results at dark matter (DM) direct-detection experiments have pushed the popular weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) DM to tight corners. Generic WIMP models with direct-detection rate below the current upper limits often lead to a thermally overproduced relic abundance after freeze-out. To resolve this conundrum, we propose a novel scenario where DM has...

17. The Large Magellanic Cloud and dark matter direct detection across mass scales

Nassim Bozorgnia

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) can significantly impact the dark matter halo of the Milky Way, and modify the dark matter velocity distribution in the Solar neighborhood. Cosmological simulations that sample potential Milky Way formation histories provide a powerful framework to characterize the dynamical imprint of the LMC-Milky Way interaction on the local dark matter distribution. I will...

16. Di-Higgs searches at the LHC

Rachel Jordan Hyneman (University of Arizona (US))

Higgs boson pair production (HH) plays a central role in probing the Higgs boson self-interactions, which are key to understanding the shape of the Higgs potential and the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking. This talk presents the latest results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments on non-resonant Higgs boson pair production, based on the full Run 2 dataset collected at $\sqrt{s}$ =...