Abstract: Coherent production of J/psi mesons is studied in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5 TeV, using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 10 μb(-1). The J/psi mesons are reconstructed in the dimuon final state and are required to have transverse momentum below 1 GeV. The cross-section within the rapidity range of 2.0 < y < 4.5 is measured to be 4.45 +/- 0.24 +/- 0.18 +/- 0.58 mb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the luminosity determination. The cross-section is also measured in J/psi rapidity intervals. The results are compared to predictions from phenomenological models.

Abstract: In this paper, we describe the potential of the LHCb experiment to detect stealth physics. This refers to dynamics beyond the standard model that would elude searches that focus on energetic objects or precision measurements of known processes. Stealth signatures include long-lived particles and light resonances that are produced very rarely or together with overwhelming backgrounds. We will discuss why LHCb is equipped to discover this kind of physics at the Large Hadron Collider and provide examples of well-motivated theoretical models that can be probed with great detail at the experiment.

Abstract: The first full angular analysis of the B0 -> D-Ds+ decay is performed using 6 fb(-1) of pp collision data collected with the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The Ds+-> Ds+gamma and D*- -> D<overbar></mml:mover>0- vector meson decays are used with the subsequent Ds+ -> K+K-pi (+) and D<overbar></mml:mover>0 -> K+pi (-) decays. All helicity amplitudes and phases are measured, and the longitudinal polarisation fraction is determined to be f(L) = 0.578 +/- 0.010 +/- 0.011 with world-best precision, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The pattern of helicity amplitude magnitudes is found to align with expectations from quark-helicity conservation in B decays. The ratio of branching fractions [B(B0 -> D-Ds+) x B(Ds+-> Ds+gamma)]/B(B-0 -> D(*-)Ds+) is measured to be 2.045 +/- 0.022 +/- 0.071 with world-best precision. In addition, the first observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed B-s -> D(*-)Ds+ decay is made with a significance of seven standard deviations. The branching fraction ratio B(B-s -> D(*-)Ds<mml:mo>+)/B(B-0 -> D(*-)Ds<mml:mo>+) is measured to be 0.049 +/- 0.006 +/- 0.003 +/- 0.002, where the third uncertainty is due to limited knowledge of the ratio of fragmentation fractions.<fig id=“Figa” position=“anchor”><graphic position=“anchor” specific-use=“HTML” mime-subtype=“JPEG” xmlns:xlink=“http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink” xlink:href=“MediaObjects/13130202116089FigaHTML.jpg” id=“MO1”></graphic

Abstract: The first search for the doubly heavy Omega(0)(bc) baryon and a search for the Xi(0)(bc) baryon are performed using collision data collected via the experiment from 2016 to 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.2 fb(-1). The baryons are reconstructed via their decays to Lambda(+)(-)(c)(pi) and Xi(+)(c)pi(-). No significant excess is found for invariant masses between 6700 and 7300 MeV/c(2), in a rapidity range from 2.0 to 4.5 and a transverse momentum range from 2 to 20 MeV/c. Upper limits are set on the ratio of the Omega(0)(bc) and Xi(0)(bc) production cross-section times the branching fraction to Lambda(+)(c)pi(-)(Xi(+)(c)pi(-)) relative to that of the Lambda(0)(b)(Xi(0)(b)) baryon, for different lifetime hypotheses, at 95% confidence level. The upper limits range from 0.5x10(-4) to 2.5x10(-4) for the Omega(0)(bc) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-) (Xi(0)(bc) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-)) decay, pending on the considered mass and lifetime of the Omega(0)(bc) (Xi(0)(bc)) baryon.

Abstract: The standard model of particle physics currently provides our best description of fundamental particles and their interactions. The theory predicts that the different charged leptons, the electron, muon and tau, have identical electroweak interaction strengths. Previous measurements have shown that a wide range of particle decays are consistent with this principle of lepton universality. This article presents evidence for the breaking of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays, with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations, based on proton–proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are of processes in which a beauty meson transforms into a strange meson with the emission of either an electron and a positron, or a muon and an antimuon. If confirmed by future measurements, this violation of lepton universality would imply physics beyond the standard model, such as a new fundamental interaction between quarks and leptons.