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 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.
Additional spin-0 particles appear in many extensions of the standard model. We search for long-lived spin-0 particles $S$ in $B$-meson decays mediated by a $b\to s$ quark transition in $e^+e^-$ collisions at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance at the Belle II experiment. Based on a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $189 \mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$, we observe no evidence for signal. We set model-independent upper limits on the product of branching fractions $\mathrm{Br}(B^0\to K^*(892)^0(\to K^+\pi^-)S)\times \mathrm{Br}(S\to x^+x^-)$ and $\mathrm{Br}(B^+\to K^+S)\times \mathrm{Br}(S\to x^+x^-)$, where $x^+x^-$ indicates $e^+e^-, \mu^+\mu^-, \pi^+\pi^-$, or $K^+K^-$, as functions of $S$ mass and lifetime at the level of $10^{-7}$.