Atomic nuclei are self-organized, many-body quantum systems bound by strong nuclear forces within femtometer-scale space. These complex systems manifest a variety of shapes, traditionally explored using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques at low energies. However, at these energies, their instantaneous shapes are obscured by long-timescale quantum fluctuations, making direct observation challenging. Here we introduce the ``collective flow assisted nuclear shape imaging'' method, which images the nuclear global shape by colliding them at ultrarelativistic speeds and analyzing the collective response of outgoing debris. This technique captures a collision-specific snapshot of the spatial matter distribution within the nuclei, which, through the hydrodynamic expansion, imprints patterns on the particle momentum distribution observed in detectors. We benchmark this method in collisions of ground state Uranium-238 nuclei, known for their elongated, axial-symmetric shape. Our findings show a large deformation with a slight deviation from axial symmetry in the nuclear ground state, aligning broadly with previous low-energy experiments. This approach offers a new method for imaging nuclear shapes, enhances our understanding of the initial conditions in high-energy collisions and addresses the important issue of nuclear structure evolution across energy scales.

In a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), the fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks and gluons, are under extreme conditions of temperature and density. A QGP could exist in the early stages of the Universe, and in various objects and events in the cosmos. The thermodynamic and hydrodynamic properties of the QGP are described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and can be studied in heavy-ion collisions. Despite being a key thermodynamic parameter, the QGP temperature is still poorly known. Thermal lepton pairs ($e^+e^-$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$) are ideal penetrating probes of the true temperature of the emitting source, since their invariant-mass spectra suffer neither from strong final-state interactions nor from blue-shift effects due to rapid expansion. Here we measure the QGP temperature using thermal $e^+e^-$ production at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The average temperature from the low-mass region (in-medium $\rho^0$ vector-meson dominant) is $(1.99 \pm 0.24) \times 10^{12}$ K, consistent with the chemical freeze-out temperature from statistical models and the phase transition temperature from LQCD. The average temperature from the intermediate mass region (above the $\rho^0$ mass, QGP dominant) is significantly higher at $(3.40 \pm 0.55)\times 10^{12}$ K. This work provides essential experimental thermodynamic measurements to map out the QCD phase diagram and understand the properties of matter under extreme conditions.

A measurement of the top-quark pole mass $m_{t}^\text{pole}$ is presented in $t\bar{t}$ events with an additional jet, $t\bar{t}+1\text{-jet}$, produced in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The data sample, recorded with the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 of the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 $\text{fb}^{-1}$. Events with one electron and one muon of opposite electric charge in the final state are selected to measure the $t\bar{t}+1\text{-jet}$ differential cross-section as a function of the inverse of the invariant mass of the $t\bar{t}+1\text{-jet}$ system. Iterative Bayesian Unfolding is used to correct the data to enable comparison with fixed-order calculations at next-to-leading-order accuracy in the strong coupling. The process $pp \to t\bar{t}j$ ($2 \rightarrow 3$), where top quarks are taken as stable particles, and the process $pp \to b\bar{b}l^+νl^- \barν j$ ($2 \to 7$), which includes top-quark decays to the dilepton final state and off-shell effects, are considered. The top-quark mass is extracted using a $χ^2$ fit of the unfolded normalized differential cross-section distribution. The results obtained with the $2 \to 3$ and $2 \to 7$ calculations are compatible within theoretical uncertainties, providing an important consistency check. The more precise determination is obtained for the $2 \to 3 $ measurement: $m_{t}^\text{pole}=170.7\pm0.3(\text{stat.})\pm1.4(\text{syst.})\pm 0.3(\text{scale})\pm 0.2(\text{PDF}\oplusα_\text{S})$ GeV, which is in good agreement with other top-quark mass results.

