de Salas, P. F., Gariazzo, S., Mena, O., Ternes, C. A., & Tortola, M. (2018). Neutrino Mass Ordering From Oscillations and Beyond: 2018 Status and Future Prospects. Front. Astron. Space Sci., 5, 36–50pp.
Abstract: The ordering of the neutrino masses is a crucial input for a deep understanding of flavor physics, and its determination may provide the key to establish the relationship among the lepton masses and mixings and their analogous properties in the quark sector. The extraction of the neutrino mass ordering is a data-driven field expected to evolve very rapidly in the next decade. In this review, we both analyse the present status and describe the physics of subsequent prospects. Firstly, the different current available tools to measure the neutrino mass ordering are described. Namely, reactor, long-baseline (accelerator and atmospheric) neutrino beams, laboratory searches for beta and neutrinoless double beta decays and observations of the cosmic background radiation and the large scale structure of the universe are carefully reviewed. Secondly, the results from an up-to-date comprehensive global fit are reported: the Bayesian analysis to the 2018 publicly available oscillation and cosmological data sets provides strong evidence for the normal neutrino mass ordering vs. the inverted scenario, with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations. This preference for the normal neutrino mass ordering is mostly due to neutrino oscillation measurements. Finally, we shall also emphasize the future perspectives for unveiling the neutrinomass ordering. In this regard, apart from describing the expectations from the aforementioned probes, we also focus on those arising from alternative and novel methods, as 21 cm cosmology, core-collapse supernova neutrinos and the direct detection of relic neutrinos.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). Measurement of Angular and CP Asymmetries in D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-) and D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-) Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(9), 091801–10pp.
Abstract: The first measurements of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon pair (A(FB)), the triple-product asymmetry (A(2 phi)), and the charge-parity-conjugation asymmetry (A(CP)), in D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-) and -> D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-) decays are reported. They are performed using data from proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb experiment from 2011 to 2016, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 5 fb(-1). The asymmetries are measured to be A(FB) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (3.3 +/- 3.7 +/- 0.6)%, A(2 phi) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (-0.6 +/- 3.7 +/- 0.6)%, A(CP) (D-0 -> pi(+) pi(-) mu(+) mu(-)) = (4.9 +/- 3.8 +/- 0.7)%, A(FB) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (0 +/- 11 +/- 2 +/-)%, A(2 phi) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (9 +/- 11 +/- 1)%, A(CP) (D-0 -> K+ K- mu(+) mu(-)) = (0 +/- 11 +/- 2)% where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The asymmetries are also measured as a function of the dimuon invariant mass. The results are consistent with the standard model predictions.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). Observation of the decay (B)over-bar(s)(0) -> chi(c2) K+K- in the phi mass region. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 191–20pp.
Abstract: The (B) over bar (0)(s) -> chi(c2) K+ K- decay mode is observed and its branching fraction relative to the corresponding chi(c1) decay mode, in a +/- 15MeV/c(2) window around the phi mass, is found to be B ((B) over bar (0)(s) -> chi(c2) K+ K-)/B((B) over bar (0)(s) -> chi(c1) K+ K-) = (17.1 +/- 3.1 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.9)% where the fi rst uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third due to the knowledge of the branching fractions of radiative chi(c) decays. The decay mode (B) over bar (0)(s) -> chi(c1) K+ K- allows the B-s(0) mass to be measured as m(B-s(0)) = 5366.83 +/- 0.25 +/- 0.27MeV/c(2), where the fi rst uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. A combination of this result with other LHCb determinations of the B-s(0) mass is made.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2018). Search for pair and single production of vectorlike quarks in final states with at least one Z boson decaying into a pair of electrons or muons in pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at root s=13 TeV. Phys. Rev. D, 98(11), 112010–53pp.
Abstract: A search for vectorlike quarks is presented, which targets their decay into a Z boson and a third-generation Standard Model quark. In the case of a vectorlike quark T (B) with charge +2/3e (-1/3e), the decay searched for is T -> Zt (B -> Zb). Data for this analysis were taken during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The final state used is characterized by the presence of b-tagged jets, as well as a Z boson with high transverse momentum, which is reconstructed from a pair of opposite-sign same-flavor leptons. Pair and single production of vectorlike quarks are both taken into account and are each searched for using optimized dileptonic exclusive and trileptonic inclusive event selections. In these selections, the high scalar sum of jet transverse momenta, the presence of high-transverse-momentum large-radius jets, as well as-in the case of the single-production selections-the presence of forward jets are used. No significant excess over the background-only hypothesis is found and exclusion limits at 95% confidence level allow masses of vectorlike quarks of m(T) > 1030 GeV (m(T) > 1210 GeV) and m(B) > 1010 GeV (m(B) > 1140 GeV) in the singlet (doublet) model. In the case of 100% branching ratio for T -> Zt (B -> Zb), the limits are m(T) > 1340 GeV (m(B) > 1220 GeV). Limits at 95% confidence level are also set on the coupling to Standard Model quarks for given vectorlike quark masses.
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Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2018). Coupling matter in modified Q gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 98(8), 084043–13pp.
Abstract: We present a novel theory of gravity by considering an extension of symmetric teleparallel gravity. This is done by introducing, in the framework of the metric-affine formalism, a new class of theories where the nonmetricity Q is nonminimally coupled to the matter Lagrangian. More specifically, we consider a Lagrangian of the form L similar to f(1)(Q) + f(2)(Q)L-M, where f(1) and f(2) are generic functions of Q, and L-M is the matter Lagrangian. This nonminimal coupling entails the nonconservation of the energy-momentum tensor, and consequently the appearance of an extra force. The formulation of the gravity sector in terms of the Q instead of the curvature may result in subtle improvements of the theory. In the context of nonminimal matter couplings, we are therefore motivated to explore whether the new geometrical formulation in terms of the Q, when implemented also in the matter sector, would allow more universally consistent and viable realizations of the nonminimal coupling. Furthermore, we consider several cosmological applications by presenting the evolution equations and imposing specific functional forms of the functions f(1)(Q) and f(2)(Q), such as power-law and exponential dependencies of the nonminimal couplings. Cosmological solutions are considered in two general classes of models, and found to feature accelerating expansion at late times.
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