Abstract: Long-lived particles decaying to e(+/-) mu(-/+)nu, with masses between 7 and 50 GeV/c(2) and lifetimes between 2 and 50 ps, are searched for by looking at displaced vertices containing electrons and muons of opposite charges. The search is performed using 5.4 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. Three mechanisms of production of long-lived particles are considered: the direct pair production from quark interactions, the pair production from the decay of a Standard-Model-like Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV/c(2), and the charged current production from an on-shell W boson with an additional lepton. No evidence of these long-lived states is obtained and upper limits on the production cross-section times branching fraction are set on the different production modes.

Abstract: We present a full kinematic analysis of neutrino-nucleus charged current quasielastic interactions based on the Local Fermi Gas model and the Random Phase Approximation. The model was implemented in the NEUT Monte Carlo framework, which allows us to investigate potentially measurable observables, including hadron distributions. We compare the predictions simultaneously to the most recent T2K and MINERvA charged current (CC) inclusive, CC0 pi and transverse kinematic-imbalance variable results. We pursuit a microscopic interpretation of the relevant reaction mechanisms, with the aim to achieving in neutrino oscillation experiments a correct reconstruction of the incoming neutrino kinematics, free of conceptual biasses. Such study is of the utmost importance for the ambitious experimental program which is underway to precisely determine neutrino properties, test the three-generation paradigm, establish the order of mass eigenstates and investigate leptonic CP violation.

Abstract: We consider the metric-affine formulation of bumblebee gravity, derive the field equations, and show that the connection can be written as Levi-Civita of a disformally related metric in which the bumblebee field determines the disformal part. As a consequence, the bumblebee field gets coupled to all the other matter fields present in the theory, potentially leading to nontrivial phenomenological effects. To explore this issue we compute the post-Minkowskian, weak-field limit and study the resulting effective theory. In this scenario, we couple scalar and spinorial matter to the effective metric, and then we explore the physical properties of the VEV of the bumblebee field, focusing mainly on the dispersion relations and the stability of the resulting effective theory.

Abstract: The perturbative approach to quantum field theories has made it possible to obtain incredibly accurate theoretical predictions in high-energy physics. Although various techniques have been developed to boost the efficiency of these calculations, some ingredients remain specially challenging. This is the case of multiloop scattering amplitudes that constitute a hard bottleneck to solve. In this paper, we delve into the application of a disruptive technique based on the loop-tree duality theorem, which is aimed at an efficient computation of such objects by opening the loops to nondisjoint trees. We study the multiloop topologies that first appear at four loops and assemble them in a clever and general expression, the (NMLT)-M-4 universal topology. This general expression enables to open any scattering amplitude of up to four loops, and also describes a subset of higher order configurations to all orders. These results confirm the conjecture of a factorized opening in terms of simpler known subtopologies, which also determines how the causal structure of the entire loop amplitude is characterized by the causal structure of its subtopologies. In addition, we confirm that the loop-tree duality representation of the (NMLT)-M-4 universal topology is manifestly free of noncausal thresholds, thus pointing towards a remarkably more stable numerical implementation of multiloop scattering amplitudes.

Abstract: Measurements of CP observables in B-+/- -> D(*) K-+/- and B-+/- -> D(*) pi(+/-) decays are presented, where D(*) indicates a neutral D or D* meson that is an admixture of meson and anti-meson states. Decays of the D(*) meson to the D pi(0) and D gamma final states are partially reconstructed without inclusion of the neutral pion or photon. Decays of the D meson are reconstructed in the K-+/-pi(-/+), K+K-, and pi(+)pi(-) final states. The analysis uses a sample of charged B mesons produced in proton-proton collisions and collected with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 2.0, 1.0, and 5.7 fb(-1) taken at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13TeV, respectively. The measurements of partially reconstructed B-+/- -> D(*) K-+/- and B-+/- -> D(*)pi(+/-) with D -> K--/+pi(+/-) decays are the first of their kind, and a first observation of the B-+/- -> (D pi(0)) D*pi(+/-) decay is made with a significance of 6.1 standard deviations. All CP observables are measured with world-best precision, and in combination with other LHCb results will provide strong constraints on the CKM angle gamma.