Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic -leptons in collisions with the ATLAS detector

Physical Review D

GstLAL is a stream-based matched-filtering search pipeline aiming at the prompt discovery of gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences such as the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. Over the past three observation runs by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaboration, the GstLAL search pipeline has participated in several tens of gravitational wave discoveries. The fourth observing run (O4) is set to begin in May 2023 and is expected to see the discovery of many new and interesting gravitational wave signals which will inform our understanding of astrophysics and cosmology. We describe the current configuration of the GstLAL low-latency search and show its readiness for the upcoming observation run by presenting its performance on a mock data challenge. The mock data challenge includes 40 days of LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, and Virgo strain data along with an injection campaign in …

The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific

BackgroundPrevious observational studies established a positive relationship between snoring and stroke. We aimed to investigate the causal effect of snoring on stroke.MethodsBased on 82,339 unrelated individuals with qualified genotyping data of Asian descent from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), we conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of snoring and stroke. Genetic variants identified in the genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of snoring in CKB and UK Biobank (UKB) were selected for constructing genetic risk scores (GRS). A two-stage method was applied to estimate the associations of the genetically predicted snoring with stroke and its subtypes. Besides, MR analysis among the non-obese group (body mass index, BMI <24.0 kg/m2), as well as multivariable MR (MVMR), were performed to control for potential pleiotropy from BMI. In addition, the inverse-variance weighted (IVW …

Physical Review D

The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15∶ 00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15∶ 00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a …

Physics Letters B

A search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production, as predicted by the Standard Model, is presented, where one of the Higgs bosons decays via the H→ b b channel and the other via one of the H→ W W⁎/Z Z⁎/τ τ channels. The analysis selection requires events to have at least two b-tagged jets and exactly two leptons (electrons or muons) with opposite electric charge in the final state. Candidate events consistent with Higgs boson pair production are selected using a multi-class neural network discriminant. The analysis uses 139 fb− 1 of pp collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. An observed (expected) upper limit of 1.2 (0.9− 0.3+ 0.4) pb is set on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section at 95% confidence level, which is equivalent to 40 (29− 9+ 14) times the value predicted in the Standard Model.

Physical Review D

A search for quantum black holes in electron+ jet and muon+ jet invariant mass spectra is performed with 140 fb− 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s= 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed invariant mass spectrum of lepton+ jet pairs is consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fractions for quantum black holes decaying into a lepton and a quark in a search region with invariant mass above 2.0 TeV. The resulting quantum black hole lower mass threshold limit is 9.2 TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali model, and 6.8 TeV in the Randall-Sundrum model.

Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

Chlorine-based disinfection is ubiquitous in conventional drinking water treatment (DWT) and serves to mitigate threats of acute microbial disease caused by pathogens that may be present in source water. An important index of disinfection efficiency is the free chlorine residual (FCR), a regulated disinfection parameter in the US that indirectly measures disinfectant power for prevention of microbial recontamination during DWT and distribution. This work demonstrates how machine learning (ML) can be implemented to improve FCR forecasting when supplied with water quality data from a real, full-scale chlorine disinfection system in Georgia, USA. More precisely, a gradient-boosting ML method (CatBoost) was developed from a full year of DWT plant-generated chlorine disinfection data, including water quality parameters (e.g., temperature, turbidity, pH) and operational process data (e.g., flowrates), to predict FCR …

The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific

BackgroundA comprehensive depiction of long-term health impacts of marital status is lacking.MethodsSex-stratified phenome-wide association analyses (PheWAS) of marital status (living with vs. without a spouse) were performed using baseline (2004–2008) and follow-up information (ICD10-coded events till Dec 31, 2017) from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB). We estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) to evaluate the associations of marital status with morbidity risks of phenome-wide significant diseases or sex-specific top-10 death causes in China documented in 2017. Additionally, the association between marital status and mortality risks among participants with major chronic diseases at baseline was assessed.FindingsDuring up to 11.1 years of the median follow-up period, 1,946,380 incident health events were recorded among 210,202 men and 302,521 women aged 30–79. Marital status was found to …

arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14998

We revisit the problem of defining an invariant notion of tension in gravity. For spacetimes whose asymptotics are those of a Defect CFT we propose two independent definitions : Gravitational tension given by the one-point function of the dilatation current, and inertial tension, or stiffness, given by the norm of the displacement operator. We show that both reduce to the tension of the Nambu-Goto action in the limit of classical thin probe branes. Subtle normalisations of the relevant Witten diagrams are fixed by the Weyl and diffeomorphism Ward identities of the boundary DCFT. The gravitational tension is not defined for domain walls, whereas stiffness is not defined for point particles. When they both exist these two tensions are in general different, but the examples of line and surface BPS defects in show that superconformal invariance can identify them.

arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.03004

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM.

