|
LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2021). Searches for 25 rare and forbidden decays of D+ and Ds+ mesons. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 044–24pp.
Abstract: A search is performed for rare and forbidden charm decays of the form D+-> hl+l -/+, where h(+/-) is a pion or kaon and l((')+/-) is an electron or muon. The measurements are performed using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment in 2016. No evidence is observed for the 25 decay modes that are investigated and 90 % confidence level limits on the branching fractions are set between 1.4 x 10(-8) and 6.4 x 10(-6). In most cases, these results represent an improvement on existing limits by one to two orders of magnitude.
|
|
|
NEXT Collaboration(Fernandes, A. F. M. et al), Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., et al. (2020). Low-diffusion Xe-He gas mixtures for rare-event detection: electroluminescence yield. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 034–18pp.
Abstract: High pressure xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification are being proposed for rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The discrimination of the rare event through the topological signature of primary ionisation trails is a major asset for this type of TPC when compared to single liquid or double-phase TPCs, limited mainly by the high electron diffusion in pure xenon. Helium admixtures with xenon can be an attractive solution to reduce the electron diffu- sion significantly, improving the discrimination efficiency of these optical TPCs. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe-He mixtures, in the range of 0 to 30% He and demonstrated the small impact on the EL yield of the addition of helium to pure xenon. For a typical reduced electric field of 2.5 kV/cm/bar in the EL region, the EL yield is lowered by similar to 2%, 3%, 6% and 10% for 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% of helium concentration, respectively. This decrease is less than what has been obtained from the most recent simulation framework in the literature. The impact of the addition of helium on EL statistical fluctuations is negligible, within the experimental uncertainties. The present results are an important benchmark for the simulation tools to be applied to future optical TPCs based on Xe-He mixtures.
|
|
|
LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2020). Test of lepton universality with Lambda(0)(b) -> pK(-) l(+)l(-). J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 40–27pp.
Abstract: The ratio of branching fractions of the decays -> pK(-)mu(+)mu(-),RpK-1}, is measured for the first time using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb(-1) recorded with the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. In the dilepton mass-squared range 0.1 < q(2)< 6.0 GeV2/c(4) and the pK(-) mass range m(pK(-)) < 2600 MeV/c(2), the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be RpK-1=1.17-0.16+0.18 +/- 0.0$$ {R}{pK}<^>{-1}={1.17}{-0.16}<^>{+0.18}\pm 0.07 $$\end{document}, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the first test of lepton universality with b baryons and the first observation of the decay -> pK(-)e(+)e(-).
|
|
|
LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2020). Search for the lepton flavour violating decay B+ -> K+mu(-)tau(+) using Bs20 decays. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 129–19pp.
Abstract: A search is presented for the lepton flavour violating decay B+ -> K+mu (-)tau (+) using a sample of proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, collected with the LHCb detector and corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1). The tau leptons are selected inclusively, primarily via decays with a single charged particle. The four-momentum of the tau lepton is determined by using B+ mesons from Bs20 -> B+K- decays. No significant excess is observed, and an upper limit is set on the branching fractionB(B+-> K+mu (-)tau (+))<3.9x10(-5)at90%confidence level.The obtained limit is comparable to the world-best limit.
|
|
|
NA62 Collaboration(Cortina Gil, E. et al), & Husek, T. (2020). An investigation of the very rare K+ -> pi+ nu nubar decay. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 042–57pp.
Abstract: The NA62 experiment reports an investigation of the K+-> pi+nu nu <overbar></mml:mover> mode from a sample of K+ decays collected in 2017 at the CERN SPS. The experiment has achieved a single event sensitivity of (0.389 +/- 0.024) x 10(-10), corresponding to 2.2 events assuming the Standard Model branching ratio of (8.4 +/- 1.0) x 10(-11). Two signal candidates are observed with an expected background of 1.5 events. Combined with the result of a similar analysis conducted by NA62 on a smaller data set recorded in 2016, the collaboration now reports an upper limit of 1.78 x 10(-10) for the K+-> pi+nu nu <overbar></mml:mover> branching ratio at 90% CL. This, together with the corresponding 68% CL measurement of (0.48<mml:mo>-0.48<mml:mo>+0.72) x 10(-10), are currently the most precise results worldwide, and are able to constrain some New Physics models that predict large enhancements still allowed by previous measurements.
|
|
|
LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2020). Strong constraints on the b -> s gamma photon polarisation from B-0 -> K(*0)e(+)e(-) decays. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 081–25pp.
