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).     

The decays of $$\bar{B}^0$$, $$\bar{B}^0_s$$B¯s0 and $$B^-$$B- into $$\eta _c$$ηc plus a scalar or vector meson

We investigate the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s\), \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(B^-\) into \(\eta _c\) plus a scalar or vector meson in a theoretical framework by taking into account the dominant process for the weak decay of \(\bar{B}\) meson into \(\eta _c\) and a \(q\bar{q}\) pair. After hadronization of this \(q\bar{q}\) component into pairs of pseudoscalar mesons we obtain certain weights for the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson components. In addition, the \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(\bar{B}^0_s\) decays into \(\eta _c\) and \(\rho ^0\), \(K^*\) are evaluated and compared to the \(\eta _c\) and \(\phi \) production. The calculation is based on the postulation that the scalar mesons \(f_0(500)\), \(f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\) are dynamically generated states from the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson interactions in S-wave. Up to a global normalization factor, the \(\pi \pi \), \(K \bar{K}\) and \(\pi \eta \) invariant mass distributions for the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^0 \eta \), \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c K^0 K^-\) and \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^- \eta \) are predicted. Comparison is made with the limited experimental information available and other theoretical calcualtions. Further comparison of these results with coming LHCb measurements will be very valuable to make progress in our understanding of the nature of the low lying scalar mesons, \(f_0(500), f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\).     

$$\varvec{B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}\mu ^+\mu ^-}$$ 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.     

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 \(v_\mathrm {in}\).     

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.     

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 \(\mu > 0\).     

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.     

Translation Invariant Extensions of Finite Volume Measures

We investigate the following questions: Given a measure \(\mu _\Lambda \) on configurations on a subset \(\Lambda \) of a lattice \(\mathbb {L}\), where a configuration is an element of \(\Omega ^\Lambda \) for some fixed set \(\Omega \), does there exist a measure \(\mu \) on configurations on all of \(\mathbb {L}\), invariant under some specified symmetry group of \(\mathbb {L}\), such that \(\mu _\Lambda \) is its marginal on configurations on \(\Lambda \)? When the answer is yes, what are the properties, e.g., the entropies, of such measures? Our primary focus is the case in which \(\mathbb {L}=\mathbb {Z}^d\) and the symmetries are the translations. For the case in which \(\Lambda \) is an interval in \(\mathbb {Z}\) we give a simple necessary and sufficient condition, local translation invariance (LTI), for extendibility. For LTI measures we construct extensions having maximal entropy, which we show are Gibbs measures; this construction extends to the case in which \(\mathbb {L}\) is the Bethe lattice. On \(\mathbb {Z}\) we also consider extensions supported on periodic configurations, which are analyzed using de Bruijn graphs and which include the extensions with minimal entropy. When \(\Lambda \subset \mathbb {Z}\) is not an interval, or when \(\Lambda \subset \mathbb {Z}^d\) with \(d>1\), the LTI condition is necessary but not sufficient for extendibility. For \(\mathbb {Z}^d\) with \(d>1\), extendibility is in some sense undecidable.     

Leptoquark mechanism of neutrino masses within the grand unification framework

We demonstrate the viability of the one-loop neutrino mass mechanism within the framework of grand unification when the loop particles comprise scalar leptoquarks (LQs) and quarks of the matching electric charge. This mechanism can be implemented in both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric models and requires the presence of at least one LQ pair. The appropriate pairs for the neutrino mass generation via the up-type and down-type quark loops are \(S_3\)–\(R_2\) and \(S_{1,\,3}\)–\(\tilde{R}_2\), respectively. We consider two distinct regimes for the LQ masses in our analysis. The first regime calls for very heavy LQs in the loop. It can be naturally realized with the \(S_{1,\,3}\)–\(\tilde{R}_2\) scenarios when the LQ masses are roughly between \(10^{12}\) and \(5 \times 10^{13}\) GeV. These lower and upper bounds originate from experimental limits on partial proton decay lifetimes and perturbativity constraints, respectively. Second regime corresponds to the collider accessible LQs in the neutrino mass loop. That option is viable for the \(S_3\)–\(\tilde{R}_2\) scenario in the models of unification that we discuss. If one furthermore assumes the presence of the type II see-saw mechanism there is an additional contribution from the \(S_3\)–\(R_2\) scenario that needs to be taken into account beside the type II see-saw contribution itself. We provide a complete list of renormalizable operators that yield necessary mixing of all aforementioned LQ pairs using the language of SU(5). We furthermore discuss several possible embeddings of this mechanism in SU(5) and SO(10) gauge groups.     