Measurement by the STAR experiment at RHIC of the cold nuclear matter (CNM) effects experienced by inclusive $J/\psi$ at mid-rapidity in 0-100%$p$+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\mathrm{NN}}}}$ = 200 GeV is presented. Such effects are quantified utilizing the nuclear modification factor, $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$, obtained by taking a ratio of $J/\psi$ yield in $p$+Au collisions to that in $p$+$p$ collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential $J/\psi$ yield in both $p$+$p$ and $p$+Au collisions is measured through the dimuon decay channel, taking advantage of the trigger capability provided by the Muon Telescope Detector in the RHIC 2015 run. Consequently, the $J/\psi$$R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$ is derived within the transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) range of 0 to 10 GeV/$c$. A suppression of approximately 30% is observed for $p_{\mathrm{T}}<2$ GeV/$c$, while $J/\psi$ $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$ becomes compatible with unity for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ greater than 3 GeV/$c$, indicating the $J/\psi$ yield is minimally affected by the CNM effects at high $p_{\mathrm{T}}$. Comparison to a similar measurement from 0-20% central Au+Au collisions reveals that the observed strong $J/\psi$ suppression above 3 Gev/$c$ is mostly due to the hot medium effects, providing strong evidence for the formation of the quark-gluon plasma in these collisions. Several model calculations show qualitative agreement with the measured $J/\psi$ $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$, while their agreement with the $J/\psi$ yields in $p$+$p$ and $p$+Au collisions is worse.

Collective behaviour of final-state hadrons, and multiparton interactions are studied in high-multiplicity $ep$ scattering at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=318$ GeV with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Two- and four-particle azimuthal correlations, as well as multiplicity, transverse momentum, and pseudorapidity distributions for charged-particle multiplicities $N_{\textrm ch} \geq 20$ are measured. The dependence of two-particle correlations on the virtuality of the exchanged photon shows a clear transition from photoproduction to neutral current deep inelastic scattering. For the multiplicities studied, neither the measurements in photoproduction processes nor those in neutral current deep inelastic scattering indicate significant collective behaviour of the kind observed in high-multiplicity hadronic collisions at RHIC and the LHC. Comparisons of PYTHIA predictions with the measurements in photoproduction strongly indicate the presence of multiparton interactions from hadronic fluctuations of the exchanged photon.

The $L_{\mu}-L_{\tau}$ extension of the standard model predicts the existence of a lepton-flavor-universality-violating $Z^{\prime}$ boson that couples only to the heavier lepton families. We search for such a $Z^\prime$ through its invisible decay in the process $e^+ e^- \to \mu^+ \mu^- Z^{\prime}$. We use a sample of electron-positron collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 10.58GeV collected by the Belle II experiment in 2019-2020, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79.7fb$^{-1}$. We find no excess over the expected standard-model background. We set 90$\%$-confidence-level upper limits on the cross section for this process as well as on the coupling of the model, which ranges from $3 \times 10^{-3}$ at low $Z^{\prime}$ masses to 1 at $Z^{\prime}$ masses of 8$GeV/c^{2}$.

We report results on an elastic cross section measurement in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV, obtained with the Roman Pot setup of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The elastic differential cross section is measured in the four-momentum transfer squared range $0.23 \leq -t \leq 0.67$ GeV$^2$. We find that a constant slope $B$ does not fit the data in the aforementioned $t$ range, and we obtain a much better fit using a second-order polynomial for $B(t)$. The $t$ dependence of $B$ is determined using six subintervals of $t$ in the STAR measured $t$ range, and is in good agreement with the phenomenological models. The measured elastic differential cross section $\mathrm{d}\sigma/\mathrm{dt}$ agrees well with the results obtained at $\sqrt{s} = 546$ GeV for proton--antiproton collisions by the UA4 experiment. We also determine that the integrated elastic cross section within the STAR $t$-range is $\sigma^\mathrm{fid}_\mathrm{el} = 462.1 \pm 0.9 (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 1.1 (\mathrm {syst.}) \pm 11.6 (\mathrm {scale})$~$\mu\mathrm{b}$.