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.
|
|
|
NEXT Collaboration(Henriques, C. A. O. et al), Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Botas, A., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., et al. (2019). Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 027–23pp.
Abstract: The NEXT experiment aims at searching for the hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta decay from the Xe-136 isotope using a high-purity xenon TPC. Efficient discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionisation tracks is a major requirement for the experiment. However, it is limited by the diffusion of electrons. It is known that the addition of a small fraction of a molecular gas to xenon reduces electron diffusion. On the other hand, the electroluminescence (EL) yield drops and the achievable energy resolution may be compromised. We have studied the effect of adding several molecular gases to xenon (CO2, CH4 and CF4) on the EL yield and energy resolution obtained in a small prototype of driftless gas proportional scintillation counter. We have compared our results on the scintillation characteristics (EL yield and energy resolution) with a microscopic simulation, obtaining the diffusion coefficients in those conditions as well. Accordingly, electron diffusion may be reduced from about 10 for pure xenon down to 2.5 using additive concentrations of about 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.02% for CO2, CH4 and CF4, respectively. Our results show that CF4 admixtures present the highest EL yield in those conditions, but very poor energy resolution as a result of huge fluctuations observed in the EL formation. CH4 presents the best energy resolution despite the EL yield being the lowest. The results obtained with xenon admixtures are extrapolated to the operational conditions of the NEXT-100 TPC. CO2 and CH4 show potential as molecular additives in a large xenon TPC. While CO2 has some operational constraints, making it difficult to be used in a large TPC, CH4 shows the best performance and stability as molecular additive to be used in the NEXT-100 TPC, with an extrapolated energy resolution of 0.4% at 2.45 MeV for concentrations below 0.4%, which is only slightly worse than the one obtained for pure xenon. We demonstrate the possibility to have an electroluminescence TPC operating very close to the thermal diffusion limit without jeopardizing the TPC performance, if CO2 or CH4 are chosen as additives.
|
|
|
NA62 Collaboration(Cortina Gil, E. et al), & Husek, T. (2019). Search for production of an invisible dark photon in (0) decays. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 182–20pp.
Abstract: The results of a search for (0) decays to a photon and an invisible massive dark photon at the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS are reported. From a total of 4.12 x 10(8) tagged (0) mesons, no signal is observed. Assuming a kinetic-mixing interaction, limits are set on the dark photon coupling to the ordinary photon as a function of the dark photon mass, improving on previous searches in the mass range 60-110 MeV/c(2). The present results are interpreted in terms of an upper limit of the branching ratio of the electro-weak decay 0improving the current limit by more than three orders of magnitude.
|
|
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2019). Search for top-quark decays t -> Hq with 36 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 123–67pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral current decays of a top quark into an up-type quark (q = u, c) and the Standard Model Higgs boson, t Hq, is presented. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). Two complementary analyses are performed to search for top-quark pair events in which one top quark decays into Wb and the other top quark decays into Hq, and target the Hbb and H (+-) decay modes, respectively. The high multiplicity of b-quark jets, or the presence of hadronically decaying -leptons, is exploited in the two analyses respectively. Multivariate techniques are used to separate the signal from the background, which is dominated by top-quark pair production. No significant excess of events above the background expectation is found, and 95% CL upper limits on the t Hq branching ratios are derived. The combination of these searches with ATLAS searches in diphoton and multilepton final states yields observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits on the t Hc and t Hu branching ratios of 1.1 x 10(-3) (8.3 x 10(-4)) and 1.2 x 10(-3) (8.3 x 10(-4)), respectively. The corresponding combined observed (expected) upper limits on the |(tcH)| and |(tuH)| couplings are 0.064 (0.055) and 0.066 (0.055), respectively.
|
|
|
LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Henry, L., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., et al. (2018). First observation of B+ -> D-s(+) K+ K- decays and a search for B+ -> D-s(+) phi decays. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 131–22pp.
Abstract: A search for B+ -> D-s(+) K+ K- decays is performed using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb(-1), collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV with the LHCb experiment. A significant signal is observed for the first time and the branching fraction is determined to be B(B+ -> D-s(+) K+ K-) = (7.1 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.6 +/- 0.7) x 10(-6), where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third due to the uncertainty on the branching fraction of the normalisation mode B+ -> D-s(+)(D) over bar (0). A search is also performed for the pure annihilation decay B+ -> D-s(+)(D) over bar (0). No significant signal is observed and a limit of B(B+ -> D-s(+) phi) < 4.9 x 10(-7) (4.2 x 10(-7)) is set on the branching fraction at 95% (90%) confidence level.
|
|