Abstract: Einstenian cubic gravity (ECG) is a modified theory of gravity constructed with cubic contractions of the curvature tensor. This theory has the remarkable feature of having the same two propagating degrees of freedom of Einstein gravity (EG), at the perturbative level on maximally symmetric spacetimes. The additional unstable modes steaming from the higher order derivative dynamics are suppressed provided that we consider the ECG as an effective field theory wherein the cubic terms are seen as perturbative corrections of the Einstein -Hilbert term. Extensions of ECG have been proposed in cosmology and compact objects in order to probe if this property holds in more general configurations. In this work, we construct a modified ECG gravity in a five dimensional warped braneworld scenario. By assuming a specific combination of the cubic parameters, we obtained modified gravity equations of motion with terms up to second -order. For a thin 3-brane, the cubic -gravity corrections yield an effective positive bulk cosmological constant. Thus, in order to keep the 5D bulk warped compact, an upper bound of the cubic parameter with respect to the bulk curvature was imposed. For a thick brane, the cubic -gravity terms modify the scalar field potential and its corresponding vacuum. Nonetheless, the domain -wall structure with a localized source is preserved. At the perturbative level, the Kaluza-Klein (KK) tensor gravitational modes are stable and possess a localized massless mode provided the cubic corrections are small compared to the EG braneworld.

Abstract: Compton imaging represents a promising technique for range verification in proton therapy treatments. In this work, we report on the advantageous aspects of the i-TED detector for proton-range monitoring, based on the results of the first Monte Carlo study of its applicability to this field. i-TED is an array of Compton cameras, that have been specifically designed for neutron-capture nuclear physics experiments, which are characterized by gamma-ray energies spanning up to 5-6 MeV, rather low gamma-ray emission yields and very intense neutron induced gamma-ray backgrounds. Our developments to cope with these three aspects are concomitant with those required in the field of hadron therapy, especially in terms of high efficiency for real-time monitoring, low sensitivity to neutron backgrounds and reliable performance at the high gamma-ray energies. We find that signal-to-background ratios can be appreciably improved with i-TED thanks to its light-weight design and the low neutron-capture cross sections of its LaCl3 crystals, when compared to other similar systems based on LYSO, CdZnTe or LaBr3. Its high time-resolution (CRT similar to 500 ps) represents an additional advantage for background suppression when operated in pulsed HT mode. Each i-TED Compton module features two detection planes of very large LaCl3 monolithic crystals, thereby achieving a high efficiency in coincidence of 0.2% for a point-like 1 MeV gamma-ray source at 5 cm distance. This leads to sufficient statistics for reliable image reconstruction with an array of four i-TED detectors assuming clinical intensities of 10(8) protons per treatment point. The use of a two-plane design instead of three-planes has been preferred owing to the higher attainable efficiency for double time-coincidences than for threefold events. The loss of full-energy events for high energy gamma-rays is compensated by means of machine-learning based algorithms, which allow one to enhance the signal-to-total ratio up to a factor of 2.

Abstract: We propose the simplest TeV-scale scotogenic extension of the original 3-3-1 theory, where dark matter stability is linked to the Dirac nature of neutrinos, which results from an unbroken B – L gauge symmetry. The new gauge bosons get masses through the interplay of spontaneous symmetry breaking a la Higgs and the Stueckelberg mechanism.

Abstract: Dark matter stability can result from a residual matter-parity symmetry, following naturally from the spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry. Here we explore this idea in the context of the SU(3)(c) circle times SU(3)L circle times U(1)(x) circle times U(1)(N) electroweak extension of the standard model. The key feature of our new scotogenic dark matter theory is the use of a triplet scalar boson with anti-symmetric Yukawa couplings. This naturally implies that one of the light neutrinos is massless and, as a result, there is a lower bound for the O nu beta beta decay rate.

Abstract: A branching fraction measurement of the B0 -> Ds+</mml:msubsup>pi- decay is presented using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>fb-1. The branching fraction is found to be B(B0 -> Ds+</mml:msubsup>pi-)=(19.4 +/- 1.8 +/- 1.3 +/- 1.2)x10-6, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is due to the uncertainty on the B0 -> D-pi+, Ds+</mml:msubsup>-> K+K-pi+ and D--> K+pi-pi- branching fractions. This is the most precise single measurement of this quantity to date. As this decay proceeds through a single amplitude involving a b -> u charged-current transition, the result provides information on non-factorisable strong interaction effects and the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element <mml:msub>Vub. Additionally, the collision energy dependence of the hadronisation-fraction ratio <mml:msub>fs/<mml:msub>fd is measured through B<overbar></mml:mover>s0 -> Ds+pi- and B0 -> D-pi <mml:mo>+ decays.