Abstract: We study the interaction of meson-baryon coupled channels carrying quantum numbers of a Omega(ce), Omega(bb), and Omega(bc) presently under investigation by the LHCb Collaboration. The interaction is obtained from an extension of the local hidden gauge approach to the heavy quark sector that has proved to provide accurate results compared to experiment in the case of Omega(c), Xi(c) states and pentaquarks, P-c and P-cs. We obtain many bound states, with small decay widths within the space of the chosen coupled channels. The spin-parity of the states are J(P) = 1/2(-) for coupled channels of pseudoscalar-baryon (1/2(+)), J(P) = 3/2(-) for the case of pseudoscalar-baryon (3/2(+)), J(P) = 1/2(-), 3/2(-) for the case of vector-baryon (1/2(+)) and J(P) = 1/2(-), 3/2(-). 5/2(-) for the vector- baryon (3/2(+)) channels. We look for poles of the states and evaluate the couplings to the different channels. The couplings obtained for the open channels can serve as a guide to see in which reaction the obtained states are more likely to be observed.

Abstract: We study the implications of the recent measurements of R-K and R-K* by the LHCb Collaboration. We do that by adopting a model-independent approach based on the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), with the dominant new physics (NP) effects encoded in the coefficients of dimension-6 operators respecting the full Standard Model (SM) gauge symmetry. After providing simplified expressions for R-K and R-K*, we determine the implications of the recent LHCb results for these observables on the coefficients of the SMEFT operators at low and high energies. We also take into account all b -> sll data, which combined lead to effective NP scenarios with SM pulls in excess of 5 sigma. Thus, the operators discussed in this paper would be the first dimension-6 terms in the SM Lagrangian to be detected experimentally. Indirect constraints on these operators are also discussed. The results of this paper transcend the singularity of the present situation and set a standard for future analyses in b -> s transitions when the NP is assumed to lie above the electroweak scale.

Abstract: We study the impact of assumptions about neutrino properties on the estimation of inflationary parameters from cosmological data, with a specific focus on the allowed contours in the n(s)/r plane, where n(s) is the scalar spectral index and r is the tensor-to-scalar ratio. We study the following neutrino properties: (i) the total neutrino mass M-i = Sigma(i)m(i) (where the index i = 1, 2, 3 runs over the three neutrino mass eigenstates); (ii) the number of relativistic degrees of freedom N-eff at the time of recombination; and (iii) the neutrino hierarchy. Whereas previous literature assumed three degenerate neutrino masses or two massless neutrino species (approximations that clearly do not match neutrino oscillation data), we study the cases of normal and inverted hierarchy. Our basic result is that these three neutrino properties induce < 1 sigma shift of the probability contours in the n(s)/r plane with both current or upcoming data. We find that the choice of neutrino hierarchy (normal, inverted, or degenerate) has a negligible impact. However, the minimal cutoff on the total neutrino mass M-v,M-min = 0 that accompanies previous works using the degenerate hierarchy does introduce biases in the n(s)/r plane and should be replaced by M-v,M-min = 0.059 eV as required by oscillation data. Using current cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck and Bicep/Keck, marginalizing over the total neutrino mass M-v and over r can lead to a shift in the mean value of ns of similar to 0.3 sigma toward lower values. However, once baryon acoustic oscillation measurements are included, the standard contours in the n(s)/r plane are basically reproduced. Larger shifts of the contours in the n(s)/r plane (up to 0.8 sigma) arise for nonstandard values of N-eff. We also provide forecasts for the future CMB experiments Cosmic Origins Explorer (COrE, satellite) and Stage-IV (ground-based) and show that the incomplete knowledge of neutrino properties, taken into account by a marginalization over M-v, could induce a shift of similar to 0.4 sigma toward lower values in the determination of ns (or a similar to 0.8 sigma shift if one marginalizes over N-eff). Comparison to specific inflationary models is shown. Imperfect knowledge of neutrino properties must be taken into account properly, given the desired precision in determining whether or not inflationary models match the future data.