Banerjee, P., Carloni Calame, C. M., Chiesa, M., Di Vita, S., Engel, T., Fael, M., et al. (2020). Theory for muon-electron scattering @ 10 ppm: A report of the MUonE theory initiative. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(6), 591–23pp.
Abstract: We review the current status of the theory predictions for elastic μ-e scattering, describing the recent activities and future plans of the theory initiative related to the proposed MUonE experiment.
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Beltran Jimenez, J., & Delhom, A. (2020). Instabilities in metric-affine theories of gravity with higher order curvature terms. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(6), 585–27pp.
Abstract: We discuss the presence of ghostly instabilities for metric-affine theories constructed with higher order curvature terms. We mainly focus on theories containing only the Ricci tensor and show the crucial role played by the projective symmetry. The pathological modes arise from the absence of a pure kinetic term for the projective mode and the non-minimal coupling of a 2-form field contained in the connection, and which can be related to the antisymmetric part of the metric in non-symmetric gravity theories. The couplings to matter are considered at length and cannot be used to render the theories stable. We discuss different procedures to avoid the ghosts by adding additional constraints. We finally argue how these pathologies are expected to be present in general metric-affine theories unless much care is taken in their construction.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2020). Search for squarks and gluinos in final states with same-sign leptons and jets using 139 fb(-1) of data collected with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 046–44pp.
Abstract: A search for supersymmetric partners of gluons and quarks is presented, involving signatures with jets and either two isolated leptons (electrons or muons) with the same electric charge, or at least three isolated leptons. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), is used for the search. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. The results are interpreted in simplified supersymmetric models featuring both R-parity conservation and R-parity violation, raising the exclusion limits beyond those of previous ATLAS searches to 1600 GeV for gluino masses and 750 GeV for bottom and top squark masses in these scenarios.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2020). Measurement of the ttbar production cross-section and lepton differential distributions in e mu dilepton events from pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(6), 528–70pp.
Abstract: The inclusive top quark pair (tt<overbar></mml:mover>) production cross-section sigma tt<overbar></mml:mover> has been measured in proton-proton collisions at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt>=13<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV, using 36.1 fb-1 of data collected in 2015-2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Using events with an opposite-charge e μpair and b-tagged jets, the cross-section is measured to be: <disp-formula id=“Equ10”><mml:mtable><mml:mtr><mml:mtd columnalign=“right”>sigma tt<overbar></mml:mover>=826.4 +/- 3.6<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(stat)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 11.5<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(syst)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 15.7<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(lumi)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 1.9<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(beam)<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>pb,</mml:mtd></mml:mtr></mml:mtable><graphic xmlns:xlink=“http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink” xlink:href=“1005220207907ArticleEqu10.gif” position=“anchor”></graphic></disp-formula>where the uncertainties reflect the limited size of the data sample, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity, and the LHC beam energy, giving a total uncertainty of 2.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. It is used to determine the top quark pole mass via the dependence of the predicted cross-section on mtpole, giving mtpole=173.1-2.1+2.0<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>GeV. It is also combined with measurements at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=7<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV and <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=8<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV to derive ratios and double ratios of t<mml:mover accent=“true”>t<mml:mo stretchy=“false”><overbar></mml:mover> and Z cross-sections at different energies. The same event sample is used to measure absolute and normalised differential cross-sections as functions of single-lepton and dilepton kinematic variables, and the results are compared with predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators.
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Barducci, D., Bertuzzo, E., Caputo, A., & Hernandez, P. (2020). Minimal flavor violation in the see-saw portal. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 185–28pp.
Abstract: We consider an extension of the Standard Model with two singlet leptons, with masses in the electroweak range, that induce neutrino masses via the see-saw mechanism, plus a generic new physics sector at a higher scale, A. We apply the minimal flavor violation (MFV) principle to the corresponding Effective Field Theory (nu SMEFT) valid at energy scales E << A. We identify the irreducible sources of lepton flavor and lepton number violation at the renormalizable level, and apply the MFV ansatz to derive the scaling of the Wilson coefficients of the nu SMEFT operators up to dimension six. We highlight the most important phenomenological consequences of this hypothesis in the rates for exotic Higgs decays, the decay length of the heavy neutrinos, and their production modes at present and future colliders. We also comment on possible astrophysical implications.
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Lledo, M. A. (2020). Superfields, Nilpotent Superfields and Superschemes dagger. Symmetry-Basel, 12(6), 1024–32pp.
Abstract: We interpret superfields in a functorial formalism that explains the properties that are assumed for them in the physical applications. We study the non-trivial relation of scalar superfields with the defining sheaf of the supermanifold of super spacetime. We also investigate in the present work some constraints that are imposed on the superfields, which allow for non-trivial solutions. They give rise to superschemes that, generically, are not regular, that is they do not define a standard supermanifold.
