Abstract: Two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs) arc minimal extensions of the Standard Model (SM) that may still be discovered at the LHC. The quartic couplings of their potentials can be determined from the measurement of the masses and branching ratios of their extended scalar sectors. We show that the evolution of these couplings through renormalization group equations can determine whether the observed 2HDM is a low energy manifestation of a more fundamental theory, as for instance, supersymmetry, which fixes the quartic couplings in terms of the gauge couplings. At leading order, the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM (MSSM) dictates all the quartic couplings, which can be translated into a predictive structure for the scalar masses and mixings at the weak scale. Running these couplings to higher scales, one can check if they converge to their MSSM values, and more interestingly, whether one can infer the supersymmetry breaking scale. Although we study this question in the context of supersymmetry, this strategy could be applied to any theory whose ultraviolet completion unambiguously predicts all scalar quartic couplings.

Abstract: Since 2013, the LHCb collaboration has reported on the measurement of several observables associated with b -> s transitions, finding various deviations from their predicted values in the Standard Model. These include a set of deviations in branching ratios and angular observables, as well as in the observables R-k and R-k*, specially built to test the possible violation of Lepton Flavor Universality. Even though these tantalizing hints are not conclusive yet, the b -> s* anomalies have gained considerable attention in the flavor community. Here we review new physics models that address these anomalies and explore their possible connection to the dark matter of the Universe. After discussing some of the ideas introduced in these works and classifying the proposed models, two selected examples are presented in detail in order to illustrate the potential interplay between these two areas of current particle physics.

Abstract: A search for new heavy particles that decay into top-quark pairs is performed using data collected from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The integrated luminosity of the data sample is 36.1 fb(-1). Events consistent with top-quark pair production are selected by requiring a single isolated charged lepton, missing transverse momentum and jet activity compatible with a hadronic top-quark decay. Jets identified as likely to contain b-hadrons are required to reduce the background from other Standard Model processes. The invariant mass spectrum of the candidate top-quark pairs is examined for local excesses above the background expectation. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are found. Exclusion limits are set on the production cross-section times branching ratio for hypothetical Z' bosons, Kaluza-Kein gluons and Kaluza-Klein gravitons that decay into top-quark pairs.

Abstract: We consider the ratio of the spectra measured in the DANSS neutrino experiment at 12.7 and 10.7 m from a nuclear reactor. These data give a new model-independent indication in favor of short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations which reinforce the model-independent indication found in the late 2016 in the NEOS experiment. The combined analysis of the NEOS and DANSS spectral ratios in the framework of 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing favor short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations with a statistical significance of 3.7 sigma. The two mixing parameters sin(2)2 nu ee and Delta m(41)(2) are constrained at 2 sigma a narrow-Delta m(41)(2) island at Delta m(41)(2) similar or equal to 1.3 eV(2), with sin(2)2 nu(ee)= 0.049 +/- 0.023(2 sigma). We discuss the implications of the model-independent NEOS+DANSS analysis for the reactor and Gallium anomalies. The NEOS+DANSS model-independent determination of short-baseline (nu) over bar (e) oscillations allows us to analyze the reactor rates without assumptions on the values of the main reactor antineutrino fluxes and the data of the Gallium source experiments with free detector efficiencies. The corrections to the reactor neutrino fluxes and the Gallium detector efficiencies are obtained from the fit of the data. In particular, we confirm the indication in favor of the need for a recalculation of the (235)Ureactor antineutrino flux found in previous studies assuming the absence of neutrino oscillations.

Abstract: We update our previous search for trapped magnetic monopoles in LHC Run 2 using nearly six times more integrated luminosity and including additional models for the interpretation of the data. The MoEDAL forward trapping detector, comprising 222 kg of aluminium samples, was exposed to 2.11 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions near the LHCb interaction point and analysed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges equal to the Dirac charge or above are excluded in all samples. The results are interpreted in Drell-Yan production models for monopoles with spins 0, 1/2 and 1: in addition to standard point-like couplings, we also consider couplings with momentum-dependent form factors. The search provides the best current laboratory constraints for monopoles with magnetic charges ranging from two to five times the Dirac charge.