Physical Review D

Matched-filtering gravitational-wave search pipelines identify gravitational-wave signals by computing correlations, ie, signal-to-noise ratios, between gravitational-wave detector data and gravitational-wave template waveforms. Intrinsic parameters, the component masses and spins, of the gravitational-wave waveforms are often stored in “template banks,” and the construction of a densely populated template bank is essential for some gravitational-wave search pipelines. This paper presents a template bank that is currently being used by the GstLAL-based compact binary search pipeline in the fourth observing run of the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaboration, and was generated with a new binary tree approach of placing templates, manifold. The template bank contains 1.8× 10 6 sets of template parameters covering plausible neutron star and black hole systems up to a total mass of 400 M⊙ with component …

The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific

BackgroundHospitals in China are classified into tiers (1, 2 or 3), with the largest (tier 3) having more equipment and specialist staff. Differential health insurance cost-sharing by hospital tier (lower deductibles and higher reimbursement rates in lower tiers) was introduced to reduce overcrowding in higher tier hospitals, promote use of lower tier hospitals, and limit escalating healthcare costs. However, little is known about the effects of differential cost-sharing in health insurance schemes on choice of hospital tiers.MethodsIn a 9-year follow-up of a prospective study of 0.5 M adults from 10 areas in China, we examined the associations between differential health insurance cost-sharing and choice of hospital tiers for patients with a first hospitalisation for stroke or ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in 2009–2017. Analyses were performed separately in urban areas (stroke: n = 20,302; IHD: n = 19,283) and rural areas …

Journal of High Energy Physics

A measurement of the top-quark mass (m t) in the→ lepton+ jets channel is presented, with an experimental technique which exploits semileptonic decays of b-hadrons produced in the top-quark decay chain. The distribution of the invariant mass m ℓμ of the lepton, ℓ (with ℓ= e, μ), from the W-boson decay and the muon, μ, originating from the b-hadron decay is reconstructed, and a binned-template profile likelihood fit is performed to extract m t. The measurement is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb− 1 of= 13 TeV pp collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The measured value of the top-quark mass is m t= 174. 41±0. 39 (stat.)±0. 66 (syst.)±0. 25 (recoil) GeV, where the third uncertainty arises from changing the P ythia 8 parton shower gluon-recoil scheme, used in top-quark decays, to a recently developed setup.

Classical and Quantum Gravity

During April 7–21 2020, KAGRA conducted its first scientific observation in conjunction with the GEO600 detector. The dominant noise sources during this run were found to be suspension control noise in the low-frequency range and acoustic noise in the mid-frequency range. In this study, we show that their contributions in the observational data can be reduced by a signal processing method called independent component analysis (ICA). The model of ICA is extended from that studied in the initial KAGRA data analysis to account for frequency dependence, while the linearity and stationarity of the coupling between the interferometer and the noise sources are still assumed. We identify optimal witness sensors in the application of ICA, leading to successful mitigation of these two dominant contributions. We also analyze the stability of the transfer functions for the entire two weeks of data to investigate the …

arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.03822

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass ) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities at Gpc yr at 90\% confidence level.

Cell Reports Physical Science

III-V materials enable the highest reported power conversion efficiency of any photovoltaic technology. The incorporation of high-quality nanostructures can tailor absorption to the available solar spectrum, allowing a further performance increase. Here we report a comprehensive study of the growth conditions of strain-balanced InGaAs quantum wells (QWs) incorporated into multijunction III-V photovoltaics by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The fundamental growth mechanism leading to detrimental step-edge bunching in these devices is presented. Methods for mitigating step bunching through the composition of strain-balancing layers, growth temperature, and substrate offcut are shown. The addition of a distributed Bragg reflector, optically matched to the QW absorption region, extends the optical path of QWs, further increasing current generation to over 40 μA/cm2/QW. Results show a clear …

Journal of High Energy Physics

Table 2. The number of observed events and the mean expected background, estimated from the maximum-likelihood fit and shown with the associated total uncertainty, for the mMγ ranges of interest. The expected Higgs and Z boson signal yields, along with the total systematic uncertainty, for ϕγ and ργ, estimated using simulations, are also shown in parentheses.

