Morales, A. I., Algora, A., Molina, F., & Rubio, B. (2014). Half-Life Systematics across the N=126 Shell Closure: Role of First-Forbidden Transitions in the beta Decay of Heavy Neutron-Rich Nuclei. Phys. Rev. Lett., 113(2), 022702–5pp.
Abstract: This Letter reports on a systematic study of beta-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei around doubly magic Pb-208. The lifetimes of the 126-neutron shell isotone Pt-204 and the neighboring Ir200-202, Pt-203, Au-204 are presented together with other 19 half-lives measured during the “stopped beam” campaign of the rare isotope investigations at GSI collaboration. The results constrain the main nuclear theories used in calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis. Predictions based on a statistical macroscopic description of the first-forbidden beta strength reveal significant deviations for most of the nuclei with N < 126. In contrast, theories including a fully microscopic treatment of allowed and first-forbidden transitions reproduce more satisfactorily the trend in the measured half-lives for the nuclei in this region, where the r-process pathway passes through during beta decay back to stability.
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Boiron, D., Fabbri, A., Larre, P. E., Pavloff, N., Westbrook, C. I., & Zin, P. (2015). Quantum Signature of Analog Hawking Radiation in Momentum Space. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(2), 025301–5pp.
Abstract: We consider a sonic analog of a black hole realized in the one-dimensional flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that one-and two-body momentum distributions accessible by present-day experimental techniques provide clear direct evidence (i) of the occurrence of a sonic horizon, (ii) of the associated acoustic Hawking radiation, and (iii) of the quantum nature of the Hawking process. The signature of the quantum behavior persists even at temperatures larger than the chemical potential.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., et al. (2017). First Experimental Study of Photon Polarization in Radiative B-s(0) Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(2), 021801–9pp.
Abstract: The polarization of photons produced in radiative B-s(0) decays is studied for the first time. The data are recorded by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. A time-dependent analysis of the B-s(0) ->phi gamma decay rate is conducted to determine the parameter A(Delta), which is related to the ratio of right-over left-handed photon polarization amplitudes in b -> s gamma transitions. A value of A(Delta) = -0.98(-0.52)(-0.20)(+0.46)(+0.23) is measured. This result is consistent with the standard model prediction within 2 standard deviations.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2017). Observation of J/psi phi Structures Consistent with Exotic States from Amplitude Analysis of B+ -> J/psi phi K+ Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(2), 022003–10pp.
Abstract: The first full amplitude analysis of B+ -> J/psi phi K+ with J/psi -> mu(+)mu(-), phi -> K+K- decays is performed with a data sample of 3 fb(-1) of pp collision data collected at root s = 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. The data cannot be described by a model that contains only excited kaon states decaying into phi K+ , and four J/psi phi structures are observed, each with significance over 5 standard deviations. The quantum numbers of these structures are determined with significance of at least 4 standard deviations. The lightest has mass consistent with, but width much larger than, previous measurements of the claimed X(4140) state.
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Husek, T., Goudzovski, E., & Icampf, K. (2019). Precise Determination of the Branching Ratio of the Neutral-Pion Dalitz Decay. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(2), 022003–6pp.
Abstract: We provide a new value for the ratio R = Gamma(pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)gamma(gamma))/Gamma(pi(0) -> gamma gamma) = 11.978(6) x 10(-3), which is by 2 orders of magnitude more precise than the current Particle Data Group average. It is obtained using the complete set of the next-to-leading-order radiative corrections in the QED sector, and incorporates up-to-date values of the pi(0)-transition-form-factor slope. The ratio R translates into the branching ratios of the two main pi(0) decay modes: B(pi(0) -> gamma gamma) = 98.8131(6)% and B(pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)gamma(gamma)) = 1.1836(6)%.
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MoEDAL Collaboration(Acharya, B. et al), Bernabeu, J., Mamuzic, J., Mitsou, V. A., Papavassiliou, J., Ruiz de Austri, R., et al. (2019). Magnetic Monopole Search with the Full MoEDAL Trapping Detector in 13 TeV pp Collisions Interpreted in Photon-Fusion and Drell-Yan Production. Phys. Rev. Lett., 123(2), 021802–7pp.
