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Phases of 5d SCFTs from M-/F-theory on non-flat fibrations

We initiate the systematic investigation of non-flat resolutions of non-minimal singularities in elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds. Compactification of M-theory on these geometries provides an alternative approach to studying phases of five-dimensional superconformal field theories (5d SCFTs). We argue that such resolutions capture non-trivial holonomies in the circle reduction of the 6d conformal matter theory that is the F-theory interpretation of the singular fibration. As these holonomies become mass deformations in the 5d theory, non-flat resolutions furnish a novel method in the attempt to classify 5d SCFTs through 6d SCFTs on a circle. A particularly pleasant aspect of this proposal is the explicit embedding of the 5d SCFT’s enhanced flavor group inside that of the parent 6d SCFT, which can be read off from the geometry. We demonstrate these features in toric examples which realize 5d theories up to rank four.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for Higgsinos in final states with low-momentum lepton-track pairs at 13 TeV

We present a search for the pair production of Higgsinos in final states with large missing transverse momentum and either two reconstructed muons or a reconstructed lepton (muon or electron) and an isolated track. The analyzed data correspond to proton-proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 137 fb −1 , collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{𝑠}$ =13 TeV in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The signal scenario assumes four nearly mass degenerate Higgsino mass eigenstates: two neutralino states $\tilde{𝜒}^0_2$ and $\tilde{𝜒}^0_1$ with a small mass difference in the range 1–10 GeV and two chargino states $\tilde{𝜒}^±_1$ with an intermediate mass. The analysis focuses on the decay of the heavier neutralino into the lighter one and a virtual 𝑍 boson, which decays into two same-flavor leptons. The leptons have small transverse momentum and/or a small opening angle between the identified muons. An isolated track is used to recover events in which only one of the two leptons is identified. Multivariate discriminants are used to enhance the sensitivity by efficiently rejecting backgrounds from SM processes or misreconstructed tracks and/or leptons. The search explores a unique phase space and probes a previously unexplored region of the signal model parameter space. Mass differences between the two neutralinos are probed down to 1.5 GeV, assuming a Higgsino mass of 100 GeV. The maximum excluded Higgsino mass is 115 GeV.

Hayrapetyan, A. [Yerevan Physics Institute]↗

Machine learning techniques in searches for$t\bar{t}$h in the h → $b\bar{b}$ decay channel

Study of the production of pairs of top quarks in association with a Higgs boson is one of the primary goals of the Large Hadron Collider over the next decade, as measurements of this process may help us to understand whether the uniquely large mass of the top quark plays a special role in electroweak symmetry breaking. Higgs bosons decay predominantly to b$\bar{_b}$, yielding signatures for the signal that are similar to t$\bar{_t}$ + jets with heavy flavor. Though particularly challenging to study due to the similar kinematics between signal and background events, such final states (t$\bar{_t}$b$\bar{b}$) are an important channel for studying the top quark Yukawa coupling. This paper presents a systematic study of machine learning (ML) methods for detecting t$\bar{_t}$h in the h → b$\bar{b}$ decay channel. Among the seven ML methods tested, we show that neural network models outperform alternative methods. In addition, two neural models used in this paper outperform NeuroBayes, one of the standard algorithms used in current particle physics experiments. We further study the effectiveness of ML algorithms by investigating the impact of feature set and data size, as well as the depth of the networks for neural models. We demonstrate that an extended feature set leads to improvement of performance over basic features. Furthermore, the availability of large samples for training is found to be important for improving the performance of the techniques. For the features and the data set studied here, neural networks of more layers deliver comparable performance to their simpler counterparts.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Physics of parameter correlations around the solar-scale enhancement in neutrino theory with unitarity violation

