Electroweak vacuum stability in classically conformal $$$$ extension of the standard model

We consider the minimal U(1)\(_{B-L}\) extension of the standard model (SM) with the classically conformal invariance, where an anomaly-free U(1)\(_{B-L}\) gauge symmetry is introduced along with three generations of right-handed neutrinos and a U(1)\(_{B-L}\) Higgs field. Because of the classically conformal symmetry, all dimensional parameters are forbidden. The \(B-L\) gauge symmetry is radiatively broken through the Coleman–Weinberg mechanism, generating the mass for the \(U(1)_{B-L}\) gauge boson (\(Z^\prime \) boson) and the right-handed neutrinos. Through a small negative coupling between the SM Higgs doublet and the \(B-L\) Higgs field, the negative mass term for the SM Higgs doublet is generated and the electroweak symmetry is broken. In this model context, we investigate the electroweak vacuum instability problem in the SM. It is well known that in the classically conformal U(1)\(_{B-L}\) extension of the SM, the electroweak vacuum remains unstable in the renormalization group analysis at the one-loop level. In this paper, we extend the analysis to the two-loop level, and perform parameter scans. We identify a parameter region which not only solve the vacuum instability problem, but also satisfy the recent ATLAS and CMS bounds from search for \(Z^\prime \) boson resonance at the LHC Run-2. Considering self-energy corrections to the SM Higgs doublet through the right-handed neutrinos and the \(Z^\prime \) boson, we derive the naturalness bound on the model parameters to realize the electroweak scale without fine-tunings.     

Higgs–photon resonances

We study models that produce a Higgs boson plus photon (\(h^0\gamma \)) resonance at the LHC. When the resonance is a \(Z'\) boson, decays to \(h^0\gamma \) occur at one loop. If the \(Z'\) boson couples at tree level to quarks, then the \(h^0\gamma \) branching fraction is typically of order \(10^{-5}\) or smaller. Nevertheless, there are models that would allow the observation of \(Z'\rightarrow \,h^0\gamma \) at \(\sqrt{s}=13\) TeV with a cross section times branching fraction larger than 1 fb for a \(Z'\) mass in the 200–450 GeV range, and larger than 0.1 fb for a mass up to 800 GeV. The one-loop decay of the \(Z'\) into lepton pairs competes with \(h^0\gamma \), even if the \(Z'\) couplings to leptons vanish at tree level. We also present a model in which a \(Z'\) boson decays into a Higgs boson and a pair of collimated photons, mimicking an \(h^0\gamma \) resonance. In this model, the \(h^0\gamma \) resonance search would be the discovery mode for a \(Z'\) as heavy as 2 TeV. When the resonance is a scalar, although decay to \(h^0\gamma \) is forbidden by angular momentum conservation, the \(h^0\) plus collimated photons channel is allowed. We comment on prospects of observing an \(h^0\gamma \) resonance through different Higgs decays, on constraints from related searches, and on models where \(h^0\) is replaced by a nonstandard Higgs boson.     

NLO+NLL collider bounds,Dirac fermion and scalar dark matter in the B–L model

Baryon and lepton numbers being accidental global symmetries of the Standard Model (SM), it is natural to promote them to local symmetries. However, to preserve anomaly-freedom, only combinations of B–L are viable. In this spirit, we investigate possible dark matter realizations in the context of the \(U(1)_\mathrm{B{-}L}\) model: (i) Dirac fermion with unbroken B–L; (ii) Dirac fermion with broken B–L; (iii) scalar dark matter; (iv) two-component dark matter. We compute the relic abundance, direct and indirect detection observables and confront them with recent results from Planck, LUX-2016, and Fermi-LAT and prospects from XENON1T. In addition to the well-known LEP bound \(M_{Z^{\prime }}/g_\mathrm{BL} \gtrsim 7\) TeV, we include often ignored LHC bounds using 13 TeV dilepton (dimuon + dielectron) data at next-to-leading order plus next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We show that, for gauge couplings smaller than 0.4, the LHC gives rise to the strongest collider limit. In particular, we find \(M_{Z^{\prime }}/g_\mathrm{BL} > 8.7\) TeV for \(g_\mathrm{BL}=0.3\). We conclude that the NLO+NLL corrections improve the dilepton bounds on the \(Z^{\prime }\) mass and that both dark matter candidates are only viable in the \(Z^{\prime }\) resonance region, with the parameter space for scalar dark matter being fully probed by XENON1T. Lastly, we show that one can successfully have a minimal two-component dark matter model.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>′ discovery potential at the LHC in the minimal <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>–<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis> extension of the standard model

