Antiproton low-energy collisions with Ps-atoms and true muonium atoms (μ + μ −)

Three-charge-particle collisions with participation of ultra-slow antiprotons ( \(\overline {\rm {p}}\) ) is the subject of this work. Specifically we compute the total cross sections and corresponding thermal rates of the following three-body reactions: \(\overline {\rm p}+(e^+e^-) \rightarrow \overline {\rm {H}} + e^-\) and \(\overline {\rm p}+(\mu ^+\mu ^-) \rightarrow \overline {\rm {H}}_{\mu } + \mu ^-\) , where \(e^-(\mu ^-)\) is an electron (muon) and \(e^+(\mu ^+)\) is a positron (antimuon) respectively, \(\overline {\rm {H}}=(\overline {\rm p}e^+)\) is an antihydrogen atom and \(\overline {\rm {H}}_{\mu }=(\overline {\rm p}\mu ^+)\) is a muonic antihydrogen atom, i.e. a bound state of \(\overline {\rm {p}}\) and μ ⁺. A set of two-coupled few-body Faddeev-Hahn-type (FH-type) equations is numerically solved in the framework of a modified close-coupling expansion approach.     

DGP cosmological model with generalized Ricci dark energy

The Higgs-boson decay \(h \rightarrow \gamma \ell ^+ \ell ^-\) for various lepton states \(\ell = (e, \, \mu , \, \tau )\) is analyzed. The differential decay width and forward–backward asymmetry are calculated as functions of the dilepton invariant mass in a model where the Higgs boson interacts with leptons and quarks via a mixture of scalar and pseudoscalar couplings. These couplings are partly constrained from data on the decays to leptons, \(h \rightarrow \ell ^+ \ell ^-\) , and quarks \(h \rightarrow q \bar{q} \) (where \(q = (c, \, b)\) ), while the Higgs couplings to the top quark are chosen from the two-photon and two-gluon decay rates. Nonzero values of the forward–backward asymmetry will manifest effects of new physics in the Higgs sector. The decay width and asymmetry integrated over the dilepton invariant mass are also presented.     

Comprehensive Bayesian analysis of rare (semi)leptonic and radiative \varvec{B} decays

The available data on \(|\Delta B| = |\Delta S| = 1\) decays are in good agreement with the Standard Model when permitting subleading power corrections of about \(15\,\%\) at large hadronic recoil. Constraining new-physics effects in \(\mathcal {C}_{7}^{\mathrm {}}\) , \(\mathcal {C}_{9}^{\mathrm {}}\) , \(\mathcal {C}_{10}^{\mathrm {}}\) , the data still demand the same size of power corrections as in the Standard Model. In the presence of chirality-flipped operators, all but one of the power corrections reduce substantially. The Bayes factors are in favor of the Standard Model. Using new lattice inputs for \(B\rightarrow K^*\) form factors and under our minimal prior assumption for the power corrections, the favor shifts toward models with chirality-flipped operators. We use the data to further constrain the hadronic form factors in \(B\rightarrow K\) and \(B\rightarrow K^*\) transitions.     

Optimal N-Point Configurations on the Sphere: “Magic” Numbers and Smale’s 7th Problem

