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A bstract Hadronic τ decays are studied as probe of new physics. We determine the dependence of several inclusive and exclusive τ observables on the Wilson coefficients of the low-energy effective theory describing charged-current interactions between light quarks and leptons. The analysis includes both strange and non-strange decay channels. The main result is the likelihood function for the Wilson coefficients in the tau sector, based on the up-to-date experimental measurements and state-of-the-art theoretical techniques. The likelihood can be readily combined with inputs from other low-energy precision observables. We discuss a combination with nuclear beta, baryon, pion, and kaon decay data. In particular, we provide a comprehensive and model-independent description of the new physics hints in the combined dataset, which are known under the name of the Cabibbo anomaly. 

A bstract We present a method to determine the leading-order (LO) contact term contributing to the nn → ppe − e − amplitude through the exchange of light Majorana neutrinos. Our approach is based on the representation of the amplitude as the momentum integral of a known kernel (proportional to the neutrino propagator) times the generalized forward Compton scattering amplitude n ( p 1 ) n ( p 2 ) W + ( k ) → $$ p\left({p}_1^{\prime}\right)p\left({p}_2^{\prime}\right){W}^{-}(k) $$ p p 1 ′ p p 2 ′ W − k , in analogy to the Cottingham formula for the electromagnetic contribution to hadron masses. We construct model-independent representations of the integrand in the low- and high-momentum regions, through chiral EFT and the operator product expansion, respectively. We then construct a model for the full amplitude by interpolating between these two regions, using appropriate nucleon factors for the weak currents and information on nucleon-nucleon ( NN ) scattering in the 1 S 0 channel away from threshold. By matching the amplitude obtained in this way to the LO chiral EFT amplitude we obtain the relevant LO contact term and discuss various sources of uncertainty. We validate the approach by computing the analog I = 2 NN contact term and by reproducing, within uncertainties, the charge-independence-breaking contribution to the 1 S 0 NN scattering lengths. While our analysis is performed in the $$ \overline{\mathrm{MS}} $$ MS ¯ scheme, we express our final result in terms of the scheme-independent renormalized amplitude $$ {\mathcal{A}}_{\nu}\left(\left|\mathbf{p}\right|,\left|\mathbf{p}^{\prime}\right|\right) $$ A ν p p ′ at a set of kinematic points near threshold. We illustrate for two cutoff schemes how, using our synthetic data for $$ {\mathcal{A}}_{\nu } $$ A ν , one can determine the contact-term contribution in any regularization scheme, in particular the ones employed in nuclear-structure calculations for isotopes of experimental interest. 

A bstract We present a comprehensive analysis of the potential sensitivity of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) to charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) in the channel ep → τX , within the model-independent framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We compute the relevant cross sections to leading order in QCD and electroweak corrections and perform simulations of signal and SM background events in various τ decay channels, suggesting simple cuts to enhance the associated estimated efficiencies. To assess the discovery potential of the EIC in τ - e transitions, we study the sensitivity of other probes of this physics across a broad range of energy scales, from pp → eτX at the Large Hadron Collider to decays of B mesons and τ leptons, such as τ → eγ , τ → eℓ + ℓ − , and crucially the hadronic modes τ → eY with Y ∈ π, K, ππ, Kπ, …. We find that electroweak dipole and four-fermion semi-leptonic operators involving light quarks are already strongly constrained by τ decays, while operators involving the c and b quarks present more promising discovery potential for the EIC. An analysis of three models of leptoquarks confirms the expectations based on the SMEFT results. We also identify future directions needed to maximize the reach of the EIC in CLFV searches: these include an optimization of the τ tagger in hadronic channels, an exploration of background suppression through tagging b and c jets in the final state, and a global fit by turning on all SMEFT couplings, which will likely reveal new discovery windows for the EIC.