ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2021). Observation of photon-induced W+ W- production in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 816, 136190–24pp.
Abstract: This letter reports the observation of photon-induced production of W-boson pairs, gamma gamma -> WW. The analysis uses 139 fb(-1) of LHC proton-proton collision data taken at root s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the years 2015-2018. The measurement is performed selecting one electron and one muon, corresponding to the decay of the diboson system as WW -> e(+/-)nu mu(-/+)nu final state. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with a significance of well above 5 standard deviations consistent with the expectation from Monte Carlo simulation. A cross section for the gamma gamma -> WW process of 3.13 +/- 0.31(stat.) +/- 0.28(syst.) fb is measured in a fiducial volume close to the acceptance of the detector, by requiring an electron and a muon of opposite signs with large dilepton transverse momentum and exactly zero additional charged particles. This is found to be in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2021). Measurement of the associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into b-quarks with a vector boson at high transverse momentum in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 816, 136204–28pp.
Abstract: The associated production of a Higgs boson with a W or Z boson decaying into leptons and where the Higgs boson decays to a b (b) over bar pair is measured in the high vector-boson transverse momentum regime, above 250 GeV, with the ATLAS detector. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), were collected in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. The measured signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model, is 0.72(-0.36)(+0.39) corresponding to an observed (expected) significance of 2.1 (2.7) standard deviations. Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into b quark pairs with a W or Z gauge boson, decaying into leptons, are measured in two exclusive vector boson transverse momentum regions, 250-400 GeV and above 400 GeV, and interpreted as constraints on anomalous couplings in the framework of a Standard Model effective field theory.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), Alves, S., Carretero, V., Colomer, M., Gozzini, R., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., et al. (2021). Measurement of the atmospheric nu(e) and nu(mu) energy spectra with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Phys. Lett. B, 816, 136228–7pp.
Abstract: This letter presents a combined measurement of the energy spectra of atmospheric nu(e) and nu(mu) in the energy range between similar to 100 GeV and similar to 50 TeV with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The analysis uses 3012 days of detector livetime in the period 2007-2017, and selects 1016 neutrinos interacting in (or close to) the instrumented volume of the detector, yielding shower-like events (mainly from nu(e) + (nu) over bar (e) charged current plus all neutrino neutral current interactions) and starting track events (mainly from nu(mu) + (nu) over bar (mu) charged current interactions). The contamination by atmospheric muons in the final sample is suppressed at the level of a few per mill by different steps in the selection analysis, including a Boosted Decision Tree classifier. The distribution of reconstructed events is unfolded in terms of electron and muon neutrino fluxes. The derived energy spectra are compared with previous measurements that, above 100 GeV, are limited to experiments in polar ice and, for nu(mu), to Super-Kamiokande.
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Hall, O. et al, Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Morales, A. I., Rubio, B., et al. (2021). beta-delayed neutron emission of r-process nuclei at the N=82 shell closure. Phys. Lett. B, 816, 136266–7pp.
Abstract: Theoretical models of beta-delayed neutron emission are used as crucial inputs in r-process calculations. Benchmarking the predictions of these models is a challenge due to a lack of currently available experimental data. In this work the beta-delayed neutron emission probabilities of 33 nuclides in the important mass regions south and south-west of Sn-132 are presented, 16 for the first time. The measurements were performed at RIKEN using the Advanced Implantation Detector Array (AIDA) and the BRIKEN neutron detector array. The P-1n values presented constrain the predictions of theoretical models in the region, affecting the final abundance distribution of the second r-process peak at A approximate to 130.
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Valiente-Dobon, J. J. et al, Gadea, A., & Algora, A. (2021). Manifestation of the Berry phase in the atomic nucleus Pb-213. Phys. Lett. B, 816, 136183–5pp.
