Abstract: We show how minimally-coupled matter fields of arbitrary spin, when coupled to Ricci-based gravity theories, develop non-trivial effective interactions that can be treated perturbatively only below a characteristic high-energy scale . We then use this interactions to set bounds on the high-energy scale that controls departures of Ricci-Based Gravity theories from General Relativity. Particularly, for Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity we obtain the strong bound vertical bar kappa vertical bar<10(-26)m(5)kg(-1)s(-2).

Abstract: We evaluate the implications of LHC and LEP/SLC measurements for the electro-weak couplings of the top and bottom quarks. We derive global bounds on the Wilson coefficients of ten two-fermion operators in an effective field theory description. The combination of hadron collider data with Z -pole measurements is found to yield tight limits on the operator coefficients that modify the left-handed couplings of the bottom and top quark to the Z boson. We also present projections for the high-luminosity phase of the LHC and for future electron-positron colliders. The bounds on the operator coefficients are expected to improve substantially during the remaining LHC programme, by factors of 1 to 5 if systematic uncertainties are scaled as statistical ones. The operation of an e(+)e(-) collider at a center-of-mass energy above the top-quark pair production threshold is expected to further improve the bounds by one to two orders of magnitude. The combination of measurements in pp and e(+)e(-) collisions allows for a percent-level determination of the top-quark Yukawa coupling, that is robust in a global fit.

Abstract: Recent measurements at the Large Hadron Collider allow for a robust and precise characterisation of the electro-weak interactions of the top quark. We present the results of a global analysis at next-to-leading order precision including LHC, LEP/SLD and Tevatron data in the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory. We include a careful analysis of the impact of correlations among measurements, as well as of the uncertainties in the Effective Field Theory setup itself. We find remarkably robust global fit results, with central values in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and 95% probability bounds on Wilson coefficients that range from +/- 0.35 to +/- 8 TeV-2. This result represents a considerable improvement over previous studies, thanks to the addition of differential cross-section measurements in associated production processes of top quarks and neutral gauge bosons.

Abstract: Current measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropy power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) seem to indicate that the naive expectation for the slow-roll hierarchy within the most simple inflationary paradigm may not be respected in nature. We show that a primordial power spectrum with localized features could in principle give rise to the observed slow-roll anarchy when fitted to a featureless power spectrum. From a model comparison perspective, and assuming that nature has chosen a featureless primordial power spectrum, we find that, while with mock Planck data there is only weak evidence against a model with localized features, upcoming CMB missions may provide compelling evidence against such a nonstandard primordial power spectrum. This evidence could be reinforced if a featureless primordial power spectrum is independently confirmed from bispectrum and/or galaxy clustering measurements.

Abstract: An updated global fit on the parameter-space of the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model is performed with the help of the open-source package HEPfit, assuming the Standard-Model Higgs to be the lightest scalar. No new sources of CP violation, other than the phase in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix of the Standard Model, are considered. A similar global fit was previously performed by O. Eberhardt et al. [Global fits in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model, J. High Energy Phys. 05 (2021) 005] with a slightly different set of parameters. Our updated fit incorporates improved analyses of the theoretical constraints required for the perturbative unitarity and boundedness of the scalar potential from below, additional flavor observables and updated data on direct searches for heavy scalars at the LHC, Higgs signal strengths, and electroweak precision observables. Although not included in the main fit, the implications of the CDF measurement of the W +/- mass are also discussed.