Abstract: We investigate the scalar absorption spectrum of wormhole solutions constructed via the recently developed thin-shell formalism for Palatini f(R) gravity. Such wormholes come from the matching of two Reissner-Nordstrom spacetimes at a timelike hypersurface (shell), which, according to the junction conditions in Palatini f(R), can be stable and have either positive or negative energy density. In particular, we identified a new physically interesting configuration made out of two overcharged Reissner-Nordstrom spacetimes, whose absorption profile departs from that of black holes and other previously considered wormholes in the whole range of frequencies. Unlike in symmetric wormhole solutions, the asymmetry of the effective potential causes the dilution of the resonances associated to the quasibound states for the high -frequency regime. Therefore, slight asymmetries in wormhole space-times could have a dramatic impact on the observable features associated to resonant states.

Abstract: It is well known that entanglement is widespread in quantum field theory, in the following sense: every Reeh-Schlieder state contains entanglement between any two spatially separated regions. This applies, in particular, to the vacuum of a noninteracting scalar theory in Minkowski spacetime. Discussions on entanglement in field theory have focused mainly on subsystems containing infinitely many degrees of freedom-typically, the field modes that are supported within a compact region of space. In this article, we study entanglement in subsystems made of finitely many field degrees of freedom, in a free scalar theory in D + 1-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The focus on finitely many modes of the field is motivated by the finite capabilities of real experiments. We find that entanglement between finite-dimensional subsystems is not common at all, and that one needs to carefully select the support of modes for entanglement to show up. We also find that entanglement is increasingly sparser in higher dimensions. We conclude that entanglement in Minkowski spacetime is significantly less ubiquitous than normally thought.

Abstract: The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 140 fb(-1) of vS = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. ffiffis The charm quark is tagged by the presence of a charmed hadron reconstructed with a secondary-vertex fit. The W boson is reconstructed from the decay to either an electron or a muon and the missing transverse momentum present in the event. The charmed mesons reconstructed are D+ ?K-p+p+ and D*+ ? D0p+ ? (K-p+)p+ and the charge conjugate decays in the fiducial regions where pT(e; mu) > 30 GeV, l?(e; mu)l < 2.5, pT(D(*)) > 8 GeV, and l?(D(*))l < 2.2. The integrated and normalized differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W boson decay, and of the transverse momentum of the charmed hadron, are extracted from the data using a profile likelihood fit. The measured total fiducial cross sections are sfidOS-SS(W- + D+) = 50.2 + 0.2(stat)+2.4 -2.3(syst) pb, s(OS-SS) (fid)(W- + D+) = 48.5 + 0.2(stat)+2.3-2.2(syst) pb, sfidOS-SS(W- + D*+) = 51.1 + 0.4(stat)+1.9 -1.8 (syst) pb, and s(OS-SS) (fid)(W+ + D*-) = 50.0 + 0.4(stat)+1.9 -1.8 (syst) pb. Results are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order quantum chromodynamics calculations performed using state-of-the-art parton distribution functions. Additionally, the ratio of charm to anticharm production cross sections is studied to probe the s -s- quark asymmetry. The ratio is found to be R+ c = 0.971 + 0.006(stat) + 0.011(syst). The ratio and cross-section measurements are consistent with the predictions obtained with parton distribution function sets that have a symmetric s -s- sea, indicating that any s -s- asymmetry in the Bjorken-x region relevant for this measurement is small.

Abstract: A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b (b) over barb (b) over bar final state is presented. The analysis uses 126 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, and targets both the gluon-gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion production modes. No evidence of the signal is found and the observed (expected) upper limit on the cross section for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 5.4 (8.1) times the Standard Model predicted cross section at 95% confidence level. Constraints are placed on modifiers to the HHH and HHVV couplings. The observed (expected) 2 sigma constraints on the HHH coupling modifier, kappa(lambda), are determined to be [-3.5, 11.3] ([-5.4, 11.4]), while the corresponding constraints for the HHVV coupling modifier, kappa(2V), are [-0.0, 2.1] ([-0.1, 2.1]). In addition, constraints on relevant coefficients are derived in the context of the Standard Model effective field theory and Higgs effective field theory, and upper limits on the HH production cross section are placed in seven Higgs effective field theory benchmark scenarios.

Abstract: We suggest a common origin for dark matter, neutrino mass and family symmetry within the orbifold theory proposed in [Phys. Lett. B 801, 135195 (2020); Phys. Rev. D 101, 116012 (2020)]. Flavor physics is described by an A(4) family symmetry that results naturally from compactification. Weakly interacting massive particle dark matter emerges from the first Kaluza-Klein excitation of the same scalar that drives family symmetry breaking and neutrino masses through the inverse seesaw mechanism. In addition to the “golden” quark-lepton mass relation and predictions for 0 nu beta beta decay, the model provides a good global description of all flavor observables.