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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Search for heavy Majorana or Dirac neutrinos and right-handed W gauge bosons in final states with charged leptons and jets in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(12), 1164–35pp.
Abstract: A search for heavy right-handed Majorana or Dirac neutrinos N-R and heavy right-handed gauge bosons W-R is performed in events with energetic electrons or muons, with the same or opposite electric charge, and energetic jets. The search is carried out separately for topologies of clearly separated final-state products (“resolved” channel) and topologies with boosted final states with hadronic and/or leptonic products partially overlapping and reconstructed as a large-radius jet (“boosted” channel). The events are selected from pp collision data at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) collected by the ATLAS detector at root s = 13 TeV. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. The results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a left-right symmetric model, and lower limits are set on masses in the heavy right-handed W-R boson and N-R plane. The excluded region extends to about m(W-R) = 6.4 TeV for both Majorana and Dirac N-R neutrinos at m(N-R) < 1 TeV. N-R with masses of less than 3.5 (3.6) TeV are excluded in the electron (muon) channel at m(W-R) = 4.8 TeV for the Majorana neutrinos, and limits of m(N-R) up to 3.6 TeV for m(W-R) = 5.2 (5.0) TeV in the electron (muon) channel are set for the Dirac neutrinos. These constitute the most stringent exclusion limits to date for the model considered.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Performance of the reconstruction of large impact parameter tracks in the inner detector of ATLAS. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(11), 1081–32pp.
Abstract: Searches for long-lived particles (LLPs) are among the most promising avenues for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, displaced signatures are notoriously difficult to identify due to their ability to evade standard object reconstruction strategies. In particular, the ATLAS track reconstruction applies strict pointing requirements which limit sensitivity to charged particles originating far from the primary interaction point. To recover efficiency for LLPs decaying within the tracking detector volume, the ATLAS Collaboration employs a dedicated large-radius tracking (LRT) passwith loosened pointing requirements. During Run 2 of the LHC, the LRT implementation produced many incorrectly reconstructed tracks and was therefore only deployed in small subsets of events. In preparation for LHC Run 3, ATLAS has significantly improved both standard and large-radius track reconstruction performance, allowing for LRT to run in all events. This development greatly expands the potential phase-space of LLP searches and streamlines LLP analysis workflows. This paper will highlight the above achievement and report on the readiness of the ATLAS detector for track-based LLP searches in Run 3.
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Xu, Z. Y. et al, Algora, A., & Morales, A. I. (2023). 133In: A Rosetta Stone for Decays of r-Process Nuclei. Phys. Rev. Lett., 131(2), 022501–6pp.
Abstract: The beta decays from both the ground state and a long-lived isomer of In-133 were studied at the ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS). With a hybrid detection system sensitive to beta,gamma, and neutron spectroscopy, the comparative partial half-lives (log ft) have been measured for all their dominant beta-decay channels for the first time, including a low-energy Gamow-Teller transition and several first-forbidden (FF) transitions. Uniquely for such a heavy neutron-rich nucleus, their beta decays selectively populate only a few isolated neutron unbound states in Sn-133. Precise energy and branching-ratio measurements of those resonances allow us to benchmark beta-decay theories at an unprecedented level in this region of the nuclear chart. The results show good agreement with the newly developed large-scale shell model (LSSM) calculations. The experimental findings establish an archetype for the beta decay of neutron-rich nuclei southeast of Sn-132 and will serve as a guide for future theoretical development aiming to describe accurately the key beta decays in the rapid-neutron capture (r-) process.
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Andreev, Y. M. et al, Molina Bueno, L., & Tuzi, M. (2023). Measurement of the intrinsic hadronic contamination in the NA64-e high-purity e+/e- beam at CERN. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1057, 168776–8pp.
Abstract: We present the measurement of the intrinsic hadronic contamination at the CERN SPS H4 beamline configured to transport electrons and positrons at 100 GeV/c. The analysis, performed using data collected by the NA64-e experiment in 2022, is based on calorimetric measurements, exploiting the different interaction mechanisms of electrons and hadrons in the NA64 detector. We determined the contamination by comparing the results obtained using the nominal electron/positron beamline configuration with those from a dedicated setup, in which only hadrons impinged on the detector. We also obtained an estimate of the relative protons, antiprotons and pions yield by exploiting the different absorption probabilities of these particles in matter. We cross-checked our results with a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation for the hadron production at the primary T2 target, finding a good agreement with the experimental measurements.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2023). Search for single vector-like B quark production and decay via B → bH(b(b)over-bar) in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 168–52pp.
Abstract: A search is presented for single production of a vector-like B quark decaying into a Standard Model b-quark and a Standard Model Higgs boson, which decays into a b (b) over bar pair. The search is carried out in 139 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC between 2015 and 2018. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and mass-dependent exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the resonance production cross-section in several theoretical scenarios determined by the couplings c(W), c(Z) and c(H) between the B quark and the Standard Model W, Z and Higgs bosons, respectively. For a vector-like B occurring as an isospin singlet, the search excludes values of c(W) greater than 0.45 for a B resonance mass (m(B)) between 1.0 and 1.2 TeV. For 1.2 TeV < m(B)< 2.0 TeV, c(W) values larger than 0.50-0.65 are excluded. If the B occurs as part of a (B, Y) doublet, the smallest excluded c(Z) coupling values range between 0.3 and 0.5 across the investigated resonance mass range 1.0 TeV < m(B)< 2.0 TeV.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Evidence of off-shell Higgs boson production from ZZ leptonic decay channels and constraints on its total width with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 846, 138223–29pp.