We discuss the physics of the three neutrino flavor transformation with non-unitary mixing matrix, with particular attention to the correlation between the $\nu$SM- and the $\alpha$ parameters which represent the effect of unitarity-violating (UV) new physics. Towards this goal, a new perturbative framework is created to illuminate the effect of non-unitarity in the region of the solar-scale enhanced oscillations. We refute the skepticism about the physical reality of the $\nu$Standard Model CP phase $\delta$–$\alpha$ parameter phase correlation by analysis with the SOL convention of $U_{{\tiny MNS}}$, in which $e^{\pm i \delta}$ is attached to $s_{12}$. Then, a comparative study between the solar- and atmospheric-scale oscillation regions allowed by the framework reveals a dynamical $\delta$–(blobs of the $\alpha$ parameters) correlation in the solar oscillation region, in sharp contrast to the “chiral”-type phase correlation $[e^{- i \delta} \bar{\alpha}_{\mu e},\ e^{- i \delta} \bar{\alpha}_{\tau e},\ \bar{\alpha}_{\tau \mu}]$ in the Particle Data Group convention seen in the atmospheric oscillation region. An explicit perturbative calculation to the first order in the $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{e}$ channel allows us to decompose the UV related part of the probability into the unitary evolution part and the genuine non-unitary part. We observe that the effect of non-unitarity tends to cancel between these two parts, as well as between the different $\alpha_{\beta \gamma}$ parameters.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A machine learning Automated Recommendation Tool for synthetic biology

Abstract Synthetic biology allows us to bioengineer cells to synthesize novel valuable molecules such as renewable biofuels or anticancer drugs. However, traditional synthetic biology approaches involve ad-hoc engineering practices, which lead to long development times. Here, we present the Automated Recommendation Tool (ART), a tool that leverages machine learning and probabilistic modeling techniques to guide synthetic biology in a systematic fashion, without the need for a full mechanistic understanding of the biological system. Using sampling-based optimization, ART provides a set of recommended strains to be built in the next engineering cycle, alongside probabilistic predictions of their production levels. We demonstrate the capabilities of ART on simulated data sets, as well as experimental data from real metabolic engineering projects producing renewable biofuels, hoppy flavored beer without hops, fatty acids, and tryptophan. Finally, we discuss the limitations of this approach, and the practical consequences of the underlying assumptions failing.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Sterile neutrino dark matter and leptogenesis in Left-Right Higgs Parity

The standard model Higgs quartic coupling vanishes at (10 9 – 10 13 ) GeV. We study SU(2) L × SU(2) R × U(1) B–L theories that incorporate the Higgs Parity mechanism, where this becomes the scale of Left-Right symmetry breaking, $v_R$. Furthermore, these theories solve the strong CP problem and predict three right-handed neutrinos. We introduce cosmologies where SU(2) R × U(1) B–L gauge interactions produce right-handed neutrinos via the freeze-out or freeze-in mechanisms. In both cases, we find the parameter space where the lightest right-handed neutrino is dark matter and the decay of a heavier one creates the baryon asymmetry of the universe via leptogenesis. A theory of flavor is constructed that naturally accounts for the lightness and stability of the right-handed neutrino dark matter, while maintaining sufficient baryon asymmetry. The dark matter abundance and successful natural leptogenesis require vR to be in the range (10 10 – 10 13 ) GeV for freeze-out, in remarkable agreement with the scale where the Higgs quartic coupling vanishes, whereas freeze-in requires $v_R$ ≳ 109 GeV. The allowed parameter space can be probed by the warmness of dark matter, precise determinations of the top quark mass and QCD coupling by future colliders and lattice computations, and measurement of the neutrino mass hierarchy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

On the effective theory of neutrino-electron and neutrino-quark interactions

We determine the four Fermi effective theory of neutrino interactions within the Standard Model including one-loop electroweak radiative corrections, in combination with the measured muon lifetime and precision electroweak data. Including two-loop matching and three-loop running corrections, we determine lepton coefficients accounting for all large logarithms through relative order $\cal{O}(\alpha \alpha_s)$ and quark coefficients accounting for all large logarithms through ${\cal{O}}(\alpha)$. We present four-fermion coefficients valid in $n_f=3$ and $n_f=4$ flavor quark theories, as well as in the extreme low-energy limit. We relate the coefficients in this limit to neutrino charge radii governing matter effects via forward neutrino scattering on charged particles.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Constraints on Large Extra Dimensions from the MINOS Experiment

