Abstract: This article presents a new set of proton parton distribution functions, AT-LASepWZVjet20, produced in an analysis at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD. The new data sets considered are the measurements of W+ and W- boson and Z boson production in association with jets in pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV performed by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC with integrated luminosities of 20.2 fb(-1) and 19.9 fb(-1), respectively. The analysis also considers the ATLAS measurements of differential W-+/- and Z boson production at root s = 7 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb(-1) and deep-inelastic-scattering data from e(+/-) p collisions at the HERA accelerator. An improved determination of the sea-quark densities at high Bjorken x is shown, while confirming a strange-quark density similar in size to the up- and down-sea-quark densities in the range x less than or similar to 0.02 found by previous ATLAS analyses.

Abstract: The extragalactic background light (EBL) contains all the radiation emitted by nuclear and accretion processes in stars and compact objects since the epoch of recombination. Measuring the EBL density directly is challenging, especially in the near-to-far-infrared wave band, mainly due to the zodiacal light foreground. Instead, gamma-ray astronomy offers the possibility to indirectly set limits on the EBL by studying the effects of gamma-ray absorption in the very high energy (VHE: >100 GeV) spectra of distant blazars. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma Ray Observatory (HAWC) is one of the few instruments sensitive to gamma rays with energies above 10 TeV. This offers the opportunity to probe the EBL in the near/mid-IR region: lambda = 1-100 μm. In this study, we fit physically motivated emission models to Fermi-LAT gigaelectronvolt data to extrapolate the intrinsic teraelectronvolt spectra of blazars. We then simulate a large number of absorbed spectra for different randomly generated EBL model shapes and calculate Bayesian credible bands in the EBL intensity space by comparing and testing the agreement between the absorbed spectra and HAWC extragalactic observations of two blazars. The resulting bands are in agreement with current EBL lower and upper limits, showing a downward trend toward higher wavelength values lambda > 10 μm also observed in previous measurements.

Abstract: A search for dark matter is conducted in final states containing a photon and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The data, collected during 2015-2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). No deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model are observed and 95% confidence-level upper limits between 2.45 fb and 0.5 fb are set on the visible cross section for contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model, in different ranges of the missing transverse momentum. The results are interpreted as 95% confidence-level limits in models where weakly interacting dark-matter candidates are pair-produced via an s-channel axial-vector or vector mediator. Dark-matter candidates with masses up to 415 (580) GeV are excluded for axial-vector (vector) mediators, while the maximum excluded mass of the mediator is 1460 (1470) GeV. In addition, the results are expressed in terms of 95% confidence-level limits on the parameters of a model with an axion-like particle produced in association with a photon, and are used to constrain the coupling g(aZ gamma) of an axion-like particle to the electroweak gauge bosons.

Abstract: The existence of monopoles is a characteristic signature of Kaluza-Klein multidimensional theories. The topology of these solutions is extremely interesting. The existence of a dipole solution, which we have associated to a monopole-anti-monopole bound state, is the leitmotiv of this investigation. The dipole in its lowest energy state, which we here call also monopolium, is electromagnetically inert in free space interacting only gravitationally. Monopolium when interacting with time dependent magnetic fields acquires a time dependent induced magnetic moment and radiates. We have analyzed the most favorable astrophysical scenario for radiative monopolium and found that the amount of radiation is so small that is not detectable by conventional equipments. These findings suggest that Kaluza-Klein monopolium, if existent, would be a candidate for a primordial dark matter constituent.

Abstract: The matching of specific new physics scenarios onto the SMEFT framework is a well-understood procedure. The inverse problem, the matching of the SMEFT to UV scenarios, is more difficult and requires the development of new methods to perform a systematic exploration of models. In this paper we use a diagrammatic technique to construct in an automated way a complete set of possible UV models (given certain, well specified assumptions) that can produce specific groups of SMEFT operators, and illustrate its use by generating models with no tree-level contributions to four-fermion (4F) operators. Those scenarios, which only contribute to 4F at one-loop order, can contain relatively light particles that could be discovered at the LHC in direct searches. For this class of models, we find an interesting interplay between indirect SMEFT and direct searches. We discuss some examples on how this interplay would look like when combining low-energy observables with the SMEFT Higgs-fermion analyses and searches for resonance at the LHC.