Beltran Jimenez, J., & Delhom, A. (2020). Instabilities in metric-affine theories of gravity with higher order curvature terms. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(6), 585–27pp.
Abstract: We discuss the presence of ghostly instabilities for metric-affine theories constructed with higher order curvature terms. We mainly focus on theories containing only the Ricci tensor and show the crucial role played by the projective symmetry. The pathological modes arise from the absence of a pure kinetic term for the projective mode and the non-minimal coupling of a 2-form field contained in the connection, and which can be related to the antisymmetric part of the metric in non-symmetric gravity theories. The couplings to matter are considered at length and cannot be used to render the theories stable. We discuss different procedures to avoid the ghosts by adding additional constraints. We finally argue how these pathologies are expected to be present in general metric-affine theories unless much care is taken in their construction.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2020). Measurement of the ttbar production cross-section and lepton differential distributions in e mu dilepton events from pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(6), 528–70pp.
Abstract: The inclusive top quark pair (tt<overbar></mml:mover>) production cross-section sigma tt<overbar></mml:mover> has been measured in proton-proton collisions at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt>=13<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV, using 36.1 fb-1 of data collected in 2015-2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Using events with an opposite-charge e μpair and b-tagged jets, the cross-section is measured to be: <disp-formula id=“Equ10”><mml:mtable><mml:mtr><mml:mtd columnalign=“right”>sigma tt<overbar></mml:mover>=826.4 +/- 3.6<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(stat)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 11.5<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(syst)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 15.7<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(lumi)<mml:mspace width=“4pt”></mml:mspace>+/- 1.9<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>(beam)<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>pb,</mml:mtd></mml:mtr></mml:mtable><graphic xmlns:xlink=“http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink” xlink:href=“1005220207907ArticleEqu10.gif” position=“anchor”></graphic></disp-formula>where the uncertainties reflect the limited size of the data sample, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity, and the LHC beam energy, giving a total uncertainty of 2.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. It is used to determine the top quark pole mass via the dependence of the predicted cross-section on mtpole, giving mtpole=173.1-2.1+2.0<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>GeV. It is also combined with measurements at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=7<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV and <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=8<mml:mspace width=“0.166667em”></mml:mspace>TeV to derive ratios and double ratios of t<mml:mover accent=“true”>t<mml:mo stretchy=“false”><overbar></mml:mover> and Z cross-sections at different energies. The same event sample is used to measure absolute and normalised differential cross-sections as functions of single-lepton and dilepton kinematic variables, and the results are compared with predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2020). Search for light long-lived neutral particles produced in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV and decaying into collimated leptons or light hadrons with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(5), 450–29pp.
Abstract: Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of dark photons, light neutral particles decaying into collimated leptons or light hadrons. This paper presents a search for long-lived dark photons produced from the decay of a Higgs boson or a heavy scalar boson and decaying into displaced collimated Standard Model fermions. The search uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb-1 collected in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV recorded in 2015-2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed number of events is consistent with the expected background, and limits on the production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the proper decay length of the dark photon are reported. A cross section times branching fraction above 4 pb is excluded for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon decay lengths between 1.5 mm and 307 mm.
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Molina, R., & Oset, E. (2020). Triangle singularity in B- ->K- X(3872); X ->pi 0 pi+ pi- and the X(3872) mass. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(5), 451–9pp.
Abstract: We evaluate the contribution to the X(3872) width from a triangle mechanism in which the X decays into D0D<overbar></mml:mover>0-cc, then the D0(D<overbar></mml:mover>0) decays into D0 pi 0 (D<overbar></mml:mover>0 pi 0) and the D0D<overbar></mml:mover>0 fuse to produce pi+pi-. This mechanism produces an asymmetric peak from a triangle singularity in the pi+pi- invariant mass with a shape very sensitive to the X mass. We evaluate the branching ratios for a reaction where this effect can be seen in the B--> K-pi 0 pi+pi- reaction and show that the determination of the peak in the invariant mass distribution of pi <mml:mo>+pi <mml:mo>- is all that is needed to determine the X mass. Given the present uncertainties in the X mass, which do not allow to know whether the D<mml:mo>0<mml:mover accent=“true”>D<mml:mo stretchy=“false”><overbar></mml:mover>0 state is bound or not, measurements like the one suggested here should be most welcome to clarify this issue.
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Donini, A., Hernandez, P., Pena, C., & Romero-Lopez, F. (2020). Dissecting the Delta I=1/2 rule at large N-c. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(7), 638–12pp.
Abstract: We study the scaling of kaon decay amplitudes with the number of colours, N-c, in a theory with four degenerate flavours, N-f = 4. In this scenario, two current-current operators, Q(+/-), mediate Delta S = 1 transitions, such as the two isospin amplitudes of non-leptonic kaon decays for K -> (pi pi)(I=0,2), A(0) and A(2.) In particular, we concentrate on the simpler K -> pi amplitudes, A(+/-), mediated by these two operators. A diagrammatic analysis of the large-N-c scaling of these observables is presented, which demonstrates the anticorrelation of the leading O(1/N-c) and O(N-f/N-c(2)) corrections in both amplitudes. Using our new N-f = 4 and previous quenched data, we confirm this expectation and show that these corrections are naturally large and may be at the origin of the Delta I = 1/2 rule. The evidence for the latter is indirect, based on the matching of the amplitudes to their prediction in Chiral Perturbation Theory, from which the LO low-energy couplings of the chiral weak Hamiltonian, g(+/-), can be determined. A NLO estimate of the K -> (pi pi)(I=0,2) isospin amplitudes can then be derived, which is in good agreement with the experimental value.
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