Abstract: Searches are performed for nonresonant and resonant di-Higgs boson production in the b (b) over bar gamma gamma final state. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of- mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the expected background is found and upper limits on the di-Higgs boson production cross sections are set. A 95% confidence-level upper limit of 4.2 times the cross section predicted by the Standard Model is set on pp -> HH nonresonant production, where the expected limit is 5.7 times the Standard Model predicted value. The expected constraints are obtained for a background hypothesis excluding pp -> HH production. The observed (expected) constraints on the Higgs boson trilinear coupling modifier kappa(lambda) are determined to be [-1.5, 6.7] ([-2.4, 7.7]) at 95% confidence level, where the expected constraints on kappa(lambda) are obtained excluding pp -> HH production from the background hypothesis. For resonant production of a new hypothetical scalar particle X (X -> HH -> b (b) over bar gamma gamma), limits on the cross section for pp -> X -> HH are presented in the narrow-width approximation as a function of m x in the range 251 GeV <= m(X) <= 1000 GeV. The observed (expected) limits on the cross section for pp ->> X -> HH range from 640 fb to 44 fb (391 fb to 46 fb) over the considered mass range.

Abstract: The first observations of B-0 -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(+)pi(-) and B-s(0) -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-)pi(+) decays are presented, and their branching fractions relative to that of the B ->( D) over bar* (2007)(0)pi(+)pi(-) decay are reported. These modes can potentially be used to investigate the spectroscopy of charm and charm-strange resonances and to determine the angle gamma of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity triangle. It is also important to understand them as a source of potential background in determinations of gamma from B+ -> DK+ and B-0 -> DK+pi(-) decays. The analysis is based on a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb(-1 )of proton-proton collision data at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy recorded with the LHCb detector. The (D) over bar*(2007)(0) mesons are fully reconstructed in the (D) over bar (0)pi(0) and (D) over bar (0)gamma channels with the (D) over bar (0) -> K+pi(-) decay. A novel weighting method is used to subtract background while simultaneously applying an event-by-event efficiency correction to account for resonant structures in the decays.

Abstract: We report observations made on a run of transcritical flows over an obstacle in a narrow channel. Downstream from the obstacle, the flows decelerate from supercritical to subcritical, typically with an undulation on the subcritical side (known in hydrodynamics as an undular hydraulic jump). In the Analogue Gravity context, this transition corresponds to a white-hole horizon. Free-surface deformations are analyzed, mainly via the two-point correlation function which shows the presence of a checkerboard pattern in the vicinity of the undulation. In nongated flows where the white-hole horizon occurs far downstream from the obstacle, this checkerboard pattern is shown to be due to low-frequency fluctuations associated with slow longitudinal movement of the undulation. Tt can thus be considered as an artifact due to a time-varying background. In gated flows, however, the undulation is typically “attached” to the obstacle, and the fluctuations associated with its movement are strongly suppressed. In this case, the observed correlation pattern is likely due to a stochastic ensemble of surface waves, scattering on a background that is essentially stationary.

Abstract: We present new constraints on the masses of the halos hosting the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies derived using graph neural networks. Our models, trained on 2,000 state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations of the CAMELS project, only make use of the positions, velocities and stellar masses of the galaxies belonging to the halos, and are able to perform likelihood-free inference on halo masses while accounting for both cosmological and astrophysical uncertainties. Our constraints are in agreement with estimates from other traditional methods, within our derived posterior standard deviation.

Abstract: Recently, the Belle Collaboration reported the first measurements of the tau(-) -> nu(tau)pi(-) e(+) e(-) branching fraction and the spectrum of the pion-dielectron system. In an analysis previous to Belle's results, we evaluated this branching fraction which turned out to be compatible with that reported by Belle, although with a large uncertainty. This is the motivation to seek for improvement on our previous evaluation of tau(-) -> nu(tau)pi(-) l(+) l(-) decays (l = e, mu). In this paper we improve our calculation of the WP-gamma* vertex by including flavor-symmetry breaking effects in the framework of the resonance chiral theory. We impose QCD short-distance behavior to constrain most parameters and data on the pi(-) e(+) e(-) spectrum reported by the Belle Collaboration to fix the remaining free ones. As a result, improved predictions for the branching ratios and hadronic/leptonic spectra are reported, which are in good agreement with observations. Analogous calculations for the strangeness-changing tau(-) -> nu(tau) K- l(+) l(-) transitions are reported for the first time. Albeit one expects the m(pi mu+ mu- )spectrum to be measured in Belle-II and the observables with l = e can be improved, it is rather unlikely that the K channels can be measured due to the suppression factor vertical bar V-ud/V-us vertical bar(2) = 0.05.