Lorusso, G. et al, & Montaner-Piza, A. (2015). beta-Decay Half-Lives of 110 Neutron-Rich Nuclei across the N=82 Shell Gap: Implications for the Mechanism and Universality of the Astrophysical r Process. Phys. Rev. Lett., 114(19), 192501–7pp.
Abstract: The beta-decay half-lives of 110 neutron-rich isotopes of the elements from 37 Rb to 50 Sn were measured at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. The 40 new half-lives follow robust systematics and highlight the persistence of shell effects. The new data have direct implications for r-process calculations and reinforce the notion that the second (A approximate to 130) and the rare-earth-element (A approximate to 160) abundance peaks may result from the freeze-out of an (n, gamma) reversible arrow (gamma, n) equilibrium. In such an equilibrium, the new half-lives are important factors determining the abundance of rare-earth elements, and allow for a more reliable discussion of the r process universality. It is anticipated that universality may not extend to the elements Sn, Sb, I, and Cs, making the detection of these elements in metal-poor stars of the utmost importance to determine the exact conditions of individual r-process events.
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ATLAS and CMS Collaborations(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2015). Combined Measurement of the Higgs Boson Mass in pp Collisions at root s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS Experiments. Phys. Rev. Lett., 114(19), 191803–33pp.
Abstract: A measurement of the Higgs boson mass is presented based on the combined data samples of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC in the H --> gamma gamma and H --> ZZ --> 4l decay channels. The results are obtained from a simultaneous fit to the reconstructed invariant mass peaks in the two channels and for the two experiments. The measured masses from the individual channels and the two experiments are found to be consistent among themselves. The combined measured mass of the Higgs boson is m(H) = 125.09 +/- 0.21 (stat) +/- 0.11 (syst) GeV.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2015). Search for New Phenomena in Dijet Angular Distributions in Proton-Proton Collisions at root s=8 TeV Measured with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 114(22), 221802–17pp.
Abstract: A search for new phenomena in LHC proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV was performed with the ATLAS detector using an integrated luminosity of 17.3 fb(-1). The angular distributions are studied in events with at least two jets; the highest dijet mass observed is 5.5 TeV. All angular distributions are consistent with the predictions of the standard model. In a benchmark model of quark contact interactions, a compositeness scale below 8.1 TeV in a destructive interference scenario and 12.0 TeV in a constructive interference scenario is excluded at 95% C.L.; median expected limits are 8.9 TeV for the destructive interference scenario and 14.1 TeV for the constructive interference scenario.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2015). Search for a Charged Higgs Boson Produced in the Vector-Boson Fusion Mode with Decay H-+/- -> W(+/-)Z using pp Collisions at root S=8 TeV with the ATLAS Experiment. Phys. Rev. Lett., 114(23), 231801–18pp.
Abstract: A search for a charged Higgs boson, H-+/-, decaying to a W-+/- boson and a Z boson is presented. The search is based on 20.3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The H-+/- boson is assumed to be produced via vector-boson fusion and the decays W-+/- -> q (q') over bar and Z -> e(+)e(-)/mu(+)mu(-) are considered. The search is performed in a range of charged Higgs boson masses from 200 to 1000 GeV. No evidence for the production of an H+ boson is observed. Upper limits of 31-1020 fb at 95% C.L. are placed on the cross section for vector-boson fusion production of an H-+/- boson times its branching fraction to W(+/-)Z. The limits are compared with predictions from the Georgi-Machacek Higgs triplet model.
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Boiron, D., Fabbri, A., Larre, P. E., Pavloff, N., Westbrook, C. I., & Zin, P. (2015). Quantum Signature of Analog Hawking Radiation in Momentum Space. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(2), 025301–5pp.
Abstract: We consider a sonic analog of a black hole realized in the one-dimensional flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that one-and two-body momentum distributions accessible by present-day experimental techniques provide clear direct evidence (i) of the occurrence of a sonic horizon, (ii) of the associated acoustic Hawking radiation, and (iii) of the quantum nature of the Hawking process. The signature of the quantum behavior persists even at temperatures larger than the chemical potential.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., Ferrer, A., et al. (2015). Search for a Heavy Neutral Particle Decaying to e mu, e tau, or μtau in pp Collisions at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(3), 031801–18pp.
