Abstract: Measurements of ZZ production in the l(+)l(-)l'(+)l'(-) channel in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy at the Large Hadron Collider are presented. The data correspond to 36.1 fb(-1) of collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. Here l and l ' stand for electrons or muons. Integrated and differential ZZ -> l(+)l(-)l'(+)l'(-) cross sections with Z -> l(+)l(-) candidate masses in the range of 66 GeV to 116 GeV are measured in a fiducial phase space corresponding to the detector acceptance and corrected for detector effects. The differential cross sections are presented in bins of twenty observables, including several that describe the jet activity. The integrated cross section is also extrapolated to a total phase space and to all standard model decays of Z bosons with mass between 66 GeV and 116 GeV, resulting in a value of 17.3 +/- 0.9 [+/- 0.6(start) +/- 0.5 (syst) +/- 0.6 (lumi)] pb. The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the standard model. A search for neutral triple gauge couplings is performed using the transverse momentum distribution of the leading Z boson candidate. No evidence for such couplings is found and exclusion limits are set on their parameters.

Abstract: We study the D*s over bar D* system in connection with the J=psi K* in coupled channels and observe that, within reasonable values of the cutoff used to regularize the loops, the system does not develop a bound state. However, the JP = 2+ channel has enough attraction to create a strong cusp structure that shows up in the J=psi K+ invariant mass distribution in the B+ -> J=psi phi K+ decay at the D*s over bar D* threshold. Such structure is results should stimulate further measurements around this region, given the fact that cusp effects provide as valuable information on hadron dynamics as resonances themselves.

Abstract: In this paper we use two different but complementary approaches in order to study the ghost propagator of a pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory quantized in the linear covariant gauges, focusing on its dependence on the gauge-fixing parameter xi in the deep infrared. In particular, we first solve the Schwinger-Dyson equation that governs the dynamics of the ghost propagator, using a set of simplifying approximations, and under the crucial assumption that the gluon propagators for xi > 0 are infrared finite, as is the case in the Landau gauge (xi = 0). Then we appeal to the Nielsen identities, and express the derivative of the ghost propagator with respect to xi in terms of certain auxiliary Green's functions, which are subsequently computed under the same assumptions as before. Within both formalisms we find that for xi > 0 the ghost dressing function approaches zero in the deep infrared, in sharp contrast to what happens in the Landau gauge, where it is known to saturate at a finite (nonvanishing) value. The Nielsen identities are then extended to the case of the gluon propagator, and the xi-dependence of the corresponding gluon masses is derived using as input the results obtained in the previous steps. The result turns out to be logarithmically divergent in the deep infrared; the compatibility of this behavior with the basic assumption of a finite gluon propagator is discussed, and a specific Ansatz is put forth, which readily reconciles both features.

Abstract: We perform a calculation of the interaction of the D over bar D, Ds over bar Ds coupled channels and find two bound states, one coupling to DD over bar and another one at higher energies coupling mostly to D+s D-s . We identify this latter state with the X0(3930) seen in the D+D- mass distribution in the B+ -D+D-K+ decay, and also show that it produces an enhancement of the D+s D-s mass distribution close to threshold which is compatible with the recent LHCb observation in the B+ -D+s D-s K+ decay which has been identified as a new state, X0(3960).

Abstract: Recently, a modified theory of gravity was presented, which consists of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an f(R) term constructed a la Palatini. The theory possesses extremely interesting features such as predicting the existence of a long-range scalar field, that explains the late-time cosmic acceleration and passes the local tests, even in the presence of a light scalar field. In this brief report, we consider the possibility that wormholes are supported by this hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory. We present here the general conditions for wormhole solutions according to the null energy conditions at the throat and find specific examples. In the first solution, we specify the redshift function, the scalar field and choose the potential that simplifies the modified Klein-Gordon equation. This solution is not asymptotically flat and needs to be matched to a vacuum solution. In the second example, by adequately specifying the metric functions and choosing the scalar field, we find an asymptotically flat spacetime.