Abstract: We propose to relate dark matter stability to the possible Dirac nature of neutrinos. The idea is illustrated in a simple scheme where small Dirac neutrino masses arise from a type-I seesaw mechanism as a result of a Z(4) discrete lepton number symmetry. The latter implies the existence of a viable WIMP dark matter candidate, whose stability arises from the same symmetry which ensures the Diracness of neutrinos.

Abstract: The current work presents the determination of lifetimes of nuclear excited states using the Recoil Distance Doppler Shift Method, in combination with spectrometers for ion identification, normalizing the intensity of the peaks by the ions detected in the spectrometer as a valid technique that produces results comparable to the ones obtained by the conventional shifted-to-unsifted peak ratio method. The technique has been validated using data measured with the gamma-ray array AGATA, the PRISMA spectrometer and the Cologne plunger setup. In this paper a test performed with the AGATA-PRISMA setup at LNL and the advantages of this new approach with respect to the conventional Recoil Distance Doppler Shift Method are discussed.

Abstract: A search is presented formassive long-lived particles decaying into a muon and two quarks. The dataset consists of proton-proton interactions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1 and 2fb(-1), respectively. The analysis is performed assuming a set of production mechanisms with simple topologies, including the production of a Higgs-like particle decaying into two long-lived particles. The mass range from 20 to 80GeV/c(2) and lifetimes from 5 to 100 ps are explored. Results are also interpreted in terms of neutralino production in different R-Parity violating supersymmetric models, with masses in the 23-198 GeV/c(2) range. No excess above the background expectation is observed and upper limits are set on the production cross-section for various points in the parameter space of theoretical models.

Abstract: We demonstrate that the eight multipole parameters describing the spin state of the Z boson are able to disentangle known Z production mechanisms and signals from new physics at the LHC. They can be extracted from appropriate asymmetries in the angular distribution of lepton pairs from the Z boson decay. The power of this analysis is illustrated by (1) the production of Z boson plus jets; (2) Z boson plus missing transverse energy; (3) W and Z bosons originating from the two-body decay of a heavy resonance.

Abstract: We present a novel approach to derive constraints on neutrino masses, as well as on other cosmological parameters, from cosmological data, while taking into account our ignorance of the neutrino mass ordering. We derive constraints from a combination of current as well as future cosmological datasets on the total neutrino mass M-nu and on the mass fractions f(nu),i = m(i)/M-nu (where the index i = 1, 2, 3 indicates the three mass eigenstates) carried by each of the mass eigenstates m(i), after marginalizing over the (unknown) neutrino mass ordering, either normal ordering (NH) or inverted ordering (IH). The bounds on all the cosmological parameters, including those on the total neutrino mass, take therefore into account the uncertainty related to our ignorance of the mass hierarchy that is actually realized in nature. This novel approach is carried out in the framework of Bayesian analysis of a typical hierarchical problem, where the distribution of the parameters of the model depends on further parameters, the hyperparameters. In this context, the choice of the neutrino mass ordering is modeled via the discrete hyperparameter h(type), which we introduce in the usual Markov chain analysis. The preference from cosmological data for either the NH or the IH scenarios is then simply encoded in the posterior distribution of the hyper-parameter itself. Current cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements assign equal odds to the two hierarchies, and are thus unable to distinguish between them. However, after the addition of baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements, a weak preference for the normal hierarchical scenario appears, with odds of 4 : 3 from Planck temperature and large-scale polarization in combination with BAO (3 : 2 if small-scale polarization is also included). Concerning next-generation cosmological experiments, forecasts suggest that the combination of upcoming CMB (COrE) and BAO surveys (DESI) may determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a high statistical significance if the mass is very close to the minimal value allowed by oscillation experiments, as for NH and a fiducial value of M-nu = 0.06 eV there is a 9 : 1 preference of normal versus inverted hierarchy. On the contrary, if the sum of the masses is of the order of 0.1 eV or larger, even future cosmological observations will be inconclusive. The innovative statistical strategy exploited here represents a very simple, efficient and robust tool to study the sensitivity of present and future cosmological data to the neutrino mass hierarchy, and a sound competitor to the standard Bayesian model comparison. The unbiased limit on M-nu we obtain is crucial for ongoing and planned neutrinoless double beta decay searches.