Abstract: A branching fraction measurement of the B0 -> Ds+</mml:msubsup>pi- decay is presented using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>fb-1. The branching fraction is found to be B(B0 -> Ds+</mml:msubsup>pi-)=(19.4 +/- 1.8 +/- 1.3 +/- 1.2)x10-6, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is due to the uncertainty on the B0 -> D-pi+, Ds+</mml:msubsup>-> K+K-pi+ and D--> K+pi-pi- branching fractions. This is the most precise single measurement of this quantity to date. As this decay proceeds through a single amplitude involving a b -> u charged-current transition, the result provides information on non-factorisable strong interaction effects and the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element <mml:msub>Vub. Additionally, the collision energy dependence of the hadronisation-fraction ratio <mml:msub>fs/<mml:msub>fd is measured through B<overbar></mml:mover>s0 -> Ds+pi- and B0 -> D-pi <mml:mo>+ decays.

Abstract: A considerable experimental effort is currently under way to test the persistent hints for oscillations due to an eV-scale sterile neutrino in the data of various reactor neutrino experiments. The assessment of the statistical significance of these hints is usually based on Wilks' theorem, whereby the assumption is made that the log-likelihood is chi 2-distributed. However, it is well known that the preconditions for the validity of Wilks' theorem are not fulfilled for neutrino oscillation experiments. In this work we derive a simple asymptotic form of the actual distribution of the log-likelihood based on reinterpreting the problem as fitting white Gaussian noise. From this formalism we show that, even in the absence of a sterile neutrino, the expectation value for the maximum likelihood estimate of the mixing angle remains non-zero with attendant large values of the log-likelihood. Our analytical results are then confirmed by numerical simulations of a toy reactor experiment. Finally, we apply this framework to the data of the Neutrino-4 experiment and show that the null hypothesis of no-oscillation is rejected at the 2.6 sigma level, compared to 3.2 sigma obtained under the assumption that Wilks' theorem applies.

Abstract: A determination of the jet energy scale is presented using proton-proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1) collected using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed using the ATLAS particle-flow method that combines charged-particle tracks and topo-clusters formed from energy deposits in the calorimeter cells. The anti-kt jet algorithm with radius parameter R = 0.4 is used to define the jet. Novel jet energy scale calibration strategies developed for the LHC Run 2 are reported that lay the foundation for the jet calibration in Run 3. Jets are calibrated with a series of simulation-based corrections, including state-of-the-art techniques in jet calibration such as machine learning methods and novel in situ calibrations to achieve better performance than the baseline calibration derived using up to 81 fb(-1) of Run 2 data. The performance of these new techniques is then examined in the in situ measurements by exploiting the transverse momentum balance between a jet and a reference object. The b-quark jet energy scale using particle flow jets is measured for the first time with around 1% precision using gamma+jet events.

Abstract: A first search for CP violation in the Cabibbo-suppressed Xi(+)(c) -> pK(-) pi(+) decay is performed using both a binned and an unbinned model-independent technique in the Dalitz plot. The studies are based on a sample of protonproton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), and collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The data are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation.

Abstract: A golden age for heavy-quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the B-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations at BESIII, the LHC, RHIC, FAIR, the Super Flavor and/or Tau-Charm factories, JLab, the ILC, and beyond. The list of newly found conventional states expanded to include h(c)(1P), chi(c2)(2P), B-c(+), and eta(b)(1S). In addition, the unexpected and still-fascinating X(3872) has been joined by more than a dozen other charmonium- and bottomonium-like “XYZ” states that appear to lie outside the quark model. Many of these still need experimental confirmation. The plethora of new states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c (c) over bar, b (b) over bar, and b (c) over bar bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. Lattice QCD has grown from a tool with computational possibilities to an industrial-strength effort now dependent more on insight and innovation than pure computational power. New effective field theories for the description of quarkonium in different regimes have been developed and brought to a high degree of sophistication, thus enabling precise and solid theoretical predictions. Many expected decays and transitions have either been measured with precision or for the first time, but the confusing patterns of decays, both above and below open-flavor thresholds, endure and have deepened. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.