Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Ground-state phase diagram of quantum link electrodynamics in $(2+1)$-d

  Tomohiro Hashizume, Jad C. Halimeh, Philipp Hauke, Debasish Banerjee

  SciPost Phys. 13, 017 (2022) · published 12 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The exploration of phase diagrams of strongly interacting gauge theories coupled to matter in lower dimensions promises the identification of exotic phases and possible new universality classes, and it facilitates a better understanding of salient phenomena in Nature, such as confinement or high-temperature superconductivity. The emerging new techniques of quantum synthetic matter experiments as well as efficient classical computational methods with matrix product states have been extremely successful in one spatial dimension, and are now motivating such studies in two spatial dimensions. In this work, we consider a $\mathrm{U}(1)$ quantum link lattice gauge theory where the gauge fields, represented by spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ operators are coupled to a single flavor of staggered fermions. Using matrix product states on infinite cylinders with increasing diameter, we conjecture its phase diagram in $(2+1)$-d. This model allows us to smoothly tune between the $\mathrm{U}(1)$ quantum link and the quantum dimer models by adjusting the strength of the fermion mass term, enabling us to connect to the well-studied phases of those models. Our study reveals a rich phase diagram with exotic phases and interesting phase transitions to a potential liquid-like phase. It thus furthers the collection of gauge theory models that may guide future quantum-simulation experiments.

  4 citations

• HFLAV $τ$ branching fractions fit and measurements of Vus with $τ$ lepton data

  Alberto Lusiani

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 001 (2019) · published 18 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We report the status of the Heavy Flavour Averaging Group (HFLAV) averages of the $\tau$ lepton measurements We then update the latest published HFLAV global fit of the $\tau$ lepton branching fractions (Spring 2017) with recent results by BABAR. We use the fit results to update the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element Vus measurements with the $\tau$ branching fractions. We combine the direct $\tau$ branching fraction measurements with indirect predictions using kaon branching fractions measurements to improve the determination of Vus using $\tau$ branching fractions. The Vus determinations based on the inclusive branching fraction of $\tau$ to strange final states are about $3\sigma$ lower than the Vus determination from the CKM matrix unitarity.

  4 citations

• pyBumpHunter: A model independent bump hunting tool in Python for high energy physics analyses

  Louis Vaslin, Samuel Calvet, Vincent Barra, Julien Donini

  SciPost Phys. Codebases 15 (2023) · published 14 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The BumpHunter algorithm is widely used in the search for new particles in High Energy Physics analysis. This algorithm offers the advantage of evaluating the local and global p-values of a localized deviation in the observed data without making any hypothesis on the supposed signal. The increasing popularity of the Python programming language motivated the development of a new public implementation of this algorithm in Python, called pyBumpHunter, together with several improvements and additional features. It is the first public implementation of the BumpHunter algorithm to be added to Scikit-HEP. This paper presents in detail the BumpHunter algorithm as well as all the features proposed in this implementation. All these features have been tested in order to demonstrate their behaviour and performance.

  3 citations

• Tau-decay determination of the strong coupling

  Antonio Pich

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 036 (2019) · published 21 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We review the current status of the determination of the strong coupling from tau decay. Using the most recent release of the ALEPH data, a very comprehensive phenomenological analysis has been performed, exploring all strategies previously considered in the literature and several complementary approaches. Once their actual uncertainties are properly assessed, the results from all adopted methodologies are in excellent agreement, leading to a very robust and reliable value of the strong coupling, $\alpha_s^{(n_f=3)}(m_\tau^2) = 0.328\pm 0.013$, which implies $\alpha_s^{(n_f=5)}(M_Z^2) = 0.1197\pm 0.0015$.

  3 citations

• The search for the neutron electric dipole moment at PSI

  Guillaume Pignol, Philipp Schmidt-Wellenburg

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 027 (2021) · published 6 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The existence of a nonzero permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron would reveal a new source of CP violation and shed light on the origin of the matter--antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. The sensitivity of current experiments using stored ultracold neutrons (UCN) probes new physics beyond the TeV scale. Using the UCN source at the Paul Scherrer Institut, the nEDM collaboration has performed the most sensitive measurement of the neutron EDM to date, still compatible with zero ($|d_n|<1.8\times 10^{-26} \, e {\rm cm}$, C.L.90%). A new experiment designed to improve the sensitivity by an order of magnitude, n2EDM, is currently in construction.