We present the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) discovery potential in the Z′ sector of a \(U(1)_{B\mbox{--}L}\) enlarged Standard Model (that also includes three heavy Majorana neutrinos and an additional Higgs boson) for \(\sqrt{s}=7\), 10 and 14 TeV centre-of-mass (CM) energies, considering both the \(Z'_{B\mbox{--}L}\rightarrow e^{+}e^{-}\) and \(Z'_{B\mbox{--}L}\rightarrow\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\) decay channels. The comparison of the (irreducible) backgrounds with the expected backgrounds for the DØ experiment at the Tevatron validates our simulation. We propose an alternative analysis that has the potential to improve the DØ sensitivity. Electrons provide a higher sensitivity to smaller couplings at small \(Z'_{B\mbox{--}L}\) boson masses than do muons. The resolutions achievable may allow the \(Z'_{B\mbox{--}L}\) boson width to be measured at smaller masses in the case of electrons in the final state. The run of the LHC at \(\sqrt{s}=7\) TeV, assuming at most \(\int\mathcal{L} \sim1\) fb^?1, will be able to give similar results to those that will be available soon at the Tevatron in the lower mass region, and to extend them for a heavier M _Z′.     

Search of the neutrino-less double beta decay of $$^{}$$Se into the excited states of $$^{}$$Kr with CUPID-0

The CUPID-0 experiment searches for double beta decay using cryogenic calorimeters with double (heat and light) read-out. The detector, consisting of 24 ZnSe crystals 95\(\%\) enriched in \(^{82}\)Se and two natural ZnSe crystals, started data-taking in 2017 at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. We present the search for the neutrino-less double beta decay of \(^{82}\)Se into the 0\(_1^+\), 2\(_1^+\) and 2\(_2^+\) excited states of \(^{82}\)Kr with an exposure of 5.74 kg\(\cdot \)yr (2.24\(\times \)10\(^{25}\) emitters\(\cdot \)yr). We found no evidence of the decays and set the most stringent limits on the widths of these processes: \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{0_1^+}\))8.55\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \) (\(^{82}\) Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\) Kr \(_{2_1^+}\))\(\,{<}\,6.25 \,{\times }\,10^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{2_2^+}\))8.25\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\) (90\(\%\) credible interval).     

$$\varvec{B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}\mu ^+\mu ^-}$$ decay in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model

In the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model, we perform a complete one-loop computation of the short-distance Wilson coefficients \(C_{7,9,10}^{(\prime )}\), which are the most relevant ones for \(b\rightarrow s\ell ^+\ell ^-\) transitions. It is found that, when the model parameter \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \) is much smaller than \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \), the charged scalar contributes mainly to chirality-flipped \(C_{9,10}^\prime \), with the corresponding effects being proportional to \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| ^2\). Numerically, the charged-scalar effects fit into two categories: (A) \(C_{7,9,10}^\mathrm {H^\pm }\) are sizable, but \(C_{9,10}^{\prime \mathrm {H^\pm }}\simeq 0\), corresponding to the (large \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \), small \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \)) region; (B) \(C_7^\mathrm {H^\pm }\) and \(C_{9,10}^{\prime \mathrm {H^\pm }}\) are sizable, but \(C_{9,10}^\mathrm {H^\pm }\simeq 0\), corresponding to the (small \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \), large \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \)) region. Taking into account phenomenological constraints from the inclusive radiative decay \(B\rightarrow X_{s}{\gamma }\), as well as the latest model-independent global analysis of \(b\rightarrow s\ell ^+\ell ^-\) data, we obtain the much restricted parameter space of the model. We then study the impact of the allowed model parameters on the angular observables \(P_2\) and \(P_5'\) of \(B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}\mu ^+\mu ^-\) decay, and we find that \(P_5'\) could be increased significantly to be consistent with the experimental data in case B.     

