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 heavy neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b-quarks and decaying into b-quarks at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 102(3), 032004–31pp.
Abstract: A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with one or two b-quarks and decaying to b-quark pairs is presented using 27.8 fb(-1) of root s=13 TeV proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during 2015 and 2016. No evidence of a signal is found. Upper limits on the heavy neutral Higgs boson production cross section times its branching ratio to b (b) over bar are set, ranging from 4.0 to 0.6 pb at 95% confidence level over a Higgs boson mass range of 450 to 1400 GeV. Results are interpreted within the two-Higgs-doublet model and the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model.
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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 direct production of electroweakinos in final states with one lepton, missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying into two b-jets in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(8), 691–29pp.
Abstract: The results of a search for electroweakino pair production pp -> (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1) (chi) over tilde (0)(2) in which the chargino ((chi) over tilde (+/-)(1)) decays into a W boson and the lightest neutralino ((chi) over tilde (0)(1)), while the heavier neutralino ((chi) over tilde (0)(2)) decays into the Standard Model 125 GeV Higgs boson and a second (chi) over tilde (0)(1) are presented. The signal selection requires a pair of b-tagged jets consistent with those from a Higgs boson decay, and either an electron or a muon from the W boson decay, together with missing transverse momentum from the corresponding neutrino and the stable neutralinos. The analysis is based on data corresponding to 139 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV pp collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. No statistically significant evidence of an excess of events above the Standard Model expectation is found. Limits are set on the direct production of the electroweakinos in simplified models, assuming pure wino cross-sections. Masses of (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1) (chi) over tilde (0)(2) up to 740 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless (chi) over tilde (0)(1).
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Alves, J. M., Botella, F. J., Branco, G. C., & Nebot, M. (2020). Extending trinity to the scalar sector through discrete flavoured symmetries. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(8), 710–14pp.
Abstract: We conjecture the existence of a relation between elementary scalars and fermions, making it plausible the existence of three Higgs doublets. We introduce a Trinity Principle (TP) which, given the fact that there are no massless quarks, requires the existence of a minimum of three Higgs doublets. The TP states that each row of the mass matrix of a quark of a given charge should receive the contribution from one and only one scalar doublet and furthermore a given scalar doublet should contribute to one and only one row of the mass matrix of a quark of a given charge. This principle is analogous to the Natural Flavour Conservation (NFC) of Glashow and Weinberg with the key distinction that NFC required the introduction of a flavour blind symmetry, while the TP requires a flavoured symmetry, to be implemented in a natural way. We provide two examples which satisfy the Trinity Principle based on Z(3) and Z(2) x Z(2)' flavoured symmetries, and show that they are the minimal multi-Higgs extensions of the Standard Model where CP can be imposed as a symmetry of the full Lagrangian and broken by the vacuum, without requiring soft-breaking terms. We show that the vacuum phases are sufficient to generate a complex CKM matrix, in agreement with experiment. The above mentioned flavoured symmetries lead to a strong reduction in the number of parameters in the Yukawa interactions, enabling a control of the Scalar Flavour Changing Neutral Couplings (SFCNC). We analyse some of the other physical implications of the two models, including an estimate of the enhancement of the Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe provided by the new sources of CP violation, and a discussion of the strength of their tree-level SFCNC.
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Botella, F. J., Cornet-Gomez, F., & Nebot, M. (2020). Electron and muon g-2 anomalies in general flavor conserving two-Higgs-doublet models. Phys. Rev. D, 102(3), 035023–19pp.
Abstract: In general two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs) without scalar flavor changing neutral couplings (SFCNC) in the lepton sector, the electron, muon, and tau interactions can be decoupled in a robust framework, stable under renormalization group evolution. In this framework, the breaking of lepton flavor universality (LFU) goes beyond the mass proportionality, opening the possibility to accommodate in a simple manner a different behavior among charged leptons. We analyze simultaneously the electron and muon (g – 2) anomalies in the context of these general flavor conserving models in the leptonic sector (gtlFC). We consider two different models, I-gtlFC and II-gelFC, in which the quark Yukawa couplings coincide, respectively, with the ones in type I and in type II 2HDMs. We find two types of solutions that fully reproduce both (g – 2) anomalies, and which are compatible with experimental constraints from LEP and LHC, from LFU, from flavor and electroweak physics, and with theoretical constraints in the scalar sector. In the first type of solution, all the new scalars have masses in the 1-2.5 TeV range, the vacuum expectation values (vevs) of both doublets are quite similar in magnitude, and both anomalies are dominated by two loop Barr-Zee contributions. This solution appears in both models. There is a second type of solution, where one loop contributions are dominant in the muon anomaly, all new scalars have masses below 1 TeV, and the ratio of vevs is in the range 10-100. The second neutral scalar H is the lighter among the new scalars, with a mass in the 210-390 GeV range while the pseudoscalar A is the heavier, with a mass in the range 400-900 GeV. The new charged scalar H-+/- is almost degenerate either with the scalar or with the pseudoscalar. This second type of solution only appears in the I-gelFC model. Both solutions require the soft breaking of the Z(2) symmetry of the Higgs potential.
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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 long-lived, massive particles in events with a displaced vertex and a muon with large impact parameter in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 102(3), 032006–30pp.