This paper inquires into the concavity of the map \(N\mapsto v_s(N)\) from the integers \(N\ge 2\) into the minimal average standardized Riesz pair-energies \(v_s(N)\) of \(N\) -point configurations on the sphere \(\mathbb {S}^2\) for various \(s\in \mathbb {R}\) . The standardized Riesz pair-energy of a pair of points on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) a chordal distance \(r\) apart is \(V_s(r)= s^{-1}\left( r^{-s}-1 \right) \) , \(s \ne 0\) , which becomes \(V_0(r) = \ln \frac{1}{r}\) in the limit \(s\rightarrow 0\) . Averaging it over the \(\left( \begin{array}{c} N\\ 2\end{array}\right) \) distinct pairs in a configuration and minimizing over all possible \(N\) -point configurations defines \(v_s(N)\) . It is known that \(N\mapsto v_s(N)\) is strictly increasing for each \(s\in \mathbb {R}\) , and for \(s<2\) also bounded above, thus “overall concave.” It is (easily) proved that \(N\mapsto v_{-2}^{}(N)\) is even locally strictly concave, and that so is the map \(2n\mapsto v_s(2n)\) for \(s<-2\) . By analyzing computer-experimental data of putatively minimal average Riesz pair-energies \(v_s^x(N)\) for \(s\in \{-1,0,1,2,3\}\) and \(N\in \{2,\ldots ,200\}\) , it is found that the map \(N\mapsto {v}_{-1}^x(N)\) is locally strictly concave, while \(N\mapsto {v}_s^x(N)\) is not always locally strictly concave for \(s\in \{0,1,2,3\}\) : concavity defects occur whenever \(N\in {\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s)\) (an \(s\) -specific empirical set of integers). It is found that the empirical map \(s\mapsto {\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s),\ s\in \{-2,-1,0,1,2,3\}\) , is set-theoretically increasing; moreover, the percentage of odd numbers in \({\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s),\ s\in \{0,1,2,3\}\) is found to increase with \(s\) . The integers in \({\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(0)\) are few and far between, forming a curious sequence of numbers, reminiscent of the “magic numbers” in nuclear physics. It is conjectured that these new “magic numbers” are associated with optimally symmetric optimal-log-energy \(N\) -point configurations on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) . A list of interesting open problems is extracted from the empirical findings, and some rigorous first steps toward their solutions are presented. It is emphasized how concavity can assist in the solution to Smale’s \(7\) th Problem, which asks for an efficient algorithm to find near-optimal \(N\) -point configurations on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) and higher-dimensional spheres.     

Antineutrino science in KamLAND

The primary goal of KamLAND is a search for the oscillation of \({\bar{\nu }}_\mathrm{e}\) ’s emitted from distant power reactors. The long baseline, typically 180 km, enables KamLAND to address the oscillation solution of the “solar neutrino problem” with \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s under laboratory conditions. KamLAND found fewer reactor \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) events than expected from standard assumptions about \(\overline{\nu }_e\) propagation at more than 9 \(\sigma \) confidence level (C.L.). The observed energy spectrum disagrees with the expected spectral shape at more than 5 \(\sigma \) C.L., and prefers the distortion from neutrino oscillation effects. A three-flavor oscillation analysis of the data from KamLAND and KamLAND + solar neutrino experiments with CPT invariance, yields \(\Delta m_{21}^2 \) = [ \(7.54_{-0.18}^{+0.19} \times \) 10 \(^{-5}\) eV \(^{2}\) , \(7.53_{-0.18}^{+0.19} \times \) 10 \(^{-5}\) eV \(^{2}\) ], tan \(^{2}\theta _{12}\) = [ \(0.481_{-0.080}^{+0.092} \) , \(0.437_{-0.026}^{+0.029} \) ], and sin \(^{2}\theta _{13}\) = [ \(0.010_{-0.034}^{+0.033} \) , \(0.023_{-0.015}^{+0.015} \) ]. All solutions to the solar neutrino problem except for the large mixing angle region are excluded. KamLAND also demonstrated almost two cycles of the periodic feature expected from neutrino oscillation effects. KamLAND performed the first experimental study of antineutrinos from the Earth’s interior so-called geoneutrinos (geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s), and succeeded in detecting geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s produced by the decays of \(^{238}\) U and \(^{232}\) Th within the Earth. Assuming a chondritic Th/U mass ratio, we obtain \(116_{-27}^{+28} {\bar{\nu }}_{e}\) events from \(^{238}\) U and \(^{232}\) Th, corresponding a geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e}\) flux of \(3.4_{-0.8}^{+0.8}\times \) 10 \(^{6}\) cm \(^{-2}\)  s \(^{-1}\) at the KamLAND location. We evaluate various bulk silicate Earth composition models using the observed geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) rate.     

