Abstract: A measurement of the splitting scales occuring in the k(t) jet-clustering algorithm is presented for final states containing a Z boson. The measurement is done using 20.2 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2012. The measurement is based on charged-particle track information, which is measured with excellent precision in the p(T) region relevant for the transition between the perturbative and the non-perturbative regimes. The data distributions are corrected for detector effects, and are found to deviate from state-of-the-art predictions in various regions of the observables.

Abstract: An amplitude analysis of B-0 ((+-))(K+-) decays is performed in the two-body invariant mass regions 300 < m((+-)) < 1100 MeV/c(2), accounting for the (0), , f(0)(500), f(0)(980) and f(0)(1370) resonances, and 750 < m(K+-) < 1200 MeV/c(2), which is dominated by the K-*(892)(0) meson. The analysis uses 3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The CP averages and asymmetries are measured for the magnitudes and phase differences of the con- tributing amplitudes. The CP-averaged longitudinal polarisation fractions of the vector-vector modes are found to be fK*0 = 0.164 +/- 0.015 +/- 0.022 and fK*0 = 0.68 +/- 0.17 +/- 0.16, and their CP asymmetries, AK*0 = -0.62 +/- 0.09 +/- 0.09 and AK*0 = -0.13 +/- 0.27 +/- 0.13, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

Abstract: A precision measurement of the Z boson production cross-section at root s = 13 TeV in the forward region is presented, using pp collision data collected by the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb(-1). The production cross-section is measured using Z -> mu(+)mu(-) events within the fiducial region defined as pseudorapidity 2.0 < eta < 4.5 and transverse momentum p(T) > 20 GeV/c for both muons and dimuon invariant mass 60 < M-mu μ< 120 GeV/c(2). The integrated cross-section is determined to be sigma(Z -> mu(+)mu(-)) = 196.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 1.6 +/- 3.9 pb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the luminosity determination. The measured results are in agreement with theoretical predictions within uncertainties.

Abstract: We investigate lepton flavour violation in a class of minimal left-right symmetric models where the left-right symmetry is broken by triplet scalars. In this context we present a method to consistently calculate the triplet-Yukawa couplings which takes into account the experimental data while simultaneously respecting the underlying symmetries. Analysing various scenarios, we then calculate the full set of tree-level and one-loop contributions to all radiative and three-body flavour-violating fully leptonic decays as well as well as μ- e conversion in nuclei. Our method illustrates how these processes depend on the underlying parameters of the theory. To that end we observe that, for many choices of the model parameters, there is a strong complementarity between the different observables. For instance, in a large part of the parameter space, lepton flavour violating T-decays have a large enough branching ratio to be measured in upcoming experiments. Our results further show that experiments coming online in the immediate future, like Mu3e and BELLE II, or longer-term, such as PRISM/PRIME, will probe significant portions of the currently allowed parameter space.

Abstract: The NEXT experiment aims at searching for the hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta decay from the Xe-136 isotope using a high-purity xenon TPC. Efficient discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionisation tracks is a major requirement for the experiment. However, it is limited by the diffusion of electrons. It is known that the addition of a small fraction of a molecular gas to xenon reduces electron diffusion. On the other hand, the electroluminescence (EL) yield drops and the achievable energy resolution may be compromised. We have studied the effect of adding several molecular gases to xenon (CO2, CH4 and CF4) on the EL yield and energy resolution obtained in a small prototype of driftless gas proportional scintillation counter. We have compared our results on the scintillation characteristics (EL yield and energy resolution) with a microscopic simulation, obtaining the diffusion coefficients in those conditions as well. Accordingly, electron diffusion may be reduced from about 10 for pure xenon down to 2.5 using additive concentrations of about 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.02% for CO2, CH4 and CF4, respectively. Our results show that CF4 admixtures present the highest EL yield in those conditions, but very poor energy resolution as a result of huge fluctuations observed in the EL formation. CH4 presents the best energy resolution despite the EL yield being the lowest. The results obtained with xenon admixtures are extrapolated to the operational conditions of the NEXT-100 TPC. CO2 and CH4 show potential as molecular additives in a large xenon TPC. While CO2 has some operational constraints, making it difficult to be used in a large TPC, CH4 shows the best performance and stability as molecular additive to be used in the NEXT-100 TPC, with an extrapolated energy resolution of 0.4% at 2.45 MeV for concentrations below 0.4%, which is only slightly worse than the one obtained for pure xenon. We demonstrate the possibility to have an electroluminescence TPC operating very close to the thermal diffusion limit without jeopardizing the TPC performance, if CO2 or CH4 are chosen as additives.