Abstract: Generally, the dynamics of test particles around galaxies, as well as the corresponding mass deficit, is explained by postulating the existence of a hypothetical dark matter. In fact, the behavior of the rotation curves shows the existence of a constant velocity region, near the baryonic matter distribution, followed by a quick decay at large distances. In this work, we consider the possibility that the behavior of the rotational velocities of test particles gravitating around galaxies can be explained within the framework of the recently proposed hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory. The latter is constructed by modifying the metric Einstein-Hilbert action with an f(R) term in the Palatini formalism. It was shown that the theory unifies local constraints and the late-time cosmic acceleration, even if the scalar field is very light. In the intermediate galactic scale, we show explicitly that in the hybrid metric-Palatini model the tangential velocity can be explicitly obtained as a function of the scalar field of the equivalent scalar-tensor description. The model predictions are compared model with a small sample of rotation curves of low surface brightness galaxies, respectively, and a good agreement between the theoretical rotation Curves and the observational data is found. The possibility of constraining the form of the scalar field and the parameters of the model by using the stellar velocity dispersions is also analyzed. Furthermore, the Doppler velocity shifts are also obtained in terms of the scalar field. All the physical and geometrical quantities and the numerical parameters in the hybrid metric-Palatini model can be expressed in terms of observable/measurable parameters, such as the tangential velocity, the baryonic mass of the galaxy, the Doppler frequency shifts, and the stellar dispersion velocity, respectively. Therefore, the obtained results open the possibility of testing the hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational models at the galactic or extra-galactic scale by using direct astronomical and astrophysical observations.

Abstract: The XENON1T experiment uses a time projection chamber (TPC) with liquid xenon to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), a proposed dark matter particle, via direct detection. As this experiment relies on capturing rare events, the focus is on achieving a high recall of WIMP events. Hence the ability to distinguish between WIMP and the background is extremely important. To accomplish this, we suggest using convolutional neural networks (CNNs); a machine learning procedure mainly used in image recognition tasks. To explore this technique we use XENON collaboration open-source software to simulate the TPC graphical output of dark matter signals and main backgrounds. A CNN turns out to be a suitable tool for this purpose, as it can identify features in the images that differentiate the two types of events without the need to manipulate or remove data in order to focus on a particular region of the detector. We find that the CNN can distinguish between the dominant background events (ER) and 500 GeV WIMP events with a recall of 93.4%, precision of 81.2% and an accuracy of 87.2%.

Abstract: The ATLAS experiment at the LHC has measured the Higgs boson couplings and mass, and searched for invisible Higgs boson decays, using multiple production and decay channels with up to 4.7 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root S = 7 TeV and 20.3 fb(-1) at root s = 8 TeV. In the current study, the measured production and decay rates of the observed Higgs boson in the gamma gamma, ZZ, WW, Z gamma, bb, tau tau, and μμdecay channels, along with results from the associated production of a Higgs boson with a top-quark pair, are used to probe the scaling of the couplings with mass. Limits are set on parameters in extensions of the Standard Model including a composite Higgs boson, an additional electroweak singlet, and two-Higgs-doublet models. Together with the measured mass of the scalar Higgs boson in the gamma gamma and ZZ decay modes, a lower limit is set on the pseudoscalar Higgs boson mass of m(A) > 370 GeV in the “hMSSM” simplified Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Results from direct searches for heavy Higgs bosons are also interpreted in the hMSSM. Direct searches for invisible Higgs boson decays in the vector-boson fusion and associated production of a Higgs boson with W/Z (Z -> ll, W/Z -> jj) modes are statistically combined to set an upper limit on the Higgs boson invisible branching ratio of 0.25. The use of the measured visible decay rates in a more general coupling fit improves the upper limit to 0.23, constraining a Higgs portal model of dark matter.