Abstract: We present charged-particle distributions sensitive to the underlying event, measured by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, in low-luminosity Large Hadron Collider fills corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb-1. The distributions were constructed using charged particles with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5 and with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV, in events with at least one such charged particle with transverse momentum above 1 GeV. These distributions characterise the angular distribution of energy and particle flows with respect to the charged particle with highest transverse momentum, as a function of both that momentum and of charged-particle multiplicity. The results have been corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators, experimentally establishing the level of underlying-event activity at LHC Run 2 energies and providing inputs for the development of event generator modelling. The current models in use for UE modelling typically describe this data to 5% accuracy, compared with data uncertainties of less than 1%.

Abstract: We present a novel approach to derive constraints on neutrino masses, as well as on other cosmological parameters, from cosmological data, while taking into account our ignorance of the neutrino mass ordering. We derive constraints from a combination of current as well as future cosmological datasets on the total neutrino mass M-nu and on the mass fractions f(nu),i = m(i)/M-nu (where the index i = 1, 2, 3 indicates the three mass eigenstates) carried by each of the mass eigenstates m(i), after marginalizing over the (unknown) neutrino mass ordering, either normal ordering (NH) or inverted ordering (IH). The bounds on all the cosmological parameters, including those on the total neutrino mass, take therefore into account the uncertainty related to our ignorance of the mass hierarchy that is actually realized in nature. This novel approach is carried out in the framework of Bayesian analysis of a typical hierarchical problem, where the distribution of the parameters of the model depends on further parameters, the hyperparameters. In this context, the choice of the neutrino mass ordering is modeled via the discrete hyperparameter h(type), which we introduce in the usual Markov chain analysis. The preference from cosmological data for either the NH or the IH scenarios is then simply encoded in the posterior distribution of the hyper-parameter itself. Current cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements assign equal odds to the two hierarchies, and are thus unable to distinguish between them. However, after the addition of baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements, a weak preference for the normal hierarchical scenario appears, with odds of 4 : 3 from Planck temperature and large-scale polarization in combination with BAO (3 : 2 if small-scale polarization is also included). Concerning next-generation cosmological experiments, forecasts suggest that the combination of upcoming CMB (COrE) and BAO surveys (DESI) may determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a high statistical significance if the mass is very close to the minimal value allowed by oscillation experiments, as for NH and a fiducial value of M-nu = 0.06 eV there is a 9 : 1 preference of normal versus inverted hierarchy. On the contrary, if the sum of the masses is of the order of 0.1 eV or larger, even future cosmological observations will be inconclusive. The innovative statistical strategy exploited here represents a very simple, efficient and robust tool to study the sensitivity of present and future cosmological data to the neutrino mass hierarchy, and a sound competitor to the standard Bayesian model comparison. The unbiased limit on M-nu we obtain is crucial for ongoing and planned neutrinoless double beta decay searches.

Abstract: We present a lattice calculation of the masses and decay constants of D-(s)* and B-(s)* mesons using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with N-f=2+1+1 dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing a similar to(0.06-0.09) fm. Pion masses are simulated in the range M-pi similar or equal to(210-450) MeV, while the strange and charm sea-quark masses are close to their physical values. We compute the ratios of vector to pseudoscalar masses and decay constants for various values of the heavy-quark mass mh in the range 0.7m(c)(phys) less than or similar to m(h) less than or similar to 3m(c)(phys). In order to reach the physical b-quark mass, we exploit the Heavy Quark Effective Theory prediction that, in the static limit of infinite heavy-quark mass, the considered ratios are equal to one. At the physical point our results are: M-D*/M-D=1.0769(79), M-D*(s)/M-Ds=1.0751(56), f(D)*/f(D)=1.078(36), f(D)*s/f(Ds)=1.087(20), M-B*/M-B=1.0078(15), M-B*(s)/M-Bs=1.0083(10), f(B)*/f(B)=0.958(22) and f(B)*s/f(Bs)=0.974(10). Combining them with the experimental values of the pseudoscalar meson masses (used as input to fix the quark masses) and the values of the pseudoscalar decay constants calculated by ETMC, we get: M-D*=2013(14) MeV, M-D*(s)=2116(11) MeV, f(D)*=223.5(8.4) MeV, f(D)*(s)=268.8(6.6) MeV, M-B*=5320.5(7.6) MeV, M-B*(s)=5411.36(5.3) MeV, f(B)*=185.9(7.2) MeV and f(B)*(s)=223.1(5.4) MeV.