Abstract: Supersymmetric theories supplemented by an underlying flavor-symmetry G(f) provide a rich playground for model building aimed at explaining the flavor structure of the Standard Model. In the case where supersymmetry breaking is mediated by gravity, the soft-breaking Lagrangian typically exhibits large tree-level flavor violating e ff ects, even if it stems from an ultraviolet flavor-conserving origin. Building on previous work, we continue our phenomenological analysis of these models with a particular emphasis on leptonicflavor observables. We consider three representative models which aim to explain the flavor structure of the lepton sector, with symmetry groups G(f) = Delta (27), A(4); and S-3.

Abstract: This paper presents single lepton and dilepton kinematic distributions measured in dileptonic t(t)over-bar events produced in 20.2 fb(-1) of root s = 8 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Both absolute and normalised differential cross-sections are measured, using events with an opposite-charge e μpair and one or two b-tagged jets. The cross-sections are measured in a fiducial region corresponding to the detector acceptance for leptons, and are compared to the predictions from a variety of Monte Carlo event generators, as well as fixed-order QCD calculations, exploring the sensitivity of the cross-sections to the gluon parton distribution function. Some of the distributions are also sensitive to the top quark pole mass; a combined fit of NLO fixed-order predictions to all the measured distributions yields a top quark mass value of m(t)(pole) = 173.2 +/- 0.9 +/- 0.8 +/- 1.2 GeV, where the three uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental systematics, and theoretical sources.

Abstract: The process e(+)e(-) -> pi(+)pi(-)2 pi(0)gamma is investigated by means of the initial-state radiation technique, where a photon is emitted from the incoming electron or positron. Using 454.3 fb(-1) of data collected around a centerof- mass energy of root s = 10.58 GeV by the BABAR experiment at SLAC, approximately 150000 signal events are obtained. The corresponding nonradiative cross section is measured with a relative uncertainty of 3.6% in the energy region around 1.5 GeV, surpassing all existing measurements in precision. Using this new result, the channel's contribution to the leading order hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is calculated as (g(mu)(pi+ pi-2 pi 0) – 2)/2 = (17.9 +/- 0.1(stat) +/- 0.6(syst)) x 10(-10) in the energy range 0.85 GeV < ECM < 1.8 GeV. In the same energy range, the impact on the running of the fine-structure constant at the Z(0)-pole is determined as Delta alpha(pi+ pi-2 pi 0) (M-Z(2)) = (4.44 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.14(syst)) x 10(-4). Furthermore, intermediate resonances are studied and especially the cross section of the process e(+)e(-) -> omega pi(0) -> pi(+)pi(-)2 pi(0) is measured.

Abstract: A plausible explanation for the lightness of neutrino masses is that neutrinos are massless at tree level, with their mass (typically Majorana) being generated radiatively at one or more loops. The new couplings, together with the suppression coming from the loop factors, imply that the new degrees of freedom cannot be too heavy (they are typically at the TeV scale). Therefore, in these models there are no large mass hierarchies and they can be tested using different searches, making their detailed phenomenological study very appealing. In particular, the new particles can be searched for at colliders and generically induce signals in lepton-flavor and lepton-number violating processes (in the case of Majorana neutrinos), which are not independent from reproducing correctly the neutrino masses and mixings. The main focus of the review is on Majorana neutrinos. We order the allowed theory space from three different perspectives: (i) using an effective operator approach to lepton number violation, (ii) by the number of loops at which the Weinberg operator is generated, (iii) within a given loop order, by the possible irreducible topologies. We also discuss in more detail some popular radiative models which involve qualitatively different features, revisiting their most important phenomenological implications. Finally, we list some promising avenues to pursue.

Abstract: Using some of the latest cosmological data sets publicly available, we derive the strongest bounds in the literature on the sum of the three active neutrino masses, M-nu, within the assumption of a background flat Lambda CDM cosmology. In the most conservative scheme, combining Planck cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data, as well as the up-to-date constraint on the optical depth to reionization (tau), the tightest 95% confidence level upper bound we find is M-nu < 0.151 eV. The addition of Planck high-l polarization data, which, however, might still be contaminated by systematics, further tightens the bound to M-nu < 0.118 eV. A proper model comparison treatment shows that the two aforementioned combinations disfavor the inverted hierarchy at similar to 64% C.L. and similar to 71% C.L., respectively. In addition, we compare the constraining power of measurements of the full- shape galaxy power spectrum versus the BAO signature, from the BOSS survey. Even though the latest BOSS full-shape measurements cover a larger volume and benefit from smaller error bars compared to previous similar measurements, the analysis method commonly adopted results in their constraining power still being less powerful than that of the extracted BAO signal. Our work uses only cosmological data; imposing the constraint M-nu > 0.06 eV from oscillations data would raise the quoted upper bounds by O(0.1 sigma) and would not affect our conclusions.