NEXT Collaboration(Novella, P. et al), Palmeiro, B., Simon, A., Sorel, M., Martinez-Lema, G., Alvarez, V., et al. (2018). Measurement of radon-induced backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 112–27pp.
Abstract: The measurement of the internal Rn-222 activity in the NEXT-White detector during the so-called Run-II period with Xe-136-depleted xenon is discussed in detail, together with its implications for double beta decay searches in NEXT. The activity is measured through the alpha production rate induced in the fiducial volume by Rn-222 and its alpha-emitting progeny. The specific activity is measured to be (38.1 +/- 2.2 (stat.) +/- 5.9 (syst.)) mBq/m(3). Radon-induced electrons have also been characterized from the decay of the Bi-214 daughter ions plating out on the cathode of the time projection chamber. From our studies, we conclude that radon-induced backgrounds are sufficiently low to enable a successful NEXT-100 physics program, as the projected rate contribution should not exceed 0.1 counts/yr in the neutrinoless double beta decay sample.
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Caputo, A., Zavala, J., & Blas, D. (2018). Binary pulsars as probes of a Galactic dark matter disk. Phys. Dark Universe, 19, 1–11.
Abstract: As a binary pulsar moves through a wind of dark matter particles, the resulting dynamical friction modifies the binary's orbit. We study this effect for the double disk dark matter (DDDM) scenario, where a fraction of the dark matter is dissipative and settles into a thin disk. For binaries within the dark disk, this effect is enhanced due to the higher dark matter density and lower velocity dispersion of the dark disk, and due to its co-rotation with the baryonic disk. We estimate the effect and compare it with observations for two different limits in the Knudsen number (Kn). First, in the case where DDDM is effectively collisionless within the characteristic scale of the binary (Kn >> 1) and ignoring the possible interaction between the pair of dark matter wakes. Second, in the fully collisional case (Kn << 1), where a fluid description can be adopted and the interaction of the pair of wakes is taken into account. We find that the change in the orbital period is of the same order of magnitude in both limits. A comparison with observations reveals good prospects to probe currently allowed DDDM models with timing data from binary pulsars in the near future. We finally comment on the possibility of extending the analysis to the intermediate (rarefied gas) case with Kn similar to 1.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). First measurement of the CP-violating phase phi(dd)(s) in B-s(0) -> (K+pi(-))(K-pi(+)) decays. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 140–32pp.
Abstract: A flavour-tagged decay-time-dependent amplitude analysis of B-s(0) -> (K+pi(-))(K-pi(+)) decays is presented in the K-+/-pi(-/+) mass range from 750 to 1600 MeV/c(2). The analysis uses pp collision data collected with the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1). Several quasi-two-body decay modes are considered, corresponding to K-+/-pi(-/+) combinations with spin 0, 1 and 2, which are dominated by the K-0(*)(800)(0) and K-0(*)(1430)(0), the K*(892)(0) and the K-2(*)(1430)(0) resonances, respectively. The longitudinal polarisation fraction for the B-s(0) -> K-*(892)(0) (K*) over bar (892)(0) decay is measured as f(L) = 0.208 +/- 0.032 +/- 0.046, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The first measurement of the mixing-induced CP-violating phase in phi(d (d) over bar)(s), in b -> d (s) over bars transitions is performed, yielding a value of phi(d (d) over bar)(s)= -0.10 +/- 0.13 (stat) +/- 0.14 (syst) rad.
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Bernabeu, J., & Segarra, A. (2018). Signatures of the genuine and matter-induced components of the CP violation asymmetry in neutrino oscillations. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 063–26pp.
Abstract: CP asymmetries for neutrino oscillations in matter can be disentangled into the matter-induced CPT-odd (T-invariant) component and the genuine T-odd (CPT-invariant) component. For their understanding in terms of the relevant ingredients, we develop a new perturbative expansion in both m2| without any assumptions between m2 and a, and study the subtleties of the vacuum limit in the two terms of the CP asymmetry, moving from the CPT-invariant vacuum limit a 0 to the T-invariant limit m20. In the experimental region of terrestrial accelerator neutrinos, we calculate their approximate expressions from which we prove that, at medium baselines, the CPT-odd component is small and nearly -independent, so it can be subtracted from the experimental CP asymmetry as a theoretical background, provided the hierarchy is known. At long baselines, on the other hand, we find that (i) a Hierarchy-odd term in the CPT-odd component dominates the CP asymmetry for energies above the first oscillation node, and (ii) the CPT-odd term vanishes, independent of the CP phase , at E = 0.92 GeV (L/1300 km) near the second oscillation maximum, where the T-odd term is almost maximal and proportional to sin . A measurement of the CP asymmetry in these energy regions would thus provide separate information on (i) the neutrino mass ordering, and (ii) direct evidence of genuine CP violation in the lepton sector.
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Villanueva-Domingo, P., Gnedin, N. Y., & Mena, O. (2018). Warm Dark Matter and Cosmic Reionization. Astrophys. J., 852(2), 139–7pp.
Abstract: In models with dark matter made of particles with keV masses, such as a sterile neutrino, small-scale density perturbations are suppressed, delaying the period at which the lowest mass galaxies are formed and therefore shifting the reionization processes to later epochs. In this study, focusing on Warm Dark Matter (WDM) with masses close to its present lower bound, i.e., around the 3. keV region, we derive constraints from galaxy luminosity functions, the ionization history and the Gunn-Peterson effect. We show that even if star formation efficiency in the simulations is adjusted to match the observed UV galaxy luminosity functions in both CDM and WDM models, the full distribution of Gunn-Peterson optical depth retains the strong signature of delayed reionization in the WDM model. However, until the star formation and stellar feedback model used in modern galaxy formation simulations is constrained better, any conclusions on the nature of dark matter derived from reionization observables remain model-dependent.
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