Abstract: The nucleon isovector electromagnetic form factors are calculated up to next-to-next-to-leading order by combining relativistic chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) of pion, nucleon, and Delta o1232 thorn with dispersion theory. We specifically address the light-quark mass dependence of the form factors, achieving a good description of recent lattice QCD results over a range of Q2 less than or similar to 0.6 GeV2 and M pi less than or similar to 350 MeV. For the Dirac form factor, the combination of ChPT and dispersion theory outperforms the pure dispersive and pure ChPT descriptions. For the Pauli form factor, the combined calculation leads to results comparable to the purely dispersive ones. The anomalous magnetic moment and the Dirac and Pauli radii are extracted.

Abstract: It is well known that the scotogenic model for neutrino mass generation can explain correctly the relic abundance of cold dark matter. There have been claims in the literature that an important part of the parameter space of the simplest scotogentic model can be constrained by the requirement that no Z(2)-breaking must occur in the early universe. Here we show that this requirement does not give any constraints on the underlying parameter space at least in those parts, where we can trust perturbation theory. To demonstrate this, we have taken into account the proper decoupling of heavy degrees of freedom in both the thermal potential and in the RGE evolution.

Abstract: A class of hybrid compact star equations of state is investigated that joins by a Maxwell construction a low-density phase of hadronic matter, modeled by a relativistic mean-field approach with excluded nucleon volume, with a high-density phase of color superconducting two-flavor quark matter, described within a nonlocal covariant chiral quark model. It is found that the occurrence of a stable branch of hybrid compact stars requires a nonvanishing vector meson coupling in the quark model that exceeds a minimal value which depends on the presence of a diquark condensate. It is shown that these hybrid stars do not form a third family disconnected from the second family of ordinary neutron stars unless additional (de) confining effects are introduced with a density-dependent bag pressure. A suitably chosen density dependence of the vector meson coupling assures that at the same time the 2M(circle dot) maximum mass constraint is fulfilled on the hybrid star branch. A twofold interpolation method is realized which implements both the density dependence of a confining bag pressure at the onset of the hadron-to-quark matter transition and the stiffening of quark matter at higher densities by a density-dependent vector meson coupling. For three parametrizations of this class of hybrid equation of state the properties of corresponding compact star sequences are presented, including mass twins of neutron and hybrid stars at 2.00, 1.39 and 1.20 M-circle dot, respectively, and the hybrid compact star (third) families. The sensitivity of the hybrid equation of state and the corresponding compact star sequences to variations of the interpolation parameters at the 10% level is investigated and it is found that the feature of third family solutions for compact stars is robust against such a variation. This advanced description of hybrid star matter allows us to interpret GW170817 as a merger not only of two neutron stars but also of a neutron star with a hybrid star or of two hybrid stars.

Abstract: The Bayesian approach for feedforward neural networks has been applied to the extraction of the nucleon axial form factor from the neutrino-deuteron-scattering data measured by the Argonne National Laboratory bubble-chamber experiment. This framework allows to perform a model-independent determination of the axial form factor from data. When the low 0.05 < Q(2) < 0.10-GeV2 data are included in the analysis, the resulting axial radius disagrees with available determinations. Furthermore, a large sensitivity to the corrections from the deuteron structure is obtained. In turn, when the low-Q(2) region is not taken into account with or without deuteron corrections, no significant deviations from previous determinations have been observed. A more accurate determination of the nucleon axial form factor requires new precise measurements of neutrino-induced quasielastic scattering on hydrogen and deuterium.

Abstract: We analyse a possible connection between CP violations in the quark and lepton sectors, parametrised by the CKM and PMNS phases. If one assumes that CP breaking arises from complexYukawa couplings, both in the quark and lepton sectors, the above connection is not possible in general, sinceYukawa couplings in the two sectors have independent flavour structures. We show that both the CKM and PMNS phases can instead be generated by a vacuum phase in a class of two Higgs doublet models, and in this case a connection may be established. This scenario requires the presence of scalar FCNC at tree level, both in the quark and lepton sectors. The appearance of these FCNC is an obstacle and a blessing. An obstacle since one has to analyse which models are able to conform to the strict experimental limits on FCNC, both in the quark and lepton sectors. A blessing, because this class of models is falsifiable since FCNC arise at a level which can be probed experimentally in the near future, specially in the processes h up arrow e(+/-) t +/- and t -> hc. The connection between CP violations in CKM and PMNS is explicitely illustrated in models with Minimal Flavour Violation.