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Lattanzi, M., Lineros, R. A., & Taoso, M. (2014). Connecting neutrino physics with dark matter. New J. Phys., 16, 125012–19pp.
Abstract: The origin of neutrino masses and the nature of dark matter are two in most pressing open questions in modern astro-particle physics. We consider here the possibility that these two problems are related, and review some theoretical scenarios which offer common solutions. A simple possibility is that the dark matter particle emerges in minimal realizations of the seesaw mechanism, as in the majoron and sterile neutrino scenarios. We present the theoretical motivation for both models and discuss their phenomenology, confronting the predictions of these scenarios with cosmological and astrophysical observations. Finally, we discuss the possibility that the stability of dark matter originates from a flavor symmetry of the leptonic sector. We review a proposal based on an A(4) flavor symmetry.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., & Villanueva-Perez, P. (2014). Measurements of direct CP asymmetries in B -> X-s gamma decays using sum of exclusive decays. Phys. Rev. D, 90(9), 092001–12pp.
Abstract: We measure the direct CP violation asymmetry, A(CP), in B -> X-s gamma and the isospin difference of the asymmetry, Delta A(CP), using 429 fb(-1) of data collected at Upsilon(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP- II asymmetric- energy e(+)e(-) storage rings operating at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. B mesons are reconstructed from ten charged B final states and six neutral B final states. We find A(CP) = +(1.7 +/- 1.9 +/- 1.0)%, which is in agreement with the Standard Model prediction and provides an improvement on the world average. Moreover, we report the first measurement of the difference between A(CP) for charged and neutral decay modes, Delta A(CP) = +(5.0 +/- 3.9 +/- 1.5)%. Using the value of Delta A(CP), we also provide 68% and 90% confidence intervals on the imaginary part of the ratio of theWilson coefficients corresponding to the chromomagnetic dipole and the electromagnetic dipole transitions.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2014). Observation of the Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi p pi(-) decay. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 103–19pp.
Abstract: The first observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed decay Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi p pi(-) is reported using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at 7 and 8TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). A prominent signal is observed and the branching fraction relative to the decay mode Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi pK(-) is determined to be B(Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi p pi(-))/ B(Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi pK(-)) = 0.0824 +/- 0.0025 (stat) +/- 0.0042 (syst). A search for direct CP violation is performed. The difference in the CP asymmetries between these two decays is found to be ACP(Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi p pi(-))/ A(CP)(Lambda(0)(b) -> J / psi pK(-)) = (+5.7 +/- 2.4 (stat) +/- 1.2 (syst))%, which is compatible with CP symmetry at the 2.2 sigma level.
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XENON Collaboration(Aprile, E. et al), & Orrigo, S. E. A. (2014). Conceptual design and simulation of a water Cherenkov muon veto for the XENON1T experiment. J. Instrum., 9, P11006–20pp.
Abstract: XENON is a dark matter direct detection project, consisting of a time projection chamber (TPC) filled with liquid xenon as detection medium. The construction of the next generation detector, XENON1T, is presently taking place at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. It aims at a sensitivity to spin-independent cross sections of 2.10(47) cm(2) for WIMP masses around 50 GeV/c(2), which requires a background reduction by two orders of magnitude compared to XENON100, the current generation detector. An active system that is able to tag muons and muon-induced backgrounds is critical for this goal. A water Cherenkov detector of similar to 10m height and diameter has been therefore developed, equipped with 8 inch photomultipliers and cladded by a reflective foil. We present the design and optimization study for this detector, which has been carried out with a series of Monte Carlo simulations. The muon veto will reach very high detection efficiencies for muons (> 99.5%) and showers of secondary particles from muon interactions in the rock (> 70%). Similar efficiencies will be obtained for XENONnT, the upgrade of XENON1T, which will later improve the WIMP sensitivity by another order of magnitude. With the Cherenkov water shield studied here, the background from muon-induced neutrons in XENON1T is negligible.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2014). Observation of Z production in proton-lead collisions at LHCb. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 030–18pp.
Abstract: The first observation of Z boson production in proton-lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per proton-nucleon pair of root(s) N N = 5TeV is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. The Z candidates are reconstructed from pairs of oppositely charged muons with pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 and transverse momenta above 20 GeV/c. The invariant dimuon mass is restricted to the range 60-120 GeV/c. The Z production cross-section is measured to be sigma(Z ->mu+mu-) (fwd) = 13.5(-4.0)(+5.4)(stat.) +/- 1.2(syst.) nb in the direction of the proton beam and sigma(Z ->mu+mu-) (bwd) = 10.7(-5.1)(+8.4)(stat.) +/- 1.0(syst.) nb in the direction of the lead beam, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.
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