de Anda, F. J., Medina, O., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2022). Scotogenic Majorana neutrino masses in a predictive orbifold theory of flavor. Phys. Rev. D, 105(5), 055030–12pp.
Abstract: The use of extra space-time dimensions provides a promising approach to the flavor problem. The chosen compactification of a 6-dimensional orbifold implies a remnant family symmetry A4. This makes interesting predictions for quark and lepton masses, for neutrino oscillations and neutrinoless double beta decay, providing also a very good global description of all flavor observables. Due to an auxiliary Z4 symmetry, we implement a scotogenic Majorana neutrino mass generation mechanism with a viable WIMP dark matter candidate.
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Bruschini, R., & Gonzalez, P. (2022). Is chi(c1)(3872) generated from string breaking? Phys. Rev. D, 105(5), 054028–6pp.
Abstract: We show, from a diabatic analysis of lattice results for string breaking, that mixing of Q (Q) over bar with open-flavor meson-meson configurations may be expressed through a mixing potential which is order 1/m(Q). A relation between the minimum string breaking energy gap and the string tension comes out naturally. Using this relation, and matching the energy gap for b (b) over bar with lattice QCD data, we study the mixing in the c (c) over bar case without any additional parameter. A 1(++) bound state very close below the D-0(D) over bar*(0) threshold, in perfect correspondence with chi(c1)(3872), is predicted.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., et al. (2022). Search for flavour-changing neutral-current interactions of a top quark and a gluon in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 334–35pp.
Abstract: A search is presented for the production of a single top quark via left-handed flavour-changing neutralcurrent (FCNC) interactions of a top quark, a gluon and an up or charm quark. Two production processes are considered: u + g -> t and c + g -> t. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). Events with exactly one electron or muon, exactly one b-tagged jet and missing transverse momentum are selected, resembling the decay products of a singly produced top quark. Neural networks based on kinematic variables differentiate between events from the two signal processes and events from background processes. The measured data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the signal processes: sigma(u + g -> t) x B(t -> Wb) x B(W -> l nu) < 3.0 pb and sigma(c + g -> t) xB(t -> Wb) xB(W -> l nu) < 4.7pb at the 95% confidence level, with B(W -> l nu) = 0.325 being the sum of branching ratios of all three leptonic decay modes of the W boson. Based on the framework of an effective field theory, the cross-section limits are translated into limits on the strengths of the tug and tcg couplings occurring in the theory: vertical bar C-uG(ut)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.057 TeV-2 and vertical bar C-uG(ct)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.14 TeV-2. These bounds correspond to limits on the branching ratios of FCNC-induced top-quark decays: B(t -> u + g) < 0.61 x 10(-4) and B(t -> c + g) < 3.7 x 10(-4).
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Botella, F. J., Branco, G. C., Rebelo, M. N., Silva-Marcos, J. I., & Bastos, J. F. (2022). Decays of the heavy top and new insights on epsilon(K) in a one-VLQ minimal solution to the CKM unitarity problem. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 360–16pp.
Abstract: We propose a minimal extension of the Standard Model where an up-type vector-like quark, denoted T, is introduced and provides a simple solution to the CKM unitarity problem. We adopt the Botella-Chau parametrization in order to extract the 4 x 3 quark mixing matrix which contains the three angles of the 3 x 3 CKM matrix plus three new angles denoted theta(14), theta(24), theta(34). It is assumed that the mixing of T with standard quarks is dominated by theta(14). Imposing a recently derived, and much more restrictive, upper-bound on the New Physics contributions to epsilon(K) , we find, in the limit of exact theta(14) dominance where the other extra angles vanish, that epsilon(NP)(K) is too large. However, if one relaxes the exact theta(14) dominance limit, there exists a parameter region, where one may obtain epsilon(NP)(K) in agreement with experiment while maintaining the novel pattern of T decays with the heavy quark decaying predominantly to the light quarks d and u. We also find a reduction in the decay rate of K-L -> pi(0)nu(nu) over bar.
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Sieber, H., Banerjee, D., Crivelli, P., Depero, E., Gninenko, S. N., Kirpichnikov, D. V., et al. (2022). Prospects in the search for a new light Z0 boson with the NA64 μexperiment at the CERN SPS. Phys. Rev. D, 105(5), 052006–9pp.
Abstract: A light Z0 vector boson coupled to the second and third lepton generations through the L μ- L tau current with mass below 200 MeV provides a very viable explanation in terms of new physics to the recently confirmed og – 2 thorn μanomaly. This boson can be produced in the bremsstrahlung reaction μN – μNZ0 after a high energy muon beam collides with a target. NA64 μis a fixed-target experiment using a 160 GeV muon beam from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator looking for Z0 production and its subsequent decays, Z0 – invisible. In this paper, we present the study of the NA64 μsensitivity to search for such a boson. This includes a realistic beam simulation, a detailed description of the detectors and a discussion about the main potential background sources. A pilot run is scheduled in order to validate the simulation results. If those are confirmed, NA64 μwill be able to explore all the remaining parameter space which could provide an explanation for the g – 2 muon anomaly in the L μ- L tau model.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2022). Long-term Spectra of the Blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 at TeV Energies Seen by HAWC. Astrophys. J., 929(2), 125–12pp.
