Abstract: We propose a new interpretation of Peccei-Quinn symmetry within the Standard Model, identifying it with the axial B+L symmetry i.e. U (1)(PQ) equivalent to U (1)(gamma 5)(B+L). This new interpretation retains all the attractive features of Peccei-Quinn solution to strong CP problem but in addition also leads to several other new and interesting consequences. Owing to the identification U (1)(PQ) equivalent to U (1)(gamma 5)(B+L) the axion also behaves like Majoron inducing small seesaw masses for neutrinos after spontaneous symmetry breaking. Another novel feature of this identification is the phenomenon of spontaneous (and also chiral) proton decay with its decay rate associated with the axion decay constant. Low energy processes which can be used to test this interpretation are pointed out.

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: For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS detector at CERN, the current ATLAS Inner Detector will be replaced with the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk). The ITk will be an all-silicon detector, consisting of a pixel tracker and a strip tracker. Sensors for the ITk strip tracker are required to have a low leakage current up to bias voltages of 500V to maintain a low noise and power dissipation. In order to minimise sensor leakage currents, particularly in the high-radiation environment inside the ATLAS detector, sensors are foreseen to be operated at low temperatures and to be manufactured from wafers with a high bulk resistivity of several k Omega.cm. Simulations showed the electric field inside sensors with high bulk resistivity to extend towards the sensor edge, which could lead to increased surface currents for narrow dicing edges. In order to map the electric field inside biased silicon sensors with high bulk resistivity, three diodes from ATLAS silicon strip sensor prototype wafers were studied with a monochromatic, micro-focused X-ray beam at the Diamond Light Source (Didcot, U.K.). For all devices under investigation, the electric field inside the diode was mapped and its dependence on the applied bias voltage was studied.

Abstract: We report on the observation of a microsecond isomeric state in the single-proton-hole, three-neutron-particle nucleus In-134. The nuclei of interest were produced by in-flight fission of a U-238 beam at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory at RIKEN. The isomer depopulates through a gamma ray of energy 56.7(1) keV and with a half-life of T-1/2 = 3.5(4) μs. Based on the comparison with shell-model calculations, we interpret the isomer as the I-pi = 5(-) member of the pi 0g(9/2)(-1) circle times nu 1f(7/2)(3) multiplet, decaying to the I-pi = 7(-) ground state with a reduced-transition probability of B(E2; 5(-) -> 7(-)) = 0.53(6) W.u. Observation of this isomer, and lack of evidence in the current work for a I-pi = 5(-) isomer decay in In-132, provides a benchmark of the proton-neutron interaction in the region of the nuclear chart “southeast” of Sn-132, where experimental information on excited states is sparse.

Abstract: We discuss the connection between the origin of neutrino masses and the properties of dark matter candidates in the context of gauge extensions of the Standard Model. We investigate minimal gauge theories for neutrino masses where the neutrinos arc predicted to be Dirac or Majorana fermions. We find that the upper bound on the effective number of relativistic species provides a strong constraint in the scenarios with Dirac neutrinos. In the context of theories where the lepton number is a local gauge symmetry spontaneously broken at the low scale, the existence of dark matter is predicted from the condition of anomaly cancellation. Applying the cosmological bound on the dark matter relic density, we find an upper bound on the symmetry breaking scale in the multi-TeV region. These results imply that we could test simple gauge theories for neutrino masses at current or future experiments.