Abstract: This letter documents a search for flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNCs), which are strongly sup-pressed in the Standard Model, in events with a photon and a top quark with the ATLAS detector. The analysis uses data collected in pp collisions at & RADIC;s =13 TeV during Run 2 of the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. Both FCNC top-quark production and decay are considered. The final state consists of a charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, a b-tagged jet, one high-momentum photon and possibly additional jets. A multiclass deep neural network is used to classify events either as signal in one of the two categories, FCNC production or decay, or as background. No significant ex-cess of events over the background prediction is observed and 95% CL upper limits are placed on the strength of left-and right-handed FCNC interactions. The 95% CL bounds on the branching fractions for the FCNC top-quark decays, estimated (expected) from both top-quark production and decay, are B(t & RARR; u & gamma; ) < 0.85 (0.88+0.37 -0.25) x 10-5 and B(t & RARR; c & gamma; ) < 4.2 (3.40+1.35-0.95) x 10-5 for a left-handed tq & gamma; cou-pling, and B(t & RARR; u & gamma; ) < 1.2 (1.20+0.50 -0.33) x10-5 and B(t & RARR; c & gamma; ) < 4.5 (3.70+1.47 -1.03) x10-5 for a right-handed coupling.

Abstract: A search for the production of three massive vector bosons in proton-proton collisions is performed using data at root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in the years 2015-2017, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79.8 fb(-1). Events with two same-sign leptons l (electrons or muons) and at least two reconstructed jets are selected to search for WWW -> l nu l nu qq. Events with three leptons without any same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pairs are used to search for WWW > l nu l nu l nu, while events with three leptons and at least one same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair and one or more reconstructed jets are used to search for WWZ -> l nu qqll. Finally, events with four leptons are analysed to search for WWZ > l nu l nu ll and WZZ > qqllll. Evidence for the joint production of three massive vector bosons is observed with a significance of 4.1 standard deviations, where the expectation is 3.1 standard deviations.

Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) events via the coupling of a top quark, a photon, and an up or charm quark is presented using 81 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with a photon, an electron or muon, a b-tagged jet, and missing transverse momentum are selected. A neural network based on kinematic variables differentiates between events from signal and background processes. The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the strength of the tq gamma coupling in an effective field theory. These are also interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC t gamma production via a left-handed (right-handed) tu gamma coupling of 36 fb (78 fb) and on the branching ratio for t -> gamma u of 2.8 x 10(-5) (6.1 x 10(-5)). In addition, they are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC t gamma production via a left-handed (right-handed) tc.coupling of 40 fb (33 fb) and on the branching ratio for t -> gamma c of 22 x 10(-5) (18 x 10(-5)).

Abstract: We consider the possibility of grand unification of the SU(3)(c) circle times SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X) model in an SU(6) gauge unification group. Two possibilities arise. Unlike other conventional grand unified theories, in SU(6) one can embed the 331 model as a subgroup such that different multiplets appear with different multiplicities. Such a scenario may emerge from the flux breaking of the unified group in an E(6) F-theory GUT. This provides new ways of achieving gauge coupling unification in 331 models while providing the radiative origin of neutrino masses. Alternatively, a sequential variant of the SU(3)(c) circle times SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X) model can fit within a minimal SU(6) grand unification, which in turn can be a natural E(6) subgroup. This minimal SU(6) embedding does not require any bulk exotics to account for the chiral families while allowing for a TeV scale SU(3)(c) circle times SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X) model with seesaw-type neutrino masses.

Abstract: Axions currently provide the most compelling solution to the strong CP problem. These particles may be copiously produced in the early universe, including via thermal processes. Therefore, relic axions constitute a hot dark matter component and their masses are strongly degenerate with those of the three active neutrinos, as they leave identical signatures in the different cosmological observables. In addition, thermal axions, while still relativistic states, also contribute to the relativistic degrees of freedom, parameterized via N-eff. We present the cosmological bounds on the relic axion and neutrino masses, exploiting the full Planck mission data, which include polarization measurements. In the mixed hot dark matter scenario explored here, we find the tightest and more robust constraint to date on the sum of the three active neutrino masses, Sigma m nu < 0.136eV at 95% CL, as it is obtained in the very well-known linear perturbation regime. The Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster number count data further tightens this bound, providing a 95% CL upper limit of Sigma m nu < 0.126 eV in this very same mixed hot dark matter model, a value which is very close to the expectations in the inverted hierarchical neutrino mass scenario. Using this same combination of data sets we find the most stringent bound to date on the thermal axion mass, m(a) < 0.529 eV at 95% CL.