IGISOL Collaboration(Zakari-Issoufou, A. A. et al), Algora, A., Tain, J. L., Valencia, E., Agramunt, J., Estevez, E., et al. (2015). Total Absorption Spectroscopy Study of Rb-92 Decay: A Major Contributor to Reactor Antineutrino Spectrum Shape. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(10), 102503–6pp.
Abstract: The antineutrino spectra measured in recent experiments at reactors are inconsistent with calculations based on the conversion of integral beta spectra recorded at the ILL reactor. Rb-92 makes the dominant contribution to the reactor antineutrino spectrum in the 5-8 MeV range but its decay properties are in question. We have studied Rb-92 decay with total absorption spectroscopy. Previously unobserved beta feeding was seen in the 4.5-5.5 region and the GS to GS feeding was found to be 87.5(25)%. The impact on the reactor antineutrino spectra calculated with the summation method is shown and discussed.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2016). Be-7(n,alpha)He-4 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(15), 152701–7pp.
Abstract: The energy-dependent cross section of the (7)Bed(n,alpha)He-4 reaction, of interest for the so-called cosmological lithium problem in big bang nucleosynthesis, has been measured for the first time from 10 meV to 10 keV neutron energy. The challenges posed by the short half-life of Be-7 and by the low reaction cross section have been overcome at nTOF thanks to an unprecedented combination of the extremely high luminosity and good resolution of the neutron beam in the new experimental area (EAR2) of the nTOF facility at CERN, the availability of a sufficient amount of chemically pure Be-7, and a specifically designed experimental setup. Coincidences between the two alpha particles have been recorded in two Si-Be-7-Si arrays placed directly in the neutron beam. The present results are consistent, at thermal neutron energy, with the only previous measurement performed in the 1960s at a nuclear reactor. The energy dependence reported here clearly indicates the inadequacy of the cross section estimates currently used in BBN calculations. Although new measurements at higher neutron energy may still be needed, the n_TOF results hint at a minor role of this reaction in BBN, leaving the long-standing cosmological lithium problem unsolved.
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MoEDAL Collaboration(Acharya, B. et al), Bernabeu, J., Garcia, C., Mamuzic, J., Mitsou, V. A., Ruiz de Austri, R., et al. (2017). Search for Magnetic Monopoles with the MoEDAL Forward Trapping Detector in 13 TeV Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(6), 061801–6pp.
Abstract: MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of long-lived highly ionizing particles produced in high-energy LHC collisions. Its arrays of plastic nuclear-track detectors and aluminium trapping volumes provide two independent passive detection techniques. We present here the results of a first search for magnetic monopole production in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions using the trapping technique, extending a previous publication with 8 TeV data during LHC Run 1. A total of 222 kg of MoEDAL trapping detector samples was exposed in the forward region and analyzed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges exceeding half the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples and limits are placed for the first time on the production of magnetic monopoles in 13 TeV pp collisions. The search probes mass ranges previously inaccessible to collider experiments for up to five times the Dirac charge.
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NEXT Collaboration(McDonald, A. D. et al), Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Botas, A., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., et al. (2018). Demonstration of Single-Barium-Ion Sensitivity for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Using Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging. Phys. Rev. Lett., 120(13), 132504–6pp.
Abstract: A new method to tag the barium daughter in the double-beta decay of Xe-136 is reported. Using the technique of single molecule fluorescent imaging (SMFI), individual barium dication (Ba++) resolution at a transparent scanning surface is demonstrated. A single-step photobleach confirms the single ion interpretation. Individual ions are localized with superresolution (similar to 2 nm), and detected with a statistical significance of 12.9 sigma over backgrounds. This lays the foundation for a new and potentially background-free neutrinoless double-beta decay technology, based on SMFI coupled to high pressure xenon gas time projection chambers.
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Boso, A. et al, Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2018). Neutron Skin Effects in Mirror Energy Differences: The Case of Mg-23-Na-23. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(3), 032502–5pp.
Abstract: Energy differences between analogue states in the T = 1/2 Mg-23-Na-23 mirror nuclei have been measured along the rotational yrast bands. This allows us to search for effects arising from isospin-symmetrybreaking interactions (ISB) and/or shape changes. Data are interpreted in the shell model framework following the method successfully applied to nuclei in the f(7/2) shell. It is shown that the introduction of a schematic ISB interaction of the same type of that used in the f(7/2) shell is needed to reproduce the data. An alternative novel description, applied here for the first time, relies on the use of an effective interaction deduced from a realistic charge-dependent chiral nucleon-nucleon potential. This analysis provides two important results: (i) The mirror energy differences give direct insight into the nuclear skin; (ii) the skin changes along the rotational bands are strongly correlated with the difference between the neutron and proton occupations of the s(1/2) “halo” orbit.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Damone, L. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2018). Be-7 (n,p)Li-7 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(4), 042701–7pp.
