ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2021). Search for bottom-squark pair production in pp collision events at root s=13 TeV with hadronically decaying tau-leptons, b-jets, and missing transverse momentum using the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 104(3), 032014–31pp.
Abstract: A search for pair production of bottom squarks in events with hadronically decaying t-leptons, b-tagged jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed dataset is based on proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The observed data are compatible with the expected Standard Model background. Results are interpreted in a simplified model where each bottom squark is assumed to decay into the second-lightest neutralino (chi) over tilde (0)(2) and a bottom quark, with (chi) over tilde (0)(2) decaying into a Higgs boson and the lightest neutralino (chi) over tilde1(0). The search focuses on final states where at least one Higgs boson decays into a pair of hadronically decaying t-leptons. This allows the acceptance and thus the sensitivity to be significantly improved relative to the previous results at low masses of the (chi) over tilde (0)(2), where bottom-squark masses up to 850 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, assuming a mass difference of 130 GeV between (chi) over tilde (0)(2) and (chi) over tilde (0)(1). Model-independent upper limits are also set on the cross section of processes beyond the Standard Model.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Lederer-Woods, C. et al.), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2021). Destruction of the cosmic gamma-ray emitter Al-26 in massive stars: Study of the key Al-26(n, alpha) reaction. Phys. Rev. C, 104(3), L032803–6pp.
Abstract: Neutron destruction reactions of the cosmic gamma-ray emitter Al-26 are of importance to determine the amount of Al-26 ejected into our galaxy by supernova explosions and for Al-26 production in asymptotic giant branch stars. We performed a new measurement of the Al-26(n, alpha) reaction up to 160-keV neutron energy at the neutron time-of-flight facilities n_TOF at CERN and GELINA at EC-JRC. We provide strengths for ten resonances, six of them for the first time. We use our data to calculate astrophysical reactivities for stellar temperatures up to 0.7 GK. Our results resolve a discrepancy between the two previous direct measurements of this reaction, and indicate higher stellar destruction rates than the most recently recommended reactivity.
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Candia, P., Cottin, G., Mendez, A., & Muñoz, V. (2021). Searching for light long lived neutralinos at Super-Kamiokande. Phys. Rev. D, 104(5), 055024–11pp.
Abstract: Light neutralinos could be copiously produced from the decays of mesons generated in cosmic-ray air showers. These neutralinos can be long-lived particles in the context of R-parity violating (RPV) supersymmetric models, implying that they could be capable of reaching the surface of the earth and decay within the instrumental volume of large neutrino detectors. In this article, we use atmospheric neutrino data from the Super-Kamiokande experiment to derive novel constraints for the RPV couplings involved in the production of long-lived light neutralinos from the decays of charged D-mesons and kaons. Our results highlight the potential of neutrino detectors to search for long-lived particles, by demonstrating that it is possible to explore regions of parameter space that are not yet constrained by any fixed-target nor collider experiments.
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Aguilar, A. C., Ambrosio, C. O., De Soto, F., Ferreira, M. N., Oliveira, B. M., Papavassiliou, J., et al. (2021). Ghost dynamics in the soft gluon limit. Phys. Rev. D, 104(5), 054028–18pp.
Abstract: We present a detailed study of the dynamics associated with the ghost sector of quenched QCD in the Landau gauge, where the relevant dynamical equations are supplemented with key inputs originating from large-volume lattice simulations. In particular, we solve the coupled system of Schwinger-Dyson equations that governs the evolution of the ghost dressing function and the ghost-gluon vertex, using as input for the gluon propagator lattice data that have been cured from volume and discretization artifacts. In addition, we explore the soft gluon limit of the same system, employing recent lattice data for the three-gluon vertex that enters in one of the diagrams defining the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the ghost-gluon vertex. The results obtained from the numerical treatment of these equations are in excellent agreement with lattice data for the ghost dressing function, once the latter have undergone the appropriate scale-setting and artifact elimination refinements. Moreover, the coincidence observed between the ghost-gluon vertex in general kinematics and in the soft gluon limit reveals an outstanding consistency of physical concepts and computational schemes.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2021). Light meson spectroscopy from Dalitz plot analyses of eta(c) decays to eta ' K+K-, eta 'pi(+)pi(-), and eta pi(+)pi(-) produced in two-photon interactions. Phys. Rev. D, 104(7), 072002–23pp.
