Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Development of the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter Readout Electronics for the HL-LHC

  Mathis Kolb

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 158 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The full ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter electronic readout chain will be upgraded for the high-luminosity LHC. The upgrade is designed to withstand the expected radiation level and to be compatible with the Phase-I Digital Trigger System which is being installed right now. Analogue electronics shape and amplify the calorimeter signals before they are digitized with 16 bit dynamic range on two gain scales. The on-detector system samples the calorimeter cell signals at 40 MHz and sends them to the off-detector electronics which apply digital processing based on FPGAs. Design studies and tests of prototypes of the upgraded components are present

• Feasibility of tau g-2 measurements in ultra-peripheral collisions of heavy ions

  Nazar Burmasov, Evgeny Kryshen, Paul Buehler, Roman Lavicka

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 022 (2025) · published 15 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The anomalous magnetic moment of the tau lepton, $a_\tau=(g_\tau - 2)/2$, is a sensitive probe of new physics but is extremely difficult to measure precisely in contrast to electron and muon moments. The best experimental limits were set by the DELPHI collaboration more than 15 years ago in studies of the ditau production in the $ee\to ee\tau\tau$ process. Ultra-peripheral collisions (UPCs) of heavy ions at the LHC may provide a unique opportunity to improve the $a_\tau$ constraints in the studies of ${\rm Pb + Pb}\to {\rm Pb + Pb}+\tau\tau$ process. We review recent proposals to study ditau production via semi-leptonic tau decays in Pb-Pb UPC with the available ATLAS and CMS data and discuss the feasibility to explore this process down to low transverse momenta of decay leptons with the ALICE and LHCb experiments.

• Status and prospects for $\tau$ property measurements at Belle II

  Michel Hernández Villanueva

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 015 (2025) · published 14 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Belle II is a major upgrade of the Belle detector, operating at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider with a design luminosity of 8×$10^{35}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. To date, the detector has recorded over 200 fb$^{-1}$ of data and aims to collect 50 ab$^{-1}$, a factor of 50 more than its predecessor. Belle II has a broad $\tau$ physics program, from high-precision measurements of Standard Model parameters to searches of new non-Standard-Model interactions. In this work, we review the status of the Belle II experiment and the prospects for the measurement of the $\tau$ lepton mass and lifetime, which are fundamental inputs in tests of LFU violation.

• Deriving experimental constraints on the scalar form factor in the second-class $\tau \to\eta \pi \nu$ mode

  Bachir Moussallam

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 009 (2025) · published 14 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The rare second-class decay mode of the $\tau$ into $\eta\pi\nu$ could be observed for the first time at Belle II. It is important to try to derive a reliable evaluation of the branching fraction and of the energy distribution of this mode within the standard-model. Many predictions exist already in the literature which can differ by one to two orders of magnitude. Here, an approach based on a systematic use of the property of analyticity of form factors and scattering amplitudes in QCD is discussed. In particular, we will show that the scalar form factor in the $\tau$ decay can be related to photon-photon scattering and radiative $\phi$ decay amplitudes for which precise experimental measurements have been performed by the Belle and KLOE collaborations.

• Towards DIS at N4LO

  Avanish Basdew-Sharma

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 153 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We will report on an ongoing effort towards calculating the N4LO perturbative QCD corrections to the DIS total inclusive cross-section. We are developing a method based on differential equations and series expansion in the inverse Bjorken parameter. As a byproduct our calculation should also deliver analytic or at least precise numerical approximations for the four-loop splitting functions.

• Strong coupling at the $\tau$-mass scale from an improved vector isovector spectral function

  Diogo Boito, Maarten Golterman, Kim Maltman, Santiago Peris, Marcus V. Rodrigues, Wilder Schaaf

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 004 (2025) · published 14 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We perform a precise extraction of the QCD coupling at the $\tau$-mass scale, $\alpha_s(m_\tau)$, from a new vector isovector spectral function which combines ALEPH and OPAL distributions for the dominant channels, $\tau\to\pi \pi^0\nu_\tau$, $\tau\to 3\pi \pi^0\nu_\tau$ and $\tau\to \pi 3\pi^0\nu_\tau$, with estimates of sub-leading contributions obtained from electroproduction cross-sections using CVC, as well as BaBar results for $\tau \to K^-K^0\nu_\tau$. The fully inclusive spectral function thus obtained is entirely based on experimental data, without Monte Carlo input. From this new data set, we obtain $\alpha_s(m_\tau)=0.3077±0.0075$, which corresponds to $\alpha_s(m_Z)=0.1171±0.0010$. This analysis can be improved on the experimental side with new measurements of the dominant $\pi\pi^0$, $\pi 3\pi^0$, and $3\pi \pi^0$ $\tau$ decay modes.

