Abstract: The first amplitude analysis of the B-+/- -> pi(K+K-)-K-+/- decay is reported based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1) of pp collisions recorded in 2011 and 2012 with the LHCb detector. The data are found to be best described by a coherent sum of five resonant structures plus a nonresonant component and a contribution from pi pi <-> KK S-wave rescattering. The dominant contributions in the pi(+/-) K(-/+ )and K+ K- systems are the nonresonant and the B-+/- -> rho(1450)(0)pi(+/-) amplitudes, respectively, with fit fractions around 30%. For the rescattering contribution, a sizable fit fraction is observed. This component has the largest CP asymmetry reported to date for a single amplitude of (-66 +/- 4 +/- 2)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. No significant CP violation is observed in the other contributions.

Abstract: We discuss the visibility of gamma lines from dark matter annihilation. We point out a class of theories for dark matter which predict the existence of gamma lines with striking features. In these theories, the final state radiation processes are highly suppressed and one could distinguish easily the gamma lines from the continuum spectrum. We discuss the main experimental bounds and show that one could test the predictions for gamma lines in the near future in the context of simple gauge theories for dark matter.

Abstract: We show how a relativistic effective field theory for the superfluid phase of 4 He can replace the standard methods used to compute the production rates of low-momentum excitations due to the interaction with an external probe. This is done by studying the scattering problem of a light dark matter particle in the superfluid and comparing to some existing results. We show that the rate of emission of two phonons, the Goldstone modes of the effective theory, gets strongly suppressed for sub-MeV dark matter particles due to a fine cancellation between two different tree-level diagrams in the limit of small exchanged momenta. This phenomenon is found to be a consequence of the particular choice of the potential felt by the dark matter particle in helium. The predicted rates can vary by orders of magnitude if this potential is changed. We prove that the dominant contribution to the total emission rate is provided by excitations in the phonon branch. Finally, we analyze the angular distributions for the emissions of one and two phonons and discuss how they can be used to measure the mass of the hypothetical dark matter particle hitting the helium target.

Abstract: The production fraction of the B-c(-) meson with respect to the sum of B- and (B) over bar (0) mesons is measured in both 7 and 13 TeV center-of-mass (c.m.) energy pp collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), using the LHCb detector. The rate, approximately 3.7 per mine, does not change with energy, but shows a transverse momentum dependence. The B-c(-) – B-c(+) production asymmetry is also measured and is consistent with zero within the determined statistical and systematic uncertainties of a few percent.

Abstract: In a general framework, valid for any H -> H' l(-)(v) over bar (l) semileptonic decay, we analyze the d(2)Gamma/(d omega d cos theta(l)) and d(2)Gamma/(d omega dE(l)) distributions, with omega being the product of the hadron four-velocities, theta(l) the angle made by the three-momenta of the charged lepton and the final hadron in the W- center of mass frame and E-l the charged lepton energy in the decaying hadron rest frame. Within the Standard Model (SM), d(2)Gamma/(d omega dE(l)) proportional to (c(0) (omega) c(1) (omega)E-l/M + c(2) (omega)E-l(2)/M-2), with M the initial hadron mass. We find that c(2) (omega) is independent of the lepton flavor and thus it is an ideal candidate to look for lepton flavor universality (LFU) violations. We also find a correlation between the a(2) (omega) structure function, which governs the (cos theta(l))(2) dependence of d(2)Gamma/(d omega d cos theta(l)), and c(2) (omega). Apart from trivial kinematical and mass factors, the ratio of a(2) (omega)/c(2) (omega) is a universal function that can be measured in any semileptonic decay, involving not only b -> c transitions. These two SM predictions can be used as new tests in the present search for signatures of LFU violations. We also generalize the formalism to account for some new physics (NP) terms, and show that neither c(2) nor a(2) are modified by left and right scalar NP terms, being however sensitive to left and right vector corrections. We also find that the a(2)/c(2) ratio is not modified by these latter NP contributions. Finally, and in order to illustrate our findings, we apply our general framework to the Lambda(b) -> Lambda(c)l (v) over bar (l) decay. We show that a measurement of c(2) (or a(2)) for tau decay would not only be a direct measurement of the possible existence of NP, but it would also allow to distinguish from NP fits to b -> c tau(v) over bar (tau) anomalies in the meson sector, which otherwise give the same total and differential d Gamma/d omega widths. We show that the same occurs for the other two terms, c(0) and c(1), that appear in d(2)Gamma/(d omega dE(l)), and for the cos theta(l) linear term of the angular distribution.