Speaker
Description
Nuclear matrix elements play a crucial role in linking theory with various beyond the Standard Model (BSM) search experiments, including those related to dark matter, neutrino interactions, and β-decays. However, theoretical efforts have primarily focused on scalar and vector interactions, leaving tensor couplings comparatively underexplored due to their inherent complexity. In this talk, I will introduce a novel approach for decomposing fermionic tensor interactions, which greatly alleviates long-standing issues and facilitates the systematic construction of tensor currents and nuclear matrix elements. I will illustrate how this method addresses gaps in lepton flavor violation, neutrino-nucleus scattering, and direct dark matter detection, revealing previously inaccessible contributions and introducing new effective operators pertinent to muon-to-electron conversion. Furthermore, I will demonstrate how this approach exposes internal symmetry structures within tensor weak interactions, resulting in BSM operators and matrix elements proportional to the known Standard Model ones, streamlining nuclear structure calculations, and revealing enhanced sensitivity to exotic interactions in forbidden β-decays, now driving experiments in the US and internationally.