Abstract: MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of stable or pseudostable highly ionizing particles produced in high-energy Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collisions. Here we update our previous search for magnetic monopoles in Run 2 using the full trapping detector with almost four times more material and almost twice more integrated luminosity. For the first time at the LHC, the data were interpreted in terms of photon-fusion monopole direct production in addition to the Drell-Yan-like mechanism. The MoEDAL trapping detector, consisting of 794 kg of aluminum samples installed in the forward and lateral regions, was exposed to 4.0 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHCb interaction point and analyzed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges equal to or above the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples. Monopole spins 0, 1/2, and 1 are considered and both velocity-independent and-dependent couplings are assumed. This search provides the best current laboratory constraints for monopoles with magnetic charges ranging from two to five times the Dirac charge.
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Estienne, M., Fallot, M., Algora, A., Briz-Monago, J., Bui, V. M., Cormon, S., et al. (2019). Updated Summation Model: An Improved Agreement with the Daya Bay Antineutrino Fluxes. Phys. Rev. Lett., 123(2), 022502–6pp.
Abstract: A new summation method model of the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum is presented. It is updated with the most recent evaluated decay databases and with our total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements performed during the last decade. For the first time, the spectral measurements from the Daya Bay experiment are compared with the antineutrino energy spectrum computed with the updated summation method without any renormalization. The results exhibit a better agreement than is obtained with the Huber-Mueller model in the 2-5 MeV range, the region that dominates the detected flux. A systematic trend is found in which the antineutrino flux computed with the summation model decreases with the inclusion of more pandemonium-free data. The calculated flux obtained now lies only 1.9% above that detected in the Daya Bay experiment, a value that may be reduced with forthcoming new pandemonium-free data, leaving less room for a reactor anomaly. Eventually, the new predictions of individual antineutrino spectra for the U-235, Pu-239, Pu-241, and U-238 are used to compute the dependence of the reactor antineutrino spectral shape on the fission fractions.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2022). Search for Darkonium in e(+) e(-) Collisions. Phys. Rev. Lett., 128(2), 021802–7pp.
Abstract: Collider searches for dark sectors, new particles interacting only feebly with ordinary matter, have largely focused on identifying signatures of new mediators, leaving much of dark sector structures unexplored. In particular, the existence of dark matter bound states (darkonia) remains to be investigated. This possibility could arise in a simple model in which a dark photon (A') is light enough to generate an attractive force between dark fermions. We report herein a search for a J(PC) = 1(--) darkonium state, the Upsilon(D), produced in the reaction e(+) e(-) -> gamma Upsilon(D), Upsilon(D) -> A'A'A', where the dark photons subsequently decay into pairs of leptons or pions, using 514 fb(-1) of data collected with the BABAR detector. No significant signal is observed, and we set bounds on the gamma – A' kinetic mixing as a function of the dark sector coupling constant for 0.001 < m(A)' < 3.16 GeV and 0.05 < m(Upsilon D) < 9.5 GeV.
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Xu, Z. Y. et al, Algora, A., & Morales, A. I. (2023). 133In: A Rosetta Stone for Decays of r-Process Nuclei. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(2), 022501–6pp.
Abstract: The beta decays from both the ground state and a long-lived isomer of In-133 were studied at the ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS). With a hybrid detection system sensitive to beta,gamma, and neutron spectroscopy, the comparative partial half-lives (log ft) have been measured for all their dominant beta-decay channels for the first time, including a low-energy Gamow-Teller transition and several first-forbidden (FF) transitions. Uniquely for such a heavy neutron-rich nucleus, their beta decays selectively populate only a few isolated neutron unbound states in Sn-133. Precise energy and branching-ratio measurements of those resonances allow us to benchmark beta-decay theories at an unprecedented level in this region of the nuclear chart. The results show good agreement with the newly developed large-scale shell model (LSSM) calculations. The experimental findings establish an archetype for the beta decay of neutron-rich nuclei southeast of Sn-132 and will serve as a guide for future theoretical development aiming to describe accurately the key beta decays in the rapid-neutron capture (r-) process.
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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. (2024). Observation of WZγ Production in pp Collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 132(2), 021802–21pp.
Abstract: This Letter reports the observation of WZ gamma production and a measurement of its cross section using 140.1 +/- 1.2 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the bosons decaying leptonically, pp -> WZ gamma -> l'(perpendicular to)nu l(+) l(-)gamma (l(')(+) = e, mu), is measured in a fiducial phasespace region defined such that the leptons and the photon have high transverse momentum and the photon is isolated. The cross section is found to be 2.01 +/- 0.30(stat) +/- 0.16(syst) fb. The corresponding standard model predicted cross section calculated at next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and at leading order in the electroweak coupling constant is 1.50 +/- 0.06 fb. The observed significance of the WZ gamma signal is 6.3 sigma, compared with an expected significance of 5.0 sigma.
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