• Many-body localization in a quantum Ising model with the long-range interaction: Accurate determination of the transition point

  Illia Lukin, Andrii Sotnikov, Alexander L. Burin

  SciPost Phys. 20, 023 (2026) · published 27 January 2026 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the many-body localization (MBL) transition in the quantum Ising model with long-range interactions. Unlike spin chains with short-range interactions, where the MBL transition point remains elusive due to strong finite-size effects and local fluctuations, long-range interactions suppress such fluctuations and enable clearer signatures of critical behavior. Using exact results from a related Bethe lattice localization problem, we estimate the MBL threshold within logarithmic accuracy and find consistency with exact diagonalization. Although the critical disorder diverges in the thermodynamic limit, our results demonstrate that the critical regime can still be probed and highlight the relevance of this model to systems with dipole-dipole, elastic, or indirect exchange interactions.

• Collective dynamics of densely confined active polar disks with self- and mutual alignment

  Weizhen Tang, Yating Zheng, Amir Shee, Guozheng Lin, Zhangang Han, Pawel Romanczuk, Cristián Huepe

  SciPost Phys. 19, 012 (2025) · published 8 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the emerging collective states in a simple mechanical model of a dense group of self-propelled polar disks with off-centered rotation, confined within a circular arena. Each disk presents self-alignment towards the sum of contact forces acting on it, resulting from disk-substrate interactions, while also displaying mutual alignment with neighbors due to having its center of rotation located a distance $R$ behind its centroid, so that central contact forces can also introduce torques. The effect of both alignment mechanisms produces a variety of collective states that combine high-frequency localized circular oscillations with low-frequency milling around the center of the arena, in fluid or solid regimes. We consider cases with small/large $R$ values, isotropic/anisotropic disk-substrate damping, smooth/rough arena boundaries, different densities, and multiple systems sizes, showing that the emergent collective states that we identify are robust, generic, and potentially observable in real-world natural or artificial systems.

• Search for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the $Z$ boson into a $\tau$-lepton and a light lepton with the ATLAS detector

  Wing Sheung Chan on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 048 (2019) · published 22 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Lepton flavour violation in the charged lepton sector is an unambiguous signal of physics beyond the Standard Model. Searches for lepton flavour violation in decays of the $Z$ boson with the ATLAS detector is reported, focusing on decays into an electron or muon and a hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton, using $pp$ collisions data with a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Upper limits on the branching ratios of lepton-flavor-violating decays are set at the 95\% confidence level: $\mathcal{B}(Z\to e\tau) < 5.8\times10^{-5}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau) < 2.4\times10^{-5}$. When combined with a previous ATLAS result based on $pp$ collisions data with a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, an upper limit of $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau) < 1.3\times10^{-5}$ is obtained.

• The inclusive Higgs boson cross-section in gluon-gluon fusion in soft-virtual approximation at fourth order in QCD

  Goutam Das, Sven-Olaf Moch

  SciPost Phys. Comm. Rep. 17 (2026) · published 27 January 2026 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present precise results for the inclusive Higgs boson cross-section in gluon-gluon fusion at the LHC considering state-of-the-art fourth-order results in perturbative QCD arising from the dominant soft and virtual gluon emissions. Utilizing four-loop QCD results for the gluon-form factor, the splitting function and related anomalous dimensions, we study the effects of threshold enhanced soft gluon emissions and estimate their impact on the total cross-section at the fourth order. Our study highlights the role of these higher-order contributions in improving the perturbative convergence and in significantly reducing the renormalization and factorization scale uncertainties. The results provide strong evidence for the perturbative stability and reliability of Higgs boson cross-section predictions at the LHC, thereby reinforcing the robustness of theoretical inputs in precision Higgs phenomenology. We also provide cross-section predictions using a large set of available parton distribution functions and show that, together with the value of the strong coupling $\alpha_{\rm s}(m_Z)$, they cause the largest residual uncertainty for the Higgs boson cross-section in gluon-gluon fusion.