Abstract: We study the strange vector meson (K*, (K) over bar*) dynamics in relativistic heavy-ion collisions based on the microscopic parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach which incorporates partonic and hadronic degrees of freedom, a phase transition from hadronic to partonic matter-quark-gluon-plasma (QGP)-and a dynamical hadronization of quarks and antiquarks as well as final hadronic interactions. We investigate the role of in-medium effects on the K*, (K) over bar* meson dynamics by employing Breit-Wigner spectral functions for the K* with self-energies obtained from a self-consistent coupled-channelG-matrix approach. Furthermore, we confront the PHSD calculations with experimental data for p + p, Cu + Cu, and Au + Au collisions at energies up to root s(NN) = 200 GeV. Our analysis shows that, at relativistic energies, most of the final K* (observed experimentally) are produced during the late hadronic phase, dominantly by the K + pi -> K* channel, such that the fraction of the K* from the QGP is small and can hardly be reconstructed from the final observables. The influence of the in-medium effects on the K* dynamics at energies typical of the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is rather modest due to their dominant production at low baryon densities (but high meson densities); however, it increases with decreasing beam energy. Moreover, we find that the additional cut on the invariant-mass region of the K* further influences the shape and the height of the final spectra. This imposes severe constraints on the interpretation of the experimental results.

Abstract: The polarization of photons produced in radiative B-s(0) decays is studied for the first time. The data are recorded by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. A time-dependent analysis of the B-s(0) ->phi gamma decay rate is conducted to determine the parameter A(Delta), which is related to the ratio of right-over left-handed photon polarization amplitudes in b -> s gamma transitions. A value of A(Delta) = -0.98(-0.52)(-0.20)(+0.46)(+0.23) is measured. This result is consistent with the standard model prediction within 2 standard deviations.

Abstract: A measurement of the t (t) over barZ and t (t) over barW production cross sections in final states with either two same-charge muons, or three or four leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb(-1). The inclusive cross sections are extracted using likelihood fits to signal and control regions, resulting in sigma(t (t) over barZ) = 0.9 +/- 0.3 pb and sigma(t (t) over barW) = 1.5 +/- 0.8 pb, in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.

Abstract: Nonleptonic weak decays of Xi(c) into pi(+) and a meson (M)-baryon (B) final state, MB, are analyzed from the viewpoint of probing S = -2 baryon resonances, i.e., Xi(1620) and Xi(1690), of which spin-parity and other properties are not well known. We argue that the weak decay of Xi(c) is dominated by a single quark-line diagram, preferred by the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa coefficient, color recombination factor, the diquark correlation, and the kinematical condition. The decay process has an advantage of being free from meson resonances in the p+ M invariantmass distribution. The invariant mass distribution of the meson-baryon final state is calculated with three different chiral unitary approaches, assuming that the Xi(1620) and Xi(1690) resonances have J(P) = 1/2(-). It is found that a clear peak for the Xi(1690) is seen in the pi Xi and K Lambda spectra. We also suggest that the ratios of the pi Xi, K Lambda, and K Sigma final states are useful to distinguish whether the peak is originated from the Xi(1690) resonance or it is a K Sigma threshold effect.

Abstract: The μnu SSM solves the μproblem of supersymmetric models and reproduces neutrino data, simply using couplings with right-handed neutrinos nu's. Given that these couplings break explicitly R parity, the gravitino is a natural candidate for decaying dark matter in the μnu SSM. In this work we carry out a complete analysis of the detection of μnu SSM gravitino dark matter through gamma-ray observations. In addition to the two-body decay producing a sharp line, we include in the analysis the three-body decays producing a smooth spectral signature. We perform first a deep exploration of the low-energy parameter space of the μnu SSM taking into account that neutrino data must be reproduced. Then, we compare the gamma-ray fluxes predicted by the model with Fermi-LAT observations. In particular, with the 95% CL upper limits on the total diffuse extragalactic gamma-ray background using 50 months of data, together with the upper limits on line emission from an updated analysis using 69.9 months of data. For standard values of bino and wino masses, gravitinos with masses larger than about 4 GeV, or lifetimes smaller than about 10(28) s, produce too large fluxes and are excluded as dark matter candidates. However, when limiting scenarios with large and close values of the gaugino masses are considered, the constraints turn out to be less stringent, excluding masses larger than 17 GeV and lifetimes smaller than 4 x 10(25) s.