Abstract: We update our previous search for trapped magnetic monopoles in LHC Run 2 using nearly six times more integrated luminosity and including additional models for the interpretation of the data. The MoEDAL forward trapping detector, comprising 222 kg of aluminium samples, was exposed to 2.11 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions near the LHCb interaction point and analysed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges equal to the Dirac charge or above are excluded in all samples. The results are interpreted in Drell-Yan production models for monopoles with spins 0, 1/2 and 1: in addition to standard point-like couplings, we also consider couplings with momentum-dependent form factors. The search provides the best current laboratory constraints for monopoles with magnetic charges ranging from two to five times the Dirac charge.

Abstract: We have addressed the study of non-leptonic weak decays of heavy hadrons (Lambda b, Lambda c, B and D), with external and internal emission to give two final hadrons, taking into account the spin-angular momentum structure of the mesons and baryons produced. A detailed angular momentum formulation is developed which leads to easy final formulas. By means of them we have made predictions for a large amount of reactions, up to a global factor, common tomany of them, that we take from some particular data. Comparing the theoretical predictions with the experimental data, the agreement found is quite good in general and the discrepancies should give valuable information on intrinsic form factors, independent of the spin structure studied here. The formulas obtained are also useful in order to evaluate meson-meson or meson-baryon loops, for instance of B decays, in which one has PP, PV, VP or VV intermediate states, with P for pseudoscalar mesons and V for vector meson and lay the grounds for studies of decays into three final particles.

Abstract: Fluoroscopy guided interventional procedures provide remarkable benefits to patients. However, medical staff working near the scattered radiation field may be exposed to high cumulative equivalent doses, thus requiring shielding devices such as lead aprons and thyroid collars. In this situation, it remains an acceptable practice to derive equivalent doses to the eye lenses or other unprotected soft tissues with a dosimeter placed above these protective devices. Nevertheless, the radiation backscattered by the lead shield differs from that generated during dosimeter calibration with a water phantom. In this study, a passive personal thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) was modelled by means of the Monte Carlo (MC) code Penelope. The results obtained were validated against measurements performed in reference conditions in a secondary standard dosimetry laboratory. Next, the MC model was used to evaluate the backscatter correction factor needed for the case where the dosimeter is worn over a lead shield to estimate the personal equivalent dose H-p(0.07) to unprotected soft tissues. For this purpose, the TLD was irradiated over a water slab phantom with a photon beam representative of the result of a fluoroscopy beam scattered by a patient. Incident beam angles of 0 degrees and 60 degrees, and lead thicknesses between the TLD and phantom of 0.25 and 0.5 mm Pb were considered. A backscatter correction factor of 1.23 (independent of lead thickness) was calculated comparing the results with those faced in reference conditions (i.e., without lead shield and with an angular incidence of 0 degrees). The corrected dose algorithm was validated in laboratory conditions with dosi-meters irradiated over a thyroid collar and angular incidences of 0 degrees, 40 degrees and 60 degrees, as well as with dosimeters worn by interventional radiologists and cardiologists. The corrected dose algorithm provides a better approach to estimate the equivalent dose to unprotected soft tissues such as eye lenses. Dosimeters that are not shielded from backscatter radiation might underestimate personal equivalent doses when worn over a lead apron and, therefore, should be specifically characterized for this purpose.

Abstract: A search for decays of B-c(+) mesons to two charm mesons is performed for the first time using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The decays considered are B-c(+)-> D-(s)(()*())(+) (D) over bar (()*()0) and Bc(+)-> D-(s)(()*D-)+(()*())(0), which are normalised to high-yield B+-> D-(s)(+)(D) over bar (0)decays. No evidence for a signal is found and limits are set on twelve B-c(+) decay modes.

Abstract: The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb(-1). Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti-k(t) algorithm with radius parameter R = 0.4 and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon-jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon-jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from SHERPA and PYTHIA as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA are compared to the measurements.