Abstract: This Letter presents a search for a heavy neutral particle decaying into an opposite-sign different-flavor dilepton pair, e(+/-) mu(-/+), e(+/-) tau(-/+), or mu(+/-) tau(-/+) using 20.3 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The numbers of observed candidate events are compatible with the standard model expectations. Limits are set on the cross section of new phenomena in two scenarios: the production of (nu) over tilde (tau) in R-parity-violating supersymmetric models and the production of a lepton-flavor-violating Z' vector boson.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2015). Measurement of CP Violation in B-0 -> J/psi K-S(0) Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(3), 031601–9pp.
Abstract: Measurements are presented of the CP violation observables S and C in the decays of B-0 and (B) over bar (0) mesons to the J/psi K-S(0) final state. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1) collected with the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, and contains a total of 41 560 selected B-0 and (B) over bar (0) decays. The analysis of the time evolution of these decays yields S = 0.731 +/- 0.035(stat) +/- 0.020(syst) and C = -0.038 +/- 0.032(stat) +/- 0.005(syst). In the standard model, S equals sin(2 beta) to a good level of precision. The values are consistent with the current world averages and with the standard model expectations.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., Ferrer, A., et al. (2015). Evidence of W gamma gamma Production in pp Collisions at root s=8 TeV and Limits on Anomalous Quartic Gauge Couplings with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(3), 031802–18pp.
Abstract: This Letter reports evidence of triple gauge boson production pp -> W(l nu)gamma gamma + X, which is accessible for the first time with the 8 TeV LHC data set. The fiducial cross section for this process is measured in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1), collected by the ATLAS detector in 2012. Events are selected using the W boson decay to e nu or μnu as well as requiring two isolated photons. The measured cross section is used to set limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in the high diphoton mass region.
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Tain, J. L. et al, Valencia, E., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Rubio, B., Estevez, E., et al. (2015). Enhanced gamma-Ray Emission from Neutron Unbound States Populated in beta Decay. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(6), 062502–5pp.
Abstract: Total absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the beta-decay intensity to states above the neutron separation energy followed by gamma-ray emission in Br-87,Br-88 and Rb-94. Accurate results are obtained thanks to a careful control of systematic errors. An unexpectedly large. intensity is observed in all three cases extending well beyond the excitation energy region where neutron penetration is hindered by low neutron energy. The gamma branching as a function of excitation energy is compared to Hauser-Feshbach model calculations. For Br-87 and Br-88 the gamma branching reaches 57% and 20%, respectively, and could be explained as a nuclear structure effect. Some of the states populated in the daughter can only decay through the emission of a large orbital angular momentum neutron with a strongly reduced barrier penetrability. In the case of neutron-rich Rb-94 the observed 4.5% branching is much larger than the calculations performed with standard nuclear statistical model parameters, even after proper correction for fluctuation effects on individual transition widths. The difference can be reconciled by introducing an enhancement of 1 order of magnitude in the photon strength to neutron strength ratio. An increase in the photon strength function of such magnitude for very neutron-rich nuclei, if it proves to be correct, leads to a similar increase in the (n, gamma) cross section that would have an impact on r process abundance calculations.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2015). Observation of the B-s(0) -> eta 'eta ' Decay. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(5), 051801–9pp.
Abstract: The first observation of the B-s(0) -> eta'eta' decay is reported. The study is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to 3.0 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector. The significance of the signal is 6.4 standard deviations. The branching fraction is measured to be [3.31 +/- 0.64(stat) +/- 0.28(syst) +/- 0.12(norm)] x 10(-5), where the third uncertainty comes from the B-+/- -> eta'K-+/- branching fraction that is used as a normalization. In addition, the charge asymmetries of B-+/- -> eta'K-+/- and B-+/- -> phi K-+/-, which are control channels, are measured to be (-0.2 +/- 1.3)% and (+1.7 +/- 1.3)%, respectively. All results are consistent with theoretical expectations.
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