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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2016). Be-7(n,alpha)He-4 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(15), 152701–7pp.
Abstract: The energy-dependent cross section of the (7)Bed(n,alpha)He-4 reaction, of interest for the so-called cosmological lithium problem in big bang nucleosynthesis, has been measured for the first time from 10 meV to 10 keV neutron energy. The challenges posed by the short half-life of Be-7 and by the low reaction cross section have been overcome at nTOF thanks to an unprecedented combination of the extremely high luminosity and good resolution of the neutron beam in the new experimental area (EAR2) of the nTOF facility at CERN, the availability of a sufficient amount of chemically pure Be-7, and a specifically designed experimental setup. Coincidences between the two alpha particles have been recorded in two Si-Be-7-Si arrays placed directly in the neutron beam. The present results are consistent, at thermal neutron energy, with the only previous measurement performed in the 1960s at a nuclear reactor. The energy dependence reported here clearly indicates the inadequacy of the cross section estimates currently used in BBN calculations. Although new measurements at higher neutron energy may still be needed, the n_TOF results hint at a minor role of this reaction in BBN, leaving the long-standing cosmological lithium problem unsolved.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2019). Observation of New Resonances in the Lambda(0)(b)pi(+)pi(-) System. Phys. Rev. Lett., 123(15), 152001–11pp.
Abstract: We report the observation of a new structure in the Lambda(0)(b)pi(+)pi(- )spectrum using the full LHCb data set of pp collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1), collected at root s = 7, 8, and 13 TeV. A study of the structure suggests its interpretation as a superposition of two almost degenerate narrow states. The masses and widths of these states are measured to be m(Lambda b(6146)0) = 6146.17 +/- 0.33 +/- 0.22 +/- 0.16 MeV, m(Lambda b(6152)0) = 6152.51 +/- 0.26 +/- 0.22 +/- 0.16 MeV, Gamma(Lambda b(6146)0) = 2.9 +/- 1.3 +/- 0.3 MeV, Gamma(Lambda b(6152)0) = 2.1 +/- 0.8 +/- 0.3 MeV,with a mass splitting of Delta m = 6.34 +/- 0.32 +/- 0.02 MeV, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic. The third uncertainty for the mass measurements derives from the knowledge of the mass of the Lambda(0)(b) baryon. The measured masses and widths of these new excited states suggest their possible interpretation as a doublet of Lambda(b)(1D)(0) states.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2020). Measurements of the Absolute Branching Fractions of B-+/- -> K(+/-)Xc(c)over-bar. Phys. Rev. Lett., 124(15), 152001–8pp.
Abstract: A study of the two-body decays B-+/- -> Xc (c) over barK +/-, where X-c (c) over bar refers to one charmonium state, is reported by the BABAR Collaboration using a data sample of 424 fb(-1). The absolute determination of branching fractions for these decays are significantly improved compared to previous BABAR measurements. Evidence is found for the decay B-+/- -> X(3872)K+ at the 3 sigma level. The absolute branching fraction B[B+ -> X(3872)K+] = [2.1 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.3(syst)] x 10(-4) is measured for the first time. It follows that B[X(3872) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] = (4.1 +/- 1.3)%, supporting the hypothesis of a molecular component for this resonance.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Observation of an Excess of Dicharmonium Events in the Four-Muon Final State with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(15), 151902–22pp.
Abstract: A search is made for potential ccc over bar c over bar tetraquarks decaying into a pair of charmonium states in the four ffiffi muon final state using proton-proton collision data at p s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1 recorded by the ATLAS experiment at LHC. Two decay channels, J lig +J lig -4 μand J lig + ig(2S) -4 mu, are studied. Backgrounds are estimated based on a hybrid approach involving Monte Carlo simulations and data-driven methods. Statistically significant excesses with respect to backgrounds dominated by the single parton scattering are seen in the di-J lig channel consistent with a narrow resonance at 6.9 GeV and a broader structure at lower mass. A statistically significant excess is also seen in the J lig + ig(2S) channel. The fitted masses and decay widths of the structures are reported.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cantero, J., et al. (2023). Observation of the γγ → ττ Process in Pb plus Pb Collisions and Constraints on the τ-Lepton Anomalous Magnetic Moment with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(15), 151802–23pp.
Abstract: This Letter reports the observation of tau-lepton-pair production in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions Pb + Pb -> Pb(gamma gamma -> tau tau)Pb and constraints on the tau-lepton anomalous magnetic moment a(tau). The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.44 nb(-1) of LHC Pb + Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-s = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment in 2018. Selected events contain one muon from a t-lepton decay, an electron or charged-particle track(s) from the other tau-lepton decay, little additional central-detector activity, and no forward neutrons. The gamma gamma -> tau tau process is observed in Pb + Pb collisions with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations and a signal strength of mu(tau tau) = 1.03(-0.05)(+0.06) assuming the standard model value for a(tau). To measure a(tau), a template fit to the muon transverse-momentum distribution from tau-lepton candidates is performed, using a dimuon (gamma gamma -> μmu) control sample to constrain systematic uncertainties. The observed 95% confidence-level interval for a(tau) is -0.057 < a(tau) < 0.024.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., & Ruiz Vidal, J. (2021). Branching Fraction Measurements of the Rare B-s(0) -> phi mu(+)mu(-) and B-s(0)-> f(2)' (1525)mu(+)mu(-) Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 127(15), 151801–11pp.
