Abstract: The success of the Belle II experiment in Japan relies on the very high instantaneous luminosity, close to 6x1035 cm-2 s-1, expected from the SuperKEKB collider. The corresponding beam conditions at such luminosity levels generate large rates of background particles and creates stringent constraints on the vertex detector, adding to the physics requirements. Current prospects for the occupancy rates in the present vertex detector (VXD) at full luminosity fall close to the acceptable limits and bear large uncertainties. In this context, the Belle II collaboration is considering the possibility to install an upgraded VXD system around 2027 to provide a sufficient safety margin with respect to the expected background rate and possibly enhance tracking and vertexing performance. The VTX collaboration has started the design of a fully pixelated VXD, called VTX, based on fast and highly granular Depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (DMAPS) integrated on light support structures. The two main technical features of the VTX proposal are the usage of a single sensor type over all the layers of the system and the overall material budget below 2% of radiation length, compared to the current VXD which has two different sensor technologies and about 3% of radiation length. A dedicated sensor (OBELIX), taylored to the specific needs of Belle II, is under development, evolving from the existing TJ-Monopix2 sensor. The time-stamping precision below 100 ns will allow all VTX layers to take part in the track finding strategy contrary to the current situation. The first two detection layers are designed according to a self-supported all-silicon ladder concept, where 4 contiguous sensors are diced out of a wafer, thinned and interconnected with post-processed redistribution layers. The outermost detection layers follow a more conventional approach with a cold plate and carbon fibre support structure, and light flex cables interconnecting the sensors. This document will review the context, technical details and development status of the proposed Belle II VTX.

Abstract: We report on the spatial response characterization of large LaCl3(Ce) monolithic crystals optically coupled to 8 x 8 pixel silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) sensors. A systematic study has been carried out for 511 keV gamma-rays using three different crystal thicknesses of 10 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm, all of them with planar geometry and a base size of 50 x 50 mm(2). In this work we investigate and compare two different approaches for the determination of the main gamma-ray hit location. On one hand, methods based on the fit of an analytical model for the scintillation light distribution provide the best results in terms of linearity and field of view, with spatial resolutions close to similar to 1 mm FWHM. On the other hand, position reconstruction techniques based on neural networks provide similar linearity and field-of-view, becoming the attainable spatial resolution similar to 3 mm FWHM. For the third space coordinate z or depth-of-interaction we have implemented an inverse linear calibration approach based on the cross-section of the measured scintillation-light distribution at a certain height. The detectors characterized in this work are intended for the development of so-called Total Energy Detectors with Compton imaging capability (i-TED), aimed at enhanced sensitivity and selectivity measurements of neutron capture cross sections via the time-of-flight (TOF) technique.

Abstract: The muon anomalous magnetic moment a(mu) is investigated in the MSSM for tan beta -> infinity. This is an attractive example of radiative muon mass generation with completely different qualitative parameter dependence compared to the MSSM with the usual, finite tan beta. The observed, positive difference between the experimental and Standard Model values can only be explained if there are mass splittings, such that bino contributions dominate over wino ones. The two most promising cases are characterized either by large Higgsino mass μor by large left-handed smuon mass m(L). The required mass splittings and the resulting a(mu)(SUSY) are studied in detail. It is shown that the current discrepancy in a(mu) can be explained even in cases where all SUSY masses are at the TeV scale. The paper also presents useful analytical formulas, approximations for limiting cases, and benchmark points.

Abstract: The three-particle K-matrix, K-df,K-3, is a scheme-dependent quantity that parametrizes short-range three-particle interactions in the relativistic-field-theory three particle finite-volume formalism. In this work, we compute its value for systems of three pions at maximal isospin through next-to-leading order (NLO) in Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). We compare the values to existing lattice QCD results and find that the agreement between lattice QCD data and ChPT in the first two coefficients of the threshold expansion of K-df,K-3 is significantly improved with respect to leading order once NLO effects are incorporated.

Abstract: Higgs-pair production via gluon fusion is the dominant production mechanism of Higgs-boson pairs at hadron colliders. In this work, we present details of our numerical determination of the full next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD corrections to the leading top-quark loops. Since gluon fusion is a loop-induced process at leading order, the NLO calculation requires the calculation of massive two-loop diagrams with up to four different mass/energy scales involved. With the current methods, this can only be done numerically, if no approximations are used. We discuss the setup and details of our numerical integration. This will be followed by a phenomenological analysis of the NLO corrections and their impact on the total cross section and the invariant Higgs-pair mass distribution. The last part of our work will be devoted to the determination of the residual theoretical uncertainties with special emphasis on the uncertainties originating from the scheme and scale dependence of the (virtual) top mass. The impact of the trilinear Higgs-coupling variation on the total cross section will be discussed.