# Probing Scalar-Mediator Quark Couplings via CLFV Lepton-Nucleon Scattering

## TL;DR

This paper explores how charged lepton flavor violating deep-inelastic scattering can be used to probe the properties of scalar mediators coupling to quarks, focusing on their mass and interaction patterns.

## Contribution

It introduces a method to distinguish different scalar mediator-quark coupling scenarios by analyzing the differential cross section dependence on momentum transfer.

## Key findings

- Differentiates between $h$-like and $b$-only coupling scenarios.
- Shows the differential cross section peak is sensitive to mediator mass and couplings.
- Provides a way to probe scalar mediator properties via CLFV scattering.

## Abstract

We investigate charged lepton flavor violating (CLFV) deep-inelastic scattering, focusing on the gluon-initiated subprocess $\ell_i g \to \ell_j g$ via the gluon effective operator $\phi\, G_{\mu \nu}^a G_a^{\mu \nu}$, and demonstrate how to probe the nature of the CLFV mediator $\phi$, specifically its mass and interaction with quarks. We consider two benchmark scenarios for the mediator-quark coupling: (i) $h$-like scenario, in which the mediator couples to heavy quarks in proportion to their masses, and (i\hspace{-1pt}i) $b$-only scenario, where the coupling is restricted to bottom quark only. We demonstrate that these scenarios can be discriminated by examining the dependence of the differential cross section on the momentum transfer. Furthermore, we show that the peak position of the differential cross section exhibits a pronounced sensitivity to both the mass of the mediator and the coupling strengths with quarks.