  3 citations

• Real-time discrimination of photon pairs using machine learning at the LHC

  Sean Benson, Adrián Casais Vidal, Xabier Cid Vidal, Albert Puig Navarro

  SciPost Phys. 7, 062 (2019) · published 13 November 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  ALP-mediated decays and other as-yet unobserved $B$ decays to di-photon final states are a challenge to select in hadron collider environments due to the large backgrounds that come directly from the $pp$ collision. We present the strategy implemented by the LHCb experiment in 2018 to efficiently select such photon pairs. A fast neural network topology, implemented in the LHCb real-time selection framework achieves high efficiency across a mass range of $4-20$ GeV$/c^{2}$. We discuss implications and future prospects for the LHCb experiment.

  3 citations

• Strength in numbers: Optimal and scalable combination of LHC new-physics searches

  Jack Y. Araz, Andy Buckley, Benjamin Fuks, Humberto Reyes-Gonzalez, Wolfgang Waltenberger, Sophie L. Williamson, Jamie Yellen

  SciPost Phys. 14, 077 (2023) · published 20 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  To gain a comprehensive view of what the LHC tells us about physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), it is crucial that different BSM-sensitive analyses can be combined. But in general search-analyses are not statistically orthogonal, so performing comprehensive combinations requires knowledge of the extent to which the same events co-populate multiple analyses' signal regions. We present a novel, stochastic method to determine this degree of overlap, and a graph algorithm to efficiently find the combination of signal regions with no mutual overlap that optimises expected upper limits on BSM-model cross-sections. The gain in exclusion power relative to single-analysis limits is demonstrated with models with varying degrees of complexity, ranging from simplified models to a 19-dimensional supersymmetric model.

  3 citations

• BROOD: Bilevel and Robust Optimization and Outlier Detection for Efficient Tuning of High-Energy Physics Event Generators

  Wenjing Wang, Mohan Krishnamoorthy, Juliane Muller, Stephen Mrenna, Holger Schulz, Xiangyang Ju, Sven Leyffer, Zachary Marshall

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 001 (2022) · published 17 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The parameters in Monte Carlo (MC) event generators are tuned on experimental measurements by evaluating the goodness of fit between the data and the MC predictions. The relative importance of each measurement is adjusted manually in an often time-consuming, iterative process to meet different experimental needs. In this work, we introduce several optimization formulations and algorithms with new decision criteria for streamlining and automating this process. These algorithms are designed for two formulations: bilevel optimization and robust optimization. Both formulations are applied to the datasets used in the ATLAS A14 tune and to the dedicated hadronization datasets generated by the Sherpa generator, respectively. The corresponding tuned generator parameters are compared using three metrics. We compare the quality of our automatic tunes to the published ATLAS A14 tune. Moreover, we analyze the impact of a pre-processing step that excludes data that cannot be described by the physics models used in the MC event generators.

  3 citations

• Future Physics Prospects with the CMS Detector at the High-Luminosity LHC

  Conor Henderson

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 111 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider is expected to deliver up to 3000 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at 14 TeV center-of-mass energy. We present prospects for selected heavy-ion, Standard Model and Higgs sector measurements with the CMS detector at the HL-LHC, and discuss potential sensitivity to several beyond-Standard Model new physics scenarios.

  3 citations

• The WIMP paradigm: Theme and variations

  Jonathan L. Feng

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 71 (2023) · published 13 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  WIMPs, ↑ weakly-interacting massive particles, have been leading candidates for particle dark matter for decades, and they remain a viable and highly motivated possibility. In these lectures, I describe the basic motivations for WIMPs, beginning with the WIMP miracle and its under-appreciated cousin, the discrete WIMP miracle. I then give an overview of some of the basic features of WIMPs and how to find them. These lectures conclude with some variations on the WIMP theme that have by now become significant topics in their own right and illustrate the richness of the WIMP paradigm.

  3 citations