Abstract: In this paper, we interpret the 750 GeV diphoton excess in the Zee-Babu extension of the two-Higgs-doublet model by introducing a top partner (T)/bottom partner (B). In the alignment limit, the 750 GeV resonance is identified as the heavy CP-even Higgs boson (H), which can be sizably produced via the QCD process pp -> T (T) over bar or pp -> B (B) over bar followed by the decay T -> Ht or B -> Hb. The diphoton decay rate of His greatly enhanced by the charged singlet scalars predicted in the Zee-Babu extension and the total width of H can be as large as 7 GeV. Under the current LHC constraints, we scan the parameter space and find that such an extension can account for the observed diphoton excess.

Abstract: The vacuum of the Standard Model is known to be unstable for the measured values of the top and Higgs masses. Here we show how vacuum stability can be achieved naturally if lepton number is violated spontaneously at the TeV scale. More precise Higgs measurements in the next LHC run should provide a crucial test of our symmetry breaking scenario. In addition, these schemes typically lead to enhanced rates for processes involving lepton flavor violation.

Abstract: A search is performed for D-sJ(()*()+) mesons in the reactions pp -> D*(+KSX)-X-0 and pp -> D*(K+X)-K-0 using data collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. For the D*K-+(S)0 final state, the decays D*(+) -> D-0 pi(+) with D-0 -> K-pi(+) and D-0 -> K-pi(+)pi(+)pi(-) are used. For D*K-0(+), the decay D*(0) -> D-0 pi(0) with D-0 -> K-pi(+) is used. A prominent D-s1(2536)(+) signal is observed in both D*K-+(S)0 and D*K-0(+) final states. The resonances D*(s1)(2700)(+) and D*(s3)(2860)(+) are also observed, yielding information on their properties, including spin-parity assignments. The decay D*(s2)(2573)(+) -> D*(+) K-S(0) is observed for the first time, at a significance of 6.9 sigma, and its branching fraction relative to the D*(s2)(2573)(+) -> (D+KS0) decay mode is measured.

Abstract: The simplest inflationary models predict a primordial power spectrum (PPS) of the curvature fluctuations that can be described by a power-law function that is nearly scale invariant. It has been shown, however, that the low-multipole spectrum of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies may hint at the presence of some features in the shape of the scalar PPS, which could deviate from its canonical power-law form. We study the possible degeneracies of this nonstandard PPS with the active neutrino masses, the effective number of relativistic species, and a sterile neutrino or a thermal axion mass. The limits on these additional parameters are less constraining in a model with a nonstandard PPS when including only the temperature autocorrelation spectrum measurements in the data analyses. The inclusion of the polarization spectra noticeably helps in reducing the degeneracies, leading to results that typically show no deviation from the Lambda CDM model with a standard power-law PPS. These findings are robust against changes in the function describing the noncanonical PPS. Albeit current cosmological measurements seem to prefer the simple power-law PPS description, the statistical significance to rule out other possible parametrizations is still very poor. Future cosmological measurements are crucial to improve the present PPS uncertainties.

Abstract: The PRISMA spectrometer's response function was successfully applied to match three angular and magnetic settings over a wide angular range for measurements of quasi-elastic reactions in Ar-40 + Pb-208 . The absolute scale of cross sections has been obtained by using the Rutherford cross section at the forward angles and the information from the energy distributions measured with the spectrometer without and with coincidences with the CLARA -array. The semi-classical model GRAZING has been used to test the unfolding procedure and for comparison with the corrected cross sections.