Probing lepton flavor violation at linear electron-positron colliders

Abstract The production of τμ pairs in electron-positron collisions offers a powerful probe of lepton flavor violation. In this work, we calculate the e + e − → τμ cross section within the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, allowing for arbitrary e + e − beam polarizations. We t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wolfgang Altmannshofer, Pankaj Munbodh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-08-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2025)147
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Summary:Abstract The production of τμ pairs in electron-positron collisions offers a powerful probe of lepton flavor violation. In this work, we calculate the e + e − → τμ cross section within the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, allowing for arbitrary e + e − beam polarizations. We then estimate the sensitivities of proposed future linear colliders, ILC and CLIC, to effective lepton flavor-violating interactions. The high center-of-mass energies achievable at these machines provide particularly strong sensitivity to four-fermion operators. Furthermore, the polarization of the e + e − beams enables novel tests of the chirality structure of these interactions. We find that our projected sensitivities not only complement but in certain scenarios surpass those achievable with low-energy tau decay measurements at Belle II.
ISSN:1029-8479