Abstract: Tuning is an essential requirement for the search of dark matter axions employing haloscopes since its mass is not known yet to the scientific community. At the present day, most haloscope tuning systems are based on mechanical devices which can lead to failures due to the complexity of the environment in which they are used. However, the electronic tuning making use of ferroelectric materials can provide a path that is less vulnerable to mechanical failures and thus complements and expands current tuning systems. In this work, we present and design a novel technique for using the ferroelectric Potassium Tantalate (KTaO3 or KTO) material as a tuning element in haloscopes based on coupled microwave cavities. In this line, the structures used in the Relic Axion Detector Exploratory Setup (RADES) group are based on several cavities that are connected by metallic irises, which act as interresonator coupling elements. In this article, we also show how to use these KTaO3 films as interresonator couplings between cavities, instead of inductive or capacitive metallic windows used in the past. These two techniques represent a crucial upgrade over the current systems employed in the dark matter axions community, achieving a tuning range of 2.23% which represents a major improvement as compared to previous works (<0.1%) for the same class of tuning systems. The theoretical and simulated results shown in this work demonstrate the interest of the novel techniques proposed for the incorporation of this kind of ferroelectric media in multicavity resonant haloscopes in the search for dark matter axions.

Abstract: First evidence of a structure in the J/psi Lambda invariant mass distribution is obtained from an amplitude analysis of Xi(-)(b) -> J/psi Lambda K- decays. The observed structure is consistent with being due to a charmonium pentaquark with strangeness with a significance of 3.1r including systematic uncertainties and lookelsewhere effect. Its mass and width are determined to be 4458.8 +/- 2.9(-1.1)(+4.7) MeV and 17.3 +/- 6.5(-5.7)(+8.0) MeV, respectively, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic. The structure is also consistent with being due to two resonances. In addition, the narrow excited Xi(-) states, Xi(-)(1690) and Xi(-)(1820)(-), are seen for the first time in a Xi(-)(b) decay, and their masses and widths are measured with improved precision. The analysis is performed using pp collision data corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1), collected with the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV.

Abstract: Charged particle therapy, or so-called hadrontherapy, is developing very rapidly. There is large pressure on the scientific community to deliver dedicated accelerators, providing the best possible treatment modalities at the lowest cost. In this context, the Italian research Foundation TERA is developing fast-cycling accelerators, dubbed 'cyclinacs'. These are a combination of a cyclotron (accelerating ions to a fixed initial energy) followed by a high gradient linac boosting the ions energy up to the maximum needed for medical therapy. The linac is powered by many independently controlled klystrons to vary the beam energy from one pulse to the next. This accelerator is best suited to treat moving organs with a 4D multipainting spot scanning technique. A dual proton/carbon ion cyclinac is here presented. It consists of an Electron Beam Ion Source, a superconducting isochronous cyclotron and a high-gradient linac. All these machines are pulsed at high repetition rate (100-400 Hz). The source should deliver both C6+ and H-2(+) ions in short pulses (1.5 μs flat-top) and with sufficient intensity (at least 10(8) fully stripped carbon ions per pulse at 300 Hz). The cyclotron accelerates the ions to 120 MeV/u. It features a compact design (with superconducting coils) and a low power consumption. The linac has a novel C-band high-gradient structure and accelerates the ions to variable energies up to 400 MeV/u. High RF frequencies lead to power consumptions which are much lower than the ones of synchrotrons for the same ion extraction energy. This work is part of a collaboration with the CLIC group, which is working at CERN on high-gradient electron-positron colliders.

Abstract: The production of J/psi and gamma mesons in pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV is studied with the LHCb detector. The J/psi and gamma mesons are reconstructed in the mu(+)mu(-) decay mode and the signal yields are determined with a fit to the mu(+)mu(-) invariant mass distributions. The analysis is performed in the rapidity range 2.0 < y < 4.5 and transverse momentum range 0 < PT < 14 (15) GeV/c of the J/psi (gamma) mesons. The J/psi and gamma production cross-sections and the fraction of J/psi mesons from b-hadron decays are measured as a function of the meson P-T and y.

Abstract: The kinematic dependences of the relative production rates, f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d), of Lambda(0)(b) baryons and B-0 mesons are measured using Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-) and (B) over bar (0) -> D+pi(-) decays. The measurements use proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb(-1) at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, recorded in the forward region with the LHCb experiment. The relative production rates are observed to depend on the transverse momentum, pT, and pseudorapidity, eta, of the beauty hadron, in the studied kinematic region 1.5 < pT < 40 GeV/c and 2 < eta < 5. Using a previous LHCb measurement of f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d) in semileptonic decays, the branching fraction B (Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-)) = (4.30 +/- 0.03(-0.11)(+0.12)+/- 0.26 +/- 0.21) x 10(-3) is obtained, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is from the previous LHCb measurement of f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d) and the fourth is due to the (B) over bar (0) -> D+pi(-) branching fraction. This is the most precise measurement of a Lambda(0)(b) branching fraction to date.