Likelihood analysis of the minimal AMSB model

We perform a likelihood analysis of the minimal anomaly-mediated supersymmetry-breaking (mAMSB) model using constraints from cosmology and accelerator experiments. We find that either a wino-like or a Higgsino-like neutralino LSP, \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\), may provide the cold dark matter (DM), both with similar likelihoods. The upper limit on the DM density from Planck and other experiments enforces \(m_{\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}} \lesssim 3 \,\, \mathrm {TeV}\) after the inclusion of Sommerfeld enhancement in its annihilations. If most of the cold DM density is provided by the \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\), the measured value of the Higgs mass favours a limited range of \(\tan \beta \sim 5\) (and also for \(\tan \beta \sim 45\) if \(\mu > 0\)) but the scalar mass \(m_0\) is poorly constrained. In the wino-LSP case, \(m_{3/2}\) is constrained to about \(900\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\) and \(m_{\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}}\) to \(2.9\pm 0.1\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\), whereas in the Higgsino-LSP case \(m_{3/2}\) has just a lower limit \(\gtrsim 650\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\) (\(\gtrsim 480\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\)) and \(m_{\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}}\) is constrained to \(1.12 ~(1.13) \pm 0.02\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\) in the \(\mu >0\) (\(\mu <0\)) scenario. In neither case can the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, \((g-2)_\mu \), be improved significantly relative to its Standard Model (SM) value, nor do flavour measurements constrain the model significantly, and there are poor prospects for discovering supersymmetric particles at the LHC, though there are some prospects for direct DM detection. On the other hand, if the \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) contributes only a fraction of the cold DM density, future LHC Open image in new window -based searches for gluinos, squarks and heavier chargino and neutralino states as well as disappearing track searches in the wino-like LSP region will be relevant, and interference effects enable \(\mathrm{BR}(B_{s, d} \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) to agree with the data better than in the SM in the case of wino-like DM with \(\mu > 0\).     

New feature of low $$p_{T}$$ charm quark hadronization in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=7$$s=7 TeV

Treating the light-flavor constituent quarks and antiquarks whose momentum information is extracted from the data of soft light-flavor hadrons in pp collisions at \(\sqrt{s}=7\) TeV as the underlying source of chromatically neutralizing the charm quarks of low transverse momenta (\(p_{T}\)), we show that the experimental data of \(p_{T}\) spectra of single-charm hadrons \(D^{0,+}\), \(D^{*+}\) \(D_{s}^{+}\), \(\varLambda _{c}^{+}\) and \(\varXi _{c}^{0}\) at mid-rapidity in the low \(p_{T}\) range (\(2\lesssim p_{T}\lesssim 7\) GeV/c) in pp collisions at \(\sqrt{s}=7\) TeV can be well understood by the equal-velocity combination of perturbatively created charm quarks and those light-flavor constituent quarks and antiquarks. This suggests a possible new scenario of low \(p_{T}\) charm quark hadronization, in contrast to the traditional fragmentation mechanism, in pp collisions at LHC energies. This is also another support for the exhibition of the soft constituent quark degrees of freedom for the small parton system created in pp collisions at LHC energies.     

Decay widths of the spin-2 partners of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>(3872)

We consider the X(3872) resonance as a \(J^\mathrm{{PC}}=1^{++}\) \(D\bar{D}^*\) hadronic molecule. According to heavy quark spin symmetry, there will exist a partner with quantum numbers \(2^{++}\), \(X_{2}\), which would be a \(D^*\bar{D}^*\) loosely bound state. The \(X_{2}\) is expected to decay dominantly into \(D\bar{D}\), \(D\bar{D}^*\) and \(\bar{D} D^*\) in d-wave. In this work, we calculate the decay widths of the \(X_{2}\) resonance into the above channels, as well as those of its bottom partner, \(X_{b2}\), the mass of which comes from assuming heavy flavor symmetry for the contact terms. We find partial widths of the \(X_{2}\) and \(X_{b2}\) of the order of a few MeV. Finally, we also study the radiative \(X_2\rightarrow D\bar{D}^{*}\gamma \) and \(X_{b2} \rightarrow \bar{B} B^{*}\gamma \) decays. These decay modes are more sensitive to the long-distance structure of the resonances and to the \(D\bar{D}^{*}\) or \(B\bar{B}^{*}\) final state interaction.     

