Abstract: The perturbative approach to quantum field theories has made it possible to obtain incredibly accurate theoretical predictions in high-energy physics. Although various techniques have been developed to boost the efficiency of these calculations, some ingredients remain specially challenging. This is the case of multiloop scattering amplitudes that constitute a hard bottleneck to solve. In this paper, we delve into the application of a disruptive technique based on the loop-tree duality theorem, which is aimed at an efficient computation of such objects by opening the loops to nondisjoint trees. We study the multiloop topologies that first appear at four loops and assemble them in a clever and general expression, the (NMLT)-M-4 universal topology. This general expression enables to open any scattering amplitude of up to four loops, and also describes a subset of higher order configurations to all orders. These results confirm the conjecture of a factorized opening in terms of simpler known subtopologies, which also determines how the causal structure of the entire loop amplitude is characterized by the causal structure of its subtopologies. In addition, we confirm that the loop-tree duality representation of the (NMLT)-M-4 universal topology is manifestly free of noncausal thresholds, thus pointing towards a remarkably more stable numerical implementation of multiloop scattering amplitudes.

Abstract: A lifetime measurement of the 19/2(-) state in Pb-207 has been performed using the Recoil Distance Doppler-Shift (RDDS) method. The nuclei of interest were produced in multi-nucleon transfer reactions induced by a Pb-208 beam impinging on a Mo-100 enriched target. The beam-like nuclei were detected<bold> </bold>and identified in terms of their atomic mass number in the VAMOS++ spectrometer while the prompt gamma rays were detected by the AGATA tracking array. The measured large reduced transition probability B(E3, 19/2(-) -> 13/2(+)) = 40(8) W.u. is the first indication of the octupole phonon at high spin in Pb-207. An analysis in terms of a particle-octupole-vibration coupling model indicates that the measured B(E3) value in Pb-207 is compatible with the contributions from single-phonon and single particle E3 as well as E3 strength arising from the double-octupole-phonon 6(+) state, all adding coherently. A crucial aspect of the coupling model, namely the strong mixing between single-hole and the phonon-hole states, is confirmed in a realistic shell-model calculation.

Abstract: We analyze leptogenesis in the context of seesaw models with almost conserved lepton number, focusing on the L-conserving contribution to the flavoured CP asymmetries. We find that, contrary to previous claims, successful leptogenesis is feasible for masses of the lightest heavy neutrino as low as M-1 similar to 10(6) GeV, without resorting to the resonant enhancement of the CP asymmetry for strongly degenerate heavy neutrinos. This lower limit renders thermal leptogenesis compatible with the gravitino bound in supersymmetric scenarios.