Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HIDDeN (Hunting Invisibles: Dark sectors, Dark matter and Neutrinos)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-10-01 do 2025-03-31
The ultimate goal of HIDDeN was to focus on revealing the (a)symmetries that had yet to be discovered—hence, hidden (a)symmetries—and the particles on which they acted, in particular those in the invisible sector, made up of neutrinos, dark matter, and other elusive components.
Although much had been discovered about what Nature was made of, most of the Universe and its workings remained hidden: Neutrinos are the most abundant known fermions in the Universe, but the reasons why they have mass and mixed remain unexplained; there is evidence of Dark Matter (DM), but it is still unknown which particle constituted it; particles and antiparticles behave differently (the so-called CP-violation) without a compelling reason; it is observed that, to a very large extent, only baryons exist in the Universe and not antibaryons, but the reason for this, and for why the Universe has not simply transformed into a gigantic cloud of photons, remained unclear; Dark Energy dominates the energy balance of the Universe, but its nature is still far from understood.
These questions cannot not be answered within the commonly accepted picture of particles and interactions—the Standard Model (SM)—and represent the first (and so far only) evidence that the SM needs to be extended to a more fundamental theory containing new particles and interactions. The ultimate mission of HIDDeN is to uncover the hidden sectors implied by the existence of non-zero neutrino masses, DM, and the baryon asymmetry, and to develop the New Standard Model of particles and interactions. HIDDeN made very significant advances in answering this questions, providing new theoretical and experimental developments and obtaining important scientific results. The strong dissemination strategy of the project increased the impact of the project. HIDDeN has been able to attract highly talented young people to a research career at the forefront of scientific and technological developments, has helped them to develop their full potential via a structured and coherent training and has fostered their growth as individuals.
The consortium consisted of 12 Beneficiaries from 5 EU Member States and one Associated country (Switzerland) with 25 Partner Organizations of which 13 world-leading scientific institutions, including the two leading particle physics laboratories, CERN and Fermilab, 5 Universities and Institutes from Developing Countries and 8 Private sector enterprises. The beneficiaries (partners) included 85 (>70) senior members and 46 postdocs (>30).
Although much had been discovered about what Nature was made of, most of the Universe and its workings remained hidden: Neutrinos are the most abundant known fermions in the Universe, but the reasons why they have mass and mixed remain unexplained; there is evidence of Dark Matter (DM), but it is still unknown which particle constituted it; particles and antiparticles behave differently (the so-called CP-violation) without a compelling reason; it is observed that, to a very large extent, only baryons exist in the Universe and not antibaryons, but the reason for this, and for why the Universe has not simply transformed into a gigantic cloud of photons, remained unclear; Dark Energy dominates the energy balance of the Universe, but its nature is still far from understood.
These questions cannot not be answered within the commonly accepted picture of particles and interactions—the Standard Model (SM)—and represent the first (and so far only) evidence that the SM needs to be extended to a more fundamental theory containing new particles and interactions. The ultimate mission of HIDDeN is to uncover the hidden sectors implied by the existence of non-zero neutrino masses, DM, and the baryon asymmetry, and to develop the New Standard Model of particles and interactions. HIDDeN made very significant advances in answering this questions, providing new theoretical and experimental developments and obtaining important scientific results. The strong dissemination strategy of the project increased the impact of the project. HIDDeN has been able to attract highly talented young people to a research career at the forefront of scientific and technological developments, has helped them to develop their full potential via a structured and coherent training and has fostered their growth as individuals.
The consortium consisted of 12 Beneficiaries from 5 EU Member States and one Associated country (Switzerland) with 25 Partner Organizations of which 13 world-leading scientific institutions, including the two leading particle physics laboratories, CERN and Fermilab, 5 Universities and Institutes from Developing Countries and 8 Private sector enterprises. The beneficiaries (partners) included 85 (>70) senior members and 46 postdocs (>30).
The scientific progress of the project has been excellent. 434 (418 with DOI) scientific publications have resulted from the research carried out until March 31st 2025: 60 publications for WP1 Neutrinos, 66 publications for WP2 Dark Matter, 88 publications for WP3 BSM (Beyond the Standard Model theory) and 42 publications for WP4 Interfaces and symmetries. 169 publications have been produced in the framework of multiple WPs. ESRs hired by the project collaborated in 67 publications.
In WP5, training activities included successful initiatives such as local training, secondments, annual ITN events, and the HIDDeN Virtual Institute. The first ITN school and conference were organized by the Madrid UAM-IFT network node and took place online in May 2021. The second ITN events by the CNRS node took place at IJCLab in Orsay in June 2022, the third ITN events by the UGOE and UHEI nodes and took place in Bad Honnef and Göttingen in September 2023 and Invisibles24 events by the UNIBO and took place in Bologna in July 2024. All the events were a great success in terms of participation and scientific collaboration.