We report new constraints on the size of large extra dimensions from data collected by the MINOS experiment between 2005 and 2012. Our analysis employs a model in which sterile neutrinos arise as Kaluza-Klein states in large extra dimensions and thus modify the neutrino oscillation probabilities due to mixing between active and sterile neutrino states. Using Fermilab’s Neutrinos at the Main Injector beam exposure of 10.56×1020 protons on target, we combine muon neutrino charged current and neutral current data sets from the Near and Far Detectors and observe no evidence for deviations from standard three-flavor neutrino oscillations. The ratios of reconstructed energy spectra in the two detectors constrain the size of large extra dimensions to be smaller than 0.45 μm at 90% C.L. in the limit of a vanishing lightest active neutrino mass. Stronger limits are obtained for nonvanishing masses.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Far-forward neutrinos at the Large Hadron Collider

We present a new calculation of the energy distribution of high-energy neutrinos from the decay of charm and bottom hadrons produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the kinematical region of very forward rapidities, heavy-flavor production and decay is a source of tau neutrinos that leads to thousands of charged-current tau neutrino events in a 1 m long, 1 m radius lead neutrino detector at a distance of 480 m from the interaction region. In our computation, next-to-leading order QCD radiative corrections are accounted for in the production cross-sections. Non-perturbative intrinsic-kT effects are approximated by a simple phenomenological model introducing a Gaussian kT-smearing of the parton distribution functions, which might also mimic perturbative effects due to multiple initial-state soft-gluon emissions. The transition from partonic to hadronic states is described by phenomenological fragmentation functions. To study the effect of various input parameters, theoretical predictions for D± s production are compared with LHCb data on double-differential cross-sections in transverse momentum and rapidity. The uncertainties related to the choice of the input parameter values, ultimately affecting the predictions of the tau neutrino event distributions, are discussed. We consider a 3+1 neutrino mixing scenario to illustrate the potential for a neutrino experiment to constrain the 3+1 parameter space using tau neutrinos and antineutrinos. We find large theoretical uncertainties in the predictions of the neutrino fluxes in the far-forward region. Untangling the effects of tau neutrino oscillations into sterile neutrinos and distinguishing a 3+1 scenario from the standard scenario with three active neutrino flavours, will be challenging due to the large theoretical uncertainties from QCD.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Measurements of top quark properties in top pair production and decay at the LHC using the CMS detector

Measurements are presented of the properties of top quarks in pair production and decay from proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The data were collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV by the CMS experiment during the years 2011 and 2012. The top quark-antiquark charge asymmetry is measured using the difference of the absolute rapidities of the reconstructed top and anti-top kinematics, as well as from distributions of the top quark decay products. The measurements are performed in the decay channels of the tt¯ pair into both one and two leptons in the final state. The polarization of top quarks and top pair spin correlations are measured from the angular distributions of top quark decay products. The W-boson helicity fractions and angular asymmetries are extracted and limits on anomalous contributions to the Wtb vertex are determined. The flavor content in top-quark pair events is measured using the fraction of top quarks decaying into a W-boson and a b -quark relative to all top quark decays, R=B(t→Wb)/B(t→Wq) , and the result is used to determine the CKM matrix element Vtb as well as the width of the top quark resonance. Finally, all of the results are found to be in good agreement with standard model predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Mu2e: Probing the Frontiers of Physics Using Muons

The absence of any signature for new physics beyond the standard model at the Large Hadron Collider has left the field of elementary particle physics in a quandary. We know there is new physics out there: where best to look for it? Searches for certain rare processes provide ultrasensitive probes for new physics and can reach mass scales unobtainable by any conceivable accelerator, present or imagined. We describe such an experiment, Mu2e, that intends to use a novel technique to search for new physics through lepton flavor violation in muon decays with a sensitivity of a factor of 10,000 over existing limits.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Search for Baryon Number Violation in Top Quark Production and Decay Using Proton-Proton Collisions at $\sqrt{𝑠}$ = 13 TeV