Abstract: We study the processes gamma gamma -> eta(c )-> eta'K+K-, eta'pi(+)pi(-), and eta pi(+)pi(-) using a data sample of 519 fb(-1) recorded with the BABAR detector operating at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider at center-of-mass energies at and near the Upsilon(nS) (n = 2, 3, 4) resonances. This is the first observation of the decay eta(c)-> eta'K+K- and we measure the branching fraction Gamma (eta(c) -> eta' K+K- )/(Gamma(eta(c) -> eta'pi(+)pi(-)) = 0.644 +/- 0.039(stat) +/- 0.032(sys). Significant interference is observed between gamma gamma ->eta(c)->eta pi(+)pi(-) and the nonresonant two-photon process gamma gamma -> eta pi(+)pi(-). A Dalitz plot analysis is performed of eta(c) decays to eta'K+K-, eta'pi(+)pi(-) and eta pi(+)pi(-). Combined with our previous analysis of eta(c) -> K (K) over bar pi, we measure the K-0*(1430) parameters and the ratio between its eta'K and pi K couplings. The decay eta(c) -> eta'pi(+)pi(-) is dominated by the f(0)(2100) resonance, also observed in J/psi radiative decays. A new a(0) (1700) -> eta pi resonance is observed in the eta(c) -> eta pi(+)pi(-) channel. We also compare eta(c) decays to eta and eta' final states in association with scalar mesons as they relate to the identification of the scalar glueball.
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Kuhn, K. et al, & Nacher, E. (2021). Experimental study of the nature of the 1(-) and 2(-) excited excited states in Be-10 using the Be-11(p, d) reaction in inverse kinematics. Phys. Rev. C, 104(4), 044601–10pp.
Abstract: The nature of the 1(-) and 2(-) excited states in Be-10 is studied using the Be-11(p, d) transfer reaction in inverse kinematics at 10A MeV at TRIUMF ISAC-II, in particular to assess whether either of them can be considered as an excited halo state. The angular distributions for both states are extracted using deuteron-gamma( )coincidences and analyzed using a transfer model taking into account one-step and two-step processes. A good fit of the angular distributions is obtained considering only the one-step process, whereby an inner p(3/2) neutron of Be-11 is removed, leaving the halo neutron intact. Higher-order processes however cannot be rejected. The small spectroscopic factors extracted suggest that the structure of both states is not uniquely halo-like, but rather display a more complex configuration mixing cluster and halo structures. Further insights are limited, as this experiment specifically probed the halo-like (but not cluster-like) Be-11 (1/2(+)) circle times (nu p(3/2))(-1) configuration in both states.
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Di Valentino, E., Gariazzo, S., & Mena, O. (2021). Most constraining cosmological neutrino mass bounds. Phys. Rev. D, 104(8), 083504–7pp.
Abstract: We present here up-to-date neutrino mass limits exploiting the most recent cosmological data sets. By making use of the cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuation and polarization measurements, supernovae Ia luminosity distances, baryon acoustic oscillation observations and determinations of the growth rate parameter, we are able to set the most constraining bound to date, Sigma m(v) < 0.09 eV at 95% C.L. This very tight limit is obtained without the assumption of any prior on the value of the Hubble constant and highly compromises the viability of the inverted mass ordering as the underlying neutrino mass pattern in nature. The results obtained here further strengthen the case for very large multitracer spectroscopic surveys as unique laboratories for cosmological relics, such as neutrinos: that would be the case of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument survey and of the Euclid mission.
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Siciliano, M. et al, Gadea, A., & Perez-Vidal, R. M. (2021). Lifetime measurements in the even-even Cd102-108 isotopes. Phys. Rev. C, 104(3), 034320–16pp.
