De Romeri, V., Patel, K. M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2018). Inverse seesaw mechanism with compact supersymmetry: Enhanced naturalness and light superpartners. Phys. Rev. D, 98(7), 075014–15pp.
Abstract: We consider the supersymmetric inverse seesaw mechanism for neutrino mass generation within the context of a low-energy effective theory where supersymmetry is broken geometrically in an extra dimensional theory. It is shown that the effective scale characterizing the resulting compact supersymmetric spectrum can be as low as 500-600 GeV for moderate values of tan beta. The potentially large neutrino Yukawa couplings, naturally present in inverse seesaw schemes, enhance the Higgs mass and allow the superpartners to be lighter than in compact supersymmetry without neutrino masses. The inverse seesaw structure also implies a novel spectrum profile and couplings, in which the lightest supersymmetric particle can be an admixture of isodoublet and isosinglet sneutrinos. Dedicated collider as well as dark matter studies should take into account such specific features.
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NEXT Collaboration(Renner, J. et al), Martinez-Lema, G., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2018). Initial results on energy resolution of the NEXT-White detector. J. Instrum., 13, P10020–14pp.
Abstract: One of the major goals of the NEXT-White (NEW) detector is to demonstrate the energy resolution that an electroluminescent high pressure xenon TPC can achieve for high energy tracks. For this purpose, energy calibrations with Cs-137 and Th-232 sources have been carried out as a part of the long run taken with the detector during most of 2017. This paper describes the initial results obtained with those calibrations, showing excellent linearity and an energy resolution that extrapolates to approximately 1% FWHM at Q(beta beta).
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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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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2018). Measurements of differential cross sections of top quark pair production in association with jets in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 159–58pp.
Abstract: Measurements of di ff erential cross sections of top quark pair production in association with jets by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are presented. The measurements are performed as functions of the top quark transverse momentum, the transverse momentum of the top quark-antitop quark system and the out-of-plane transverse momentum using data from pp collisions at p s = 13TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb. The top quark pair events are selected in the lepton (electron or muon) + jets channel. The measured cross sections, which are compared to several predictions, allow a detailed study of top quark production.
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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). Central exclusive production of J/psi and (2S) mesons in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 167–27pp.
Abstract: Measurements are reported of the central exclusive production of J= and ( 2 S) mesons in pp collisions at a centre- of- mass energy of 13 TeV. Backgrounds are signi fi cantly reduced compared to previous measurements made at lower energies through the use of new forward shower counters. The products of the cross- sections and the branching fractions for the decays to dimuons, where both muons are within the pseudorapidity range 2 : 0 < < 4 : 5, are measured to be The fi rst uncertainties are statistical, the second are systematic, and the third are due to the luminosity determination. The cross- sections are also measured di ff erentially for meson rapidities between 2.0 and 4.5. Good agreement is observed with theoretical predictions. Photoproduction cross- sections are derived and compared to previous experiments, and a deviation from a pure power- law extrapolation of lower energy data is observed.
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Caputo, A., Pena-Garay, C., & Witte, S. J. (2018). Looking for axion dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Phys. Rev. D, 98(8), 083024–6pp.
Abstract: We study the extent to which the decay of cold dark matter axions can be probed with forthcoming radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). In particular, we focus on signals arising from dwarf spheroidal galaxies, where astrophysical uncertainties are reduced and the expected magnetic field strengths are such that signals arising from axion decay may dominate over axion-photon conversion in a magnetic field. We show that with similar to 100 hr of observing time, SKA could improve current sensitivity by 2-3 orders of magnitude-potentially obtaining sufficient sensitivity to begin probing the decay of cold dark matter axions.
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Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2018). Coupling matter in modified Q gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 98(8), 084043–13pp.
Abstract: We present a novel theory of gravity by considering an extension of symmetric teleparallel gravity. This is done by introducing, in the framework of the metric-affine formalism, a new class of theories where the nonmetricity Q is nonminimally coupled to the matter Lagrangian. More specifically, we consider a Lagrangian of the form L similar to f(1)(Q) + f(2)(Q)L-M, where f(1) and f(2) are generic functions of Q, and L-M is the matter Lagrangian. This nonminimal coupling entails the nonconservation of the energy-momentum tensor, and consequently the appearance of an extra force. The formulation of the gravity sector in terms of the Q instead of the curvature may result in subtle improvements of the theory. In the context of nonminimal matter couplings, we are therefore motivated to explore whether the new geometrical formulation in terms of the Q, when implemented also in the matter sector, would allow more universally consistent and viable realizations of the nonminimal coupling. Furthermore, we consider several cosmological applications by presenting the evolution equations and imposing specific functional forms of the functions f(1)(Q) and f(2)(Q), such as power-law and exponential dependencies of the nonminimal couplings. Cosmological solutions are considered in two general classes of models, and found to feature accelerating expansion at late times.