The CMSSM and NUHM1 after LHC Run 1

We analyze the impact of data from the full Run 1 of the LHC at 7 and 8 TeV on the CMSSM with \(\mu > 0\) and \(<0\) and the NUHM1 with \(\mu > 0\) , incorporating the constraints imposed by other experiments such as precision electroweak measurements, flavour measurements, the cosmological density of cold dark matter and the direct search for the scattering of dark matter particles in the LUX experiment. We use the following results from the LHC experiments: ATLAS searches for events with \({E\!\!/}_{T}\) accompanied by jets with the full 7 and 8 TeV data, the ATLAS and CMS measurements of the mass of the Higgs boson, the CMS searches for heavy neutral Higgs bosons and a combination of the LHCb and CMS measurements of \(\mathrm{BR}(B_s \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) and \(\mathrm{BR}(B_d \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) . Our results are based on samplings of the parameter spaces of the CMSSM for both \(\mu >0\) and \(\mu <0\) and of the NUHM1 for \(\mu > 0\) with 6.8 \(\times 10^6\) , 6.2 \(\times 10^6\) and 1.6 \(\times 10^7\) points, respectively, obtained using the MultiNest tool. The impact of the Higgs-mass constraint is assessed using FeynHiggs 2.10.0, which provides an improved prediction for the masses of the MSSM Higgs bosons in the region of heavy squark masses. It yields in general larger values of \(M_h\) than previous versions of FeynHiggs, reducing the pressure on the CMSSM and NUHM1. We find that the global \(\chi ^2\) functions for the supersymmetric models vary slowly over most of the parameter spaces allowed by the Higgs-mass and the \({E\!\!/}_{T}\) searches, with best-fit values that are comparable to the \(\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}\) for the best Standard Model fit. We provide 95 % CL lower limits on the masses of various sparticles and assess the prospects for observing them during Run 2 of the LHC.     

Pesin’s Entropy Formula for Systems Between C^1 and C^{1+\alpha }

In this article we give a new observation of Pesin’s entropy formula, motivated from Mañé’s proof of (Ergod Theory Dyn Sys 1:95–102, 1981). Let \(M\) be a compact Riemann manifold and \(f:\,M\rightarrow M\) be a \(C^1\) diffeomorphism on \(M\) . If \(\mu \) is an \(f\) -invariant probability measure which is absolutely continuous relative to Lebesgue measure and nonuniformly-H \(\ddot{\text {o}}\) lder-continuous(see Definition 1.1), then we have Pesin’s entropy formula, i.e., the metric entropy \(h_\mu (f)\) satisfies $$\begin{aligned} h_{\mu }(f)=\int \sum _{\lambda _i(x)> 0}\lambda _i(x)d\mu , \end{aligned}$$ where \(\lambda _1(x)\ge \lambda _2(x)\ge \cdots \ge \lambda _{dim\,M}(x)\) are the Lyapunov exponents at \(x\) with respect to \(\mu .\) Nonuniformly-H \(\ddot{\text {o}}\) lder-continuous is a new notion from probabilistic perspective weaker than \(C^{1+\alpha }.\)      

Reunion Probabilities of N One-Dimensional Random Walkers with Mixed Boundary Conditions

In this work we extend the results of the reunion probability of \(N\) one-dimensional random walkers to include mixed boundary conditions between their trajectories. The level of the mixture is controlled by a parameter \(c\) , which can be varied from \(c=0\) (independent walkers) to \(c\rightarrow \infty \) (vicious walkers). The expressions are derived by using Quantum Mechanics formalism (QMf) which allows us to map this problem into a Lieb-Liniger gas (LLg) of \(N\) one-dimensional particles. We use Bethe ansatz and Gaudin’s conjecture to obtain the normalized wave-functions and use this information to construct the propagator. As it is well-known, depending on the boundary conditions imposed at the endpoints of a line segment, the statistics of the maximum heights of the reunited trajectories have some connections with different ensembles in Random Matrix Theory. Here we seek to extend those results and consider four models: absorbing, periodic, reflecting, and mixed. In all four cases, the probability that the maximum height is less or equal than \(L\) takes the form \(F_N(L)=A_N\sum _{\varvec{k}\in \Omega _{\text {B}}} \mathrm{e}^{-\sum _{j=1}^Nk_j^2}\mathcal {V}_N(\varvec{k})\) , where \(A_N\) is a normalization constant, \(\mathcal {V}_N(\varvec{k})\) contains a deformed and weighted Vandermonde determinant, and \(\Omega _{\text {B}}\) is the solution set of quasi-momenta \(\varvec{k}\) obeying the Bethe equations for that particular boundary condition.     