We determine the CKM matrix-element magnitude $|V_{cb}|$ using $\overline{B}^0\to D^{*+}\ell^-\bar\nu_\ell$ decays reconstructed in $189 \, \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of collision data collected by the Belle II experiment, located at the SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. Partial decay rates are reported as functions of the recoil parameter $w$ and three decay angles separately for electron and muon final states. We obtain $|V_{cb}|$ using the Boyd-Grinstein-Lebed and Caprini-Lellouch-Neubert parametrizations, and find $|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{BGL}=(40.57\pm 0.31 \pm 0.95\pm 0.58)\times 10^{-3}$ and $|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{CLN}=(40.13 \pm 0.27 \pm 0.93\pm 0.58 )\times 10^{-3}$ with the uncertainties denoting statistical components, systematic components, and components from the lattice QCD input, respectively. The branching fraction is measured to be ${\cal B}(\overline{B}^0\to D^{*+}\ell^-\bar\nu_\ell)=(4.922 \pm 0.023 \pm 0.220)\%$. The ratio of branching fractions for electron and muon final states is found to be $0.998 \pm 0.009 \pm 0.020$. In addition, we determine the forward-backward angular asymmetry and the $D^{*+}$ longitudinal polarization fractions. All results are compatible with lepton-flavor universality in the Standard Model.

Studies of the correlations of the two highest transverse momentum (leading) jets in individual Pb+Pb collision events can provide information about the mechanism of jet quenching by the hot and dense matter created in such collisions. In Pb+Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_\text{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV, measurements of the leading dijet transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) correlations are presented. Additionally, measurements in Pb+Pb collisions of the dijet pair nuclear modification factors projected along leading and subleading jet $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ are made. The measurements are performed using the ATLAS detector at the LHC with 260 pb$^{-1}$ of pp data collected in 2017 and 2.2 nb$^{-1}$ of Pb+Pb data collected in 2015 and 2018. An unfolding procedure is applied to the two-dimensional leading and subleading jet $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ distributions to account for experimental effects in the measurement of both jets. Results are provided for dijets with leading jet $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ greater than 100 GeV. Measurements of the dijet-yield-normalized $x_{\mathrm{J}}$ distributions in Pb+Pb collisions show an increased fraction of imbalanced jets compared to pp collisions; these measurements are in agreement with previous measurements of the same quantity at 2.76 TeV in the overlapping kinematic range. Measurements of the absolutely-normalized dijet rate in Pb+Pb and pp collisions are also presented, and show that balanced dijets are significantly more suppressed than imbalanced dijets in Pb+Pb collisions. It is observed in the measurements of the pair nuclear modification factors that the subleading jets are significantly suppressed relative to leading jets with $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ between 100 and 316 GeV for all centralities in Pb+Pb collisions.

We report on measurements of sequential $\Upsilon$ suppression in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) through both the dielectron and dimuon decay channels. In the 0-60% centrality class, the nuclear modification factors ($R_{\mathrm{AA}}$), which quantify the level of yield suppression in heavy-ion collisions compared to $p$+$p$ collisions, for $\Upsilon$(1S) and $\Upsilon$(2S) are $0.40 \pm 0.03~\textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.03~\textrm{(sys.)} \pm 0.09~\textrm{(norm.)}$ and $0.26 \pm 0.08~\textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.02~\textrm{(sys.)} \pm 0.06~\textrm{(norm.)}$, respectively, while the upper limit of the $\Upsilon$(3S) $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ is 0.17 at a 95% confidence level. This provides experimental evidence that the $\Upsilon$(3S) is significantly more suppressed than the $\Upsilon$(1S) at RHIC. The level of suppression for $\Upsilon$(1S) is comparable to that observed at the much higher collision energy at the Large Hadron Collider. These results point to the creation of a medium at RHIC whose temperature is sufficiently high to strongly suppress excited $\Upsilon$ states.