Thermodynamics phase transition and Hawking radiation of the Schwarzschild black hole with quintessence-like matter and a deficit solid angle

In this paper, we investigate the thermodynamics and Hawking radiation of Schwarzschild black hole with quintessence-like matter and deficit solid angle. From the metric of the black hole, we derive the expressions of temperature and specific heat using the laws of black hole thermodynamics. Using the null geodesics method and Parikh–Wilczeck tunneling method, we derive the expressions of Boltzmann factor and the change of Bekenstein–Hawking entropy for the black hole. The behaviors of the temperature, specific heat, Boltzmann factor and the change of Bekenstein entropy versus the deficit solid angle (\(\epsilon ^{2}\)) and the density of static spherically symmetric quintessence-like matter (\(\rho _{0}\)) were explicitly plotted. The results show that, when the deficit solid angle (\(\epsilon ^{2}\)) and the density of static spherically symmetric quintessence-like matter at \(r=1\) (\(\rho _{0}\)) vanish \((\rho _{0}=\epsilon =0)\), these four thermodynamics quantities are reduced to those obtained for the simple case of Schwarzschild black hole. For low entropies, the presence of quintessence-like matter induces a first order phase transition of the black hole and for the higher values of the entropies, we observe the second order phase transition. When increasing \(\rho _{0}\), the transition points are shifted to lower entropies. The same thing is observed when increasing \(\epsilon ^{2}\). In the absence of quintessence-like matter (\(\rho _{0}=0\)), these transition phenomena disappear. Moreover the rate of radiation decreases when increasing \(\rho _{0}\) or \((\epsilon ^2)\).     

CP violations in predictive neutrino mass structures

We study the CP-violation effects from two types of neutrino mass matrices with (i) \((M_\nu )_{ee}=0\), and (ii) \((M_\nu )_{ee}=(M_\nu )_{e\mu }=0\), which can be realized by the high-dimensional lepton number violating operators \(\bar{\ell }_R^c\gamma ^\mu L_L (D_\mu \Phi )\Phi ^2\) and \(\bar{\ell }_R^c l_R (D_\mu {\Phi })^2\Phi ^2\), respectively. In (i), the neutrino mass spectrum is in the normal ordering with the lightest neutrino mass within the range \(0.002\,\mathrm{eV}\lesssim m_0\lesssim 0.007\,\mathrm{eV}\). Furthermore, for a given value of \(m_0\), there are two solutions for the two Majorana phases \(\alpha _{21}\) and \(\alpha _{31}\), whereas the Dirac phase \(\delta \) is arbitrary. For (ii), the parameters of \(m_0\), \(\delta \), \(\alpha _{21}\), and \(\alpha _{31}\) can be completely determined. We calculate the CP-violating asymmetries in neutrino–antineutrino oscillations for both mass textures of (i) and (ii), which are closely related to the CP-violating Majorana phases.     

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.     

Photoreflectance spectroscopy of the chalcopyrite semiconductor <Emphasis Type="Bold">AgInS</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript> for ordinary and extraordinary rays