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Garcia-Cases, F., Perez-Calatayud, J., Ballester, F., Vijande, J., & Granero, D. (2018). Peripheral dose around a mobile linac for intraoperative radiotherapy: radiation protection aspects. J. Radiol. Prot., 38(4), 1393–1411.
Abstract: The aim of this work is to analyse the scattered radiation produced by the mobile accelerator Mobetron 1000. To do so, detailed Monte Carlo simulations using two different codes, Penelope2008 and Geant4, were performed. Measurements were also done. To quantify the attenuation due to the internal structures, present in the accelerator head, on the scattered radiation produced, some of the main structural shielding in the Mobetron 1000 has been incorporated into the geometry simulation. Results are compared with measurements. Some discrepancies between the calculated and measured dose values were found. These differences can be traced back to the importance of the radiation component due to low energy scattered electrons. This encouraged us to perform additional calculations to separate the role played by this component. Ambient dose equivalent, H*(10), outside of the operating room (OR) has been evaluated using Geant4. H*(10) has been measured inside and outside the OR, being its values compatible with those reported in the literature once the low energy electron component is removed. With respect to the role played by neutrons, estimations of neutron H*(10) using Geant4 together with H*(10) measurements has been performed for the case of the 12 MeV electron beam. The values obtained agree with the experimental values existing in the literature, being much smaller than those registered in conventional accelerators. This study is a useful tool for the clinical user to investigate the radiation protection issues arising with the use of these accelerators in ORs without structural shielding. These results will also enable to better fix the maximum number of treatments that could be performed while insuring adequate radiological protection of workers and public in the hospital.
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Durieux, G., Perello, M., Vos, M., & Zhang, C. (2018). Global and optimal probes for the top-quark effective field theory at future lepton colliders. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 168–68pp.
Abstract: We study the sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model of precise top-quark pair production measurements at future lepton colliders. A global effective-field-theory approach is employed, including all ten dimension-six operators of the Warsaw basis which involve a top-quark and give rise to tree-level amplitudes that interfere with standard-model e+e-tt ones in the limit of vanishing b-quark mass. Four-fermion and CP-violating contributions are taken into account. Circular-collider-, ILC- and CLIC-like benchmark run scenarios are examined. We compare the constraining power of various observables to a set of statistically optimal ones which maximally exploit the information contained in the fully differential bW+ distribution. The enhanced sensitivity gained on the linear contributions of dimension-six operators leads to bounds that are insensitive to quadratic ones. Even with statistically optimal observables, two centre-of-mass energies are required for constraining simultaneously two- and four-fermion operators. The impact of the centre-of-mass energy lever arm is discussed, that of beam polarization as well. A realistic estimate of the precision that can be achieved in ILC- and CLIC-like operating scenarios yields individual limits on the electroweak couplings of the top quark that are one to three orders of magnitude better than constraints set with Tevatron and LHC run I data, and three to two hundred times better than the most optimistic projections made for the high-luminosity phase of the LHC. Clean global constraints can moreover be obtained at lepton colliders, robustly covering the multidimensional effective-field-theory space with minimal model dependence.
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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). Observation of the decay B-s(0) -> (D)over-bar(0)K (+) K-. Phys. Rev. D, 98(7), 072006–19pp.
Abstract: The first observation of the B-s(0) -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- decay is reported, together with the most precise branching fraction measurement of the mode B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- The results are obtained from an analysis of pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1). The data were collected with the LHCb detector at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, The branching fraction of the B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- decay is measured relative to that of the decay B-0 -> (D) over bar (0)pi (+) pi(-) to be B(B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K-)/B(B-0 -> (D) over bar (0)pi (+) pi(-)) =(69 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.3)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The measured branching fraction of the B-s(0) -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- decay mode relative to that of the corresponding B-0 decay is B(B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K-)/B(B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K-) = (93.0 +/- 809 +/- 6.9)%. Using the known branching fraction of B-0 -> (D) over bar (0)pi (+) pi(-), the values of B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- = (6.1 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.3) x 10(-5) and B(B-s(0) -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K- = (5.7 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.5) x 10(-5) are obtained, where the third uncertainties arise from the branching fraction of the decay modes B-0 -> (D) over bar (0)pi (+) pi(-) and B-0 -> (D) over bar K-0 (+) K-, respectively.
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