A search is presented for baryon number violating interactions in top quark production and decay. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 . Candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons) and exactly one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminants are used to separate the signal from the background. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is observed. Upper limits are placed on the strength of baryon number violating couplings. For the first time the production of single top quarks via baryon number violating interactions is studied. This allows the search to set the most stringent constraints to date on the branching fraction of the top quark decay to a lepton, an up-type quark (𝑢 or 𝑐), and a down-type quark (𝑑, 𝑠, or 𝑏). The results improve the previous bounds by 3 to 6 orders of magnitude based on the fermion flavor combination of the baryon number violating interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Implications of a light “dark Higgs” solution to the g μ - 2 discrepancy

A light scalar Φ with mass ≲1 GeV and muonic coupling O(10 -3 ) would explain the 3.5σ discrepancy between the Standard Model (SM) muon g-2 prediction and experiment. Such a scalar can be associated with a light remnant of the Higgs mechanism in the “dark” sector. We suggest Φ→l + l - bump hunting in μ→eν$\vec{v}$Φ, μ-p→ν μ nΦ (muon capture), and K ± →μ ± νΦ decays as direct probes of this scenario. In a general setup, a potentially observable muon electric dipole moment ≲10 -23 e cm and lepton-flavor-violating decays τ→μ(e)Φ or μ→eΦ can also arise. A deviation in BR(H→μ + μ - ) from SM expectations, due to Higgs coupling misalignment, can result depending on certain parameters. Here, we illustrate how the requisite interactions can be mediated by weak-scale vector-like leptons that typically lie within the reach of future LHC measurements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Far-forward neutrinos at the Large Hadron Collider

We present a new calculation of the energy distribution of high-energy neutrinos from the decay of charm and bottom hadrons produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the kinematical region of very forward rapidities, heavy-flavor production and decay is a source of tau neutrinos that leads to thousands of charged-current tau neutrino events in a 1 m long, 1 m radius lead neutrino detector at a distance of 480 m from the interaction region. In our computation, next-to-leading order QCD radiative corrections are accounted for in the production cross-sections. Non-perturbative intrinsic-k T effects are approximated by a simple phenomenological model introducing a Gaussian k T -smearing of the parton distribution functions, which might also mimic perturbative effects due to multiple initial-state soft-gluon emissions. The transition from partonic to hadronic states is described by phenomenological fragmentation functions. To study the effect of various input parameters, theoretical predictions for $D^{±}_s$ production are compared with LHCb data on double-differential cross-sections in transverse momentum and rapidity. The uncertainties related to the choice of the input parameter values, ultimately affecting the predictions of the tau neutrino event distributions, are discussed. We consider a 3+1 neutrino mixing scenario to illustrate the potential for a neutrino experiment to constrain the 3+1 parameter space using tau neutrinos and antineutrinos. We find large theoretical uncertainties in the predictions of the neutrino fluxes in the far-forward region. Untangling the effects of tau neutrino oscillations into sterile neutrinos and distinguishing a 3+1 scenario from the standard scenario with three active neutrino flavours, will be challenging due to the large theoretical uncertainties from QCD.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Guidelines to Achieving High Selectivity for the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Aldehydes with Bimetallic and Dilute Alloy Catalysts: A Review

Selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes to unsaturated alcohols is a challenging class of reactions, yielding valuable intermediates for the production of pharmaceuticals, perfumes, and flavorings. On monometallic heterogeneous catalysts, the formation of the unsaturated alcohols is thermodynamically disfavored over the saturated aldehydes. Hence, new catalysts are required to achieve the desired selectivity. In this work, the literature of three major research areas in catalysis is integrated as a step toward establishing the guidelines for enhancing the selectivity: reactor studies of complex catalyst materials at operating temperature and pressure, surface science studies of crystalline surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum, and first-principles modeling using density functional theory calculations. Aggregate analysis shows that bimetallic and dilute alloy catalysts significantly enhance the selectivity to the unsaturated alcohols compared to monometallic catalysts. This comprehensive review focuses primarily on the role of different metal surfaces as well as the factors that promote the adsorption of the unsaturated aldehyde via its C=O bond, most notably by electronic modification of the surface and formation of the electrophilic sites. Furthermore, challenges, gaps, and opportunities are identified to advance the rational design of efficient catalysts for this class of reactions, including the need for systematic studies of catalytic processes, theoretical modeling of complex materials, and model studies under ambient pressure and temperature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Spin-orbit correlations in the nucleon in the large- N c limit

We study the twist-3 spin-orbit correlations of quarks described by the nucleon matrix elements of the parity-odd rank-2 tensor QCD operator (the parity-odd partner of the QCD energy-momentum tensor). Our treatment is based on the effective dynamics emerging from the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry and the mean-field picture of the nucleon in the large- N c limit. The twist-3 QCD operators are converted to effective operators, in which the QCD interactions are replaced by spin-flavor-dependent chiral interactions of the quarks with the pion field. We compute the nucleon matrix elements of the twist-3 effective operators and discuss the role of the chiral interactions in the spin-orbit correlations. We derive the first-quantized representation in the mean-field picture and develop a quantum-mechanical interpretation. The chiral interactions give rise to new spin-orbit couplings and qualitatively change the correlations compared to the quark model picture. We also derive the twist-3 matrix elements in the topological soliton picture where the quarks are integrated out (skyrmion). The methods used here can be extended to other QCD operators describing higher-twist nucleon structure and generalized parton distributions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Standard Ruler at Cosmic Dawn

The matter in our Universe comes in two flavors: dark and baryonic. Of these, only the latter couples to photons, giving rise to the well-known baryon acoustic oscillations and, in the process, generating supersonic relative velocities between dark matter and baryons. These velocities—imprinted with the acoustic scale in their genesis—impede the formation of the first stars during cosmic dawn (z ~ 20), modulating the expected 21-cm signal from this era. In a companion paper we showed, combining numerical simulations and analytic models, that this modulation takes the form of robust velocity-induced acoustic oscillations (VAOs), with a well-understood shape that is frozen at recombination, and unaffected by the unknown astrophysics of star formation. Here we propose using these VAOs as a standard ruler at cosmic dawn. We find that three years of 21-cm power-spectrum data from the upcoming HERA interferometer should be able to measure the Hubble expansion rate H(z) at z = 15–20 to percent-level precision, ranging from 0.3% to 11% depending on the strength of astrophysical feedback processes and foregrounds. Furthermore, this would provide a new handle on the expansion rate of our Universe during an otherwise unprobed epoch, opening a window to the mysterious cosmic-dawn era.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the Production of $B^{\pm}$ Mesons in $p\bar{p}$ Collisions.

We present a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in the production of B ± mesons, A FB (B ± ), using B ± → J/ψK ± decays in 10.4 fb -1 of p$\bar{p}$ collisions at √ s = 1.96 TeV collected by the DØ experiment during Run II of the Tevatron collider. A nonzero asymmetry would indicate a preference for a particular flavor, i.e., b quark or $\bar{b}$ antiquark, to be produced in the direction of the proton beam. We extract A FB (B ± ) from a maximum likelihood fit to the difference between the numbers of forward- and backward-produced B ± mesons, using a boosted decision tree to reduce background. Corrections are made for reconstruction asymmetries of the decay products. We measure an asymmetry consistent with zero: A FB (B ± ) = [-0.24 ± 0.41 (stat)± 0.19 (syst)]%. The standard model estimate from next-to-leading-order Monte Carlo is A SM FB (B ± ) = [2.31 ± 0.34 (stat.)± 0.51 (syst.)]%. There is a difference of ≈ 3 standard deviations between this prediction and our result, which suggests that more rigorous determination of the standard model prediction is needed to interpret these results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