Abstract: The neutron-rich Pb-213 isotope was produced in the fragmentation of a primary 1 GeV A U-238 beam, separated in FRS in mass and atomic number, and then implanted for isomer decay gamma-ray spectroscopy with the RISING setup at GSI. A newly observed isomer and its measured decay properties indicate that states in Pb-213 are characterized by the seniority quantum number that counts the nucleons not in pairs coupled to angular momentum J = 0. The conservation of seniority is a consequence of a geometric phase associated with particle-hole conjugation, which becomes observable in semi-magic nuclei where nucleons half-fill the valence shell. The gamma-ray spectroscopic observables in Pb-213 are thus found to be driven by two mechanisms, particle-hole conjugation and seniority conservation, which are intertwined through a Berry phase.
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Mandal, S., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2021). The simplest scoto-seesaw model: WIMP dark matter phenomenology and Higgs vacuum stability. Phys. Lett. B, 819, 136458–14pp.
Abstract: We analyze the consistency of electroweak breaking, neutrino and dark matter phenomenology within the simplest scoto-seesaw model. By adding the minimal dark sector to the simplest “missing partner” type-I seesaw one has a physical picture for the neutrino oscillation lengths: the “atmospheric” mass scale arises from the tree-level seesaw, while the “solar” scale is induced radiatively, mediated by the dark sector. We identify parameter regions consistent with theoretical constraints, as well as dark matter relic abundance and direct detection searches. Using two-loop renormalization group equations we explore the stability of the vacuum and the consistency of the underlying dark parity symmetry. One also has a lower bound for the neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2021). Evidence for Higgs boson decays to a low-mass dilepton system and a photon in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 819, 136412–22pp.
Abstract: A search for the Higgs boson decaying into a photon and a pair of electrons or muons with an invariant mass m(ll) < 30 GeV is presented. The analysis is performed using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data, produced by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and collected by the ATLAS experiment. Evidence for the H -> ll(gamma) process is found with a significance of 3.2 over the background-only hypothesis, compared to an expected significance of 2.1 for the Standard Model prediction. The best-fit value of the signal-strength parameter, defined as the ratio of the observed signal yield to the one expected in the Standard Model, is μ= 1.5 +/- 0.5. The Higgs boson production cross-section times the H -> ll(gamma) branching ratio for m(ll) < 30 GeV is determined to be 8.7(-2.7)(+2.8) fb.
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Aguilar, A. C., De Soto, F., Ferreira, M. N., Papavassiliou, J., & Rodriguez-Quintero, J. (2021). Infrared facets of the three-gluon vertex. Phys. Lett. B, 818, 136352–7pp.
Abstract: We present novel lattice results for the form factors of the quenched three-gluon vertex of QCD, in two special kinematic configurations that depend on a single momentum scale. We consider three form factors, two associated with a classical tensor structure and one without tree-level counterpart, exhibiting markedly different infrared behaviors. Specifically, while the former display the typical suppression driven by a negative logarithmic singularity at the origin, the latter saturates at a small negative constant. These exceptional features are analyzed within the Schwinger-Dyson framework, with the aid of special relations obtained from the Slavnov-Taylor identities of the theory. The emerging picture of the underlying dynamics is thoroughly corroborated by the lattice results, both qualitatively as well as quantitatively.
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Alvarado, C., Bonilla, C., Leite, J., & Valle, J. W. F. (2021). Phenomenology of fermion dark matter as neutrino mass mediator with gauged B-L. Phys. Lett. B, 817, 136292–12pp.
Abstract: We analyze a model with unbroken U(1)(B-L) gauge symmetry where neutrino masses are generated at one loop, after spontaneous breaking of a global U(1)(G) symmetry. These symmetries ensure dark matter (DM) stability and the Diracness of neutrinos. Within this context, we examine fermionic dark matter. Consistency between the required neutrino mass and the observed relic abundance indicates dark matter masses and couplings within the reach of direct detection experiments.
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Saul-Sala, E., Sobczyk, J. E., Rafi Alam, M., Alvarez-Ruso, L., & Nieves, J. (2021). Weak kaon production off the nucleon and Watson's theorem. Phys. Lett. B, 817, 136349–7pp.
Abstract: We have improved the tree-level model of Ref.[1] for weak production of kaons off nucleons by partially restoring unitarity. This is achieved by imposing Watson's theorem to the dominant vector and axial-vector contributions in appropriate angular momentum and isospin quantum number sectors. The observable consequences of this procedure are investigated.
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