Journal of High Energy Physics

A measurement of the top-quark mass (m t) in the→ lepton+ jets channel is presented, with an experimental technique which exploits semileptonic decays of b-hadrons produced in the top-quark decay chain. The distribution of the invariant mass m ℓμ of the lepton, ℓ (with ℓ= e, μ), from the W-boson decay and the muon, μ, originating from the b-hadron decay is reconstructed, and a binned-template profile likelihood fit is performed to extract m t. The measurement is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb− 1 of= 13 TeV pp collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The measured value of the top-quark mass is m t= 174. 41±0. 39 (stat.)±0. 66 (syst.)±0. 25 (recoil) GeV, where the third uncertainty arises from changing the P ythia 8 parton shower gluon-recoil scheme, used in top-quark decays, to a recently developed setup.

Environmental Science & Technology

Microalgal biotechnology holds the potential for renewable biofuels, bioproducts, and carbon capture applications due to unparalleled photosynthetic efficiency and diversity. Outdoor open raceway pond (ORP) cultivation enables utilization of sunlight and atmospheric carbon dioxide to drive microalgal biomass synthesis for production of bioproducts including biofuels; however, environmental conditions are highly dynamic and fluctuate both diurnally and seasonally, making ORP productivity prediction challenging without time-intensive physical measurements and location-specific calibrations. Here, for the first time, we present an image-based deep learning method for the prediction of ORP productivity. Our method is based on parameter profile plot images of sensor parameters, including pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, and total dissolved solids. These parameters can be …

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Context Currently, one of the standard procedures used to determine stellar and wind parameters of massive stars involves to comparing the observed spectral lines with a grid of synthetic lines. These synthetic lines are calculated using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer codes. In this standard procedure, after estimating the stellar-projected rotational speed (v sin i), all synthetic models need to be convolved using this value in order to perform the comparison with the observed line and estimate the stellar parameters.Aims In this work, we propose a methodology to deconvolve the observed line profile to one from a non-rotating star. Thus, to perform a comparison, we will not need to convolve all the synthetic profiles, saving significant time and resources.Methods The proposed deconvolution method is based on transforming this inverse problem into an optimization of a direct problem. We …

Physical Review X

We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star–black hole mergers. We infer the binary neutron star merger rate to be between 10 and 1700 Gpc− 3 yr− 1 and the neutron star–black hole merger rate to be between 7.8 and 140 Gpc− 3 yr− 1, assuming a constant rate density in the comoving frame and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. We infer the binary black hole merger rate, allowing for evolution with redshift, to be between 17.9 and 44 Gpc− 3 yr− 1 at a fiducial redshift (z= 0.2). The rate of binary black hole mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional …

Physical Review D

The precision with which hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) is obtained determines how accurately important observables, such as the muon anomalous magnetic moment a μ or the low-energy running of the electromagnetic coupling α, are predicted. The two most precise approaches for determining HVP are dispersive relations combined with e+ e−→ hadrons cross section data and lattice QCD. However, the results obtained in these two approaches display significant tensions, whose origins are not understood. Here we present a framework that sheds light on this issue and—if the two approaches can be reconciled—allows them to be combined. Via this framework, we test the hypothesis that the tensions can be explained by modifying the R-ratio in different intervals of center-of-mass energy s. As ingredients, we consider observables that have been precisely determined in both approaches. These are the …

Physical Review D

A search for quantum black holes in electron+ jet and muon+ jet invariant mass spectra is performed with 140 fb− 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s= 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed invariant mass spectrum of lepton+ jet pairs is consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fractions for quantum black holes decaying into a lepton and a quark in a search region with invariant mass above 2.0 TeV. The resulting quantum black hole lower mass threshold limit is 9.2 TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali model, and 6.8 TeV in the Randall-Sundrum model.

Physical Review D

A search for quantum black holes in electron+ jet and muon+ jet invariant mass spectra is performed with 140 fb− 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s= 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed invariant mass spectrum of lepton+ jet pairs is consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fractions for quantum black holes decaying into a lepton and a quark in a search region with invariant mass above 2.0 TeV. The resulting quantum black hole lower mass threshold limit is 9.2 TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali model, and 6.8 TeV in the Randall-Sundrum model.

Physical Review D

In this work we analyze the motion of charged particles in the background of the Kiselev geometry, which is considered here as an exact solution in the context of power-Maxwell electrodynamics. As it is well known, one can use either an electric ansatz or a magnetic one for the nonlinear electromagnetic field. We study the motion of an electrically charged particle for an electrically charged black hole and also for a magnetically charged black hole. In the second case the motion is restricted to Poincaré cones of various angles, as expected.

