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Can a Nonstandard Invisible Pair Mimic the Michel Distribution?

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-05-12 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

We ask whether a measured Michel distribution, apparently in excellent agreement with the Standard Model interpretation of the ijννˉ\ell_i \to \ell_j \nu\bar\nu decay, could instead arise from a different invisible sector. Within a general low-energy effective field theory, we analyze lepton decays ij+XXˉ\ell_i \to \ell_j + X\bar X for electrically neutral, color-singlet, mutually conjugate invisible pairs XXˉX\bar X of spin up to 22, allowing (pseudo)scalar, (axial)vector, and antisymmetric tensor interactions in the lepton current, focusing on the massless limit relevant for exact degeneracies. We formulate a criterion for indistinguishability based on the full set of measurable differential distributions. Under these assumptions, besides the obvious spin 1/21/2 case, there is a unique nontrivial solution: a massless complex scalar pair coupled through a purely left-handed vector current exactly reproduces the standard Michel pattern, including its extensions to daughter-lepton polarization and radiative channels. All other cases studied here are distinguishable, in particular because higher-spin invisible pairs produce additional kinematic prefactors. These results isolate the only nonstandard and nontrivial invisible sector that can remain hidden in Michel-type lepton decay measurements.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.09140,
  title  = {Can a Nonstandard Invisible Pair Mimic the Michel Distribution?},
  author = {Pablo Roig},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.09140},
  year   = {2026}
}

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5 pages