Abstract: A search for long-lived particles decaying into hadrons and at least one muon is presented. The analysis selects events that pass a muon or missing-transverse-momentum trigger and contain a displaced muon track and a displaced vertex. The analyzed dataset of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV was collected with the ATLAS detector and corresponds to 136 fb(-1). The search employs dedicated reconstruction techniques that significantly increase the sensitivity to long-lived particle decays that occur in the ATLAS inner detector. Background estimates for Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are compatible with those expected from background processes. The results are presented as limits at 95% confidence level on model-independent cross sections for processes beyond the Standard Model, and interpreted as exclusion limits in scenarios with pair production of long-lived top squarks that decay via a small R-parity-violating coupling into a quark and a muon. Top squarks with masses up to 1.7 TeV are excluded for a lifetime of 0.1 ns, and masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded for lifetimes between 0.01 ns and 30 ns.
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IDS Collaboration(Stryjczyk, M. et al), & Nacher, E. (2020). Decay studies of the long-lived states in Tl-186. Phys. Rev. C, 102(2), 024322–9pp.
Abstract: Decay spectroscopy of the long-lived states in Tl-186 has been performed at the ISOLDE Decay Station at ISOLDE, CERN. The a decay from the low-spin (2(-)) state in Tl-186 was observed for the first time and a half-life of 3.4(-0.)(4)(+0.5) s was determined. Based on the alpha-decay energy, the relative positions of the long-lived states were fixed, with the (2(-)) state as the ground state, the 7((+)) state at 77(56) keV, and the 10((-)) state at 451(56) keV. The level scheme of the internal decay of the Tl-186(10((-))) state [T-1/2 = 3.40(9) s], which was known to decay solely through emission of 374-keV gamma-ray transition, was extended and a lower limit for the beta-decay branching b(beta) > 5.9(3)% was determined. The extracted retardation factors for the gamma decay of the 10((-) )state were compared to the available data in neighboring odd-odd thallium isotopes indicating the importance of the pi d(3/2) shell in the isomeric decay and significant structure differences between Tl-184 and Tl-186.
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Delhom, A. (2020). Minimal coupling in presence of non-metricity and torsion. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(8), 728–17pp.
Abstract: We deal with the question of what it means to define a minimal coupling prescription in presence of torsion and/or non-metricity, carefully explaining while the naive substitution partial derivative -> del introduces extra couplings between the matter fields and the connection that can be regarded as non-minimal in presence of torsion and/or non-metricity. We will also investigate whether minimal coupling prescriptions at the level of the action (MCPL) or at the level of field equations (MCPF) lead to different dynamics. To that end, we will first write the Euler-Lagrange equations for matter fields in terms of the covariant derivatives of a general non-Riemannian space, and derivate the form of the associated Noether currents and charges. Then we will see that if the minimal coupling prescriptions is applied as we discuss, for spin 0 and 1 fields the results of MCPL and MCPF are equivalent, while for spin 1/2 fields there is a difference if one applies the MCPF or the MCPL, since the former leads to charge violation.
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Hamacher-Baumann, P., Lu, X. G., & Martin-Albo, J. (2020). Neutrino-hydrogen interactions with a high-pressure time projection chamber. Phys. Rev. D, 102(3), 033005–15pp.
Abstract: We investigate the idea of detecting pure neutrino-hydrogen interactions in a multinuclear target using the transverse kinematic imbalance technique [Lu et al., Phys. Rev. D 92, 051302 (2015)] in a high-pressure time projection chamber (HPTPC). With full solid-angle acceptance, MeV-level proton tracking threshold, state-of-the-art tracking resolution, and an 0(100 m(3)) gas volume at 10 bar, an HPTPC could provide an opportunity to realize this technique. We propose the use of hydrogen-rich gases in the TPC to achieve high detection purity with a large hydrogen mass. With the projected neutrino beam exposure at the DUNE experiment, neutrino-hydrogen events of the order of 10(4) per year with purity above 90% could be achieved with such an HPTPC using methane gas. In this paper, we present a systematic study of the event rate and purity for a variety of argon-alkanc mixtures, and examine these gas candidates for the TPC tracking-related properties.
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O'Hare, C. A. J., Caputo, A., Millar, A. J., & Vitagliano, E. (2020). Axion helioscopes as solar magnetometers. Phys. Rev. D, 102(4), 043019–19pp.
Abstract: Axion helioscopes search for solar axions and axionlike particles via inverse Primakoff conversion in strong laboratory magnets pointed at the Sun. Anticipating the detection of solar axions, we determine the potential for the planned next-generation helioscope, the International Axion Observatory (IAXO), to measure or constrain the solar magnetic field. To do this we consider a previously neglected component of the solar axion flux at sub-keV energies arising from the conversion of longitudinal plasmons. This flux is sensitively dependent to the magnetic field profile of the Sun, with lower energies corresponding to axions converting into photons at larger solar radii. If the detector technology eventually installed in IAXO has an energy resolution better than 200 eV, then solar axions could become an even more powerful messenger than neutrinos of the magnetic field in the core of the Sun. For energy resolutions better than 10 eV, IAXO could access the inner 70% of the Sun and begin to constrain the field at the tachocline: the boundary between the radiative and convective zones. The longitudinal plasmon flux from a toroidal magnetic field also has an additional 2% geometric modulation effect which could be used to measure the angular dependence of the magnetic field.
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Ferreiro, A., & Navarro-Salas, J. (2020). Running gravitational couplings, decoupling, and curved spacetime renormalization. Phys. Rev. D, 102(4), 045021–6pp.
Abstract: We propose to slightly generalize the DeWitt-Schwinger adiabatic renormalization subtractions in curved space to include an arbitrary renornialization mass scale mu. The new predicted running for the gravitational couplings are fully consistent with decoupling of heavy massive fields. This is a somewhat improvement with respect to the more standard treatment of minimal (DeWitt-Schwinger) subtractions via dimensional regularization. We also show how the vacuum metamorphosis model emerges from the running couplings.
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