Gariazzo, S., & Mena, O. (2019). Cosmology-marginalized approaches in Bayesian model comparison: The neutrino mass as a case study. Phys. Rev. D, 99(2), 021301–6pp.
Abstract: We propose here a novel method which singles out the a priori unavoidable dependence on the underlying cosmological model when extracting parameter constraints, providing robust limits which only depend on the considered dataset. Interestingly, when dealing with several possible cosmologies and interpreting the Bayesian preference in terms of the Gaussian statistical evidence, the preferred model is much less favored than when only two cases are compared. As a working example, we apply our approach to the cosmological neutrino mass bounds, which play a fundamental role not only in establishing the contribution of relic neutrinos to the dark matter of the Universe but also in the planning of future experimental searches of the neutrino character and of the neutrino mass ordering.
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Etxebeste, A., Barrio, J., Bernabeu, J., Lacasta, C., Llosa, G., Muñoz, E., et al. (2019). Study of sensitivity and resolution for full ring PET prototypes based on continuous crystals and analytical modeling of the light distribution. Phys. Med. Biol., 64(3), 035015–17pp.
Abstract: Sensitivity and spatial resolution are the main parameters to maximize in the performance of a PET scanner. For this purpose, detectors consisting of a combination of continuous crystals optically coupled to segmented photodetectors have been employed. With the use of continuous crystals the sensitivity is increased with respect to the pixelated crystals. In addition, spatial resolution is no longer limited to the crystal size. The main drawback is the difficulty in determining the interaction position. In this work, we present the characterization of the performance of a full ring based on cuboid continuous crystals coupled to SiPMs. To this end, we have employed the simulations developed in a previous work for our experimental detector head. Sensitivity could be further enhanced by using tapered crystals. This enhancement is obtained by increasing the solid angle coverage, reducing the wedge-shaped gaps between contiguous detectors. The performance of the scanners based on both crystal geometries was characterized following NEMA NU 4-2008 standardized protocol in order to compare them. An average sensitivity gain over the entire axial field of view of 13.63% has been obtained with tapered geometry while similar performance of the spatial resolution has been proven with both scanners. The activity at which NECR and true peak occur is smaller and the peak value is greater for tapered crystals than for cuboid crystals. Moreover, a higher degree of homogeneity was obtained in the sensitivity map due to the tighter packing of the crystals, which reduces the gaps and results in a better recovery of homogeneous regions than for the cuboid configuration. Some of the results obtained, such as spatial resolution, depend on the interaction position estimation and may vary if other method is employed.
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Rojas, N., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2019). Simplest scoto-seesaw mechanism. Phys. Lett. B, 789, 132–136.
Abstract: By combining the simplest (3,1) version of the seesaw mechanism containing a single heavy “right-handed” neutrino with the minimal scotogenic approach to dark matter, we propose a theory for neutrino oscillations. The “atmospheric” mass scale arises at tree level from the seesaw, while the “solar” oscillation scale emerges radiatively, through a loop involving the “dark sector” exchange. Such simple setup gives a clear interpretation of the neutrino oscillation lengths, has a viable WIMP dark matter candidate, and implies a lower bound on the neutrinoless double beta decay rate.
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de Salas, P. F., Pastor, S., Ternes, C. A., Thakore, T., & Tortola, M. (2019). Constraining the invisible neutrino decay with KM3NeT-ORCA. Phys. Lett. B, 789, 472–479.
Abstract: Several theories of particle physics beyond the Standard Model consider that neutrinos can decay. In this work we assume that the standard mechanism of neutrino oscillations is altered by the decay of the heaviest neutrino mass state into a sterile neutrino and, depending on the model, a scalar or a Majoron. We study the sensitivity of the forthcoming KM3NeT-ORCA experiment to this scenario and find that it could improve the current bounds coming from oscillation experiments, where three-neutrino oscillations have been considered, by roughly two orders of magnitude. We also study how the presence of this neutrino decay can affect the determination of the atmospheric oscillation parameters sin(2) theta(23) and Delta m(31)(2), as well as the sensitivity to the neutrino mass ordering.
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Carcamo Hernandez, A. E., Kovalenko, S., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2019). Neutrino predictions from a left-right symmetric flavored extension of the standard model. J. High Energy Phys., 02(2), 065–24pp.
Abstract: We propose a left-right symmetric electroweak extension of the Standard Model based on the Delta (27) family symmetry. The masses of all electrically charged Standard Model fermions lighter than the top quark are induced by a Universal Seesaw mechanism mediated by exotic fermions. The top quark is the only Standard Model fermion to get mass directly from a tree level renormalizable Yukawa interaction, while neutrinos are unique in that they get calculable radiative masses through a low-scale seesaw mechanism. The scheme has generalized μ- tau symmetry and leads to a restricted range of neutrino oscillations parameters, with a nonzero neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude lying at the upper ranges generically associated to normal and inverted neutrino mass ordering.
