Figueroa, D. G., Lizarraga, J., Urio, A., & Urrestilla, J. (2023). Strong Backreaction Regime in Axion Inflation. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(15), 151003–7pp.
Abstract: We study the nonlinear dynamics of axion inflation, capturing for the first time the inhomogeneity and full dynamical range during strong backreaction, till the end of inflation. Accounting for inhomogeneous effects leads to a number of new relevant results, compared to spatially homogeneous studies: (i) the number of extra efoldings beyond slow-roll inflation increases very rapidly with the coupling, (ii) oscillations of the inflaton velocity are attenuated, (iii) the tachyonic gauge field helicity spectrum is smoothed out (i.e., the spectral oscillatory features disappear), broadened, and shifted to smaller scales, and (iv) the nontachyonic helicity is excited, reducing the chiral asymmetry, now scale dependent. Our results are expected to impact strongly on the phenomenology and observability of axion inflation, including gravitational wave generation and primordial black hole production.
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Foffa, S., Mastrolia, P., Sturani, R., Sturm, C., & Bobadilla, W. J. T. (2019). Static Two-Body Potential at Fifth Post-Newtonian Order. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(24), 241605–6pp.
Abstract: We determine the gravitational interaction between two compact bodies up to the sixth power in Newton's constant, G(N), in the static limit. This result is achieved within the effective field theory approach to general relativity, and exploits a manifest factorization property of static diagrams which allows us to derive static post Newtonian (PN) contributions of (2n + 1) order in terms of lower order ones. We recompute in this fashion the 1PN and 3PN static potential, and present the novel 5PN contribution.
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del Rio, A., Sanchis-Gual, N., Mewes, V., Agullo, I., Font, J. A., & Navarro-Salas, J. (2020). Spontaneous Creation of Circularly Polarized Photons in Chiral Astrophysical Systems. Phys. Rev. Lett., 124(21), 211301–6pp.
Abstract: This work establishes a relation between chiral anomalies in curved spacetimes and the radiative content of the gravitational field. In particular, we show that a flux of circularly polarized gravitational waves triggers the spontaneous creation of photons with net circular polarization from the quantum vacuum. Using waveform catalogs, we identify precessing binary black holes as astrophysical configurations that emit such gravitational radiation and then solve the fully nonlinear Einstein's equations with numerical relativity to evaluate the net effect. The quantum amplitude for a merger is comparable to the Hawking emission rate of the final black hole and small to be directly observed. However, the implications for the inspiral of binary neutron stars could be more prominent, as argued on symmetry grounds.
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Lazarides, G., Reig, M., Shafi, Q., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2019). Spontaneous Breaking of Lepton Number and the Cosmological Domain Wall Problem. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(15), 151301–5pp.
Abstract: We show that if global lepton number symmetry is spontaneously broken in a postinflation epoch, then it can lead to the formation of cosmological domain walls. This happens in the well-known “Majoron paradigm” for neutrino mass generation. We propose some realistic examples that allow spontaneous lepton number breaking to be safe from such domain walls.
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Wimmer, K. et al, Algora, A., & Rubio, B. (2021). Shape Changes in the Mirror Nuclei Kr-70 and Se-70. Phys. Rev. Lett., 126(7), 072501–6pp.
Abstract: We studied the proton-rich T-z = -1 nucleus Kr-70 through inelastic scattering at intermediate energies in order to extract the reduced transition probability, B(E2; 0+ -> 2+). Comparison with the other members of the A = 70 isospin triplet, Br-70 and Se-70, studied in the same experiment, shows a 3 sigma deviation from the expected linearity of the electromagnetic matrix elements as a function of T-z. At present, no established nuclear structure theory can describe this observed deviation quantitatively. This is the first violation of isospin symmetry at this level observed in the transition matrix elements. A heuristic approach may explain the anomaly by a shape change between the mirror nuclei Kr-70 and Se-70 contrary to the model predictions.
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IceCube Collaboration(Aartsen, M. G. et al), & Salvado, J. (2016). Searches for Sterile Neutrinos with the IceCube Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(7), 071801–9pp.
