Abstract: Neutrino neutral-current (NC) induced single photon production is a sub-leading order process for accelerator-based neutrino beam experiments including T2K. It is, however, an important process to understand because it is a background for electron (anti)neutrino appearance oscillation experiments. Here, we performed the first search of this process below 1 GeV using the fine-grained detector at the T2K ND280 off-axis near detector. By reconstructing single photon kinematics from electron-positron pairs, we achieved 95% pure gamma ray sample from 5.738 x 10(20) protons-on-targets neutrino mode data. We do not find positive evidence of NC induced single photon production in this sample. We set the model-dependent upper limit on the cross-section for this process, at 0.114 x 10(-38) cm(2) (90% C.L.) per nucleon, using the J-PARC off-axis neutrino beam with an average energy of < E-v > similar to 0.6 GeV. This is the first limit on this process below 1 GeV which is important for current and future oscillation experiments looking for electron neutrino appearance oscillation signals.

Abstract: We consider the possibility that dark energy and baryons might scatter off each other. The type of interaction we consider leads to a pure momentum exchange, and does not affect the background evolution of the expansion history. We parametrize this interaction in an effective way at the level of Boltzmann equations. We compute the effect of dark energy-baryon scattering on cosmological observables, focusing on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum and the matter power spectrum. Surprisingly, we find that even huge dark energy-baryon cross-sections sigma(xb) similar to O(b), which are generically excluded by non-cosmological probes such as collider searches or precision gravity tests, only leave an insignificant imprint on the observables considered. In the case of the CMB temperature power spectrum, the only imprint consists in a sub-per cent enhancement or depletion of power (depending whether or not the dark energy equation of state lies above or below -1) at very low multipoles, which is thus swamped by cosmic variance. These effects are explained in terms of differences in how gravitational potentials decay in the presence of a dark energy-baryon scattering, which ultimately lead to an increase or decrease in the late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe power. Even smaller related effects are imprinted on the matter power spectrum. The imprints on the CMB are not expected to be degenerate with the effects due to altering the dark energy sound speed. We conclude that, while strongly appealing, the prospects for a direct detection of dark energy through cosmology do not seem feasible when considering realistic dark energy-baryon cross-sections. As a caveat, our results hold to linear order in perturbation theory.

Abstract: The cross-sections of.(2S) meson production in proton-proton collisions at v s = 13 TeV are measured with a data sample collected by the LHCb detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 275 pb-1. The production cross-sections for prompt.(2S) mesons and those for.(2S) mesons from b-hadron decays (.(2S)-from-b) are determined as functions of the transverse momentum, pT, and the rapidity, y, of the.(2S) meson in the kinematic range 2 < pT < 20 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. The production cross-sections integrated over this kinematic region are s(prompt.(2S), 13 TeV) = 1.430 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.099 (syst) μb, s(.(2S)-from-b, 13 TeV) = 0.426 +/- 0.002 (stat) +/- 0.030 (syst) μb. A new measurement of.(2S) production cross-sections in pp collisions at v s = 7 TeV is also performed using data collected in 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 614 pb-1. The integrated production cross-sections in the kinematic range 3.5 < pT < 14 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5 are s(prompt.(2S), 7 TeV) = 0.471 +/- 0.001 (stat) +/- 0.025 (syst) μb, s(.(2S)-from-b, 7 TeV) = 0.126 +/- 0.001 (stat) +/- 0.008 (syst) μb. All results show reasonable agreement with theoretical calculations.

Abstract: Searches are performed for both promptlike and long-lived dark photons, A ', produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. These searches look for A '->mu(+)mu(-) decays using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.5 fb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. Neither search finds evidence for a signal, and 90% confidence-level exclusion limits are placed on the gamma-A ' kinetic mixing strength. The promptlike A ' search explores the mass region from near the dimuon threshold up to 70 GeV and places the most stringent constraints to date on dark photons with 214 < m(A ') less than or similar to 740 MeV and 10.6 < m(A ') less than or similar to 30 GeV. The search for long-lived A '->mu(+)mu(-) decays places world-leading constraints on low-mass dark photons with lifetimes O(1)ps.

Abstract: The production of a prompt photon in association with a Z boson is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s = 13 TeV. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC from 2015 to 2018. The production cross-section for the process pp -> l(+)l(-)gamma + X (l = e, mu) is measured within a fiducial phase-space region defined by kinematic requirements on the photon and the leptons, and by isolation requirements on the photon. An experimental precision of 2.9% is achieved for the fiducial cross-section. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of each of six kinematic variables characterising the l(+)l(-)gamma system. The data are compared with theoretical predictions based on next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations. The impact of next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections is also considered.