Phenomenology of ultralight scalars in leptonic observables

Abstract

Ultralight scalars, which are states that are either exactly massless or much lighter than any other massive particle in the model, appear in many new physics scenarios. Axions and majorons constitute well-motivated examples of this type of particle. In this work, we explore the phenomenology of these states in low-energy leptonic observables adopting a model independent approach that includes both scalar and pseudoscalar interactions. Then, we consider processes in which the ultralight scalar $\phi$ is directly produced, such as $\mu \to e \, \phi$, or acts as a mediator, as in $\tau \to \mu \mu \mu$. Finally, contributions to the charged leptons magnetic and electric moments are studied as well. In particular, it is shown that the muon $g-2$ anomaly can be explained provided a mechanism for suppressing the experimental bounds on the coupling between the ultralight scalar and a pair of muons is introduced.