Test the mergers of the primordial black holes by high frequency gravitational-wave detector

The black hole could have a primordial origin if its mass is less than \(1M_\odot \). The mergers of these black hole binaries generate stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB). We investigate the SGWB in high frequency band \(10^{8}\)–\(10^{10}\,\mathrm {Hz}\). It can be detected by high frequency gravitational-wave detector. Energy density spectrum and amplitude of the SGWB are derived. The upper limit of the energy density spectrum is around \(10^{-7}\). Also, the upper limit of the amplitude ranges from \(10^{-31.5}\) to \(10^{-29.5}\). The fluctuation of spacetime origin from gravitational wave could give a fluctuation of the background electromagnetic field in a high frequency gravitational-wave detector. The signal photon flux generated by the SGWB in the high frequency band \(10^{8}\)–\(10^{10}\,\mathrm {Hz}\) is derived, which ranges from 1 to \(10^2\,\mathrm {s^{-1}}\). The comparison between the signal photon flux generated by relic gravitational waves (RGWs) and the SGWB is also discussed in this paper. It is shown that the signal photon flux generated by the RGW, which is predicted by the canonical single-field slow-roll inflation models, is sufficiently lower than the one generated by the SGWB in the high frequency band \(10^{8}\)–\(10^{10}\,\mathrm {Hz}\). Our results indicate that the SGWB in the high frequency band \(10^{8}\)–\(10^{10}\,\mathrm {Hz}\) is more likely to be detected by the high frequency gravitational-wave detector.     

Induced-gravity GUT-scale Higgs inflation in supergravity

Models of induced-gravity inflation are formulated within Supergravity employing as inflaton the Higgs field which leads to a spontaneous breaking of a \(U(1)_{B-L}\) symmetry at \(M_\mathrm{GUT}=2\cdot 10^{16}~{\mathrm{GeV}}\). We use a renormalizable superpotential, fixed by a U(1) R symmetry, and Kähler potentials which exhibit a quadratic non-minimal coupling to gravity with or without an independent kinetic mixing in the inflaton sector. In both cases we find inflationary solutions of Starobinsky type whereas in the latter case, others (more marginal) which resemble those of linear inflation arise too. In all cases the inflaton mass is predicted to be of the order of \(10^{13}~{\mathrm{GeV}}\). Extending the superpotential of the model with suitable terms, we show how the MSSM \(\mu \) parameter can be generated. Also, non-thermal leptogenesis can be successfully realized, provided that the gravitino is heavier than about \(10~{\mathrm{TeV}}\).     

Likelihood analysis of the sub-GUT MSSM in light of LHC 13-TeV data

We describe a likelihood analysis using MasterCode of variants of the MSSM in which the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters are assumed to have universal values at some scale \(M_\mathrm{in}\) below the supersymmetric grand unification scale \(M_\mathrm{GUT}\), as can occur in mirage mediation and other models. In addition to \(M_\mathrm{in}\), such ‘sub-GUT’ models have the 4 parameters of the CMSSM, namely a common gaugino mass \(m_{1/2}\), a common soft supersymmetry-breaking scalar mass \(m_0\), a common trilinear mixing parameter A and the ratio of MSSM Higgs vevs \(\tan \beta \), assuming that the Higgs mixing parameter \(\mu > 0\). We take into account constraints on strongly- and electroweakly-interacting sparticles from \(\sim 36\)/fb of LHC data at 13 TeV and the LUX and 2017 PICO, XENON1T and PandaX-II searches for dark matter scattering, in addition to the previous LHC and dark matter constraints as well as full sets of flavour and electroweak constraints. We find a preference for \(M_\mathrm{in}\sim 10^5\) to \(10^9 \,\, \mathrm {GeV}\), with \(M_\mathrm{in}\sim M_\mathrm{GUT}\) disfavoured by \(\Delta \chi ^2 \sim 3\) due to the \(\mathrm{BR}(B_{s, d} \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) constraint. The lower limits on strongly-interacting sparticles are largely determined by LHC searches, and similar to those in the CMSSM. We find a preference for the LSP to be a Bino or Higgsino with \(m_{\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}} \sim 1 \,\, \mathrm {TeV}\), with annihilation via heavy Higgs bosons H / A and stop coannihilation, or chargino coannihilation, bringing the cold dark matter density into the cosmological range. We find that spin-independent dark matter scattering is likely to be within reach of the planned LUX-Zeplin and XENONnT experiments. We probe the impact of the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint, finding similar results whether or not it is included.     

