11–13 May 2026
University of Pittsburgh
US/Eastern timezone

Large-Width New Physics at Colliders: A Gauge-Invariant Resummation Approach

11 May 2026, 15:00
15m
University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

Speaker

Yin-Fa Shen (Vanderbilt University (US))

Description

Broad resonances challenge the standard Monte-Carlo treatment of unstable particles, which introduces a Breit–Wigner width into leading-order matrix elements and can generate unphysical gauge artifacts. We develop a gauge-consistent framework that combines a Dyson-resummed propagator with Slavnov–Taylor-identity–implied resummed vertices, enabling a consistent implementation in MadGraph5. In the Type-I seesaw model, heavy Majorana neutrinos naturally satisfy $\Gamma \sim m$, leading to strong departures from the Breit–Wigner lineshape, distorted angular correlations, and significant modifications to both $s$- and $t$-channel dynamics. Comparing with the normal and complex-mass schemes, we find that standard treatments can substantially misestimate cross sections and kinematic distributions in the large-width regime. Our results show that existing collider limits on heavy neutrinos—and, more generally, on any broad resonance—should be revisited within a fully resummed framework, opening new opportunities for both experimental searches and theoretical model building.

Author

Yin-Fa Shen (Vanderbilt University (US))

Co-author

Alfredo Gurrola (Vanderbilt University (US))

Presentation materials

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