Mavromatos, N. E., Mitsou, V. A., Sarkar, S., & Vergou, A. (2012). Implications of a stochastic microscopic Finsler cosmology. Eur. Phys. J. C, 72(3), 1956–38pp.
Abstract: Within the context of supersymmetric space-time (D-particle) foam in string/brane-theory, we discuss a Finsler-induced cosmology and its implications for (thermal) dark matter abundances. This constitutes a truly microscopic model of dynamical space-time, where Finsler geometries arise naturally. The D-particle foam model involves point-like brane defects (D-particles), which provide the topologically non-trivial foamy structures of space-time. The D-particles can capture and emit stringy matter and this leads to a recoil of D-particles. It is indicated how one effect of such a recoil of D-particles is a back-reaction on the space-time metric of Finsler type which is stochastic. We show that such a type of stochastic space-time foam can lead to acceptable cosmologies at late epochs of the Universe, due to the non-trivial properties of the supersymmetric (BPS like) D-particle defects, which are such so as not to affect significantly the Hubble expansion. The restrictions placed on the free parameters of the Finsler type metric are obtained from solving the Boltzmann equation in this background for relic abundances of a Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) dark matter candidate. It is demonstrated that the D-foam acts as a source for particle production in the Boltzmann equation, thereby leading to enhanced thermal LSP relic abundances relative to those in the Standard Lambda CDM cosmology. For D-particle masses of order TeV, such effects may be relevant for dark matter searches at colliders. The latter constraints complement those coming from high-energy gamma-ray astronomy on the induced vacuum refractive index that D-foam models entail. We also comment briefly on the production mechanisms of such TeV-mass stringy defects at colliders, which, in view of the current LHC experimental searches, will impose further constraints on their couplings.
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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. (2017). Performance of the ATLAS track reconstruction algorithms in dense environments in LHC Run 2. Eur. Phys. J. C, 77(10), 673–30pp.
Abstract: With the increase in energy of the Large Hadron Collider to a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV for Run 2, events with dense environments, such as in the cores of highenergy jets, became a focus for new physics searches as well as measurements of the Standard Model. These environments are characterized by charged-particle separations of the order of the tracking detectors sensor granularity. Basic track quantities are compared between 3.2 fb(-1) of data collected by the ATLAS experiment and simulation of protonproton collisions producing high-transverse-momentum jets at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The impact of chargedparticle separations and multiplicities on the track reconstruction performance is discussed. The track reconstruction efficiency in the cores of jets with transverse momenta between 200 and 1600 GeV is quantified using a novel, datadriven, method. The method uses the energy loss, dE/ dx, to identify pixel clusters originating from two charged particles. Of the charged particles creating these clusters, themeasured fraction that fail to be reconstructed is 0.061 +/- 0.006 (stat.) +/- 0.014 (syst.) and 0.093 +/- 0.017 (stat.) +/- 0.021 (syst.) for jet transverse momenta of 200-400GeV and 1400-1600GeV, respectively.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2015). Determination of the Ratio of b-Quark Fragmentation Fractions f(s)/f(d) in pp Collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(26), 262001–18pp.
Abstract: With an integrated luminosity of 2.47 fb(-1) recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, the exclusive decays B-s(0) -> J/psi phi and B-d(0) -> J/psi K*(0) of B mesons produced in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV are used to determine the ratio of fragmentation fractions f(s)/f(d). From the observed B-s(0) -> J/psi phi and B-d(0) -> J/psi K*(0) yields, the quantity (f(s)/f(d))[B(B-s(0) -> J/psi phi)/B(B-d(0) -> J/psi K*(0) )] is measured to be 0.199 +/- 0.004(stat) +/- 0.008(syst). Using a recent theory prediction for [B(B-s(0) -> J/psi phi)/B(B-d(0) -> J/psi K*(0))] yields (f(s)/f(d)) = 0.240 +/- 0.004(stat) +/- 0.010(syst) +/- 0.017(th). This result is based on a new approach that provides a significant improvement of the world average.
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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. (2018). Search for magnetic monopoles with the MoEDAL forward trapping detector in 2.11 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Phys. Lett. B, 782, 510–516.
Abstract: We update our previous search for trapped magnetic monopoles in LHC Run 2 using nearly six times more integrated luminosity and including additional models for the interpretation of the data. The MoEDAL forward trapping detector, comprising 222 kg of aluminium samples, was exposed to 2.11 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions near the LHCb interaction point and analysed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges equal to the Dirac charge or above are excluded in all samples. The results are interpreted in Drell-Yan production models for monopoles with spins 0, 1/2 and 1: in addition to standard point-like couplings, we also consider couplings with momentum-dependent form factors. The search provides the best current laboratory constraints for monopoles with magnetic charges ranging from two to five times the Dirac charge.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., Ferrer, A., et al. (2015). Observation and measurement of Higgs boson decays to WW* with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 92(1), 012006–84pp.
Abstract: We report the observation of Higgs boson decays to WW* based on an excess over background of 6.1 standard deviations in the dilepton final state, where the Standard Model expectation is 5.8 standard deviations. Evidence for the vector-boson fusion (VBF) production process is obtained with a significance of 3.2 standard deviations. The results are obtained from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 25 fb(-1) from root s = 7 and 8 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. For a Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV, the ratio of the measured value to the expected value of the total production cross section times branching fraction is 1.09(-0.15)(+0.16)(stat)(-0.14)(+0.17)(syst). The corresponding ratios for the gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion production mechanisms are 1.02 +/- 0.19(stat)(-0.18)(+0.22)(syst) and 1.27(-0.40)(+0.44)(stat)(-0.21)(+0.30)(syst), respectively. At root s = 8 TeV, the total production cross sections are measured to be sigma(gg -> H -> WW*) = 4.6 +/- 0.9(stat)(-0.7)(+0.8)(syst) pb and sigma(VBF H -> WW*) = 0.51(-0.15)(+0.17)(stat)(-0.08)(+0.13)(syst) pb. The fiducial cross section is determined for the gluon-fusion process in exclusive final states with zero or one associated jet.
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