Abstract: The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory surveys the very high-energy sky in the 300 GeV to >100 TeV energy range. HAWC has detected two blazars above 11 sigma, Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) and Markarian 501 (Mrk 501). The observations are comprised of data taken in the period between 2015 June and 2018 July, resulting in similar to 1038 days of exposure. In this work, we report the time-averaged spectral analyses for both sources, above 0.5 TeV. Taking into account the flux attenuation due to the extragalactic background light, the intrinsic spectrum of Mrk 421 is described by a power law with an exponential energy cutoff with index alpha = 2.26 +/- (0.12)(stat)((+0.17)(-0.2))(sys) and energy cutoff E-c = 5.1 +/- (1.6)(stat)((+1.4)(-2.5))(sys) TeV, while the intrinsic spectrum of Mrk 501 is better described by a simple power law with index alpha = 2.61 +/- (0.11)(stat)((+)(0.01)(-0.07))(sys). The maximum energies at which the Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 signals are detected are 9 and 12 TeV, respectively. This makes these some of the highest energy detections to date for spectra averaged over years-long timescales. Since the observation of gamma radiation from blazars provides information about the physical processes that take place in their relativistic jets, it is important to study the broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these objects. For this purpose, contemporaneous data in the gamma-ray band to the X-ray range, and literature data in the radio to UV range, were used to build time-averaged SEDs that were modeled within a synchrotron-self Compton leptonic scenario.
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Guevara, A., Lopez Castro, G., & Roig, P. (2022). Improved description of dilepton production in tau(-) -> nu(tau)P(- )decays. Phys. Rev. D, 105(7), 076007–15pp.
Abstract: Recently, the Belle Collaboration reported the first measurements of the tau(-) -> nu(tau)pi(-) e(+) e(-) branching fraction and the spectrum of the pion-dielectron system. In an analysis previous to Belle's results, we evaluated this branching fraction which turned out to be compatible with that reported by Belle, although with a large uncertainty. This is the motivation to seek for improvement on our previous evaluation of tau(-) -> nu(tau)pi(-) l(+) l(-) decays (l = e, mu). In this paper we improve our calculation of the WP-gamma* vertex by including flavor-symmetry breaking effects in the framework of the resonance chiral theory. We impose QCD short-distance behavior to constrain most parameters and data on the pi(-) e(+) e(-) spectrum reported by the Belle Collaboration to fix the remaining free ones. As a result, improved predictions for the branching ratios and hadronic/leptonic spectra are reported, which are in good agreement with observations. Analogous calculations for the strangeness-changing tau(-) -> nu(tau) K- l(+) l(-) transitions are reported for the first time. Albeit one expects the m(pi mu+ mu- )spectrum to be measured in Belle-II and the observables with l = e can be improved, it is rather unlikely that the K channels can be measured due to the suppression factor vertical bar V-ud/V-us vertical bar(2) = 0.05.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., & Ruiz Vidal, J. (2022). Search for massive long-lived particles decaying semileptonically at root s=13 TeV. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 373–19pp.
Abstract: A search is performed for massive long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying semileptonically into a muon and two quarks. Two kinds of LLP production processes were considered. In the first, a Higgs-like boson with mass from 30 to 200 GeV/c(2) is produced by gluon fusion and decays into two LLPs. The analysis covers LLP mass values from 10 GeV/c(2) up to about one half the Higgs-like boson mass. The second LLP production mode is directly from quark interactions, with LLP masses from 10 to 90 GeV/c(2). The LLP lifetimes considered range from 5 to 200 ps. This study uses LHCb data collected from proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb(-1). No evidence of these long-lived states has been observed, and upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio have been set for each model considered.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., et al. (2022). Measurement of the energy asymmetry in t(t)over-barj production at 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment and interpretation in the SMEFT framework. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 374–36pp.
Abstract: A measurement of the energy asymmetry in jet-associated top-quark pair production is presented using 139 fb(-1) of data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The observable measures the different probability of top and antitop quarks to have the higher energy as a function of the jet scattering angle with respect to the beam axis. The energy asymmetry is measured in the semileptonic t (t) over bar decay channel, and the hadronically decaying top quark must have transverse momentum above 350 GeV. The results are corrected for detector effects to particle level in three bins of the scattering angle of the associated jet. The measurement agrees with the SM prediction at next-to-leading-order accuracy in quantum chromodynamics in all three bins. In the bin with the largest expected asymmetry, where the jet is emitted perpendicular to the beam, the energy asymmetry is measured to be -0.043 +/- 0.020, in agreement with the SM prediction of -0.037 +/- 0.003. Interpreting this result in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), it is shown that the energy asymmetry is sensitive to the top-quark chirality in four-quark operators and is therefore a valuable new observable in global SMEFT fits.
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HAWC Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2022). Cosmic ray spectrum of protons plus helium nuclei between 6 and 158 TeV from HAWC data. Phys. Rev. D, 105(6), 063021–26pp.
Abstract: A measurement with high statistics of the differential energy spectrum of light elements in cosmic rays, in particular, of primary H plus He nuclei, is reported. The spectrum is presented in the energy range from 6 to 158 TeV per nucleus. Data was collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory between June 2015 and June 2019. The analysis was based on a Bayesian unfolding procedure, which was applied on a subsample of vertical HAWC data that was enriched to 82% of events induced by light nuclei. To achieve the mass separation, a cut on the lateral age of air shower data was set guided by predictions of CORSIKA/QGSJET-I1-04 simulations. The measured spectrum is consistent with a broken power-law spectrum and shows a kneelike feature at around E = 24.0(-3.1)(+3.6) TeV, with a spectral index gamma = -2.51 +/- 0.02 before the break and with gamma = -2.83 +/- 0.02 above it. The feature has a statistical significance of 4.1 sigma. Within systematic uncertainties, the significance of the spectral break is 0.8 sigma.
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