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Gerbino, M., Lattanzi, M., Mena, O., & Freese, K. (2017). A novel approach to quantifying the sensitivity of current and future cosmological datasets to the neutrino mass ordering through Bayesian hierarchical modeling. Phys. Lett. B, 775, 239–250.
Abstract: We present a novel approach to derive constraints on neutrino masses, as well as on other cosmological parameters, from cosmological data, while taking into account our ignorance of the neutrino mass ordering. We derive constraints from a combination of current as well as future cosmological datasets on the total neutrino mass M-nu and on the mass fractions f(nu),i = m(i)/M-nu (where the index i = 1, 2, 3 indicates the three mass eigenstates) carried by each of the mass eigenstates m(i), after marginalizing over the (unknown) neutrino mass ordering, either normal ordering (NH) or inverted ordering (IH). The bounds on all the cosmological parameters, including those on the total neutrino mass, take therefore into account the uncertainty related to our ignorance of the mass hierarchy that is actually realized in nature. This novel approach is carried out in the framework of Bayesian analysis of a typical hierarchical problem, where the distribution of the parameters of the model depends on further parameters, the hyperparameters. In this context, the choice of the neutrino mass ordering is modeled via the discrete hyperparameter h(type), which we introduce in the usual Markov chain analysis. The preference from cosmological data for either the NH or the IH scenarios is then simply encoded in the posterior distribution of the hyper-parameter itself. Current cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements assign equal odds to the two hierarchies, and are thus unable to distinguish between them. However, after the addition of baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements, a weak preference for the normal hierarchical scenario appears, with odds of 4 : 3 from Planck temperature and large-scale polarization in combination with BAO (3 : 2 if small-scale polarization is also included). Concerning next-generation cosmological experiments, forecasts suggest that the combination of upcoming CMB (COrE) and BAO surveys (DESI) may determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a high statistical significance if the mass is very close to the minimal value allowed by oscillation experiments, as for NH and a fiducial value of M-nu = 0.06 eV there is a 9 : 1 preference of normal versus inverted hierarchy. On the contrary, if the sum of the masses is of the order of 0.1 eV or larger, even future cosmological observations will be inconclusive. The innovative statistical strategy exploited here represents a very simple, efficient and robust tool to study the sensitivity of present and future cosmological data to the neutrino mass hierarchy, and a sound competitor to the standard Bayesian model comparison. The unbiased limit on M-nu we obtain is crucial for ongoing and planned neutrinoless double beta decay searches.
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Gariazzo, S., Giunti, C., Laveder, M., & Li, Y. F. (2018). Model-independent (nu)over-bar(e) short-baseline oscillations from reactor spectral ratios. Phys. Lett. B, 782, 13–21.
Abstract: We consider the ratio of the spectra measured in the DANSS neutrino experiment at 12.7 and 10.7 m from a nuclear reactor. These data give a new model-independent indication in favor of short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations which reinforce the model-independent indication found in the late 2016 in the NEOS experiment. The combined analysis of the NEOS and DANSS spectral ratios in the framework of 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing favor short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations with a statistical significance of 3.7 sigma. The two mixing parameters sin(2)2 nu ee and Delta m(41)(2) are constrained at 2 sigma a narrow-Delta m(41)(2) island at Delta m(41)(2) similar or equal to 1.3 eV(2), with sin(2)2 nu(ee)= 0.049 +/- 0.023(2 sigma). We discuss the implications of the model-independent NEOS+DANSS analysis for the reactor and Gallium anomalies. The NEOS+DANSS model-independent determination of short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations allows us to analyze the reactor rates without assumptions on the values of the main reactor antineutrino fluxes and the data of the Gallium source experiments with free detector efficiencies. The corrections to the reactor neutrino fluxes and the Gallium detector efficiencies are obtained from the fit of the data. In particular, we confirm the indication in favor of the need for a recalculation of the (235)Ureactor antineutrino flux found in previous studies assuming the absence of neutrino oscillations.
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Garcia-Recio, C., Nieves, J., & Tolos, L. (2010). D mesic nuclei. Phys. Lett. B, 690(4), 369–375.