Physical Review D

Ultracold atomic gases can undergo phase transitions that mimic relativistic vacuum decay, allowing us to empirically test early Universe physics in tabletop experiments. We investigate the physics of these analog systems, going beyond previous analyses of the classical equations of motion to study quantum fluctuations in the cold-atom false vacuum. We show that the fluctuation spectrum of this vacuum state agrees with the usual relativistic result in the regime where the classical analogy holds, providing further evidence for the suitability of these systems for studying vacuum decay. Using a suite of semiclassical lattice simulations, we simulate bubble nucleation from this analog vacuum state in a 1D homonuclear potassium-41 mixture, finding qualitative agreement with instanton predictions. We identify realistic parameters for this system that will allow us to study vacuum decay with current experimental …

Physical Review D

The evolution of linear initial conditions present in the early Universe into extended halos of dark matter at late times can be computed using cosmological simulations. However, a theoretical understanding of this complex process remains elusive; in particular, the role of anisotropic information in the initial conditions in establishing the final mass of dark matter halos remains a long-standing puzzle. Here, we build a deep learning framework to investigate this question. We train a three-dimensional convolutional neural network to predict the mass of dark matter halos from the initial conditions, and quantify in full generality the amounts of information in the isotropic and anisotropic aspects of the initial density field about final halo masses. We find that anisotropies add a small, albeit statistically significant amount of information over that contained within spherical averages of the density field about final halo mass …

Physical Review D

We investigate the hypothetical X17 boson on neutron stars and quark stars (QSs) using various hadronic equation of states (EoSs) with phenomenological or microscopic origin. Our aim is to set realistic constraints on its coupling constant and the mass scaling, with respect to causality and various possible upper mass limits and the dimensionless tidal deformability Λ 1.4. In particular, we pay special attention to two main phenomenological parameters of the X17, one is related to the coupling constant g that it has with hadrons or quarks and the other with the in-medium effects through regulator C. Both are very crucial concerning the contribution on the total energy density and pressure. In the case of considering the X17 as a carrier of nuclear force in relativistic mean field theory, an admixture into the vector boson segment was constrained by 20% and 30%. In our investigation, we came to the general conclusion …

Physical Review D

The recent analysis on the central compact object in the HESS J1731-347 remnant suggests interestingly small values for its mass and radius. Such an observation favors soft nuclear models that may be challenged by the observation of massive compact stars. In contrast, the recent PREX-II experiment, concerning the neutron skin thickness of Pb 208, points toward stiff equations of state that favor larger compact star radii. In the present study, we aim to explore the compatibility between stiff hadronic equations of state (favored by PREX-II) and the HESS J1731-347 remnant in the context of hybrid stars. For the construction of hybrid equations of state we use three widely employed Skyrme models combined with the well-known vector MIT bag model. Furthermore we consider two different scenarios concerning the energy density of the bag. In the first case, that of a constant bag parameter, we find that the resulting …

Physical Review D

The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15∶ 00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15∶ 00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a …

Physical Review D

We study the compact binary dynamics in the post-Newtonian approach implemented to the Einstein-Hilbert action adding the cosmological constant Λ at first post-Newtonian (1PN) order. We consider very small values of Λ finding that it plays the role of a PN factor to derive the Lagrangian of a compact two-body system at the center of mass frame at 1PN. Furthermore, the phase function ϕ (t) is obtained from the balance equation, and the two polarizations h+ and h× are also calculated. We observe changes due to Λ only at very low frequencies, and we notice that it plays the role of “stretch” the spacetime such that both amplitudes become smaller. However, given its nearly negligible value, Λ has no relevance at higher frequencies whatsoever.

Physical Review D

The nuclear reaction network within the interior of the Sun is an efficient MeV physics factory and can produce long-lived particles generic to dark sector models. In this work we consider the sensitivity of satellite instruments, primarily the RHESSI spectrometer, that observe the quiet Sun in the MeV regime where backgrounds are low. We find that quiet Sun observations offer a powerful and complementary probe in regions of parameter space, where the long-lived particle decay length is longer than the radius of the Sun and shorter than the distance between the Sun and Earth. We comment on connections to recent model-building work on heavy neutral leptons coupled to neutrinos and high-quality axions from mirror symmetries.