Abstract: This Letter reports on a search for off-shell production of the Higgs boson using 139 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The signature is a pair of Z bosons, with contributions from both the production and subsequent decay of a virtual Higgs boson and the interference of that process with other processes. The two observable final states are ZZ -> 4l and Z Z -> 2l2 nu with l = e or mu. In the ZZ -> 4l final state, a dense Neural Network is used to enhance analysis sensitivity with respect to matrix element-based discrimination. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with an observed (expected) significance of 3.3 (2.2) standard deviations, representing experimental evidence for off-shell Higgs boson production. Assuming that no new particles enter the production of the virtual Higgs boson, its total width can be deduced from the measurement of its off-shell production cross-section. The measured total width of the Higgs boson is 4.5(-2.5)(+3.3) MeV, and the observed (expected) upper limit on the total width is found to be 10.5 (10.9) MeV at 95% confidence level.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Search for direct production of winos and higgsinos in events with two same-charge leptons or three leptons in pp collision data at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 150–70pp.
Abstract: A search for supersymmetry targeting the direct production of winos and higgsinos is conducted in final states with either two leptons (e or mu) with the same electric charge, or three leptons. The analysis uses 139 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 13TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. Simplified and complete models with and without R-parity conservation are considered. In topologies with intermediate states including either Wh or WZ pairs, wino masses up to 525 GeV and 250 GeV are excluded, respectively, for a bino of vanishing mass. Higgsino masses smaller than 440 GeV are excluded in a natural R-parity-violating model with bilinear terms. Upper limits on the production cross section of generic events beyond the Standard Model as low as 40 ab are obtained in signal regions optimised for these models and also for an R-parity-violating scenario with baryon-number-violating higgsino decays into top quarks and jets. The analysis significantly improves sensitivity to supersymmetric models and other processes beyond the Standard Model that may contribute to the considered final states.
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Araujo Filho, A. A., Nascimento, J. R., Petrov, A. Y., & Porfírio, P. J. (2023). Vacuum solution within a metric-affine bumblebee gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 108(8), 085010–13pp.
Abstract: We consider a metric-affine extension to the gravitational sector of the Standard Model extension for the Lorentz-violating coefficients u and s(mu nu). The general results, which are applied to a specific model called metric-affine bumblebee gravity, are obtained. A Schwarzschild-like solution, incorporating effects of the Lorentz symmetry breaking through the coefficient X = xi b(2), is found. Furthermore, a complete study of the geodesic trajectories of particles is accomplished in this background, emphasizing the departure from general relativity. We also compute the advance of Mercury's perihelion and the deflection of light within the context of the weak-field approximation, and we verify that there exist two new contributions ascribed to the Lorentz symmetry breaking. As a phenomenological application, we compare our theoretical results with observational data in order to estimate the coefficient X.
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Servant, G., & Simakachorn, P. (2023). Constraining postinflationary axions with pulsar timing arrays. Phys. Rev. D, 108(12), 123516–16pp.
Abstract: Models that produce axionlike particles (ALPs) after cosmological inflation due to spontaneous U(1) symmetry breaking also produce cosmic-string networks. Those axionic strings lose energy through gravitational-wave emission during the whole cosmological history, generating a stochastic background of gravitational waves that spans many decades in frequency. We can therefore constrain the axion decay constant and axion mass from limits on the gravitational-wave spectrum and compatibility with dark matter abundance as well as dark radiation. We derive such limits from analyzing the most recent NANOGrav data from pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). The limits are similar to the Neff bounds on dark radiation for ALP masses ma less than or similar to 10-22 eV. On the other hand, for heavy ALPs with ma greater than or similar to 0.1 GeV and NDW not equal 1, new regions of parameter space can be probed by PTA data due to the dominant domain-wall contribution to the gravitational-wave background.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Jaimes Elles, S. J., Jashal, B. K., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Rebollo De Miguel, M., et al. (2023). Observation of the decays B(s)0 → Ds1(2536)∓ K±. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 106–25pp.
Abstract: This paper reports the observation of the decays B-(s)(0) -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-) using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1). The branching fractions of these decays are measured relative to the normalisation channel B-0 -> (D) over bar (K+K-)-K-0. The D-s1(2536)(-) meson is reconstructed in the (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-) decay channel and the products of branching fractions are measured to be B(B-s(0) -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-)) x B(D-s1(2536)(-) -> D ($) over bar*(2007)K-0(-)) = (2.49 +/- 0.11 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.25 +/- 0.06) x 10(-5), B(B-0 -> D-s1(2536)K--/+(+/-) ) x B(D-s1(2536)(-) -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-)) = (0.510 +/- 0.021 +/- 0.036 +/- 0.050) x 10(-5). The first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third arises from the uncertainty of the branching fraction of the B-0 -> (D) over bar (K+K-)-K-0 normalisation channel. The last uncertainty in the B-s(0) result is due to the limited knowledge of the fragmentation fraction ratio, f(s)/f(d). The significance for the B-s(0) and B-0 signals is larger than 10 sigma. The ratio of the helicity amplitudes which governs the angular distribution of the D-s1(2536)(-) -> (D) over bar*(2007)K-0(-) decay is determined from the data. The ratio of the S- and D-wave amplitudes is found to be 1.11 +/- 0.15 +/- 0.06 and the phase difference between them 0.70 +/- 0.09 +/- 0.04 rad, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.
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