Abstract: The energies and widths of several D-0 meson bound states for different nuclei are obtained using a D-meson selfenergy in the nuclear medium, which is evaluated in a selfconsistent manner using techniques of unitarized coupled-channel theory. The kernel of the meson-baryon interaction is based on a model that treats heavy pseudoscalar and heavy vector mesons on equal footing, as required by heavy quark symmetry. We find D-0 bound states in all studied nuclei, from C-12 up to Pb-208. The inclusion of vector mesons is the keystone for obtaining an attractive D-nucleus interaction that leads to the existence of D-0-nucleus bound states, as compared to previous studies based on SU(4) flavor symmetry. In some cases, the half widths are smaller than the separation of the levels, what makes possible their experimental observation by means of a nuclear reaction. This can be of particular interest for the future PANDA@FAIR physics program. We also find a D+ bound state in C-12, but it is too broad and will have a significant overlap with the energies of the continuum.
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Freitas, E. D. C., Monteiro, C. M. B., Ball, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Lopes, J. A. M., Lux, T., et al. (2010). Secondary scintillation yield in high-pressure xenon gas for neutrinoless double beta decay (0 nu beta beta) search. Phys. Lett. B, 684(4-5), 205–210.
Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0 nu beta beta) is an important topic in contemporary physics with many active experiments. New projects are planning to use high-pressure xenon gas as both source and detection medium. The secondary scintillation processes available in noble gases permit large amplification with negligible statistical fluctuations, offering the prospect of energy resolution approaching the Fano factor limit. This Letter reports results for xenon secondary scintillation yield, at room temperature, as a function of electric field in the gas scintillation gap for pressures ranging from 2 to 10 bar. A Large Area Avalanche Photodiode (LAAPD) collected the VUV secondary scintillation produced in the gas. X-rays directly absorbed in the LAAPD are used as a reference for determining the number of charge carriers produced by the scintillation pulse and, hence, the number of photons impinging the LAAPD. The number of photons produced per drifting electron and per kilovolt, the so-called scintillation amplification parameter, displays a small increase with pressure, ranging from 141 +/- 6 at 2 bar to 170 +/- 10 at 8 bar. In our setup, this Parameter does not increase above 8 bar due to nonnegligible electron attachment. The results are in good agreement with those presented in the literature in the 1 to 3 bar range. The increase of the scintillation amplification parameter with pressure for high gas densities has been also observed in former work at cryogenic temperatures.
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Fileviez Perez, P., & Murgui, C. (2018). Sterile neutrinos and B-L symmetry. Phys. Lett. B, 777, 381–387.
Abstract: We revisit the relation between the neutrino masses and the spontaneous breaking of the B-L gauge symmetry. We discuss the main scenarios for Dirac and Majorana neutrinos and point out two simple mechanisms for neutrino masses. In this context the neutrino masses can be generated either at tree level or at quantum level and one predicts the existence of very light sterile neutrinos with masses below the eV scale. The predictions for lepton number violating processes such as μ-> e and μ-> e gamma are discussed in detail. The impact from the cosmological constraints on the effective number of relativistic degree of freedom is investigated.
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Ferreiro, A., & Torrenti, F. (2023). Ultraviolet-regularized power spectrum without infrared distortions in cosmological spacetimes. Phys. Lett. B, 840, 137868–6pp.
Abstract: We reexamine the regularization of the two-point function of a scalar field in a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. Adiabatic regularization provides a set of subtraction terms in momentum space that successfully remove its ultraviolet divergences at coincident points, but can significantly distort the power spectrum at infrared scales, especially for light fields. In this work we propose, by using the intrinsic ambiguities of the renormalization program, a new set of subtraction terms that minimize the distortions for scales k less than or similar to M, with M an arbitrary mass scale. Our method is consistent with local covariance and equivalent to general regularization methods in curved spacetime. We apply our results to the regularization of the power spectrum in de Sitter space: while the adiabatic scheme yields exactly Delta((reg))(phi) = 0 for a massless field, our proposed prescription recovers the standard scale-invariant result Delta((reg))(phi) similar or equal to H-2/(4 pi(2)) at super-horizon scales.
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Ferreiro, A., & Navarro-Salas, J. (2019). Running couplings from adiabatic regularization. Phys. Lett. B, 792, 81–85.