Abstract: Background: The heaviest T-z = 0 doubly-magic nucleus, Sn-100, and the neighboring nuclei offer unique opportunities to investigate the properties of nuclear interaction. For instance, the structure of light-Sn nuclei has been shown to be affected by the delicate balance between nuclear-interaction components, such as pairing and quadrupole correlations. From Cd to Te, many common features and phenomena have been observed experimentally along the isotopic chains, leading to theoretical studies devoted to a more general and comprehensive study of the region. In this context, having only two proton holes in the Z = 50 shell, the Cd isotopes are expected to present properties similar to those found in the Sn isotopic chain. Purpose: The aim of this work was to measure lifetimes of excited states in neutron-deficient nuclei in the vicinity of Sn-100. Methods: The neutron-deficient nuclei in the N approximate to Z approximate to 50 region were populated using a multinucleon transfer reaction with a Cd-106 beam and a Mo-92 target. The beamlike products were identified by the VAMOS++ spectrometer, while the gamma rays were detected using the AGATA array. Lifetimes of excited states were determined using the recoil distance Doppler-shift method, employing the Cologne differential plunger. Results: Lifetimes of low-lying states were measured in the even-mass Cd-102-(108) isotopes. In particular, multiple states with excitation energy up to MeV, belonging to various bands, were populated in approximate to 3 Cd-106 via inelastic scattering. The transition strengths corresponding to the measured lifetimes were compared with those resulting from state-of-the-art beyond-mean-field calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing approach. Conclusions: Despite the similarities in the electromagnetic properties of the low-lying states, there is a fundamental structural difference between the ground-state bands in the Z = 48 and Z = 50 isotopes. The comparison between experimental and theoretical results revealed a rotational character of the Cd nuclei, which have prolate-deformed ground states with beta(2) approximate to 0.2. At this deformation Z = 48 becomes a closed-shell configuration, which is favored with respect to the spherical one.
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Albaladejo, M., Nieves, J., & Tolos, L. (2021). D(D)over-bar* scattering and chi(c1) (3872) in nuclear matter. Phys. Rev. C, 104(3), 035203–20pp.
Abstract: We study the behavior of the chi(c1) (3872), also known as X(3872), in dense nuclear matter. We begin from a picture in vacuum of the X(3872) as a purely molecular (D (D) over bar*-c.c.) state, generated as a bound state from a heavy-quark symmetry leading-order interaction between the charmed mesons, and analyze the D (D) over bar* scattering T matrix (T-D (D) over bar*) inside of the medium. Next, we consider also mixed-molecular scenarios and, in all cases, we determine the corresponding X(3872) spectral function and the D (D) over bar* amplitude, with the mesons embedded in the dense environment. We find important nuclear corrections for T-D (D) over bar* and the pole position of the resonance, and discuss the dependence of these results on the D (D) over bar* molecular component in the X(3872) wave function. These predictions could be tested in the finite-density regime that can be accessed in the future CBM and PANDA experiments at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR).
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., & Ruiz Vidal, J. (2021). Search for CP violation in Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) decays. Phys. Rev. D, 104(5), 052010–29pp.
Abstract: A search for CP violation in charmless three-body Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) decays is performed using pp collision data recorded with the LHCb detector, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1 fb(-1) at a center-of-mass energy root S = 7 TeV, 2 fb(-1) at root S = 8 TeV and 2 fb(-1) at = 13 TeV. A good description of the phase-space distribution is obtained with an amplitude model containing contributions from Sigma(1385), Lambda(1405), Lambda(1520), Lambda(1670), Sigma(1775) and Sigma(1915) resonances. The model allows for CP violation effects, which are found to be consistent with zero. The branching fractions of Xi(-)(b) -> Sigma(1385)K-, Xi(-)(b) -> Lambda(1405)K-, Xi(-)(b) -> Lambda(1520)K-, Xi(-)(b) -> Lambda(1670)K-, Xi(-)(b) -> Sigma(1775)K- and Xi(-)(b) -> Sigma(1915)K- decays arc also reported. In addition, an upper limit is placed on the product of ratios of Omega(-)(b) and Xi(-)(b) fragmentation fractions and the Omega(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) and Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) branching fractions.
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