Abstract: We investigate gravitational -wave backgrounds (GWBs) of primordial origin that would manifest only at ultrahigh frequencies, from kilohertz to 100 gigahertz, and leave no signal at LIGO, the Einstein Telescope, the Cosmic Explorer, LISA, or pulsar -timing arrays. We focus on GWBs produced by cosmic strings and make predictions for the GW spectra scanning over high-energy scale (beyond 10 10 GeV) particle physics parameters. Signals from local string networks can easily be as large as the big bang nucleosynthesis/ cosmic microwave background bounds, with a characteristic strain as high as 10 – 26 in the 10 kHz band, offering prospects to probe grand unification physics in the 10 14 -10 17 GeV energy range. In comparison, GWB from axionic strings is suppressed (with maximal characteristic strain similar to 10 – 31 ) due to the early matter era induced by the associated heavy axions. We estimate the needed reach of hypothetical futuristic GW detectors to probe such GWB and, therefore, the corresponding high-energy physics processes. Beyond the information of the symmetry -breaking scale, the high -frequency spectrum encodes the microscopic structure of the strings through the position of the UV cutoffs associated with cusps and kinks, as well as potential information about friction forces on the string. The IR slope, on the other hand, reflects the physics responsible for the decay of the string network. We discuss possible strategies for reconstructing the scalar potential, particularly the scalar self -coupling, from the measurement of the UV cutoff of the GW spectrum.

Abstract: Most advanced medical imaging techniques, such as positron-emission tomography (PET), require tracers that are produced in conventional particle accelerators. This paper focuses on the evaluation of a potential alternative technology based on laser-driven ion acceleration for the production of radioisotopes for PET imaging. We report for the first time the use of a high-repetition rate, ultra-intense laser system for the production of carbon-11 in multi-shot operation. Proton bunches with energies up to 10-14 MeV were systematically accelerated in long series at pulse rates between 0.1 and 1 Hz using a PW-class laser. These protons were used to activate a boron target via the 11 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$<^>{11}$$\end{document} B(p,n) 11 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$<^>{11}$$\end{document} C nuclear reaction. A peak activity of 234 kBq was obtained in multi-shot operation with laser pulses with an energy of 25 J. Significant carbon-11 production was also achieved for lower pulse energies. The experimental carbon-11 activities measured in this work are comparable to the levels required for preclinical PET, which would be feasible by operating at the repetition rate of current state-of-the-art technology (10 Hz). The scalability of next-generation laser-driven accelerators in terms of this parameter for sustained operation over time could increase these overall levels into the clinical PET range.

Abstract: The direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) of frequencies above MHz has recently received considerable attention. In this work, we present a precise study of the reach of a cubic cavity resonator to GWs in the microwave range, using for the first time tools allowing to perform realistic simulations. Concretely, the boundary integral -resonant mode expansion (BI-RME) 3D method, which allows us to obtain not only the detected power but also the detected voltage (magnitude and phase), is used here. After analyzing three cubic cavities for different frequencies and working simultaneously with three different degenerate modes at each cavity, we conclude that the sensitivity of the experiment is strongly dependent on the polarization and incidence angle of the GW. The presented experiment can reach sensitivities up to 1 x 10 – 19 at 100 MHz, 2 x 10 – 20 at 1 GHz, and 6 x 10 – 19 at 10 GHz for optimal angles and polarizations, and where in all cases we assumed an integration time of Delta t 1 / 4 1 ms. These results provide a strong case for further developing the use of cavities to detect GWs. Moreover, the possibility of analyzing the detected voltage (magnitude and phase) opens a new interferometric detection scheme based on the combination of the detected signals from multiple cavities.

Abstract: We report the first search for dark sectors performed at the NA64 experiment employing a high energy muon beam and a missing energy-momentum technique. Muons from the M2 beamline at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron with a momentum of 160 GeV/c are directed to an active target. The signal signature consists of a single scattered muon with momentum < 80 GeV/c in the final state, accompanied by missing energy, i.e., no detectable activity in the downstream calorimeters. For a total dataset of (1.98 +/- 0.02) x 10(10) muons on target, no event is observed in the expected signal region. This allows us to set new limits on the remaining (m(Z)'; g(Z)') parameter space of a new Z' (L-mu – L-tau) vector boson which could explain the muon (g – 2)(mu) anomaly. Additionally, our study excludes part of the parameter space suggested by the thermal dark matter relic abundance. Our results pave the way to explore dark sectors and light dark matter with muon beams in a unique and complementary way to other experiments.

Abstract: The large distances travelled by neutrinos emitted from the Sun and core -collapse supernovae together with the characteristic energy of such neutrinos provide ideal conditions to probe their lifetime, when the decay products evade detection. We investigate the prospects of probing invisible neutrino decay capitalising on the detection of solar and supernova neutrinos as well as the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) in the next -generation neutrino observatories Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, DARWIN, and RES-NOVA. We find that future solar neutrino data will be sensitive to values of the lifetime -to -mass ratio tau 1 /m 1 and tau 2 /m 2 of O(10 – 1 -10 – 2 ) s/eV. From a core -collapse supernova explosion at 10 kpc, lifetime -to -mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates of O(10 5 ) s/eV could be tested. After 20 years of data taking, the DSNB would extend the sensitivity reach of tau 1 /m 1 to 10 8 s/eV. These results promise an improvement of about 6-15 orders of magnitude on the values of the decay parameters with respect to existing limits.