Abstract: We examine the maximum possible strength of the global 21-cm absorption dip on the cosmic background radiation at high-redshift caused by the atomic intergalactic medium, when the Lyman-alpha coupling is maximum, assuming no exotic cooling mechanisms from interactions with dark matter. This maximum absorption is limited by three inevitable factors that need to be accounted for: (a) heating by energy transferred from the cosmic background radiation to the hydrogen atoms via 21-cm transitions, dubbed as 21-cm heating; (b) Ly alpha heating by scatterings of Ly alpha photons from the first stars; (c) the impact of the expected density fluctuations in the intergalactic gas in standard cold dark matter theory, which reduces the mean 21-cm absorption signal. Inclusion of this third novel effect reduces the maximum global 21-cm absorption by similar to 10%. Overall, the three effects studied here reduce the 21-cm global absorption by similar to 20% at z similar or equal to 17.

Abstract: We discuss a general formula which allows to automatically reproduce experimental data for Majorana neutrino mass models, while keeping the complete set of the remaining model parameters free for general scans, as necessary in order to provide reliable predictions for observables outside the neutrino sector. We provide a proof of this master parametrization and show how to apply it for several well-known neutrino mass models from the literature. We also discuss a list of special cases, in which the Yukawa couplings have to fulfill some particular additional conditions.

Abstract: The even-weight modular forms of level N can be arranged into the common irreducible representations of the inhomogeneous finite modular group Gamma(N) and the homogeneous finite modular group Gamma(N)' which is the double covering of Gamma(N) , and the odd-weight modular forms of level N transform in the new representations of Gamma(N)'. We find that the above structure of modular forms can naturally generate texture zeros of the fermion mass matrices if we properly assign the representations and weights of the matter fields under the modular group. We perform a comprehensive analysis for the Gamma(3)' congruent to T' modular symmetry. The three generations of left-handed quarks are assumed to transform as a doublet and a singlet of T', and we find six possible texture-zero structures of the quark mass matrix up to row and column permutations. We present five benchmark quark models which can produce very good fits to the experimental data. These quark models are further extended to include the lepton sector, and the resulting models can give a unified description of both quark and lepton masses and flavor mixing simultaneously, although they contain a smaller number of free parameters than the observables.

Abstract: Using the initial-state radiation method, the e(+) e(- )-> KSKL cross section from 1.98 to 2.54 GeV is measured in a data sample of 469 fb(-1) collected with the BABAR detector. The results are used in conjunction with previous BABAR results for the e(+) e(-)-> K+K-, e(+) e(-) -> pi(+)pi(-), e(+) e(- )-> pi(+)pi(-)eta, and e(+)e (-)-> omega pi pi cross sections to investigate the nature of the resonance structure recently observed by the BESIII experiment in the e(+) e(-)-> K+K- cross section.

Abstract: This paper presents results of searches for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in models with compressed mass spectra. The searches use 139 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with missing transverse momentum and two same-flavor, oppositely charged, low-transverse-momentum leptons are selected, and are further categorized by the presence of hadronic activity from initial-state radiation or a topology compatible with vector-boson fusion processes. The data are found to be consistent with predictions from the Standard Model. The results are interpreted using simplified models of R-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a neutralino with a mass similar to the lightest chargino, the second-to-lightest neutralino, or the slepton. Lower limits on the masses of charginos in different simplified models range from 193 to 240 GeV for moderate mass splittings, and extend down to mass splittings of 1.5 to 2.4 GeV at the LEP chargino bounds (92.4 GeV). Similar lower limits on degenerate light-flavor sleptons extend up to masses of 251 GeV and down to mass splittings of 550 MeV. Constraints on vector-boson fusion production of electroweak SUSY states are also presented.