Simple and efficient synthesis of $$5'$$-aryl-$$5'$$-deoxyguanosine analogs by azide-alkyne click reaction and their antileishmanial activities

A series of non-hydrolysable \(5'\)-aryl substituted GDP analogs has been synthesized by reacting \(5'\)-azido-\(5'\)-deoxyguanosine with different aryl- and benzyloxy-alkynes. Cu(I) nanoparticles in water were found to be the most efficient catalyst, producing the desired \(5'\)-arylguanosines with good yields. The synthesized compounds were screened for in vitro antileishmanial activity against Leishmania donovani axenic amastigotes and intramacrophage amastigotes stages. The 4-(3-nitrobenzyl)-1,2,3-triazole \(5'\)-substituted guanosine analog was found to be the most active in the series with an IC\(_{50}\) of \(8.6\,\upmu \hbox {M}\) on axenic amastigotes. Despite a rather low in vitro antileishmanial activity on the intramacrophage amastigotes, the absence of cytotoxicity on RAW 264.7 macrophages justifies further pharmacomodulations making this antileishmanial series promising.     

Structural and optical properties of BaZrO$$_{}$$:Eu$$^{+}$$+phosphor

BaZrO\(_{3}\):Eu\(^{3+}\) perovskite phosphors were successfully synthesized by employing combustion method. The structure, morphology and optical properties of material have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence spectrometry. The XRD results indicate that crystals of BaZrO\(_{3}\):Eu\(^{3+}\) belongs to cubic perovskite system. The phosphors can be effectively excited by UV light and the emission spectra results indicate that reddish-orange luminescence dominates due to parity allowed magnetic dipole transition \(^{5}\)D\(_{0}\rightarrow ^{7}\)F\(_{1}\) located at 593 nm. The prepared phosphor show remarkable luminescent properties which find applications in field emission displays and plasma display panels.     

Tau leptons and the decay H → ττ at CMS

The tau lepton and its reconstruction at CMS are briefly described. This is followed by a summary of the searches for a standard model Higgs boson and neutral Higgs bosons from the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model decaying into pairs of tau leptons performed by the CMS Collaboration. The data samples used in these searches were collected during the first running period of the LHC and contain 4.9 fb^?1 at \(\sqrt {s}=7\,\text {TeV}\) and 19.7 fb^?1 at \(\sqrt {s}=8\,\text {TeV}\).     

Scattering of kinks of the sinh-deformed $$\varphi ^4$$ model

We consider the scattering of kinks of the sinh-deformed \(\varphi ^4\) model, which is obtained from the well-known \(\varphi ^4\) model by means of the deformation procedure. Depending on the initial velocity \(v_\mathrm {in}\) of the colliding kinks, different collision scenarios are realized. There is a critical value \(v_\mathrm {cr}\) of the initial velocity, which separates the regime of reflection (at \(v_\mathrm {in}>v_\mathrm {cr}\)) and that of a complicated interaction (at \(v_\mathrm {in}<v_\mathrm {cr}\)) with kinks’ capture and escape windows. Besides that, at \(v_\mathrm {in}\) below \(v_\mathrm {cr}\) we observe the formation of a bound state of two oscillons, as well as their escape at some values of \(v_\mathrm {in}\).     

Monojet signatures from heavy colored particles: future collider sensitivities and theoretical uncertainties

In models with colored particle \(\mathcal {Q}\) that can decay into a dark matter candidate X, the relevant collider process \(pp\rightarrow \mathcal {Q}\bar{\mathcal {Q}}\rightarrow X\bar{X}\,+\,\)jets gives rise to events with significant transverse momentum imbalance. When the masses of \(\mathcal {Q}\) and X are very close, the relevant signature becomes monojet-like, and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) search limits become much less constraining. In this paper, we study the current and anticipated experimental sensitivity to such particles at the High-Luminosity LHC at \(\sqrt{s}=14\) TeV with \(\mathcal {L}=3\) ab\(^{-1}\) of data and the proposed High-Energy LHC at \(\sqrt{s}=27\) TeV with \(\mathcal {L}=15\) ab\(^{-1}\) of data. We estimate the reach for various Lorentz and QCD color representations of \(\mathcal {Q}\). Identifying the nature of \(\mathcal {Q}\) is very important to understanding the physics behind the monojet signature. Therefore, we also study the dependence of the observables built from the \(pp\rightarrow \mathcal {Q}\bar{\mathcal {Q}} + j \) process on \(\mathcal {Q}\) itself. Using the state-of-the-art Monte Carlo suites MadGraph5_aMC@NLO+Pythia8 and Sherpa, we find that when these observables are calculated at NLO in QCD with parton shower matching and multijet merging, the residual theoretical uncertainties are comparable to differences observed when varying the quantum numbers of \(\mathcal {Q}\) itself. We find, however, that the precision achievable with NNLO calculations, where available, can resolve this dilemma.     