QCD analysis of forward neutron production in DIS

Observing light-by-light scattering at the large hadron collider (LHC) has received quite some attention and it is believed to be a clean and sensitive channel to possible new physics. In this paper, we study the diphoton production at the LHC via the process \({{pp}}\rightarrow {{p}}\gamma \gamma {{p}}\rightarrow {{p}}\gamma \gamma {{p}}\) through graviton exchange in the large extra dimension (LED) model. Typically, when we do the background analysis, we also study the double Pomeron exchange of \(\gamma \gamma \) production. We compare its production in the quark–quark collision mode to the gluon–gluon collision mode and find that contributions from the gluon–gluon collision mode are comparable to the quark–quark one. Our result shows, for extra dimension \(\delta =4\) , with an integrated luminosity \(\mathcal{L} = 200\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}\) at the 14 TeV LHC, that diphoton production through graviton exchange can probe the LED effects up to the scale \({M}_{S}=5.06 (4.51, 5.11)\,\mathrm{TeV}\) for the forward detector acceptance \(\xi _1 (\xi _2, \xi _3)\) , respectively, where \(0.0015<\xi _1<0.5\) , \(0.1<\xi _2<0.5\) , and \(0.0015<\xi _3<0.15\) .     

Maximal Distance Travelled by N Vicious Walkers Till Their Survival

We consider N Brownian particles moving on a line starting from initial positions \(\mathbf{{u}}\equiv \{u_1,u_2,\ldots u_N\}\) such that \(0 . Their motion gets stopped at time \(t_s\) when either two of them collide or when the particle closest to the origin hits the origin for the first time. For \(N=2\) , we study the probability distribution function \(p_1(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) and \(p_2(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) of the maximal distance travelled by the \(1^{\text {st}}\) and \(2^{\text {nd}}\) walker till \(t_s\) . For general N particles with identical diffusion constants \(D\) , we show that the probability distribution \(p_N(m|\mathbf{u})\) of the global maximum \(m_N\) , has a power law tail \(p_i(m|\mathbf{{u}}) \sim {N^2B_N\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})}/{m^{\nu _N}}\) with exponent \(\nu _N =N^2+1\) . We obtain explicit expressions of the function \(\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})\) and of the N dependent amplitude \(B_N\) which we also analyze for large N using techniques from random matrix theory. We verify our analytical results through direct numerical simulations.     

Thin-shell wormholes from the regular Hayward black hole

We discuss the formalism of the two Higgs doublet model of type III with CP violation from CP-even CP-odd mixing in the neutral Higgs bosons. The flavor-changing interactions among neutral Higgs bosons and fermions are presented at tree level in this type of model. These assumptions allow the study of rare top decays mediated by a neutral Higgs boson; particularly we are interested in $t\rightarrow c l^+l^-$ . For this process we estimate the upper bounds of the branching ratios $\mathrm{Br }(t\rightarrow c \tau ^+\tau ^-)$ of the order of $10^{-9}\sim 10^{-7}$ for a neutral Higgs boson mass equal to 125 GeV and $\tan \beta =1$ , 1.5, 2, 2.5. For the case of $t\rightarrow c \tau ^+\tau ^-$ the number of possible events is estimated to range from 1 to 10 events, which could be observed in future experiments at LHC with a luminosity of 300  $\hbox {fb}^{-1}$ and 14 TeV for the energy of the center of mass. Also we estimate that the number of events for the process $t\rightarrow c l^+l^-$ in different scenarios is of the order of 2,500.     

Is the CNMSSM more credible than the CMSSM?

“Post-sphaleron baryogenesis”, a fresh and profound mechanism of baryogenesis accounts for the matter–antimatter asymmetry of our present universe in a framework of Pati–Salam symmetry. We attempt here to embed this mechanism in a non-SUSY SO(10) grand unified theory by reviving a novel symmetry breaking chain with Pati–Salam symmetry as an intermediate symmetry breaking step and as well to address post-sphaleron baryogenesis and neutron–antineutron oscillation in a rational manner. The Pati–Salam symmetry based on the gauge group \(\mathrm{SU}(2)_L \times \mathrm{SU}(2)_{R} \times \mathrm{SU}(4)_C\) is realized in our model at \(10^{5}\) – \(10^{6}\)  GeV and the mixing time for the neutron–antineutron oscillation process having \(\Delta B=2\) is found to be \(\tau _{n-\bar{n}} \simeq 10^{8}\) – \(10^{10}\)  s with the model parameters, which is within the reach of forthcoming experiments. Other novel features of the model include low scale right-handed \(W^{\pm }_R\) , \(Z_R\) gauge bosons, explanation for neutrino oscillation data via the gauged inverse (or extended) seesaw mechanism and most importantly TeV scale color sextet scalar particles responsible for an observable \(n\) – \(\bar{n}\) oscillation which may be accessible to LHC. We also look after gauge coupling unification and an estimation of the proton lifetime with and without the addition of color sextet scalars.     

