Measuring the Weak Mixing Angle in the DUNE Near-Detector Complex.

The planned DUNE experiment will have excellent sensitivity to the vector and axial couplings of the electron to the Z boson via precision measurements of neutrino-electron scattering. We investigate the sensitivity of DUNE-PRISM, a movable near detector in the direction perpendicular to the beam line, and find that it will qualitatively impact our ability to constrain the weak couplings of the electron. We translate these neutrino-electron scattering measurements into a determination of the weak mixing angle at low scales and estimate that, with seven years of data taking, the DUNE near detector can be used to measure sin^{2}θ_{W} with about 2% precision. We also discuss the impact of combining neutrino-electron scattering data with neutrino trident production at DUNE-PRISM.

New Opportunities at the Next-Generation Neutrino Experiments (Part 1: BSM Neutrino Physics and Dark Matter.

With the advent of a new generation of neutrino experiments which leverage high-intensity neutrino beams for precision neutrino oscillation parameter and for CP violation phase measurements, it is timely to explore physics topics beyond the standard neutrino-related physics. Given that beyond the standard model (BSM) physics phenomena have been mostly sought at high-energy regimes, such as the LHC at CERN, the exploration of BSM physics in neutrino experiments will enable complementary measurements at the energy regimes that balance that of the LHC. This is in concert with new ideas for high-intensity beams for fixed target and beam-dump experiments world-wide. The combination of the high intensity beam facilities and large mass detectors with highly precise track and energy measurements, excellent timing resolution, and low energy thresholds will help make BSM physics reachable even in low energy regimes in accelerator-based experiments and searches for BSM phenomena from cosmogenic origin. Therefore, it is conceivable that BSM topics could be the dominant physics topics in the foreseeable future. In this spirit, this paper provides a review of the current theory landscape theory in neutrino experiments in two selected areas of the BSM topics - dark matter and neutrino related BSM - and summarizes the current results from existing neutrino experiments for benchmark. This paper then provides a review of upcoming neutrino experiments and their capabilities to set the foundation for potential reach in BSM physics in the two themes. One of the most important outcomes of this paper is to ensure theoretical and simulation tools exist to perform studies of these new areas of physics from the first day of the experiments, such as DUNE and Hyper-K. Tasks to accomplish this goal, and the time line for them to be completed and tested to become reliable tools in a timely fashion are also discussed.

Circulating levels of High-mobility group box 1 protein and nucleosomes are associated with outcomes after liver transplant.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) can be associated with early complications, such as allograft dysfunction and acute kidney injury, which contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. High-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) has been identified as mediator in ischemia-reperfusion injury. Nucleosomes are complexes formed by DNA and histone proteins, and histones contribute to organs failure and death during sepsis. METHODS: HMGB1 and nucleosome plasma levels were measured, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, during LT and in the first 48 post-operative hours in 22 LT patients. The association between HMGB1 and nucleosome levels and the complications and survival within 6 months after LT were investigated. RESULTS: We observed peak HMGB1 and nucleosome levels after graft reperfusion. HMGB1 and nucleosome levels were associated with the occurrence of acute kidney injury, early allograft dysfunction, and early survival after LT. Nucleosome levels after graft reperfusion were associated with the occurrence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: HMGB1 and nucleosome levels increased after liver reperfusion in human LT setting and were associated with early complications and survival. New studies are necessary to explore their role as early markers of hepatocellular injury in human LT and the risk of graft and organs dysfunction and death.

Sub-GeV Atmospheric Neutrinos and CP Violation in DUNE.

We propose to use the unique event topology and reconstruction capabilities of liquid argon time projection chambers to study sub-GeV atmospheric neutrinos. The detection of low energy recoiled protons in DUNE allows for a determination of the leptonic CP-violating phase independent from the accelerator neutrino measurement. Our findings indicate that this analysis can exclude a range of values of δ_{CP} beyond the 3σ level. Moreover, the determination of the sub-GeV atmospheric neutrino flux will have important consequences in the detection of diffuse supernova neutrinos and in dark matter experiments.

Dark Neutrino Portal to Explain MiniBooNE Excess.

We present a novel framework that provides an explanation to the long-standing excess of electronlike events in the MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab. We suggest a new dark sector containing a dark neutrino and a dark gauge boson, both with masses between a few tens and a few hundreds of MeV. Dark neutrinos are produced via neutrino-nucleus scattering, followed by their decay to the dark gauge boson, which in turn gives rise to electronlike events. This mechanism provides an excellent fit to MiniBooNE energy spectra and angular distributions.

Double-Cascade Events from New Physics in Icecube.

A variety of new physics models allows for neutrinos to up-scatter into heavier states. If the incident neutrino is energetic enough, the heavy neutrino may travel some distance before decaying. In this work, we consider the atmospheric neutrino flux as a source of such events. At IceCube, this would lead to a "double-bang" (DB) event topology, similar to what is predicted to occur for tau neutrinos at ultrahigh energies. The DB event topology has an extremely low background rate from coincident atmospheric cascades, making this a distinctive signature of new physics. Our results indicate that IceCube should already be able to derive new competitive constraints on models with GeV-scale sterile neutrinos using existing data.