Abstract: The phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics is conjectured to have a rich structure containing at least three forms of matter: hadronic nuclear matter, quarkyonic matter and quark gluon plasma. We describe its formulation in terms of Skyrme crystals and justify the origin of the quarkyonic phase transition in a chiral-quark model.

Abstract: We present the computation of the two-loop form factors for diphoton production in the quark annihilation channel. These quantities are relevant for the NNLO QCD corrections to diphoton production at LHC recently presented in [1]. The computation is performed retaining full dependence on the mass of the heavy quark in the loops. The master integrals are evaluated by means of differential equations which are solved exploiting the generalised power series technique.

Abstract: The results of a search for top squark (stop) pair production in final states with one isolated lepton, jets, and missing transverse momentum are reported. The analysis is performed with proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb(-1). The lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is taken to be the lightest neutralino which only interacts weakly and is assumed to be stable. The stop decay modes considered are those to a top quark and the LSP as well as to a bottom quark and the lightest chargino, where the chargino decays to the LSP by emitting a W boson. A wide range of scenarios with different mass splittings between the stop, the lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino are considered, including cases where the W bosons or the top quarks are off-shell. Decay modes involving the heavier charginos and neutralinos are addressed using a set of phenomenological models of supersymmetry. No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. A stop with a mass between 210 and 640 GeV decaying directly to a top quark and a massless LSP is excluded at 95% confidence level, and in models where the mass of the lightest chargino is twice that of the LSP, stops are excluded at 95% confidence level up to a mass of 500 GeV for an LSP mass in the range of 100 to 150 GeV. Stringent exclusion limits are also derived for all other stop decay modes considered, and model-independent upper limits are set on the visible cross-section for processes beyond the Standard Model.

Abstract: Kinematic correlations for pairs of beauty hadrons, produced in high energy proton-proton collisions, are studied. The data sample used was collected with the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). The measurement is performed using inclusive b -> J/psi X decays in the rapidity range 2 < y(J/psi) < 4.5. The observed correlations are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Abstract: A search for the doubly heavy Xi bc0 baryon using its decay to the D(0)pK(-) final state is performed using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment between 2016 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb(-1). No significant signal is found in the invariant mass range from 6.7 to 7.2 GeV/c(2). Upper limits are set at 95% credibility level on the ratio of the Xi bc0 production cross-section times its branching fraction to D(0)pK(-) relative to that of the Lambda b0 -> D0pK- decay. The limits are set as a function of the Xi bc0 mass and lifetime hypotheses, in the rapidity range from 2.0 to 4.5 and in the transverse momentum region from 5 to 25 GeV/c. Upper limits range from 1.7 x 10(-2) to 3.0 x 10(-1) for the considered Xi bc0 mass and lifetime hypotheses.