Abstract: The IceCube neutrino telescope at the South Pole has measured the atmospheric muon neutrino spectrum as a function of zenith angle and energy in the approximate 320 GeV to 20 TeV range, to search for the oscillation signatures of light sterile neutrinos. No evidence for anomalous nu(mu) or (nu) over bar (mu) disappearance is observed in either of two independently developed analyses, each using one year of atmospheric neutrino data. New exclusion limits are placed on the parameter space of the 3 + 1 model, in which muon antineutrinos experience a strong Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein-resonant oscillation. The exclusion limits extend to sin(2)2 theta(24) <= 0.02 at Delta m(2) similar to 0.3 eV(2) at the 90% confidence level. The allowed region from global analysis of appearance experiments, including LSND and MiniBooNE, is excluded at approximately the 99% confidence level for the global best-fit value of vertical bar U-e4 vertical bar(2).
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BABAR Collaboration(Aubert, B. et al), Azzolini, V., Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2010). Searches for Lepton Flavor Violation in the Decays tau(+/-) -> e(+/-)gamma and tau(+/-) -> mu(+/-)gamma. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(2), 021802–7pp.
Abstract: Searches for lepton-flavor-violating decays of a tau lepton to a lighter mass lepton and a photon have been performed with the entire data set of (963 +/- 7) x 10(6) tau decays collected by the BABAR detector near the Y(4S), Y(3S) and Y(2S) resonances. The searches yield no evidence of signals and we set upper limits on the branching fractions of B(tau(+/-) -> e(+/-)gamma) < 3.3 X 10(-8) and B(tau(+/-) -> mu(+/-)gamma) < 4.4 X 10(-8) at 90% confidence level.
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CDF Collaboration(Aaltonen, T. et al), & Cabrera, S. (2010). Search for WW and WZ Resonances Decaying to Electron, Missing E-T, and Two Jets in p(p)over-bar Collisions at root s=1.96 TeV. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(24), 241801–8pp.
Abstract: Using data from 2: 9 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron, we search for resonances decaying into a pair of on-shell gauge bosons, WW or WZ, where one W decays into an electron and a neutrino, and the other boson decays into two jets. We observed no statistically significant excess above the expected standard model background, and we set cross section limits at 95% confidence level on G* (Randall-Sundrum graviton), Z', and W' bosons. By comparing these limits to theoretical cross sections, mass exclusion regions for the three particles are derived. The mass exclusion regions for Z' and W' are further evaluated as a function of their gauge coupling strength.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). Search for violations of Lorentz invariance and CPT symmetry in B-(s)(0) mixing. Phys. Rev. Lett., 116(24), 241601–10pp.
Abstract: Violations of CPT symmetry and Lorentz invariance are searched for by studying interference effects in B-0 mixing and in B-s(0) mixing. Samples of B-0 -> J/psi K-S(0) and B-0(s) -> J/psi K+K- decays are recorded by the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). No periodic variations of the particle-antiparticle mass differences are found, consistent with Lorentz invariance and CPT symmetry. Results are expressed in terms of the standard model extension parameter Delta a(mu) with precisions of O(10(-15)) and O(10(-14)) GeV for the B-0 and B-s(0) systems, respectively. With no assumption on Lorentz (non) invariance, the CPT-violating parameter z in the B-s(0) system is measured for the first time and found to be Re(z) = -0.022 +/- 0.033 +/- 0.005 and Im(z) = 0.004 +/- 0.011 +/- 0.002, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., et al. (2012). Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in the Diphoton Decay Channel with 4.9 fb(-1) of pp Collision Data at root s=7 TeV with ATLAS. Phys. Rev. Lett., 108(11), 111803–19pp.
Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in the diphoton decay channel. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV. In the diphoton mass range 110-150 GeV, the largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is observed at 126.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.8 standard deviations. Taking the look-elsewhere effect into account in the range 110-150 GeV, this significance becomes 1.5 standard deviations. The standard model Higgs boson is excluded at 95% confidence level in the mass ranges of 113-115 GeV and 134.5-136 GeV.
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