|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aikot, A., Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., et al. (2024). Search for the decay of the Higgs boson to a Z boson and a light pseudoscalar particle decaying to two photons. Phys. Lett. B, 850, 138536–24pp.
Abstract: A search for the decay of the Higgs boson to a Z boson and a light, pseudoscalar particle, a, decaying respectively to two leptons and to two photons is reported. The search uses the full LHC Run 2 proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to 139 fb-1 collected by the ATLAS detector. This is one of the first searches for this specific decay mode of the Higgs boson, and it probes unexplored parameter space in models with axion-like particles (ALPs) and extended scalar sectors. The mass of the a particle is assumed to be in the range 0.1-33 GeV. The data are analysed in two categories: a merged category where the photons from the a decay are reconstructed in the ATLAS calorimeter as a single cluster, and a resolved category in which two separate photons are detected. The main background processes are from Standard Model Z boson production in association with photons or jets. The data are in agreement with the background predictions, and upper limits on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson decay to Za times the branching ratio a -> yy are derived at the 95% confidence level and they range from 0.08% to 2% depending on the mass of the a particle. The results are also interpreted in the context of ALP models.
|
|
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aikot, A., Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., et al. (2024). Measurement of the Centrality Dependence of the Dijet Yield in p plus Pb Collisions at √sNN=8.16 TeV with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 132(10), 102301–22pp.
Abstract: ATLAS measured the centrality dependence of the dijet yield using 165 nb-1 of p + Pb data collected at root sNN = 8.16 TeV in 2016. The event centrality, which reflects the p + Pb impact parameter, is characterized by the total transverse energy registered in the Pb-going side of the forward calorimeter. The central-to-peripheral ratio of the scaled dijet yields, RCP, is evaluated, and the results are presented as a function of variables that reflect the kinematics of the initial hard parton scattering process. The RCP shows a scaling with the Bjorken x of the parton originating from the proton, xp, while no such trend is observed as a function of xPb. This analysis provides unique input to understanding the role of small proton spatial configurations in p + Pb collisions by covering parton momentum fractions from the valence region down to xp similar to 10-3 and xPb similar to 4 x 10-4.
|
|
|
ATLAS and CMS Collaborations(Aad, G. et al), Aikot, A., Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., et al. (2024). Evidence for the Higgs Boson Decay to a Z Boson and a Photon at the LHC. Phys. Rev. Lett., 132(2), 021803–32pp.
Abstract: The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a Z boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton -proton collision datasets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140 fb-1 for each experiment, at a center -of -mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is 2.2 +/- 0.7 times the standard model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.
|
|
|
Dorigo, T. et al, Ramos, A., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2023). Toward the end-to-end optimization of particle physics instruments with differentiable programming. Rev. Phys., 10, 100085– pp.
Abstract: The full optimization of the design and operation of instruments whose functioning relies on the interaction of radiation with matter is a super-human task, due to the large dimensionality of the space of possible choices for geometry, detection technology, materials, data-acquisition, and information-extraction techniques, and the interdependence of the related parameters. On the other hand, massive potential gains in performance over standard, “experience-driven” layouts are in principle within our reach if an objective function fully aligned with the final goals of the instrument is maximized through a systematic search of the configuration space. The stochastic nature of the involved quantum processes make the modeling of these systems an intractable problem from a classical statistics point of view, yet the construction of a fully differentiable pipeline and the use of deep learning techniques may allow the simultaneous optimization of all design parameters.
|
|
|
Winney, D., Fernandez-Ramirez, C., Pilloni, A., Hiller Blin, A. N., Albaladejo, M., Bibrzycki, L., et al. (2023). Dynamics in near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction. Phys. Rev. D, 108, 054018–15pp.
Abstract: The study of J/ψ photoproduction at low energies has consequences for the understanding of multiple aspects of nonperturbative QCD, ranging from mechanical properties of the proton to the binding inside nuclei and the existence of hidden-charm pentaquarks. Factorization of the photon-c¯c and nucleon dynamics or vector meson dominance are often invoked to justify these studies. Alternatively, open-charm intermediate states have been proposed as the dominant mechanism underlying J/ψ photoproduction. As the latter violates this factorization, it is important to estimate the relevance of such contributions. We analyze the latest differential and integrated photoproduction cross sections from the GlueX and J/ψ−007 experiments. We show that the data can be adequately described by a small number of partial waves, which we parametrize with generic models enforcing low-energy unitarity. The results suggest a non-negligible contribution from open-charm intermediate states. Furthermore, most of the models present an elastic scattering length incompatible with previous extractions based on vector meson dominance and thus call into question its applicability to heavy mesons. Our results indicate a wide array of physics possibilities that are compatible with present data and need to be disentangled.
|
|
|
Balbinot, R., & Fabbri, A. (2023). Quantum energy momentum tensor and equal time correlations in a Reissner-Nordström black hole. Phys. Rev. D, 108, 045004–9pp.
