Abstract: Searches for CP violation in the two-body decays D-(s)(+) -> h(+)pi(0) and D-(s)(+) -> h(+)eta (where h(+) denotes a pi(+) or K+ meson) are performed using pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment corresponding to either 9 fb(-1) or 6 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. The pi(0) and eta mesons are reconstructed using the e(+) e(-)gamma final state, which can proceed as three-body decays pi(0) -> e(+) e(-) gamma and eta -> e(+) e(-)gamma, or via the two-body decays pi(0) -> gamma gamma and eta -> gamma gamma followed by a photon conversion. The measurements are made relative to the control modes D-(s)(+) K(S)(0)h(+) to cancel the production and detection asymmetries. The CP asymmetries are measured to be A(CP)(D+ -> pi(+)pi(0)) = (-1.3 +/- 0.9 +/- 0.6)%, A(CP)(D+ -> K+pi(0)) = (- 3.2 +/- 4.7 +/- 2.1)%, A(CP)(D+ -> pi(+)eta) = (-0.2 +/- 0.8 +/- 0.4)%, A(CP)(D+ -> K+eta) = (-6 +/- 10 +/- 4 )%, A(CP)(D-s(+) -> K+pi(0)) = (-0.8 +/- 3.9 +/- 1.2)%, A(CP)(D-s(+) -> pi(+)eta) = ( 0.8 +/- 0.7 +/- 0.5)%, A(CP)(D-s(+) -> K+eta) = ( 0.9 +/- 3.7 +/- 1.1)%, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. These results are consistent with no CP violation and mostly constitute the most precise measurements of A(CP) in these decay modes to date.

Abstract: Interacting dark energy models may play a crucial role in explaining several important observational issues in modern cosmology and also may provide a solution to current cosmological tensions. Since the phenomenology of the dark sector could be extremely rich, one should not restrict the interacting models to have a coupling parameter which is constant in cosmic time, rather allow for its dynamical behaviour, as it is common practice in the literature when dealing with other dark energy properties, as the dark energy equation of state. We present here a compendium of the current cosmological constraints on a large variety of interacting models, investigating scenarios where the coupling parameter of the interaction function and the dark energy equation of state can be either constant or dynamical. For the most general schemes, in which both the coupling parameter of the interaction function and the dark energy equation of state are dynamical, we find 95% CL evidence for a dark energy component at early times and slightly milder evidence for a dynamical dark coupling for the most complete observational data set exploited here, which includes CMB, BAO and Supernova Ia measurements. Interestingly, there are some cases where a dark energy component different from the cosmological constant case at early times together with a coupling different from zero today, can alleviate both the H-0 and S-8 tension for the full dataset combination considered here. Due to the energy exchange among the dark sectors, the current values of the matter energy density and of the clustering parameter sigma(8) are shifted from their ACDM-like values. This fact makes future surveys, especially those focused on weak lensing measurements, unique tools to test the nature and the couplings of the dark energy sector. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/).

Abstract: We have constructed a GEANT4-based detailed software model of photon transport in plastic sontillator blocks and have used it to study the NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO calorimeters employed in experiments designed to search for neutnnoless double beta decay We compare our simulations to measurements using conversion electrons from a calibration source of (BI)-B-207 and show that the agreement is improved if wavelength-dependent properties of the calorimeter are taken into account In this article we briefly describe our modeling approach and results of our studies.

Abstract: Collapsing supermassive stars (M greater than or similar to 3 x 10(4) M-circle dot) at high redshifts can naturally provide seeds and explain the origin of the supermassive black holes observed in the centers of nearly all galaxies. During the collapse of supermassive stars, a burst of non-thermal neutrinos is generated with a luminosity that could greatly exceed that of a conventional core collapse supernova explosion. In this work, we investigate the extent to which the neutrinos produced in these explosions can be observed via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS). Large scale direct dark matter detection experiments provide particularly favorable targets. We find that upcoming O(100) tonne-scale experiments will be sensitive to the collapse of individual supermassive stars at distances as large as O(10) Mpc.

Abstract: We present an improved theoretical prediction of the positron energy spectrum for the polarised Michel decay & mu;+ & RARR; e+ & nu;e & nu; over bar & mu;. In addition to the full next-to-next-to-leading order correction of order & alpha;2 in the electromagnetic coupling, we include logarithmically enhanced terms at even higher orders. Logarithms due to collinear emission are included at next-to-leading accuracy up to order & alpha;4. At the endpoint of the Michel spectrum, soft photon emission results in large logarithms that are resummed up to next-to-next-to leading logarithmic accuracy. We apply our results in the context of the MEG II and Mu3e experiments to estimate the impact of the theory error on the branching ratio sensitivity for the lepton-flavour-violating decay & mu;+ & RARR; e+X of a muon into an axion-like particle X.