Abstract: We report on the measurement of the Be-7(n,p)Li-7 cross section from thermal to approximately 325 keV neutron energy, performed in the high-flux experimental area (EAR2) of the n_TOF facility at CERN. This reaction plays a key role in the lithium yield of the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) for standard cosmology. The only two previous time-of-flight measurements performed on this reaction did not cover the energy window of interest for BBN, and they showed a large discrepancy between each other. The measurement was performed with a Si telescope and a high-purity sample produced by implantation of a Be-7 ion beam at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. While a significantly higher cross section is found at low energy, relative to current evaluations, in the region of BBN interest, the present results are consistent with the values inferred from the time-reversal Li-7(p,n)Be-7 reaction, thus yielding only a relatively minor improvement on the so-called cosmological lithium problem. The relevance of these results on the near-threshold neutron production in the p + Li-7 reaction is also discussed.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). Measurement of the Lifetime of the Doubly Charmed Baryon Xi(++)(cc). Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(5), 052002–10pp.
Abstract: The first measurement of the lifetime of the doubly charmed baryon Xi(++)(cc) is presented, with the signal reconstructed in the final state Lambda K-+(c)-pi(+)pi(+). The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The Xi(++)(cc) lifetime is measured to be 0.256(-0.022)(+0.024) (stat) +/- 0.014(syst) ps.
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LHCb Collaboration, Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). Observation of a New Xi(-)(b) Resonance. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(7), 072002–12pp.
Abstract: From samples of pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at root s = 7, 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.0, 2.0 and 1.5 fb(-1), respectively, a peak in both the Lambda(0)(b) K- and Xi(0)(b)pi(-) invariant mass spectra is observed. In the quark model, radially and orbitally excited Xi(-)(b) resonances with quark content bds are expected. Referring to this peak as Xi(b)(6227)(-), the mass and natural width are measured to be m(Xi b(6227))(-) = 6226.9 +/- 2.0 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.2 MeV/c(2) and Gamma(Xi b(6227))- = 18.1 +/- 5.4 +/- 1.8 MeV/c(2), where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third, on m(Xi b(6227))(-), is due to the knowledge of the Lambda(0)(b) baryon mass. Relative production rates of the Xi(b)(6227)(-) -> Lambda K-0(b)- and Xi(b)(6227)(-) -> Xi(0)(b)pi(-) decays are also reported.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). Measurement of Angular and CP Asymmetries in D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-) and D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-) Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(9), 091801–10pp.
Abstract: The first measurements of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon pair (A(FB)), the triple-product asymmetry (A(2 phi)), and the charge-parity-conjugation asymmetry (A(CP)), in D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-) and -> D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-) decays are reported. They are performed using data from proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb experiment from 2011 to 2016, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 5 fb(-1). The asymmetries are measured to be A(FB) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (3.3 +/- 3.7 +/- 0.6)%, A(2 phi) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (-0.6 +/- 3.7 +/- 0.6)%, A(CP) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (4.9 +/- 3.8 +/- 0.7)%, A(FB) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (0 +/- 11 +/- 2 +/-)%, A(2 phi) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (9 +/- 11 +/- 1)%, A(CP) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (0 +/- 11 +/- 2)% where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The asymmetries are also measured as a function of the dimuon invariant mass. The results are consistent with the standard model predictions.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2018). Measurement of the Soft-Drop Jet Mass in pp Collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(9), 092001–21pp.
Abstract: Jet substructure observables have significantly extended the search program for physics beyond the standard model at the Large Hadron Collider. The state-of-the-art tools have been motivated by theoretical calculations, but there has never been a direct comparison between data and calculations of jet substructure observables that are accurate beyond leading-logarithm approximation. Such observables are significant not only for probing the collinear regime of QCD that is largely unexplored at a hadron collider, but also for improving the understanding of jet substructure properties that are used in many studies at the Large Hadron Collider. This Letter documents a measurement of the first jet substructure quantity at a hadron collider to be calculated at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm accuracy. The normalized, differential cross section is measured as a function of log(10)rho(2), where rho is the ratio of the soft-drop mass to the ungroomed jet transverse momentum. This quantity is measured in dijet events from 32.9 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. The data are unfolded to correct for detector effects and compared to precise QCD calculations and leading-logarithm particle-level Monte Carlo simulations.
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