Photoreflectance spectra have been measured on the chalcopyrite semiconductor silver indium disulfide (\(\hbox {AgInS}_{2}\)) for light polarization \({\varvec{E}}\) perpendicular (\({\varvec{E}} \bot {c}\)) and parallel to the c-axis (\({\varvec{E}} \vert \vert {c}\)) at temperature between 10 and 300 K. The measured photoreflectance spectra revealed distinct structures at 1.8–2.1 eV. The lowest bandgap energies \(E_{0A}\), \(E_{0B}\), and \(E_{0C}\) of \(\hbox {AgInS}_{2}\) show unusual temperature dependence at low temperatures (\(\le\)140 K). The \(E_{0\alpha }\) (\(\alpha =A, B, C\)) is found to increase with increasing temperature from 10 to \(\sim\)140 K and decreases with a further increase in temperature. This result has been successfully explained by taking into account the effects of thermal expansion and electron–phonon interaction. The spin–orbit and crystal-field splitting parameters of \(\hbox {AgInS}_{2}\) are determined to be \(\Delta _{{\mathrm{so}}}=38\) meV and \(\Delta _{{\mathrm{cr}}}=-168\) meV at T = 10 K, respectively, and are discussed from an aspect of the electronic energy band structure consequences. The temperature dependence of spin–orbit and crystal-field splitting parameters of \(\hbox {AgInS}_{2}\) was also presented.     

Two-Higgs-doublet type-II and -III models and $$t\rightarrow c h$$ at the LHC

We study the constraints of the generic two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM) type-III and the impacts of the new Yukawa couplings. For comparisons, we revisit the analysis in the 2HDM type-II. To understand the influence of all involving free parameters and to realize their correlations, we employ a \(\chi \)-square fitting approach by including theoretical and experimental constraints, such as the S, T, and U oblique parameters, the production of standard model Higgs and its decay to \(\gamma \gamma \), \(WW^*/ZZ^*\), \(\tau ^+\tau ^-\), etc. The errors of the analysis are taken at 68, 95.5, and \(99.7~\%\) confidence levels. Due to the new Yukawa couplings being associated with \(\cos (\beta -\alpha )\) and \(\sin (\beta -\alpha )\), we find that the allowed regions for \(\sin \alpha \) and \(\tan \beta \) in the type-III model can be broader when the dictated parameter \(\chi _F\) is positive; however, for negative \(\chi _F\), the limits are stricter than those in the type-II model. By using the constrained parameters, we find that the deviation from the SM in \(h\rightarrow Z\gamma \) can be of \(\mathcal{O}(10~\%)\). Additionally, we also study the top-quark flavor-changing processes induced at the tree level in the type-III model and find that when all current experimental data are considered, we get \(Br(t\rightarrow c(h, H) )< 10^{-3}\) for \(m_h=125.36\) and \(m_H=150\) GeV, and \(Br(t\rightarrow cA)\) slightly exceeds \(10^{-3}\) for \(m_A =130\) GeV.     

Uncertainties of the $$B\rightarrow D$$B→ D transition form factor from the D-meson leading-twist distribution amplitude

The \(B\rightarrow D\) transition form factor (TFF) \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) is determined mainly by the D-meson leading-twist distribution amplitude (DA) , \(\phi _{2;D}\), if the proper chiral current correlation function is adopted within the light-cone QCD sum rules. It is therefore significant to make a comprehensive study of DA \(\phi _{2;D}\) and its impact on \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\). In this paper, we calculate the moments of \(\phi _{2;D}\) with the QCD sum rules under the framework of the background field theory. New sum rules for the leading-twist DA moments \(\left\langle \xi ^n\right\rangle _D\) up to fourth order and up to dimension-six condensates are presented. At the scale \(\mu = 2 \,\mathrm{GeV}\), the values of the first four moments are: \(\left\langle \xi ^1\right\rangle _D = -0.418^{+0.021}_{-0.022}\), \(\left\langle \xi ^2\right\rangle _D = 0.289^{+0.023}_{-0.022}\), \(\left\langle \xi ^3\right\rangle _D = -0.178 \pm 0.010\) and \(\left\langle \xi ^4\right\rangle _D = 0.142^{+0.013}_{-0.012}\). Basing on the values of \(\left\langle \xi ^n\right\rangle _D(n=1,2,3,4)\), a better model of \(\phi _{2;D}\) is constructed. Applying this model for the TFF \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) under the light cone sum rules, we obtain \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(0) = 0.673^{+0.038}_{-0.041}\) and \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2_{\mathrm{max}}) = 1.117^{+0.051}_{-0.054}\). The uncertainty of \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) from \(\phi _{2;D}\) is estimated and we find its impact should be taken into account, especially in low and central energy region. The branching ratio \(\mathcal {B}(B\rightarrow Dl\bar{\nu }_l)\) is calculated, which is consistent with experimental data.     

