Abstract: The PTOLEMY project aims to develop a scalable design for a Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB) detector, the first of its kind and the only one conceived that can look directly at the image of the Universe encoded in neutrino background produced in the first second after the Big Bang. The scope of the work for the next three years is to complete the conceptual design of this detector and to validate with direct measurements that the non-neutrino backgrounds are below the expected cosmological signal. In this paper we discuss in details the theoretical aspects of the experiment and its physics goals. In particular, we mainly address three issues. First we discuss the sensitivity of PTOLEMY to the standard neutrino mass scale. We then study the perspectives of the experiment to detect the CNB via neutrino capture on tritium as a function of the neutrino mass scale and the energy resolution of the apparatus. Finally, we consider an extra sterile neutrino with mass in the eV range, coupled to the active states via oscillations, which has been advocated in view of neutrino oscillation anomalies. This extra state would contribute to the tritium decay spectrum, and its properties, mass and mixing angle, could be studied by analyzing the features in the beta decay electron spectrum.

Abstract: A precision measurement of the Z boson production cross-section at root s = 13 TeV in the forward region is presented, using pp collision data collected by the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb(-1). The production cross-section is measured using Z -> mu(+)mu(-) events within the fiducial region defined as pseudorapidity 2.0 < eta < 4.5 and transverse momentum p(T) > 20 GeV/c for both muons and dimuon invariant mass 60 < M-mu μ< 120 GeV/c(2). The integrated cross-section is determined to be sigma(Z -> mu(+)mu(-)) = 196.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 1.6 +/- 3.9 pb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the luminosity determination. The measured results are in agreement with theoretical predictions within uncertainties.

Abstract: In this work, we discuss the possibility to test Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs) using “Cosmic Ray Beam Dump” experiments. In analogy with terrestrial beam dump experiments, where a beam first hits a target and is then absorbed by a shield, we consider high-energy incident cosmic rays impinging on the Earth's atmosphere and then the Earth's surface. We focus here on HNL production from atmospherically produced kaon, pion and D-meson decays, and discuss the possible explanation of the appearing Cherenkov showers observed by the SHALON Cherenkov telescope and the ultra-high energy events detected by the neutrino experiment ANITA. We show that these observations can not be explained with a long-lived HNL, as the relevant parameter space is excluded by existing constraints. Then we propose two new experimental setups that are inspired by these experiments, namely a Cherenkov telescope pointing at a sub-horizontal angle and shielded by the mountain cliff at Mount Thor, and a geostationary satellite that observes part of the Sahara desert. We show that the Cherenkov telescope at Mount Thor can probe currently untested HNL parameter space for masses below the kaon mass. We also show that the geostationary satellite experiment can significantly increase the HNL parameter space coverage in the whole mass range from 10 MeV up to 2 GeV and test neutrino mixing |U-& alpha;4|(2) down to 10(-11) for masses around 300 MeV.

Abstract: A Dalitz plot analysis of the D-s(+) -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) decay is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.5 fb(-1). The resonant structure of the decay is obtained using a quasi-model-independent partial-wave analysis, in which the pi(+)pi(-) S-wave amplitude is parameterised as a generic complex function determined by a fit to the data. The S-wave component is found to be dominant, followed by the contribution from spin-2 resonances and a small contribution from spin-1 resonances. The latter includes the first observation of the D-s(+) -> omega(782)pi(+) channel in the D-s(+) -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) decay. The resonant structures of the D-s(+) -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) and D+ -> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) decays are compared, providing information about the mechanisms for the hadron formation in these decays.

Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue, Argentina, is designed to study the properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 10(18) eV. It is a hybrid facility that employs a Fluorescence Detector to perform nearly calorimetric measurements of Extensive Air Shower energies. To obtain reliable calorimetric information from the FD, the atmospheric conditions at the observatory need to be continuously monitored during data acquisition. In particular, light attenuation due to aerosols is an important atmospheric correction. The aerosol concentration is highly variable, so that the aerosol attenuation needs to be evaluated hourly. We use light from the Central Laser Facility, located near the center of the observatory site, having an optical signature comparable to that of the highest energy showers detected by the FD. This paper presents two procedures developed to retrieve the aerosol attenuation of fluorescence light from CLF laser shots. Cross checks between the two methods demonstrate that results from both analyses are compatible, and that the uncertainties are well understood. The measurements of the aerosol attenuation provided by the two procedures are currently used at the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct air shower data.