Abstract: This article presents a few selected developments and future ideas related to the measurement of (n, gamma ) data of astrophysical interest at CERN n_TOF. The MC-aided analysis methodology for the use of low-efficiency radiation detectors in time-of-flight neutron-capture measurements is discussed, with particular emphasis on the systematic accuracy. Several recent instrumental advances are also presented, such as the development of total-energy detectors with gamma- ray imaging capability for background suppression, and the development of an array of small-volume organic scintilla tors aimed at exploiting the high instantaneous neutron-flux of EAR2. Finally, astrophysics prospects related to the intermediate i neutron-capture process of nucleosynthesis are discussed in the context of the new NEAR activation area.

Abstract: This paper reports searches for heavy resonances decaying into ZZ or ZW using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s – 13 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1), were recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider. The searches are performed in final states in which one Z boson decays into either a pair of light charged leptons (electrons and muons) or a pair of neutrinos, and the associated W boson or the other Z boson decays hadronically. No evidence of the production of heavy resonances is observed. Upper bounds on the production cross sections of heavy resonances times their decay branching ratios to ZZ or ZW are derived in the mass range 300-5000 GeV within the context of Standard Model extensions with additional Higgs bosons, a heavy vector triplet or warped extra dimensions. Production through gluon-gluon fusion, Drell-Yan or vector-boson fusion are considered, depending on the assumed model.

Abstract: As dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments continue to improve their sensitivity they will inevitably encounter an irreducible background arising from coherent neutrino scattering. This so-called “neutrino floor” may significantly reduce the sensitivity of an experiment to DM-nuclei interactions, particularly if the recoil spectrum of the neutrino background is approximately degenerate with the DM signal. This occurs for the conventionally considered spin-independent (SI) or spin-dependent (SD) interactions. In such case, an increase in the experiment's exposure by multiple orders of magnitude may not yield any significant increase in sensitivity. The typically considered SI and SD interactions, however, do not adequately reflect the whole landscape of the well-motivated DM models, which includes other interactions. Since particle DM has not been detected yet in laboratories, it is essential to understand and maximize the detection capabilities for a broad variety of possible models and signatures. In this work we explore the impact of the background arising from various neutrino sources on the discovery potential of a DM signal for a large class of viable DM-nucleus interactions and several potential futuristic experimental settings, with different target elements. For some momentum suppressed cross sections, large DM particle masses and heavier targets, we find that there is no suppression of the discovery limits due to neutrino backgrounds. Further, we explicitly demonstrate that inelastic scattering, which could appear in models with multicomponent dark sectors, would help to lift the signal degeneracy associated with the neutrino floor. This study could assist with mapping out the optimal DM detection strategy for the next generation of experiments.