Nuclear suppression of the $$\phi $$ meson yields with large $$p_T$$pT at the RHIC and the LHC

We calculate \(\phi \) meson transverse momentum spectra in \(\mathrm{p}+\mathrm{p}\) collisions as well as their nuclear suppressions in central \(\mathrm{A}+\mathrm{A}\) collisions both at the RHIC and the LHC in LO and NLO with the QCD-improved parton model. We have included the parton energy loss effect in a hot/dense QCD medium with the effectively medium-modified \(\phi \) fragmentation functions in the higher-twist approach of jet quenching. The nuclear modification factors of the \(\phi \) meson in central \(\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}\) collisions at the RHIC and central \(\mathrm{Pb}+\mathrm{Pb}\) collisions at the LHC are provided, and nice agreement of our numerical results at NLO with the ALICE measurement is observed. Predictions of the yield ratios of neutral mesons such as \(\phi /\pi ^0\), \(\phi /\eta \) and \(\phi /\rho ^0\) at large \(p_T\) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are also presented for the first time.     

Discrete One-Dimensional Coverage Process on a Renewal Process

Consider the following coverage model on \(\mathbb {N}\), for each site \(i \in \mathbb {N}\) associate a pair \((\xi _i, R_i)\) where \((\xi _i)_{i \ge 0}\) is a 1-dimensional undelayed discrete renewal point process and \((R_i)_{i \ge 0}\) is an i.i.d. sequence of \(\mathbb {N}\)-valued random variables. At each site where \(\xi _i=1\) start an interval of length \(R_i\). Coverage occurs if every site of \(\mathbb {N}\) is covered by some interval. We obtain sharp conditions for both, positive and null probability of coverage. As corollaries, we extend results of the literature of rumor processes and discrete one-dimensional Boolean percolation.     

Thermodynamic variables of first-order entropy corrected Lovelock-AdS black holes: $$P{-}V$$ criticality analysis

We investigate the effect of thermal fluctuations on the thermodynamics of a Lovelock-AdS black hole. Taking the first order logarithmic correction term in entropy we analyze the thermodynamic potentials like Helmholtz free energy, enthalpy and Gibbs free energy. We find that all the thermodynamic potentials are decreasing functions of correction coefficient \(\alpha \). We also examined this correction coefficient must be positive by analysing \(P{-}V\) diagram. Further we study the \(P{-}V\) criticality and stability and find that presence of logarithmic correction in it is necessary to have critical points and stable phases. When \(P{-}V\) criticality appears, we calculate the critical volume \(V_c\), critical pressure \(P_c\) and critical temperature \(T_c\) using different equations and show that there is no critical point for this black hole without thermal fluctuations. We also study the geometrothermodynamics of this kind of black holes. The Ricci scalar of the Ruppeiner metric is graphically analysed.     

Warm modified Chaplygin gas shaft inflation

In this paper, we examine the possible realization of a new inflation family called “shaft inflation” by assuming the modified Chaplygin gas model and a tachyon scalar field. We also consider the special form of the dissipative coefficient \(\Gamma ={a_0}\frac{T^{3}}{\phi ^{2 }}\) and calculate the various inflationary parameters in the scenario of strong and weak dissipative regimes. In order to examine the behavior of inflationary parameters, the \(n_s \)–\( \phi ,\, n_s \)–r, and \(n_s \)–\( \alpha _s\) planes (where \(n_s,\, \alpha _s,\, r\), and \(\phi \) represent the spectral index, its running, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and scalar field, respectively) are being developed, which lead to the constraints \(r< 0.11\), \(n_s=0.96 \pm 0.025\), and \(\alpha _s =-0.019 \pm 0.025\). It is quite interesting that these results of the inflationary parameters are compatible with BICEP2, WMAP \((7+9)\) and recent Planck data.     

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.