Abstract: The branching fraction of the rare B-s(0) -> phi mu(+)mu(-) decay is measured using data collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1, 2, and 6 fb(-1), respectively. The branching fraction is reported in intervals of q(2), the square of the dimuon invariant mass. In the q(2) region between 1.1 and 6.0 GeV2/c(4) , the measurement is found to lie 3.6 standard deviations below a standard model prediction based on a combination of light cone sum rule and lattice QCD calculations. In addition, the first observation of the rare B-s(0)-> f(2)' (1525)mu(+)mu(-) decay is reported with a statistical significance of 9 standard deviations and its branching fraction is determined.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Jaimes Elles, S. J., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Rebollo De Miguel, M., et al. (2023). Measurement of the Λb0 → Λ(1520)μ+μ- Differential Branching Fraction. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(15), 151801–12pp.
Abstract: The branching fraction of the rare decay Lambda(0 )(b)-> Lambda(1520)mu(+)mu(-) is measured for the first time, in the squared dimuon mass intervals q(2), excluding the J/psi and psi(2S) regions. The data sample analyzed was collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1). The result in the highest q(2) interval, q(2) > 15.0 GeV2/c(4), where theoretical predictions have the smallest model dependence, agrees with the predictions.
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Lazarides, G., Reig, M., Shafi, Q., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2019). Spontaneous Breaking of Lepton Number and the Cosmological Domain Wall Problem. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(15), 151301–5pp.
Abstract: We show that if global lepton number symmetry is spontaneously broken in a postinflation epoch, then it can lead to the formation of cosmological domain walls. This happens in the well-known “Majoron paradigm” for neutrino mass generation. We propose some realistic examples that allow spontaneous lepton number breaking to be safe from such domain walls.
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Figueroa, D. G., Lizarraga, J., Urio, A., & Urrestilla, J. (2023). Strong Backreaction Regime in Axion Inflation. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(15), 151003–7pp.
Abstract: We study the nonlinear dynamics of axion inflation, capturing for the first time the inhomogeneity and full dynamical range during strong backreaction, till the end of inflation. Accounting for inhomogeneous effects leads to a number of new relevant results, compared to spatially homogeneous studies: (i) the number of extra efoldings beyond slow-roll inflation increases very rapidly with the coupling, (ii) oscillations of the inflaton velocity are attenuated, (iii) the tachyonic gauge field helicity spectrum is smoothed out (i.e., the spectral oscillatory features disappear), broadened, and shifted to smaller scales, and (iv) the nontachyonic helicity is excited, reducing the chiral asymmetry, now scale dependent. Our results are expected to impact strongly on the phenomenology and observability of axion inflation, including gravitational wave generation and primordial black hole production.
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Brzezinski, K. et al. (2023). Detection of range shifts in proton beam therapy using the J-PET scanner: a patient simulation study. Phys. Med. Biol., 68(14), 145016–17pp.
Abstract: Objective. The Jagiellonian positron emission tomography (J-PET) technology, based on plastic scintillators, has been proposed as a cost effective tool for detecting range deviations during proton therapy. This study investigates the feasibility of using J-PET for range monitoring by means of a detailed Monte Carlo simulation study of 95 patients who underwent proton therapy at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) in Krakow, Poland. Approach. Discrepancies between prescribed and delivered treatments were artificially introduced in the simulations by means of shifts in patient positioning and in the Hounsfield unit to the relative proton stopping power calibration curve. A dual-layer, cylindrical J-PET geometry was simulated in an in-room monitoring scenario and a triple-layer, dual-head geometry in an in-beam protocol. The distribution of range shifts in reconstructed PET activity was visualized in the beam's eye view. Linear prediction models were constructed from all patients in the cohort, using the mean shift in reconstructed PET activity as a predictor of the mean proton range deviation. Main results. Maps of deviations in the range of reconstructed PET distributions showed agreement with those of deviations in dose range in most patients. The linear prediction model showed a good fit, with coefficient of determination r (2) = 0.84 (in-room) and 0.75 (in-beam). Residual standard error was below 1 mm: 0.33 mm (in-room) and 0.23 mm (in-beam). Significance. The precision of the proposed prediction models shows the sensitivity of the proposed J-PET scanners to shifts in proton range for a wide range of clinical treatment plans. Furthermore, it motivates the use of such models as a tool for predicting proton range deviations and opens up new prospects for investigations into the use of intra-treatment PET images for predicting clinical metrics that aid in the assessment of the quality of delivered treatment.
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