Abstract: We present a comprehensive analysis of low-energy signals of hypothetical scalar leptoquark interactions in lepton and kaon transitions. We derive the most general effective four-fermion Lagrangian induced by tree-level scalar leptoquark exchange and identify the Wilson coefficients predicted by the five possible types of scalar leptoquarks. The current constraints on the leptoquark Yukawa couplings arising from lepton and kaon processes are worked out, including also loop-induced transitions with only leptons (or quarks) as external states. In the presence of scalar leptoquark interactions, we also derive the differential distributions for flavour-changing neutral-current transitions in semileptonic kaon modes, including all known effects within the Standard Model. Their interference with the new physics contributions could play a significant role in future improvements of those constraints that are currently hampered by poorly-determined non-perturbative parameters.

Abstract: We evaluate the implications of LHC and LEP/SLC measurements for the electro-weak couplings of the top and bottom quarks. We derive global bounds on the Wilson coefficients of ten two-fermion operators in an effective field theory description. The combination of hadron collider data with Z -pole measurements is found to yield tight limits on the operator coefficients that modify the left-handed couplings of the bottom and top quark to the Z boson. We also present projections for the high-luminosity phase of the LHC and for future electron-positron colliders. The bounds on the operator coefficients are expected to improve substantially during the remaining LHC programme, by factors of 1 to 5 if systematic uncertainties are scaled as statistical ones. The operation of an e(+)e(-) collider at a center-of-mass energy above the top-quark pair production threshold is expected to further improve the bounds by one to two orders of magnitude. The combination of measurements in pp and e(+)e(-) collisions allows for a percent-level determination of the top-quark Yukawa coupling, that is robust in a global fit.

Abstract: The result of a search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the bottom quark ((b) over tilde (1)) using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton data collected at root s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector is reported. In the supersymmetric scenarios considered both of the bottom-squarks decay into a b-quark and the second-lightest neutralino, (b) over tilde (1) -> b + (chi) over tilde (0)(2). Each (chi) over tilde (0)(2) is assumed to subsequently decay with 100% branching ratio into a Higgs boson (h) like the one in the Standard Model and the lightest neutralino: (chi) over tilde (0)(2) -> h + (chi) over tilde (0)(1). The (chi) over tilde (0)(1) is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and is stable. Two signal mass configurations are targeted: the first has a constant LSP mass of 60 GeV; and the second has a constant mass difference between the (chi) over tilde (0)(2) and (chi) over tilde (0)(1) of 130 GeV. The final states considered contain no charged leptons, three or more b-jets, and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess of events over the Standard Model background expectation is observed in any of the signal regions considered. Limits at the 95% confidence level are placed in the supersymmetric models considered, and bottom-squarks with mass up to 1.5 TeV are excluded.

Abstract: An angular analysis of the B-0 -> K*(0)e(+)e(-) decay is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected with the LHCb experiment. The analysis is conducted in the very low dielectron mass squared (q(2)) interval between 0.0008 and 0.257 GeV2, where the rate is dominated by the B-0 -> K*(0)gamma transition with a virtual photon. The fraction of longitudinal polarisation of the K*(0) meson, F-L, is measured to be F-L = (4.4 +/- 2.6 +/- 1.4)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The A(T)(Re) observable, which is related to the lepton forward-backward asymmetry, is measured to be A(T)(Re) = -0.06 +/- 0.08 +/- 0.02. The A(T)((2)) and A(T)(Im) transverse asymmetries, which are sensitive to the virtual photon polarisation, are found to be A(T)((2)) = 0.11 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.02 and A(T)(Im) = 0.02 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.01. The results are consistent with Standard Model predictions and provide the world's best constraint on the b -> s gamma photon polarisation.

Abstract: At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model (Lambda CDM), the Planck collaboration reports Sigma m(v)< 0.12 eV at 95 % CL. This bound, taken at face value, excludes many neutrino mass models. However, unstable neutrinos, with lifetimes shorter than the age of the universe <tau>(nu) less than or similar to t(U), represent a particle physics avenue to relax this constraint. Motivated by this fact, we present a taxonomy of neutrino decay modes, categorizing them in terms of particle content and final decay products. Taking into account the relevant phenomenological bounds, our analysis shows that 2-body decaying neutrinos into BSM particles are a promising option to relax cosmological neutrino mass bounds. We then build a simple extension of the type I seesaw scenario by adding one sterile state nu (4) and a Goldstone boson phi, in which nu (i)-> nu (4)phi decays can loosen the neutrino mass bounds up to Sigma m(v) similar to 1 eV, without spoiling the light neutrino mass generation mechanism. Remarkably, this is possible for a large range of the right-handed neutrino masses, from the electroweak up to the GUT scale. We successfully implement this idea in the context of minimal neutrino mass models based on a U(1)(mu-tau) flavor symmetry, which are otherwise in tension with the current bound on Sigma m(v).