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Lopez-Honorez, L., Mena, O., Palomares-Ruiz, S., Villanueva-Domingo, P., & Witte, S. J. (2020). Variations in fundamental constants at the cosmic dawn. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 026–25pp.
Abstract: The observation of space-time variations in fundamental constants would provide strong evidence for the existence of new light degrees of freedom in the theory of Nature. Robustly constraining such scenarios requires exploiting observations that span different scales and probe the state of the Universe at different epochs. In the context of cosmology, both the cosmic microwave background and the Lyman-a forest have proven to be powerful tools capable of constraining variations in electromagnetism, however at the moment there do not exist cosmological probes capable of bridging the gap between recombination and reionization. In the near future, radio telescopes will attempt to measure the 21 cm transition of neutral hydrogen during the epochs of reionization and the cosmic dawn (and potentially the tail end of the dark ages); being inherently sensitive to electromagnetic phenomena, these experiments will offer a unique perspective on space-time variations of the fine-structure constant and the electron mass. We show here that large variations in these fundamental constants would produce features on the 21 cm power spectrum that may be distinguishable from astrophysical uncertainties. Furthermore, we forecast the sensitivity for the Square Kilometer Array, and show that the 21 cm power spectrum may be able to constrain variations at the level of O(10(-3)).
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2020). CP Properties of Higgs Boson Interactions with Top Quarks in the (tt)over-barH and tH Processes Using H -> gamma gamma with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 125(6), 061802–21pp.
Abstract: A study of the charge conjugation and parity (CP) properties of the interaction between the Higgs boson and top quarks is presented. Higgs bosons are identified via the diphoton decay channel (H -> gamma gamma), and their production in association with a top quark pair ((tt) over barH) or single top quark (tH) is studied. The analysis uses 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy off root s= 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Assuming a CP-even coupling, the (tt) over barH process is observed with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. The measured cross section times H -> gamma gamma branching ratio is 1.64(-0.36)(+0.38)(stat)(-0.14)(+0.17) (sys) fb, and the measured rate for (tt) over barH is 1.43(-0.31)(+0.33) (stat)(-0.15)(+0.21) (sys) times the Standard Model expectation. The tH production process is not observed and an upper limit on its rate of 12 times the Standard Model expectation is set. A CP-mixing angle greater (less) than 43 (-43)degrees is excluded at 95% confidence level.
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Guadilla, V. et al, Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Jordan, D., Monserrate, M., et al. (2020). Determination of beta-decay ground state feeding of nuclei of importance for reactor applications. Phys. Rev. C, 102(6), 064304–12pp.
Abstract: In beta-decay studies the determination of the decay probability to the ground state (g.s.) of the daughter nucleus often suffers from large systematic errors. The difficulty of the measurement is related to the absence of associated delayed gamma-ray emission. In this work we revisit the 4 pi gamma – beta method proposed by Greenwood and collaborators in the 1990s, which has the potential to overcome some of the experimental difficulties. Our interest is driven by the need to determine accurately the beta-intensity distributions of fission products that contribute significantly to the reactor decay heat and to the antineutrinos emitted by reactors. A number of such decays have large g.s. branches. The method is relevant for nuclear structure studies as well. Pertinent formulas are revised and extended to the special case of beta-delayed neutron emitters, and the robustness of the method is demonstrated with synthetic data. We apply it to a number of measured decays that serve as test cases and discuss the features of the method. Finally, we obtain g.s. feeding intensities with reduced uncertainty for four relevant decays that will allow future improvements in antineutrino spectrum and decay heat calculations using the summation method.
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Gerst, R. B. et al, & Algora, A. (2020). Prompt and delayed gamma spectroscopy of neutron-rich Kr-94 and observation of a new isomer. Phys. Rev. C, 102(6), 064323–8pp.
Abstract: Prompt and delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy of the neutron-rich Kr-94 was performed, as part of the fission campaign at the ALTO facility of the IPN Orsay, using the fast-neutron-induced fission reaction U-238(n, f) in combination with the nu-Ball array, a novel hybrid gamma spectrometer for energy and lifetime measurements. Several new yrast and nonyrast transitions were observed for the first time, extending the previously known level scheme. Additionally, we report on the observation of a new short-lived isomer at 3444 keV with a half-life of 32(3) ns. The analysis of the Nilsson orbitals obtained from Gogny cranked Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations suggests a (9(-)) spin and an oblate deformation for this isomer corresponding to a two-quasineutron state, indicating an isomeric structure very similar to that of the neighboring isotones Sr-96 and Se-92.
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