We report results from a search for neutrino-induced neutral current (NC) resonant $\Delta$(1232) baryon production followed by $\Delta$ radiative decay, with a $\langle0.8\rangle$~GeV neutrino beam. Data corresponding to MicroBooNE's first three years of operations (6.80$\times$10$^{20}$ protons on target) are used to select single-photon events with one or zero protons and without charged leptons in the final state ($1\gamma1p$ and $1\gamma0p$, respectively). The background is constrained via an in-situ high-purity measurement of NC $\pi^0$ events, made possible via dedicated $2\gamma1p$ and $2\gamma0p$ selections. A total of 16 and 153 events are observed for the $1\gamma1p$ and $1\gamma0p$ selections, respectively, compared to a constrained background prediction of $20.5 \pm 3.65 \text{(sys.)} $ and $145.1 \pm 13.8 \text{(sys.)} $ events. The data lead to a bound on an anomalous enhancement of the normalization of NC $\Delta$ radiative decay of less than $2.3$ times the predicted nominal rate for this process at the 90% confidence level (CL). The measurement disfavors a candidate photon interpretation of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess as a factor of $3.18$ times the nominal NC $\Delta$ radiative decay rate at the 94.8% CL, in favor of the nominal prediction, and represents a greater than $50$-fold improvement over the world's best limit on single-photon production in NC interactions in the sub-GeV neutrino energy range

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.

We present the results of a search for the charged-lepton-flavor violating decays $B^0 \rightarrow K^{*0}\tau^\pm \ell^{\mp}$, where $\ell^{\mp}$ is either an electron or a muon. The results are based on 365 fb$^{-1}$ and 711 fb$^{-1}$ datasets collected with the Belle II and Belle detectors, respectively. We use an exclusive hadronic $B$-tagging technique, and search for a signal decay in the system recoiling against a fully reconstructed $B$ meson. We find no evidence for $B^0 \rightarrow K^{*0}\tau^\pm \ell^{\mp}$ decays and set upper limits on the branching fractions in the range of $(2.9-6.4)\times10^{-5}$ at 90% confidence level.

A search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays is conducted in the four-lepton final state. The decay is assumed to proceed via a pair of beyond the standard model particles, or one such particle and a Z boson. The search uses proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent Higgs boson decay branching fractions. Additionally, limits on dark photon and axion-like particle production, based on two specific models, are reported.

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.

We report measurements of $\varUpsilon(1S)$, $\varUpsilon(2S)$ and $\varUpsilon(3S)$ production in $\textit{p+p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=500\:\mathrm{GeV}$ by the STAR experiment in year 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity $\mathcal{L}_{int}=13\:\mathrm{pb^{-1}}$. The results provide precise cross sections, transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) and rapidity ($y$) spectra, as well as cross section ratios for $p_{\mathrm{T}}<10\:\mathrm{GeV/c}$ and $|y|<1$. The dependence of the $\varUpsilon$ yield on charged particle multiplicity has also been measured, offering new insights into the mechanisms of quarkonium production. The data are compared to various theoretical models: the Color Evaporation Model (CEM) accurately describes the $\varUpsilon(1S)$ production, while the Color Glass Condensate + Non-relativistic Quantum Chromodynamics (CGC+NRQCD) model overestimates the data, particularly at low $p_{T}$. Conversely, the Color Singlet Model (CSM) underestimates the rapidity dependence. These discrepancies highlight the need for further development in understanding the production dynamics of heavy quarkonia in high-energy hadronic collisions. The trend in the multiplicity dependence is consistent with CGC/Saturation and String Percolation models or $\varUpsilon$ production happening in multiple parton interactions modeled by PYTHIA8.

A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadron- ically decaying tau lepton and a neutrino is presented. This analysis is based on data recorded by the CMS experiment from proton-proton collisions at a center-of- mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The transverse mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new physics. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross section of a W′ boson decaying into a tau lepton and a neutrino. Lower limits are set on the mass of the sequential SM-like heavy charged vector bo- son and the mass of a quantum black hole. Upper limits are placed on the couplings of a new boson to the SM fermions. Constraints are put on a nonuniversal gauge interaction model and an effective field theory model. For the first time, upper lim- its on the cross section of t-channel leptoquark (LQ) exchange are presented. These limits are translated into exclusion limits on the LQ mass and on its coupling in the t-channel. The sensitivity of this analysis extends into the parameter space of LQ models that attempt to explain the anomalies observed in B meson decays. The limits presented for the various interpretations are the most stringent to date. Additionally, a model-independent limit is provided.

A measurement of the WZ$γ$ triboson production cross section is presented. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis focuses on the final state with three charged leptons, $\ell^\pmν\ell^+\ell^-$, where $\ell$ = e or $μ$, accompanied by an additional photon. The observed (expected) significance of the WZ$γ$ signal is 5.4 (3.8) standard deviations. The cross section is measured in a fiducial region, where events with an $\ell$ originating from a tau lepton decay are excluded, to be 5.48 $\pm$ 1.11 fb, which is compatible with the prediction of 3.69 $\pm$ 0.24 fb at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics. Exclusion limits are set on anomalous quartic gauge couplings and on the production cross sections of massive axion-like particles.

The physics goal of the strong interaction program of the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is to study the phase diagram of hadronic matter by a scan of particle production in collisions of nuclei with various sizes at a set of energies covering the SPS energy range. This paper presents differential inclusive spectra of transverse momentum, transverse mass and rapidity of $\pi^{-}$ mesons produced in $central$ ${}^{40}$Ar+${}^{45}$Sc collisions at beam momenta of 13$A$, 19$A$, 30$A$, 40$A$, 75$A$ and 150$A$ GeV/$c$. Energy and system size dependence of parameters of these distributions -- mean transverse mass, the inverse slope parameter of transverse mass spectra, width of the rapidity distribution and mean multiplicity -- are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the dependence of the ratio of the mean number of produced pions to the mean number of wounded nucleons on the collision energy was derived. The results are compared to predictions of several models.

Strong interactions preserve an approximate isospin symmetry between up ($u$) and down ($d$) quarks, part of the more general flavor symmetry. In the case of $K$ meson production, if this isospin symmetry were exact, it would result in equal numbers of charged ($K^+$ and $K^-$) and neutral ($K^0$ and $\overline K^{\,0}$) mesons in the final state. Here, we report results on the relative abundance of charged over neutral $K$ meson production in argon and scandium nuclei collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 11.9 GeV per nucleon pair. We find that the production of $K^+$ and $K^-$ mesons at mid-rapidity is $(18.4\pm 6.1)\%$ higher than that of the neutral $K$ mesons. Although with large uncertainties, earlier data on nucleus-nucleus collisions in the collision center-of-mass energy range $2.6 < \sqrt{s_{NN}} < 200$~\GeV are consistent with the present result. Using well-established models for hadron production, we demonstrate that known isospin-symmetry breaking effects and the initial nuclei containing more neutrons than protons lead only to a small (few percent) deviation of the charged-to-neutral kaon ratio from unity at high energies. Thus, they cannot explain the measurements. The significance of the flavor-symmetry violation beyond the known effects is 4.7$\sigma$ when the compilation of world data with uncertainties quoted by the experiments is used. New systematic, high-precision measurements and theoretical efforts are needed to establish the origin of the observed large isospin-symmetry breaking.