Line intensity measurements of methane’s \nu _3-band using a cw-OPO

We report on absolute line strength measurements of P(1), R(0) and R(1) singlet lines in the \(3.3\,\upmu\hbox {m}\,\nu _{3}\) (C–H stretching) band of methane \(^{12}\hbox {CH}_4\) at reference temperature \(T=296\)  K. Line strength measurements are performed at low pressure \((P \le 1\hbox { Torr})\) using direct absorption spectroscopy technique based on a widely tunable continuous-wave singly resonant optical parametric oscillator. The \(1\sigma \) overall accuracy in line strength determinations ranges between 7 and 8 % mostly limited by pressure and frequency measurements. A comparison with previous reported values is made. Our results show good agreement with the HITRAN 2012 database.     

Phase Transitions in Layered Systems

We consider the Ising model on \(\mathbb Z\times \mathbb Z\) where on each horizontal line \(\{(x,i), x\in \mathbb Z\}\) , called “layer”, the interaction is given by a ferromagnetic Kac potential with coupling strength \(J_{ \gamma }(x,y)={ \gamma }J({ \gamma }(x-y))\) , where \(J(\cdot )\) is smooth and has compact support; we then add a nearest neighbor ferromagnetic vertical interaction of strength \({ \gamma }^{A}\) , where \(A\ge 2\) is fixed, and prove that for any \(\beta \) larger than the mean field critical value there is a phase transition for all \({ \gamma }\) small enough.     

A flexible scintillation light apparatus for rare event searches

Compelling experimental evidences of neutrino oscillations and their implication that neutrinos are massive particles have given neutrinoless double beta decay ( \(\beta \beta 0\nu \) ) a central role in astroparticle physics. In fact, the discovery of this elusive decay would be a major breakthrough, unveiling that neutrino and antineutrino are the same particle and that the lepton number is not conserved. It would also impact our efforts to establish the absolute neutrino mass scale and, ultimately, understand elementary particle interaction unification. All current experimental programs to search for \(\beta \beta 0\nu \) are facing with the technical and financial challenge of increasing the experimental mass while maintaining incredibly low levels of spurious background. The new concept described in this paper could be the answer which combines all the features of an ideal experiment: energy resolution, low cost mass scalability, isotope choice flexibility and many powerful handles to make the background negligible. The proposed technology is based on the use of arrays of silicon detectors cooled to 120 K to optimize the collection of the scintillation light emitted by ultra-pure crystals. It is shown that with a 54 kg array of natural CaMoO \(_4\) scintillation detectors of this type it is possible to yield a competitive sensitivity on the half-life of the \(\beta \beta 0\nu \) of \(^{100}\) Mo as high as \(\sim \) \(10^{24}\)  years in only 1 year of data taking. The same array made of \(^{40}\) Ca \(^{\mathrm {nat}}\) MoO \(_4\) scintillation detectors (to get rid of the continuous background coming from the two neutrino double beta decay of \(^{48}\) Ca) will instead be capable of achieving the remarkable sensitivity of \(\sim \) \(10^{25}\)  years on the half-life of \(^{100}\) Mo \(\beta \beta 0\nu \) in only 1 year of measurement.     

A realistic pattern of lepton mixing and masses from $$S_4$$ and CP

We calculate the combined angular-distribution functions of the polarized photons ( $\gamma _1$ and $\gamma _2$ ) and electron ( $e^-$ ) produced in the cascade process $\bar{p}p\rightarrow {^3{D_3}}\rightarrow {^3{P_2}}+\gamma _1 \rightarrow (\psi +\gamma _2)+\gamma _1\rightarrow (e^++e^-)+\gamma _1+\gamma _2$ , when the colliding $\bar{p}$ and $p$ are unpolarized. Our results are independent of any dynamical models and are expressed in terms of the spherical harmonics whose coefficients are functions of the angular-momentum helicity amplitudes of the individual processes. Once the joint angular distribution of ( $\gamma _1$ , $\gamma _2$ ) and that of ( $\gamma _2$ , $e^-$ ) with the polarization of either one of the two particles are measured, our results will enable one to determine the relative magnitudes as well as the relative phases of all the angular-momentum helicity amplitudes in the radiative decay processes ${^3{D_3}}\rightarrow {^3{P_2}}+\gamma _1$ and ${^3{P_2}}\rightarrow \psi +\gamma _2$ .     

