Abstract: A search for physics beyond the Standard Model inducing periodic signals in the dielectron and diphoton invariant mass spectra is presented using 139 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Novel search techniques based on continuous wavelet transforms are used to infer the frequency of periodic signals from the invariant mass spectra and neural network classifiers are used to enhance the sensitivity to periodic resonances. In the absence of a signal, exclusion limits are placed at the 95% confidence level in the two-dimensional parameter space of the clockwork gravity model. Model-independent searches for deviations from the background-only hypothesis are also performed.

Abstract: The recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have led to a surprising discovery of a significant density of massive galaxies with masses of M >= 10(10.5)M(circle dot) at redshifts of approximately z similar to 10. This corresponds to a stellar mass density of roughly rho* similar to 10(6)M(circle dot) Mpc(-3). Despite making conservative assumptions regarding galaxy formation, this finding may not be compatible with the standard.CDM cosmology that is favored by observations of CMB Anisotropies from the Planck satellite. In this paper, we confirm the substantial discrepancy with Planck's results within the.CDM framework. Assuming a value of is an element of = 0.2 for the efficiency of converting baryons into stars, we indeed find that the.CDM model is excluded at more than 99.7% confidence level (C.L.). An even more significant exclusion is found for is an element of similar to 0.1, while a better agreement, but still in tension at more than 95%, is obtained for is an element of = 0.32. This tension, as already discussed in the literature, could arise either from systematics in the JWST measurements or from new physics. Here, as a last-ditch effort, we point out that disregarding the large angular scale polarization obtained by Planck, which allows for significantly larger values of the matter clustering parameter sigma(8), could lead to better agreement between Planck and JWST within the.CDM framework. Assuming.CDM and no systematics in the current JWST results, this implies either an unknown systematic error in current large angular scale CMB polarization measurements or an unidentified physical mechanism that could lower the expected amount of CMB polarization produced during the epoch of reionization. Interestingly, the model compatible with Planck temperature-only data and JWST observation also favors a higher Hubble constant H-0 = 69.0 +/- 1.1 km/s/Mpc at 68% C.L., in better agreement with observations based on SN-Ia luminosity distances.

Abstract: This paper reports the observation of the decays B-(s)(0) -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-) using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1). The branching fractions of these decays are measured relative to the normalisation channel B-0 -> (D) over bar (K+K-)-K-0. The D-s1(2536)(-) meson is reconstructed in the (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-) decay channel and the products of branching fractions are measured to be B(B-s(0) -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-)) x B(D-s1(2536)(-) -> D ($) over bar*(2007)K-0(-)) = (2.49 +/- 0.11 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.25 +/- 0.06) x 10(-5), B(B-0 -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-) ) x B(D-s1(2536)(-) -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-)) = (0.510 +/- 0.021 +/- 0.036 +/- 0.050) x 10(-5). The first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third arises from the uncertainty of the branching fraction of the B-0 -> (D) over bar (K+K-)-K-0 normalisation channel. The last uncertainty in the B-s(0) result is due to the limited knowledge of the fragmentation fraction ratio, f(s)/f(d). The significance for the B-s(0) and B-0 signals is larger than 10 sigma. The ratio of the helicity amplitudes which governs the angular distribution of the D-s1(2536)(-) -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-) decay is determined from the data. The ratio of the S- and D-wave amplitudes is found to be 1.11 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.06 and the phase difference between them 0.70 +/- 0.09 +/- 0.04 rad, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

Abstract: Quantum light is described not only by a quantum state but also by the shape of the electromagnetic modes on which the state is defined. Optical precision measurements often estimate a “mode parameter” that determines properties such as frequency, temporal shape, and the spatial distribution of the light field. By deriving quantum precision limits, we establish the fundamental bounds for mode parameter estimation. Our results reveal explicit mode-design recipes that enable the estimation of any mode parameter with quantum enhanced precision. Our approach provides practical methods for optimizing mode parameter estimation with relevant applications, including spatial and temporal positioning, spectroscopy, phase estimation, and superresolution imaging.

Abstract: We study the space-time geometry generated by coupling a free scalar field with a noncanonical kinetic term to general relativity in (2+1) dimensions. After identifying a family of scalar Lagrangians that yield exact analytical solutions in static and circularly symmetric scenarios, we classify the various types of solutions and focus on a branch that yields asymptotically flat geometries. We show that the solutions within such a branch can be divided in two types, namely naked singularities and nonsingular objects without a center. In the latter, the energy density is localized around a maximum and vanishes only at infinity and at an inner boundary. This boundary has vanishing curvatures and cannot be reached by any time-like or null geodesic in finite affine time. This allows us to consistently interpret such solutions as nonsingular, lump-like, static compact scalar objects whose eventual extension to the (3+1)-dimensional context could provide structures of astrophysical interest.