Physical Review D

Within the framework of relative and absolute quantum field theories (QFTs), we present a general formalism for understanding polarizations of the intermediate defect group and constructing noninvertible duality defects in theories in 2 k spacetime dimensions with self-dual gauge fields. We introduce the polarization pair, which fully specifies absolute QFTs as far as their (k− 1)-form defect groups are concerned, including their (k− 1)-form symmetries, global structures (including discrete θ-angle), and local counterterms. Using the associated symmetry topological field theory (TFT), we show that the polarization pair is capable of succinctly describing topological manipulations, eg, gauging (k− 1)-form global symmetries and stacking counterterms, of absolute QFTs. Furthermore, automorphisms of the (k− 1)-form charge lattice naturally act on polarization pairs via their action on the defect group; they can be viewed as …

Physical Review D

Recent measurements of charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions have questioned the universality of charm-quark fragmentation across different collision systems. In this work the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is probed, by presenting the first measurement of the longitudinal jet momentum fraction carried by Λ c+ baryons, z∥ ch, in hadronic collisions. The results are obtained in proton-proton (p p) collisions at s= 13 TeV at the LHC, with Λ c+ baryons and charged (track-based) jets reconstructed in the transverse momentum intervals of 3≤ p T Λ c+< 15 GeV/c and 7≤ p T jet ch< 15 GeV/c, respectively. The z∥ ch distribution is compared to a measurement of D 0-tagged charged jets in p p collisions as well as to pythia 8 simulations. The data hints that the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is softer with respect to charm mesons, in the measured kinematic interval, as …

Physical Review D

The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15∶ 00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15∶ 00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a …

Physical Review D

The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15∶ 00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15∶ 00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a …

Physical Review D

A search for quantum black holes in electron+ jet and muon+ jet invariant mass spectra is performed with 140 fb− 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s= 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed invariant mass spectrum of lepton+ jet pairs is consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fractions for quantum black holes decaying into a lepton and a quark in a search region with invariant mass above 2.0 TeV. The resulting quantum black hole lower mass threshold limit is 9.2 TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali model, and 6.8 TeV in the Randall-Sundrum model.

Physical Review D

Recent measurements of charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions have questioned the universality of charm-quark fragmentation across different collision systems. In this work the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is probed, by presenting the first measurement of the longitudinal jet momentum fraction carried by Λ c+ baryons, z∥ ch, in hadronic collisions. The results are obtained in proton-proton (p p) collisions at s= 13 TeV at the LHC, with Λ c+ baryons and charged (track-based) jets reconstructed in the transverse momentum intervals of 3≤ p T Λ c+< 15 GeV/c and 7≤ p T jet ch< 15 GeV/c, respectively. The z∥ ch distribution is compared to a measurement of D 0-tagged charged jets in p p collisions as well as to pythia 8 simulations. The data hints that the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is softer with respect to charm mesons, in the measured kinematic interval, as …

Physical Review D

A search for quantum black holes in electron+ jet and muon+ jet invariant mass spectra is performed with 140 fb− 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s= 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed invariant mass spectrum of lepton+ jet pairs is consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching fractions for quantum black holes decaying into a lepton and a quark in a search region with invariant mass above 2.0 TeV. The resulting quantum black hole lower mass threshold limit is 9.2 TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali model, and 6.8 TeV in the Randall-Sundrum model.

Physical Review D

We use data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) DR4 to search for the presence of neutrino self-interaction in the cosmic microwave background. Consistent with prior works, the posterior distributions we find are bimodal, with one mode consistent with Λ CDM and one where neutrinos strongly self-interact. By combining ACT data with large-scale information from WMAP, we find that a delayed onset of neutrino free streaming caused by significantly strong neutrino self-interaction is compatible with these data at the 2− 3 σ level. As seen in the past, the preference shifts to Λ CDM with the inclusion of Planck data. We determine that the preference for strong neutrino self-interaction is largely driven by angular scales corresponding to 700≲ ℓ≲ 1000 in the ACT E-mode polarization data. This region is expected to be key to discriminate between neutrino self-interacting modes and will soon be probed with …

Physical Review D

We determine the fine-tuning of the Yukawa couplings of supersymmetric QCD, discretized on a lattice. We use perturbation theory at one-loop level. The modified minimal subtraction scheme (MS) is employed; by its definition, this scheme requires perturbative calculations, in the continuum and/or on the lattice. On the lattice, we utilize the Wilson formulation for gluon, quark, and gluino fields; for squark fields we use naive discretization. The sheer difficulties of this study lie in the fact that different components of squark fields mix among themselves at the quantum level and the action’s symmetries, such as parity and charge conjugation, allow an additional Yukawa coupling. Consequently, for an appropriate fine-tuning of the Yukawa terms, these mixings must be taken into account in the renormalization conditions. All Green’s functions and renormalization factors are analytic expressions depending on the number of …