Abstract: A search for the lepton-flavour violating decays B-(s)(0) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+) and B-(s)(0) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+) performed based on a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1), collected with the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8TeV. The observed yields are consistent with the background-only hypothesis. Upper limits on the branching fraction of the B-(s)(0) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+) decays are evaluated both in the hypotheses of an amplitude completely dominated by the heavy eigenstate and by the light eigenstate. The results are B(B-s(0) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+)) < 6.3 (5.4) x 10(-9) and B(B-s(0) -> e(+/-)mu(-/+)) < 7.2(6.0) x 10(-9) at 95% (90%) confidence level, respectively. The upper limit on the branching fraction of the B-0 -> e(+/-)mu(-/+) decay is also evaluated, obtaining B(B-0 -> e(+/-)mu(-/+)) < 1.3 (1.0) x 10(-9) at 95% (90%) confidence level. These are the strongest limits on these decays to date.

Abstract: We consider the phenomenological implications of the violation of the Pauli exclusion principle for neutrinos, focusing on cosmological observables such as the spectrum of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the primordial abundances of light elements. Neutrinos that behave (at least partly) as bosonic particles have a modified equilibrium distribution function that implies a different influence on the evolution of the Universe that, in the case of massive neutrinos, can not be simply parametrized by a change in the effective number of neutrinos. Our results show that, despite the precision of the available cosmological data, only very weak bounds can be obtained on neutrino statistics, disfavouring a more bosonic behaviour at less than 2 sigma.

Abstract: The difference between the CP asymmetries in the decays Lambda(+)(C) -> pK(-)K(+) and Lambda(+)(C) -> p pi(-)pi(+) is presented. Proton-proton collision data taken at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV collected by the LHCb detector in 2011 and 2012 are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). The Lambda(+)(C) candidates are reconstructed as part of the Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)mu X- decay chain. In order to maximize the cancellation of production and detection asymmetries in the difference, the final-state kinematic distributions of the two samples are aligned by applying phase-space-dependent weights to the Lambda(+)(C) -> pK(-)K(+) sample. This alters the definition of the integrated CP asymmetry to A(CP)(wgt)(p pi(-)pi(+)). Both samples are corrected for reconstruction and selection efficiencies across the five-dimensional Lambda(+)(C) decay phase space. The difference in CP asymmetries is found to be Delta A(CP)(wgt) = A(CP)(pK(-)K(+)) – A(CP)(wgt)(p pi(-)pi(+)) = (0.30 +/- 0.91 +/- 0.61) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.

Abstract: We present a full Bayesian analysis of the combination of current neutrino oscillation, neutrinoless double beta decay and Cosmic Microwave Background observations. Our major goal is to carefully investigate the possibility to single out one neutrino mass ordering, namely Normal Ordering or Inverted Ordering, with current data. Two possible parametrizations (three neutrino masses versus the lightest neutrino mass plus the two oscillation mass splittings) and priors (linear versus logarithmic) are exhaustively examined. We find that the preference for NO is only driven by neutrino oscillation data. Moreover, the values of the Bayes factor indicate that the evidence for NO is strong only when the scan is performed over the three neutrino masses with logarithmic priors; for every other combination of parameterization and prior, the preference for NO is only weak. As a by-product of our Bayesian analyses, we are able to (a) compare the Bayesian bounds on the neutrino mixing parameters to those obtained by means of frequentist approaches, finding a very good agreement; (b) determine that the lightest neutrino mass plus the two mass splittings parametrization, motivated by the physical observables, is strongly preferred over the three neutrino mass eigenstates scan and (c) find that logarithmic priors guarantee a weakly-to-moderately more efficient sampling of the parameter space. These results establish the optimal strategy to successfully explore the neutrino parameter space, based on the use of the oscillation mass splittings and a logarithmic prior on the lightest neutrino mass, when combining neutrino oscillation data with cosmology and neutrinoless double beta decay. We also show that the limits on the total neutrino mass Sigma m(nu) can change dramatically when moving from one prior to the other. These results have profound implications for future studies on the neutrino mass ordering, as they crucially state the need for self-consistent analyses which explore the best parametrization and priors, without combining results that involve different assumptions.

Abstract: Assuming axion-like particles account for the entirety of the dark matter in the Universe, we study the possibility of detecting their decay into photons at radio frequencies. We discuss different astrophysical targets, such as dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the Galactic Center and halo, and galaxy clusters. The presence of an ambient radiation field leads to a stimulated enhancement of the decay rate; depending on the environment and the mass of the axion, the effect of stimulated emission may amplify the photon flux by serval orders of magnitude. For axion-photon couplings allowed by astrophysical and laboratory constraints (and possibly favored by stellar cooling), we find the signal to be within the reach of next-generation radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array.