Abstract: We discuss fermion mass hierarchies within modular invariant flavour models. We analyse the neighbourhood of the self-dual point tau = i, where modular invariant theories possess a residual Z(4) invariance. In this region the breaking of Z(4) can be fully described by the spurion epsilon approximate to tau – i, that flips its sign under Z(4). Degeneracies or vanishing eigenvalues of fermion mass matrices, forced by the Z(4) symmetry at tau = i, are removed by slightly deviating from the self-dual point. Relevant mass ratios are controlled by powers of vertical bar epsilon vertical bar. We present examples where this mechanism is a key ingredient to successfully implement an hierarchical spectrum in the lepton sector, even in the presence of a non-minimal Kahler potential.

Abstract: We discuss a model-independent estimator of the likelihood of the compositeness of a shallow S-wave bound or virtual state. The approach is based on an extension of Weinberg's relations in Weinberg (Phys Rev 137:B672, 1965) and it relies only on the proximity of the energy of the state to the two-hadron threshold to which it significantly couples. The scheme only makes use of the experimental scattering length and the effective range low energy parameters, and it is shown to be fully consistent for predominantly molecular hadrons. As explicit applications, we analyse the case of the deuteron, the S-1(0) nucleon virtual state and the exotic D-so(*)(2317)(+/-) , and find strong support to the molecular interpretation in all cases. Results are less conclusive for the D* (s0)(2317)+/-, since the binding energy of this state would be significantly higher than that of the deuteron, and the approach employed here is at the limit of its applicability. We also qualitatively address the case of the recently discovered T + cc state, within the isospin limit to avoid the complexity of the very close thresholds (DD)-D-0*+ and D + D*(0), which could mask the ingredients of the approach proposed in this work.

Abstract: We develop a novel technique to exploit the extensive data sets provided by underwater neutrino telescopes to gain information on bioluminescence in the deep sea. The passive nature of the telescopes gives us the unique opportunity to infer information on bioluminescent organisms without actively interfering with them. We propose a statistical method that allows us to reconstruct the light emission of individual organisms, as well as their location and movement. A mathematical model is built to describe the measurement process of underwater neutrino telescopes and the signal generation of the biological organisms. The Metric Gaussian Variational Inference algorithm is used to reconstruct the model parameters using photon counts recorded by photomultiplier tubes. We apply this method to synthetic data sets and data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The telescope is located 40 km off the French coast and fixed to the sea floor at a depth of 2475 m. The runs with synthetic data reveal that we can model the emitted bioluminescent flashes of the organisms. Furthermore, we find that the spatial resolution of the localization of light sources highly depends on the configuration of the telescope. Precise measurements of the efficiencies of the detectors and the attenuation length of the water are crucial to reconstruct the light emission. Finally, the application to ANTARES data reveals the first localizations of bioluminescent organisms using neutrino telescope data.

Abstract: We develop a model to study the D-0 -> K-pi(+)eta weak decay, starting with the color favored external emission and Cabibbo favored mode at the quark level. A less favored internal emission decay mode is also studied as a source of small corrections. Some pairs of quarks are allowed to hadronize producing two pseudoscalar mesons, which posteriorly are allowed to interact to finally provide the K-pi(+)eta state. The chiral unitary approach is used to take into account the final state interaction of pairs of mesons, which has as a consequence the production of the kappa (K-0*(700)) and the a(0)(980) resonances, well visible in the invariant mass distributions. We also introduce the (K) over bar*(0)eta production in a phenomenological way and show that the s-wave pseudoscalar interaction together with this vector excitation mode are sufficient to provide a fair reproduction of the experimental data. The model provides the relative weight of the a(0)(980) to the kappa excitation, and their strength is clearly visible in the low energy part of the K pi spectrum.

Abstract: We develop a model aimed at understanding the three mass distributions of pairs of mesons in the Cabibbo-suppressed D-s(+) – K+pi(+)pi(-) decay recently measured with high statistics by the BESIII collaboration. The largest contributions to the process come from the D-s(+) -> K+ rho(0) and D-s(+) -> K*(0)pi(+) decay modes, but the D-s(+) -> K-0*(1430)pi(+) and D-s(+) -> K+ f(0) (1370) modes also play a moderate role and all of them are introduced empirically. Instead, the contribution of the f(0)(500), f(0)(980) , and K-0*(700) resonances is introduced dynamically by looking at the decay modes at the quark level, hadronizing q (q) over bar over bar pairs to give two mesons, and allowing these mesons to interact, for which we follow the chiral unitary approach, to finally produce the K+ pi(+) pi(-) final state. While the general features of the mass distributions are fairly obtained, we pay special attention to the specific effects created by the light scalar resonances, which are visible in the low mass region of the pi(+) pi(-) (f(0)(500) and K+ pi(-) K+pi-(K-0*(700)) mass distributions and a narrow peak for pi(+) pi(-) distribution corresponding to f(0)(980) excitation. The contribution of these three resonances is generated by only one parameter. We see the agreement found in these regions as further support for the nature of the light scalar states as dynamically generated from the interaction of pseudoscalar mesons.