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Creators/Authors contains: "Hong, Sungwoo"

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  1. A<sc>bstract</sc> We study a scenario where a dark sector, described by a Conformal Field Theory (CFT), interacts with the Standard Model through the neutrino portal. In this setup, conformal invariance breaks below the electroweak scale, causing the theory to transition into a confined (hadronic) phase. One of the hadronic excitations in this phase can act as dark matter. In the “Conformal Freeze-In” cosmological framework, the dark sector is populated through interactions with the Standard Model at temperatures where it retains approximate conformal symmetry. The dark matter relic density depends on the CFT parameters, such as the dimension of the operator coupled to the Standard Model. We demonstrate that this model can reproduce the DM relic density and meet all observational constraints. The same neutrino portal interaction may also generate masses for the active neutrinos. The dark matter candidate could either be a pseudo-Goldstone boson (PGB) or a composite fermion with the quantum numbers of a sterile neutrino. In the latter case, the model is consistent with the current X-ray constraints, and may be detectable with future X-ray observations. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 1, 2026
  2. A<sc>bstract</sc> We study the generation of the baryon asymmetry in Composite Higgs models with partial compositeness of the Standard Model (SM) fermions and heavy right-handed neutrinos, developing for the first time a complete picture of leptogenesis in that setup. The asymmetry is induced by the out of equilibrium decays of the heavy right-handed neutrinos into a plasma of the nearly conformal field theory (CFT), i.e. the deconfined phase of the Composite Higgs dynamics. This exotic mechanism, which we callConformal Leptogenesis, admits a reliable description in terms of a set of “Boltzmann equations” whose coefficients can be expressed in terms of correlation functions of the CFT. The asymmetry thus generated is subsequently affected by the supercooling resulting from the confining phase transition of the strong Higgs sector as well as by the washout induced by the resonances formed after the transition. Nevertheless, a qualitative description of the latter effects suggests that conformal leptogenesis can successfully reproduce the observed baryon asymmetry in a wide region of parameter space. A distinctive signature of our scenarios is a sizable compositeness forallthe generations of SM neutrinos, which is currently consistent with all constraints but may be within reach of future colliders. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
  3. A bstract We consider theories in which a dark sector is described by a Conformal Field Theory (CFT) over a broad range of energy scales. A coupling of the dark sector to the Standard Model breaks conformal invariance. While weak at high energies, the breaking grows in the infrared, and at a certain energy scale the theory enters a confined (hadronic) phase. One of the hadronic excitations can play the role of dark matter. We study a “Conformal Freeze-In” cosmological scenario, in which the dark sector is populated through its interactions with the SM at temperatures when it is conformal. In this scenario, the dark matter relic density is determined by the CFT data, such as the dimension of the CFT operator coupled to the Standard Model. We show that this simple and highly predictive model of dark matter is phenomenologically viable. The observed relic density is reproduced for a variety of SM operators (“portals”) coupled to the CFT, and the resulting models are consistent with observational constraints. The mass of the COFI dark matter candidate is predicted to be in the keV-MeV range. 
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  4. A bstract On-shell methods are particularly suited for exploring the scattering of electrically and magnetically charged objects, for which there is no local and Lorentz invariant Lagrangian description. In this paper we show how to construct a Lorentz-invariant S -matrix for the scattering of electrically and magnetically charged particles, without ever having to refer to a Dirac string. A key ingredient is a revision of our fundamental understanding of multi-particle representations of the Poincaré group. Surprisingly, the asymptotic states for electric-magnetic scattering transform with an additional little group phase, associated with pairs of electrically and magnetically charged particles. The corresponding “pairwise helicity” is identified with the quantized “cross product” of charges, e 1 g 2 − e 2 g 1 , for every charge-monopole pair, and represents the extra angular momentum stored in the asymptotic electromagnetic field. We define a new kind of pairwise spinor-helicity variable, which serves as an additional building block for electric-magnetic scattering amplitudes. We then construct the most general 3-point S -matrix elements, as well as the full partial wave decomposition for the 2 → 2 fermion-monopole S -matrix. In particular, we derive the famous helicity flip in the lowest partial wave as a simple consequence of a generalized spin-helicity selection rule, as well as the full angular dependence for the higher partial waves. Our construction provides a significant new achievement for the on-shell program, succeeding where the Lagrangian description has so far failed. 
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