The production fractions of $\overline{B}_s^0$ and $\Lambda_b^0$ hadrons, normalized to the sum of $B^-$ and $\overline{B}^0$ fractions, are measured in 13 TeV pp collisions using data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.67/fb. These ratios, averaged over the $b$-hadron transverse momenta from 4 to 25 GeV and pseudorapidity from 2 to 5, are $0.122 \pm 0.006$ for $\overline{B}_s^0$, and $0.259 \pm 0.018$ for $\Lambda_b^0$, where the uncertainties arise from both statistical and systematic sources. The $\Lambda_b^0$ ratio depends strongly on transverse momentum, while the $\overline{B}_s^0$ ratio shows a mild dependence. Neither ratio shows variations with pseudorapidity. The measurements are made using semileptonic decays to minimize theoretical uncertainties. In addition, the ratio of $D^+$ to $D^0$ mesons produced in the sum of $\overline{B}^0$ and $B^-$ semileptonic decays is determined as $0.359\pm0.006\pm 0.009$, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic.
The femtoscopic study of pairs of identical pions is particularly suited to investigate the effective source function of particle emission, due to the resulting Bose-Einstein correlation signal. In small collision systems at the LHC, pp in particular, the majority of the pions are produced in resonance decays, which significantly affect the profile and size of the source. In this work, we explicitly model this effect in order to extract the primordial source in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV from charged $\pi$-$\pi$ correlations measured by ALICE. We demonstrate that the assumption of a Gaussian primordial source is compatible with the data and that the effective source, resulting from modifications due to resonances, is approximately exponential, as found in previous measurements at the LHC. The universality of hadron emission in pp collisions is further investigated by applying the same methodology to characterize the primordial source of K-p pairs. The size of the primordial source is evaluated as a function of the transverse mass ($m_{\rm T}$) of the pairs, leading to the observation of a common scaling for both $\pi$-$\pi$ and K-p, suggesting a collective effect. Further, the present results are compatible with the $m_{\rm T}$ scaling of the p-p and p$-\Lambda$ primordial source measured by ALICE in high multiplicity pp collisions, providing compelling evidence for the presence of a common emission source for all hadrons in small collision systems at the LHC. This will allow the determination of the source function for any hadron--hadron pairs with high precision, granting access to the properties of the possible final-state interaction among pairs of less abundantly produced hadrons, such as strange or charmed particles.
Constraints on the Higgs boson self-coupling are set by combining double-Higgs boson analyses in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$, $b\bar{b}\tau^+\tau^-$ and $b\bar{b} \gamma \gamma$ decay channels with single-Higgs boson analyses targeting the $\gamma \gamma$, $ZZ^*$, $WW^*$, $\tau^+ \tau^-$ and $b\bar{b}$ decay channels. The data used in these analyses were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton$-$proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 126$-$139 fb$^{-1}$. The combination of the double-Higgs analyses sets an upper limit of $\mu_{HH} < 2.4$ at 95% confidence level on the double-Higgs production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. Combining the single-Higgs and double-Higgs analyses, with the assumption that new physics affects only the Higgs boson self-coupling ($\lambda_{HHH}$), values outside the interval $-0.4< \kappa_{\lambda}=(\lambda_{HHH}/\lambda_{HHH}^{\textrm{SM}})< 6.3$ are excluded at 95% confidence level. The combined single-Higgs and double-Higgs analyses provide results with fewer assumptions, by adding in the fit more coupling modifiers introduced to account for the Higgs boson interactions with the other Standard Model particles. In this relaxed scenario, the constraint becomes $-1.4 < \kappa_{\lambda} < 6.1$ at 95% CL.
We report the direct virtual photon invariant yields in the transverse momentum ranges $1\!<\!p_{T}\!<\!3$ GeV/$c$ and $5\!<\!p_T\!<\!10$ GeV/$c$ at mid-rapidity derived from the dielectron invariant mass continuum region $0.10<M_{ee}<0.28$ GeV/$c^{2}$ for 0-80\% minimum-bias Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV. A clear excess in the invariant yield compared to the number-of-binary-collisions ($N_{bin}$) scaled $p+p$ reference is observed in the $p_T$ range $1\!<\!p_{T}\!<\!3$ GeV/$c$. For $p_T\!>6$ GeV/$c$ the production follows $N_{bin}$ scaling. Model calculations with contributions from thermal radiation and initial hard parton scattering are consistent within uncertainties with the direct virtual photon invariant yield.
Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange, a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distances on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for $\phi$ is unexpectedly large, while that for $K^{*0}$ is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the $\phi$ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with a connection to strong force fields, i.e. an effective proxy description within the Standard Model and Quantum Chromodynamics, accommodates the current data. This connection, if fully established, will open a potential new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields.
We present results from the measurement of the inclusive jet cross section for jet transverse energies from 40 to 465 GeV in the pseudo-rapidity range $0.1<|\eta|<0.7$. The results are based on 87 $pb^{-1}$ of data collected by the CDF collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The data are consistent with previously published results. The data are also consistent with QCD predictions given the flexibility allowed from current knowledge of the proton parton distributions. We develop a new procedure for ranking the agreement of the parton distributions with data and find that the data are best described by QCD predictions using the parton distribution functions which have a large gluon contribution at high $E_T$ (CTEQ4HJ).
Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions -- the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in $p$+Au and $d$+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data.
We present the first measurements of transverse momentum spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p(\bar{p})$ at midrapidity ($|y| < 0.1$) in U+U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 193 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The centrality dependence of particle yields, average transverse momenta, particle ratios and kinetic freeze-out parameters are discussed. The results are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 200 GeV in STAR. The results are also compared to those from A Multi Phase Transport (AMPT) model.
We present high precision measurements of elliptic flow near midrapidity ($|y|<1.0$) for multi-strange hadrons and $\phi$ meson as a function of centrality and transverse momentum in Au+Au collisions at center of mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 200 GeV. We observe that the transverse momentum dependence of $\phi$ and $\Omega$ $v_{2}$ is similar to that of $\pi$ and $p$, respectively, which may indicate that the heavier strange quark flows as strongly as the lighter up and down quarks. This observation constitutes a clear piece of evidence for the development of partonic collectivity in heavy-ion collisions at the top RHIC energy. Number of constituent quark scaling is found to hold within statistical uncertainty for both 0-30$\%$ and 30-80$\%$ collision centrality. There is an indication of the breakdown of previously observed mass ordering between $\phi$ and proton $v_{2}$ at low transverse momentum in the 0-30$\%$ centrality range, possibly indicating late hadronic interactions affecting the proton $v_{2}$.
We present measurements of the B+ meson total cross section and differential cross section $d\sigma/ dp_T$. The measurements use a $98\pm 4$ pb^{-1} sample of $p \bar p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$ TeV collected by the CDF detector. Charged $B$ meson candidates are reconstructed through the decay $B^{\pm} \to J/\psi K^{\pm}$ with $J/\psi\to \mu^+ \mu^-$. The total cross section, measured in the central rapidity region $|y|<1.0$ for $p_T(B)>6.0$ GeV/$c$, is $3.6 \pm 0.6 ({\rm stat} \oplus {\rm syst)} \mu$b. The measured differential cross section is substantially larger than typical QCD predictions calculated to next-to-leading order.