Abstract: We consider a Reissner-Nordström black hole formed by the collapse of a charged null shell. The renormalized expectation values of the energy-momentum tensor operator for a massless scalar field propagating in the two-dimensional section of this spacetime are given. We then analyze the across-the-horizon correlations of the related energy density operator for free-falling observers to reveal the correlations between the Hawking particles and their interior partners.
|
|
|
Sanchis-Gual, N., & del Rio, A. (2023). Precessing binary black holes as engines of electromagnetic helicity. Phys. Rev. D, 108, 044052–11pp.
Abstract: We show that binary black hole mergers with precessing evolution can potentially excite photons from the quantum vacuum in such a way that total helicity is not preserved in the process. Helicity violation is allowed by quantum fluctuations that spoil the electric-magnetic duality symmetry of the classical Maxwell theory without charges. We show here that precessing binary black hole systems in astrophysics generate a flux of circularly polarized gravitational waves which, in turn, provides the required helical background that triggers this quantum effect. Solving the fully nonlinear Einstein’s equations with numerical relativity we explore the parameter space of binary systems and extract the detailed dependence of the quantum effect with the spins of the two black holes. We also introduce a set of diagrammatic techniques that allows us to predict when a binary black hole merger can or cannot emit circularly polarized gravitational radiation, based on mirror-symmetry considerations. This framework allows to understand and to interpret correctly the numerical results, and to predict the outcomes in potentially interesting astrophysical systems.
|
|
|
Pich, A., Solomonidi, E., & Vale Silva, L. (2023). Final-state interactions in the CP asymmetries of charm-meson two-body decays. Phys. Rev. D, 108, 036026–25pp.
Abstract: Urgent theoretical progress is needed in order to provide an estimate in the Standard Model of the recent measurement by LHCb of direct CP violation in charm-meson two-body decays. Rescattering effects must be taken into account for a meaningful theoretical description of the amplitudes involved in such category of observables, as signaled by the presence of large strong phases. We discuss the computation of the latter effects based on a two-channel coupled dispersion relation, which exploits isospin-zero phase shifts and inelasticity parametrizations of data coming from the rescattering processes ππ→ππ, πK→πK, and ππ→K¯K. The determination of the subtraction constants of the dispersive integrals relies on the leading contributions to the transition amplitudes from the 1/NC counting, where NC is the number of QCD colors. Furthermore, we use the measured values of the branching ratios to help in selecting the nonperturbative inputs in the isospin limit, from which we predict values for the CP asymmetries. We find that the predicted level of CP violation is much below the experimental value.
|
|
|
Albaladejo, M., Nieves, J., & Ruiz Arriola, E. (2023). Femtoscopic signatures of the lightest S-wave scalar open-charm mesons. Phys. Rev. D, 108, 014020–7pp.
Abstract: We predict femtoscopy correlation functions for S-wave D(s)ϕ pairs of lightest pseudoscalar open-charm mesons and Goldstone bosons from next-to-leading-order unitarized heavy-meson chiral perturbation theory amplitudes. The effect of the two-state structure around 2300 MeV can be clearly seen in the (S,I)=(0,1/2) Dπ, Dη, and Ds¯K correlation functions, while in the scalar-strange (1,0) sector, the D∗s0(2317)± state lying below the DK threshold produces a depletion of the correlation function near threshold. These exotic states owe their existence to the nonperturbative dynamics of Goldstone-boson scattering off D(s). The predicted correlation functions could be experimentally measured and will shed light into the hadron spectrum, confirming that it should be viewed as more than a collection of quark model states.
|
|
|
Contreras, T., Martins, A., Stanford, C., Escobar, C. O., Guenette, R., Stancari, M., et al. (2023). A method to characterize metalenses for light collection applications. J. Instrum., 18(9), T09004–11pp.
Abstract: Metalenses and metasurfaces are promising emerging technologies that could improve light collection in light collection detectors, concentrating light on small area photodetectors such as silicon photomultipliers. Here we present a detailed method to characterize metalenses to assess their efficiency at concentrating monochromatic light coming from a wide range of incidence angles, not taking into account their imaging quality.
|
|