Gluino reach and mass extraction at the LHC in radiatively-driven natural SUSY

Radiatively-driven natural SUSY (RNS) models enjoy electroweak naturalness at the 10% level while respecting LHC sparticle and Higgs mass constraints. Gluino and top-squark masses can range up to several TeV (with other squarks even heavier) but a set of light Higgsinos are required with mass not too far above \(m_h\sim 125\) GeV. Within the RNS framework, gluinos dominantly decay via \(\tilde{g}\rightarrow t\tilde{t}_1^{*},\ \bar{t}\tilde{t}_1 \rightarrow t\bar{t}\widetilde{Z}_{1,2}\) or \(t\bar{b}\widetilde{W}_1^-+c.c.\), where the decay products of the higgsino-like \(\widetilde{W}_1\) and \(\widetilde{Z}_2\) are very soft. Gluino pair production is, therefore, signaled by events with up to four hard b-jets and large \(\not \!\!{E_T}\). We devise a set of cuts to isolate a relatively pure gluino sample at the (high-luminosity) LHC and show that in the RNS model with very heavy squarks, the gluino signal will be accessible for \(m_{\tilde{g}} < 2400 \ (2800)\) GeV for an integrated luminosity of 300 (3000) fb\(^{-1}\). We also show that the measurement of the rate of gluino events in the clean sample mentioned above allows for a determination of \(m_{\tilde{g}}\) with a statistical precision of 2–5% (depending on the integrated luminosity and the gluino mass) over the range of gluino masses where a 5\(\sigma \) discovery is possible at the LHC.     

Rapid communication: $$K_{S}^{0}$$ Production from beryllium target using 120 $$\hbox {GeV}/\hbox {c}$$GeV/c protons beam interactions at the MIPP experiment

We have measured the cross-section for the \(K_{S}^{0}\) production from beryllium target using 120 \(\hbox {GeV}/\hbox {c}\) protons beam interactions at the main injector particle production (MIPP) experiment at Fermilab. The data were collected with target having a thickness of 0.94% of the nuclear interaction length. The \(K_{S}^{0}\) inclusive differential cross-section in bins of momenta is presented covering momentum range from \(0.4\,\hbox {GeV}/\hbox {c}\) to \(30\,\hbox {GeV}/\hbox {c}\). The measured inclusive \(K_{S}^{0}\) production cross-section amounts to \(39.54\pm 1.46\delta _{\mathrm {stat}}\pm 6.97\delta _{\mathrm {syst}}\) mb and the value is compared with the prediction of FLUKA hadron production model.     

Likelihood analysis of the pMSSM11 in light of LHC 13-TeV data

We use MasterCode to perform a frequentist analysis of the constraints on a phenomenological MSSM model with 11 parameters, the pMSSM11, including constraints from \(\sim 36\)/fb of LHC data at 13 TeV and PICO, XENON1T and PandaX-II searches for dark matter scattering, as well as previous accelerator and astrophysical measurements, presenting fits both with and without the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint. The pMSSM11 is specified by the following parameters: 3 gaugino masses \(M_{1,2,3}\), a common mass for the first-and second-generation squarks \(m_{\tilde{q}}\) and a distinct third-generation squark mass \(m_{\tilde{q}_3}\), a common mass for the first-and second-generation sleptons \(m_{\tilde{\ell }}\) and a distinct third-generation slepton mass \(m_{\tilde{\tau }}\), a common trilinear mixing parameter A, the Higgs mixing parameter \(\mu \), the pseudoscalar Higgs mass \(M_A\) and \(\tan \beta \). In the fit including \((g-2)_\mu \), a Bino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) is preferred, whereas a Higgsino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) is mildly favoured when the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint is dropped. We identify the mechanisms that operate in different regions of the pMSSM11 parameter space to bring the relic density of the lightest neutralino, \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\), into the range indicated by cosmological data. In the fit including \((g-2)_\mu \), coannihilations with \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{2}\) and the Wino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^\pm _{1}\) or with nearly-degenerate first- and second-generation sleptons are active, whereas coannihilations with the \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{2}\) and the Higgsino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^\pm _{1}\) or with first- and second-generation squarks may be important when the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint is dropped. In the two cases, we present \(\chi ^2\) functions in two-dimensional mass planes as well as their one-dimensional profile projections and best-fit spectra. Prospects remain for discovering strongly-interacting sparticles at the LHC, in both the scenarios with and without the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint, as well as for discovering electroweakly-interacting sparticles at a future linear \(e^+ e^-\) collider such as the ILC or CLIC.