Abstract: The energy response of the ATLAS calorimeter is measured for single charged pions with transverse momentum in the range 10<p(T) < 300 GeV. The measurement is performed using 139 fb(-1) of LHC proton-proton collision data at root s =13 TeV taken in Run 2 by the ATLAS detector. Charged pions originating from tau-lepton decays are used to provide a sample of high-p(T) isolated particles, where the composition is known, to test an energy regime that has not previously been probed by in situ single-particle measurements. The calorimeter response to single-pions is observed to be overestimated by similar to 2% across a large part of the p(T) spectrum in the central region and underestimated by similar to 4% in the endcaps in the ATLAS simulation. The uncertainties in the measurements are less than or similar to 1% for 15<p(T) <185 GeV in the central region. To investigate the source of the discrepancies, the width of the distribution of the ratio of calorimeter energy to track momentum, the energies per layer and response in the hadronic calorimeter are also compared between data and simulation.

Abstract: We report on new flavor tagging algorithms developed to determine the quark-flavor content of bottom (B) mesons at Belle II. The algorithms provide essential inputs for measurements of quark-flavor mixing and charge-parity violation. We validate and evaluate the performance of the algorithms using hadronic B decays with flavor-specific final states reconstructed in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 62.8 fb(-1), collected at the gamma(4S) resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. We measure the total effective tagging efficiency to be epsilon(eff) = (30.0 +/- 1.2(stat) +/- 0.4(syst))% for a category-based algorithm and epsilon(eff) = (28.8 +/- 1.2(stat) +/- 0.4(syst))% for a deep-learning-based algorithm.

Abstract: A search is presented for the production of a single top quark via left-handed flavour-changing neutralcurrent (FCNC) interactions of a top quark, a gluon and an up or charm quark. Two production processes are considered: u + g -> t and c + g -> t. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). Events with exactly one electron or muon, exactly one b-tagged jet and missing transverse momentum are selected, resembling the decay products of a singly produced top quark. Neural networks based on kinematic variables differentiate between events from the two signal processes and events from background processes. The measured data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the signal processes: sigma(u + g -> t) x B(t -> Wb) x B(W -> l nu) < 3.0 pb and sigma(c + g -> t) xB(t -> Wb) xB(W -> l nu) < 4.7pb at the 95% confidence level, with B(W -> l nu) = 0.325 being the sum of branching ratios of all three leptonic decay modes of the W boson. Based on the framework of an effective field theory, the cross-section limits are translated into limits on the strengths of the tug and tcg couplings occurring in the theory: vertical bar C-uG(ut)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.057 TeV-2 and vertical bar C-uG(ct)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.14 TeV-2. These bounds correspond to limits on the branching ratios of FCNC-induced top-quark decays: B(t -> u + g) < 0.61 x 10(-4) and B(t -> c + g) < 3.7 x 10(-4).

Abstract: A search is performed for massive long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying semileptonically into a muon and two quarks. Two kinds of LLP production processes were considered. In the first, a Higgs-like boson with mass from 30 to 200 GeV/c(2) is produced by gluon fusion and decays into two LLPs. The analysis covers LLP mass values from 10 GeV/c(2) up to about one half the Higgs-like boson mass. The second LLP production mode is directly from quark interactions, with LLP masses from 10 to 90 GeV/c(2). The LLP lifetimes considered range from 5 to 200 ps. This study uses LHCb data collected from proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb(-1). No evidence of these long-lived states has been observed, and upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio have been set for each model considered.

Abstract: Using PREM as a reference model for the Earth density distribution we investigate the sensitivity of ORCA detector to deviations of the Earth (i) outer core (OC) density, (ii) inner core (IC) density, (iii) total core density, and (iv) mantle density, from their respective PREM densities. The analysis is performed by studying the effects of the Earth matter on the oscillations of atmospheric nu(mu), nu(e), (nu) over bar (mu) and (nu) over bar (e). We present results which illustrate the dependence of the ORCA sensitivity to the OC, IC, core and mantle densities on the type of systematic uncertainties used in the analysis, on the value of the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle theta(23), on whether the Earth mass constraint is implemented or not, and on the way it is implemented, and on the type – with normal ordering (NO) or inverted ordering (IO) – of the light neutrino mass spectrum. We show, in particular, that in the “most favorable” NO case of implemented Earth mass constraint, “minimal” systematic errors and sin(2) theta(23) = 0.58, ORCA can determine, e.g., the OC (mantle) density at 3 sigma C.L. after 10 years of operation with an uncertainty of (- 18%)/+ 15% (of (- 6%)/+ 8%). In the “most disfavorable” NO case of “conservative” systematic errors and sin(2) theta(23) = 0.42, the uncertainty on OC (mantle) density reads (- 43%)/+ 39% ((- 17%/+ 20%), while for for sin(2) theta(23) = 0.50 and 0.58 it is noticeably smaller: (- 37)%/+ 30% and (- 30%)/+ 24% ((- 13%)/+ 16% and (- 11%/+ 14%)). We find also that the sensitivity of ORCA to the OC, core and mantle densities is significantly worse for IO neutrino mass spectrum.