Abstract: We extend the adiabatic regularization method by introducing an arbitrary mass scale μin the construction of the subtraction terms. This allows us to obtain, in a very robust way, the running of the coupling constants by demanding mu-invariance of the effective semiclassical (Maxwell-Einstein) equations. In particular, we get the running of the electric charge of perturbative quantum electrodynamics. Furthermore, the method brings about a renormalization of the cosmological constant and the Newtonian gravitational constant. The running obtained for these dimensionful coupling constants has new relevant (non-logarithmic) contributions, not predicted by dimensional regularization.
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Fernandez-Carames, T., Valcarce, A., & Vijande, J. (2011). Doubly charmed exotic mesons: A gift of nature? Phys. Lett. B, 699(4), 291–295.
Abstract: We study doubly charmed exotic states by solving the scattering problem of two D mesons. Our results point to the existence of a stable isoscalar doubly charmed meson with quantum numbers (I)J(P) = (0)1(+). We perform a thorough comparison to the results obtained within the hyperspherical harmonic formalism. Such exotic states could be measured at LHC and RHIC. Their experimental observation would, for the first time, confirm the contribution of multiquark structures to hadron spectroscopy.
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Felix-Beltran, O., Gonzalez-Canales, F., Hernandez-Sanchez, J., Moretti, S., Noriega-Papaqui, R., & Rosado, A. (2015). Analysis of the quark sector in the 2HDM with a four-zero Yukawa texture using the most recent data on the CKM matrix. Phys. Lett. B, 742, 347–352.
Abstract: In this Letter we analyse, in the context of the general 2-Higgs Doublet Model, the structure of the Yukawa matrices, (Y) over tilde (q)(1,2), by assuming a four-zero texture ansatz for their definition. In this framework, we obtain compact expressions for (Y) over tilde (q)(1,2), which are reduced to the Cheng and Sher ansatz with the difference that they are obtained naturally as a direct consequence of the invariants of the fermion mass matrices. Furthermore, in order to avoid large flavour violating effects coming from charged Higgs exchange, we consider the main flavour constraints on the off-diagonal terms of Yukawa texture ((chi) over tilde (q)(j))(kl) (k not equal l). We perform a chi(2)-fit based on current experimental data on the quark masses and the Cabibbo-KobayashiMaskawa mixing matrix V-CKM. Hence, we obtain the allowed ranges for the parameters (Y) over tilde (q)(1,2) at 1 sigma for several values of tan beta. The results are in complete agreement with the bounds obtained taking into account constraints on Flavour Changing Neutral Currents reported in the literature.
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Feijoo, A., Wang, W. F., Xiao, C. W., Wu, J. J., Oset, E., Nieves, J., et al. (2023). A new look at the P-cs states from a molecular perspective. Phys. Lett. B, 839, 137760–7pp.
Abstract: We have a look at the P-cs states generated from the interaction of (D) over bar(*)Xi(c)('*) coupled channels. We consider the blocks of pseudoscalar-baryon (1/2(+) , 3/2(+)) and vector-baryon (1/2(+), 3/2(+)), and find 10 resonant states coupling mostly to (D) over bar Xi(c), <(D)*over bar>*Xi(c), (D) over bar Xi(c)' <(DA novel aspect of the work is the realization that the <(Dover bar>Xi(c), (Dover bar>(s) Lambda(c) or (Dover bar>*Xi(c), D-s*Lambda(c) channels, with a strong transition potential, collaborate to produce a larger attraction than the corresponding states <(Dover bar>Xi(c), <(Dover bar>Lambda(c) or (D) over bar*Xi(c), (D) over bar*Lambda(c) appearing in the generation of the strangenessless P-c states, since in the latter case the transition potential between those channels is zero. The extra attraction obtained in the (D) over bar Xi(c), (D) over bar* Xi(c) pairs preclude the association of the P-cs(4338) state coupling mostly to (D) over bar*Xi(c) while the P-cs(4459) is associated to the state found that couples mostly to (D) over bar Xi(c)'. Four more states appear, like in other molecular pictures, and some of the states are degenerate in spin. Counting different spin states we find 10states, which we hope can be observed in the near future.
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