The Isospin Mixing in the X(3872) Decay Spectrum

The large isospin symmetry breaking found in the X(3872) decay is investigated by looking into the transfer strength from the \({{c}\bar{c}}\) quarkonium to the two-meson states: \({c\bar{c} \rightarrow D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}, D^{+} D^{*-} , J /\psi\omega, {\rm and} \, J /\psi\rho}\) . The widths of the \({\rho}\) and \({\omega}\) mesons are taken into account in the calculation. It is found that very narrow \({J /\psi\omega}\) and \({J /\psi\rho}\) peaks appear at the \({D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}}\) threshold. These narrow peaks appear provided that the strength of the \({D^{0}\overline{D}^{*0}}\) component is large around the threshold. The large width of the \({\rho}\) meson enhances the isospin-one component in the transfer strength considerably, which reduces the ratio \({{\rm Br}(X \rightarrow J /\psi\omega)/{\rm Br}(X \rightarrow J /\psi\rho)}\) down to 2.5.     

Investigation of conductivity of adhesive layer including indium tin oxide particles for multi-junction solar cells

We report connection conductivity ( \(C_{\rm c}\) ) of adhesive which including \(\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3\) – \(\hbox {SnO}_2\) (ITO) particles developed for fabrication of stacked-type-multi-junction solar cells. The commercial 20- \(\upmu \) m sized ITO particles were heated in vacuum at temperature ranging from 800 to 1,300  \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) for 10 min to increase \(C_{\rm c}\) . 6.2 wt% ITO particles were dispersed in commercial Cemedine adhesive gel to form 100 samples structured with n-type Si/adhesive/n-type Si (n-Si sample) and p-type Si/adhesive/p-type Si (p-Si sample). Current density as a function of voltage (J–V) characteristics gave \(C_{\rm c}\) . It ranged from 4.3 to 1.0 S/cm \(^2\) for the n-Si sample with 800 \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) heat-treated ITO particles. Its standard deviation was 0.59 S/cm \(^2\) . On the other hand, it ranged from 2.0 to 0.6 S/cm \(^2\) for the p-Si sample with 800  \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) heat-treated ITO particles. Its standard deviation was 0.22 S/cm \(^2\) . The distribution of \(C_{\rm c}\) mainly resulted from contact efficiency of ITO particles to substrate. We theoretically estimated that present \(C_{\rm c}\) achieved a low loss of the power conversion efficiency ( \(E_{\rm ff}\) ) lower than 0.3 % in the application of fabrication of multi-junction solar cell with an intrinsic \(E_{\rm ff}\) of 30 % and an open circuit voltage above 1.9 V.     

Existence of a Non-Averaging Regime for the Self-Avoiding Walk on a High-Dimensional Infinite Percolation Cluster

Let $Z_N$ be the number of self-avoiding paths of length $N$ starting from the origin on the infinite cluster obtained after performing Bernoulli percolation on ${\mathbb Z} ^d$ with parameter $p>p_c({\mathbb Z} ^d)$ . The object of this paper is to study the connective constant of the dilute lattice $\limsup _{N\rightarrow \infty } Z_N^{1/N}$ , which is a non-random quantity. We want to investigate if the inequality $\limsup _{N\rightarrow \infty } (Z_N)^{1/N} \le \lim _{N\rightarrow \infty } {\mathbb E} [Z_N]^{1/N}$ obtained with the Borel–Cantelli Lemma is strict or not. In other words, we want to know if the quenched and annealed versions of the connective constant are equal. On a heuristic level, this indicates whether or not localization of the trajectories occurs. We prove that when $d$ is sufficiently large there exists $p^{(2)}_c>p_c$ such that the inequality is strict for $p\in (p_c,p^{(2)}_c)$ .