Abstract: We review the current status of the leptogenesis scenario originally proposed by Akhmedov, Rubakov and Smirnov (ARS). It takes place in the parametric regime where the right-handed neutrinos are at the electroweak scale or below and the CP-violating effects are induced by the coherent superposition of different right-handed mass eigenstates. Two main theoretical approaches to derive quantum kinetic equations, the Hamiltonian time evolution as well as the Closed-Time-Path technique are presented, and we discuss their relations. For scenarios with two right-handed neutrinos, we chart the viable parameter space. Both, a Bayesian analysis, that determines the most likely configurations for viable leptogenesis given different variants of flat priors, and a determination of the maximally allowed mixing between the light, mostly left-handed, and heavy, mostly right-handed, neutrino states are discussed. Rephasing invariants are shown to be a useful tool to classify and to understand various distinct contributions to ARS leptogenesis that can dominate in different parametric regimes. While these analyses are carried out for the parametric regime where initial asymmetries are generated predominantly from lepton-number conserving, but flavor violating effects, we also review the contributions from lepton-number violating operators and identify the regions of parameter space where these are relevant.

Abstract: Liquid scintillators are a common choice for neutrino physics experiments, but their capabilities to perform background rejection by scintillation pulse shape discrimination is generally limited in large detectors. This paper describes a novel approach for a pulse shape based event classification developed in the context of the Double Chooz reactor antineutrino experiment. Unlike previous implementations, this method uses the Fourier power spectra of the scintillation pulse shapes to obtain event-wise information. A classification variable built from spectral information was able to achieve an unprecedented performance, despite the lack of optimization at the detector design level. Several examples of event classification are provided, ranging from differentiation between the detector volumes and an efficient rejection of instrumental light noise, to some sensitivity to the particle type, such as stopping muons, ortho-positronium formation, alpha particles as well as electrons and positrons. In combination with other techniques the method is expected to allow for a versatile and more efficient background rejection in the future, especially if detector optimization is taken into account at the design level.

Abstract: We study three-body systems composed of D(*), B(*), and (B) over bar(*) in order to look for possible bound states or resonances. In order to solve the three-body problem, we use the fixed center approach for the Faddeev equations considering that the B*(B) over bar*(B (B) over bar) are clusterized systems, generated dynamically, which interact with a third particle D((D) over bar) whose mass is much smaller than the two-body bound states forming the cluster. In the DB*(B) over bar*, D*B*(B) over bar*, DB (B) over bar, and D*B (B) over bar systems with I = 1/2, we found clear bound state peaks with binding energies typically a few tens MeV and more uncertain broad resonant states about ten MeV above the threshold with widths of a few tens MeV.

Abstract: Stimulated by the new experimental LHCb findings associated with the Omega(c) states, some of which we have described in a previous work as being dynamically generated through meson-baryon interaction, we have extended this approach to make predictions for new Xi(cc) molecular states in the C = 2, S = 0, and I = 1/2 sector. These states manifest themselves as poles in the solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation in coupled channels. The kernels of this equation were obtained using general Lagrangians coming from the hidden local gauge symmetry or massive Yang-Mills theory, and the interactions are dominated by the exchange of light vector mesons. The extension of this approach to the heavy sector stems from the realization that the dominant interaction corresponds to having the heavy quarks as spectators, which implies the preservation of the heavy quark symmetry. As a result, we get several states: three states from the pseudoscalar meson-baryon interaction with J(P) = 1/2(-), and masses around 3840, 4080 and 4090 MeV, and two at 3920 and 4150 MeV for J(P) = 3/2(-). Furthermore, from the vector meson-baryon interaction we get three states degenerate with J(P) 1/2(-) and 3/2(-) from 4220 MeV to 4290 MeV, and two more states around 4280 and 4370 MeV, degenerate with J(P) = 1/2(-), 3/2(-), and 5/2(-).

Abstract: Relaxing the Riemannian condition to incorporate geometric quantities such as torsion and non-metricity may allow to explore new physics associated with defects in a hypothetical space-time microstructure. Here we show that non-metricity produces observable effects in quantum fields in the form of 4-fermion contact interactions, thereby allowing us to constrain the scale of non-metricity to be greater than 1 TeV by using results on Bahbah scattering. Our analysis is carried out in the framework of a wide class of theories of gravity in the metric-affine approach. The bound obtained represents an improvement of several orders of magnitude to previous experimental constraints.