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Yu, Q. X., Pavao, R., Debastiani, V. R., & Oset, E. (2019). Description of the Xic and Xib states as molecular states. Eur. Phys. J. C, 79(2), 167–14pp.
Abstract: In this work we study several c and b states dynamically generated from the meson-baryon interaction in coupled channels, using an extension of the local hidden gauge approach in the Bethe-Salpeter equation. These molecular states appear as poles of the scattering amplitudes, and several of them can be identified with the experimentally observed c states, including the c(2790), c(2930), c(2970), c(3055) and c(3080). Also, for the recently reported b(6227) state, we find two poles with masses and widths remarkably close to the experimental data, for both the JP=1/2- and JP=3/2- sectors.
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PANDA Collaboration(Singh, B. et al), & Diaz, J. (2019). Technical design report for the (P)over-barANDA Barrel DIRC detector. J. Phys. G, 46(4), 045001–155pp.
Abstract: The (P) over bar ANDA (anti-Proton ANnihiliation at DArmstadt) experiment will be one of the four flagship experiments at the new international accelerator complex FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) in Darmstadt, Germany. (P) over bar ANDA will address fundamental questions of hadron physics and quantum chromodynamics using high-intensity cooled antiproton beams with momenta between 1.5 and 15 GeV/c and a design luminosity of up to 2 x 10(32) cm(-2) S-1. Excellent particle identification (PID) is crucial to the success of the (P) over bar ANDA physics program. Hadronic PID in the barrel region of the target spectrometer will be performed by a fast and compact Cherenkov counter using the detection of internally reflected Cherenkov light (DIRC) technology. It is designed to cover the polar angle range from 22 degrees to 140 degrees and will provide at least 3 standard deviations (s.d.) pi/K separation up to 3.5 GeV/c, matching the expected upper limit of the final state kaon momentum distribution from simulation. This documents describes the technical design and the expected performance of the (P) over bar ANDA Barrel DIRC detector. The design is based on the successful BaBar DIRC with several key improvements. The performance and system cost were optimized in detailed detector simulations and validated with full system prototypes using particle beams at GSI and CERN. The final design meets or exceeds the PID goal of clean pi/K separation with at least 3 s.d. over the entire phase space of charged kaons in the Barrel DIRC.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2019). Search for Higgs boson decays into a pair of light bosons in the bb μμfinal state in pp collision at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 790, 1–21.
Abstract: A search for decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-zero particles, H -> aa, where the a-bosons decay into a b-quark pair and a muon pair, is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching ratio (sigma(H)/sigma(SM)) x B(H -> aa -> bb μmu), ranging from 1.2 x 10(-4) to 8.4 x 10(-4) in the a-boson mass range of 20-60 GeV. Model-independent limits are set on the visible production cross-section times the branching ratio to the bb μμfinal state for new physics, sigma(vis)(X) x B(X -> bb μmu), ranging from 0.1 fb to 0.73 fb for m(mu mu) between 18 and 62 GeV.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2019). Measurement of the nuclear modification factor for inclusive jets in Pb plus Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 790, 108–128.
Abstract: Measurements of the yield and nuclear modification factor, R-AA, for inclusive jet production are performed using 0.49 nb(-1) of Pb+Pb data at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV and 25 pb(-1) of Pb+Pb data at root s = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-k(t) algorithm with radius parameter R = 0.4 and are measured over the transverse momentum range of 40-1000 GeV in six rapidity intervals covering vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.8. The magnitude of R-AA increases with increasing jet transverse momentum, reaching a value of approximately 0.6 at 1 TeV in the most central collisions. The magnitude of R-AA also increases towards peripheral collisions. The value of R-AA is independent of rapidity at low jet transverse momenta, but it is observed to decrease with increasing rapidity at high transverse momenta.
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Reig, M., & Srivastava, R. (2019). Spontaneous proton decay and the origin of Peccei-Quinn symmetry. Phys. Lett. B, 790, 134–139.
Abstract: We propose a new interpretation of Peccei-Quinn symmetry within the Standard Model, identifying it with the axial B+L symmetry i.e. U (1)(PQ) equivalent to U (1)(gamma 5)(B+L). This new interpretation retains all the attractive features of Peccei-Quinn solution to strong CP problem but in addition also leads to several other new and interesting consequences. Owing to the identification U (1)(PQ) equivalent to U (1)(gamma 5)(B+L) the axion also behaves like Majoron inducing small seesaw masses for neutrinos after spontaneous symmetry breaking. Another novel feature of this identification is the phenomenon of spontaneous (and also chiral) proton decay with its decay rate associated with the axion decay constant. Low energy processes which can be used to test this interpretation are pointed out.
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