In WP6 Management, the work concentrated on the efficient management of the network and the facilitation of the recruitment of ESRs. The recruitment strategy of the network was very effective and successful. Available positions were advertised on the project website, in Euraxess, in InSPIRES, and locally. The top-ranked candidates were selected for the shortlist, and a series of interviews took place. Each node provided a ranked list of chosen candidates to whom the positions were offered. The selection process was closely monitored by the HIDDeN Training Board. During the recruitment process, gender and equality issues were taken into consideration, without taking precedence over academic and scientific quality. 20 ESRs were hired in the framework of the project.
In WP7 Communication and Dissemination, the network disseminated research results in high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. Public lectures and visits to schools were organized. The HIDDeN website was also used to disseminate project-related information. The inVISIBILI project at UNIBO focussed on dissemination of the HIDDeN scientific topics to over 1500 children aged 5-11 in school in Italy, organising a series of events in schools and other venues. It put emphasis on the gender-STEM issue.
In WP5, training activities included successful initiatives such as local training, secondments, annual ITN events, and the HIDDeN Virtual Institute. The first ITN school and conference were organized by the Madrid UAM-IFT network node and took place online in May 2021. The second ITN events by the CNRS node took place at IJCLab in Orsay in June 2022, the third ITN events by the UGOE and UHEI nodes and took place in Bad Honnef and Göttingen in September 2023 and Invisibles24 events by the UNIBO and took place in Bologna in July 2024. All the events were a great success in terms of participation and scientific collaboration.
In WP6 Management, the work concentrated on the efficient management of the network and the facilitation of the recruitment of ESRs. The recruitment strategy of the network was very effective and successful. Available positions were advertised on the project website, in Euraxess, in InSPIRES, and locally. The top-ranked candidates were selected for the shortlist, and a series of interviews took place. Each node provided a ranked list of chosen candidates to whom the positions were offered. The selection process was closely monitored by the HIDDeN Training Board. During the recruitment process, gender and equality issues were taken into consideration, without taking precedence over academic and scientific quality. 20 ESRs were hired in the framework of the project.
In WP7 Communication and Dissemination, the network disseminated research results in high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. Public lectures and visits to schools were organized. The HIDDeN website was also used to disseminate project-related information. The inVISIBILI project at UNIBO focussed on dissemination of the HIDDeN scientific topics to over 1500 children aged 5-11 in school in Italy, organising a series of events in schools and other venues. It put emphasis on the gender-STEM issue.
HIDDeN was able to attract highly talented young people to a research career at the forefront of scientific and technological developments. It helped them develop their full potential through structured and coherent training and fostered their growth as individuals in many ways. HIDDeN built a unique pan-European training activity focused on revealing the (a)symmetries that had yet to be discovered—hence hidden (a)symmetries—and the particles on which they acted, in particular those in the invisible sector, made up of neutrinos, dark matter, and other elusive components.
The project built on existing collaborations and helped create new long-lasting ones among members of beneficiary and partner organizations, amplifying the projection and richness of European research, without neglecting research, training, and technology transfer with third country participants. The non-academic sector contributed to the doctoral/research training. The training activities offered by private sector partner organizations were fully integrated into the network program.
Scientifically, the network thrived, and the recruited ESRs actively collaborated throughout the network and published articles focused on the ITN themes. The ITN members made world-leading contributions in several of the latest theoretical and experimental developments. The participation of partner organizations was encouraged and supported in many ways, and they were involved in the work of all boards and committees. Especially through the Partner Board, they were able to express their views on project-related matters.
In addition to scientific collaboration and co-authoring publications with beneficiary team members, the partner organizations contributed to organizing the annual events. Partner organizations also had a major impact on the progress of the project through the organization and hosting of secondments.
The world-wide collaborations among the leaders in the field planned within this project constituted the best warranty that the results obtained were of high quality and a significant step ahead in this quest. The strong dissemination strategy of the project increased the impact of these scientific results, as measured for example by the number of citations and by the number of invited talks of the network member in international conferences and workshops. Another indicator of the recognition of the network achievements and its impact and prospects are the awards, grants, nominations and prizes given to network members.
The project built on existing collaborations and helped create new long-lasting ones among members of beneficiary and partner organizations, amplifying the projection and richness of European research, without neglecting research, training, and technology transfer with third country participants. The non-academic sector contributed to the doctoral/research training. The training activities offered by private sector partner organizations were fully integrated into the network program.
Scientifically, the network thrived, and the recruited ESRs actively collaborated throughout the network and published articles focused on the ITN themes. The ITN members made world-leading contributions in several of the latest theoretical and experimental developments. The participation of partner organizations was encouraged and supported in many ways, and they were involved in the work of all boards and committees. Especially through the Partner Board, they were able to express their views on project-related matters.
In addition to scientific collaboration and co-authoring publications with beneficiary team members, the partner organizations contributed to organizing the annual events. Partner organizations also had a major impact on the progress of the project through the organization and hosting of secondments.
The world-wide collaborations among the leaders in the field planned within this project constituted the best warranty that the results obtained were of high quality and a significant step ahead in this quest. The strong dissemination strategy of the project increased the impact of these scientific results, as measured for example by the number of citations and by the number of invited talks of the network member in international conferences and workshops. Another indicator of the recognition of the network achievements and its impact and prospects are the awards, grants, nominations and prizes given to network members.