While dual-phase xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) have driven the sensitivity towards weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) at the GeV/c^2 to TeV/c^2 mass scale, the scope for sub-GeV/c^2 dark matter particles is hindered by a limited nuclear recoil energy detection threshold. One approach to probe for lighter candidates is to consider cases where they have been boosted by collisions with cosmic rays in the Milky Way, such that the additional kinetic energy lifts their induced signatures above the nominal threshold. In this Letter, we report first results of a search for cosmic ray-boosted dark matter (CRDM) with a combined 4.2 tonne-year exposure from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment. We observe no excess above the expected backgrounds and establish world-leading constraints on the spin-independent CRDM-nucleon cross section as small as 3.9 * 10^{-33} cm^2 at 90% confidence level for sub-GeV/c^2 masses.
90% CL CRDM-nucleon cross sections
We report results of a search for nuclear recoils induced by weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter using the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) two-phase xenon time projection chamber. This analysis uses a total exposure of $4.2\pm0.1$ tonne-years from 280 live days of LZ operation, of which $3.3\pm0.1$ tonne-years and 220 live days are new. A technique to actively tag background electronic recoils from $^{214}$Pb $\beta$ decays is featured for the first time. Enhanced electron-ion recombination is observed in two-neutrino double electron capture decays of $^{124}$Xe, representing a noteworthy new background. After removal of artificial signal-like events injected into the data set to mitigate analyzer bias, we find no evidence for an excess over expected backgrounds. World-leading constraints are placed on spin-independent (SI) and spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections for masses $\geq$9 GeV/$c^2$. The strongest SI exclusion set is $2.1\times10^{-48}$ cm$^{2}$ at the 90% confidence level at a mass of 36 GeV/$c^2$, and the best SI median sensitivity achieved is $5.0\times10^{-48}$ cm$^{2}$ for a mass of 40 GeV/$c^2$.
90% CL WIMP SI cross sections, including sensitivities
90% CL WIMP SDn cross sections, including sensitivities and nuclear structure uncertainties
90% CL WIMP SDp cross sections, including sensitivities and nuclear structure uncertainties
Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) may interact with a virtual pion that is exchanged between nucleons. This interaction channel is important to consider in models where the spin-independent isoscalar channel is suppressed. Using data from the first science run of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment, containing 60 live days of data in a 5.5~tonne fiducial mass of liquid xenon, we report the results on a search for WIMP-pion interactions. We observe no significant excess and set an upper limit of $1.5\times10^{-46}$~cm$^2$ at a 90% confidence level for a WIMP mass of 33~GeV/c$^2$ for this interaction.
WIMP-Pion interaction cross section at the 90% CL
The first science run of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, a dual-phase xenon time project chamber operating in the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA, has reported leading limits on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interactions and interactions described from a non-relativistic effective field theory (NREFT). Using the same 5.5~t fiducial mass and 60 live days of exposure we report on the results of a relativistic extension to the NREFT. We present constraints on couplings from covariant interactions arising from the coupling of vector, axial currents, and electric dipole moments of the nucleon to the magnetic and electric dipole moments of the WIMP which cannot be described by recasting previous results described by an NREFT. Using a profile-likelihood ratio analysis, in an energy region between 0~keV$_\text{nr}$ to 270~keV$_\text{nr}$, we report 90% confidence level exclusion limits on the coupling strength of five interactions in both the isoscalar and isovector bases.
Isoscalar interaction coupling limit for Lagrangian 1
Isovector interaction coupling limit for Lagrangian 19
Isoscalar interaction coupling limit for Lagrangian 19
A search for the non-resonant production of Higgs boson pairs in the $HH\rightarrow b\bar{b}\tau^+\tau^-$ channel is performed using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values of the Higgs boson self-coupling modifier $\kappa_\lambda$ and of the quartic $HHVV$ ($V = W,Z$) coupling modifier $\kappa_{2V}$. No significant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed (expected) upper limit $\mu_{HH}<5.9$$(3.3)$ is set at 95% confidence-level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The coupling modifiers are constrained to an observed (expected) 95% confidence interval of $-3.1 < \kappa_\lambda < 9.0$ ($-2.5 < \kappa_\lambda < 9.3$) and $-0.5 < \kappa_{2V} < 2.7$ ($-0.2 < \kappa_{2V} < 2.4$), assuming all other Higgs boson couplings are fixed to the Standard Model prediction. The results are also interpreted in the context of effective field theories via constraints on anomalous Higgs boson couplings and Higgs boson pair production cross-sections assuming different kinematic benchmark scenarios.
Observed (filled circles) and expected (open circles) 95% CL upper limits on $\mu_{HH}$ from the fit of each individual channel and the combined fit in the background-only ($\mu_{HH} = 0$) hypothesis. The dashed lines indicate the expected 95% CL upper limits on $\mu_{HH}$ in the SM hypothesis ($\mu_{HH} = 1$). The inner and outer bands indicate the $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ variations, respectively, on the expected limit with respect to the background-only hypothesis due to statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on $\mu_{HH}$, $\mu_{ggF}$ and $\mu_{VBF}$ from the individual SR likelihood fits as well as the combined results. The $\mu_{ggF}$ and $\mu_{VBF}$ limits are quoted both from the results of the simultaneous fit of both signal strengths (central column), and from independent fits for the individual production modes, assuming the other to be as predicted by the SM. The uncertainties quoted on the combined expected upper limits correspond to the 1σ uncertainty band.
Observed (solid line) value of $-2\ln\Lambda$ as a function of $\kappa_{\lambda}$ for the combined fit, when all other coupling modifiers are fixed to their SM predictions.
A combination of fifteen top quark mass measurements performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC is presented. The data sets used correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 5 and 20$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The combination includes measurements in top quark pair events that exploit both the semileptonic and hadronic decays of the top quark, and a measurement using events enriched in single top quark production via the electroweak $t$-channel. The combination accounts for the correlations between measurements and achieves an improvement in the total uncertainty of 31% relative to the most precise input measurement. The result is $m_\mathrm{t}$ = 172.52 $\pm$ 0.14 (stat) $\pm$ 0.30 (syst) GeV, with a total uncertainty of 0.33 GeV.
Uncertainties on the $m_{t}$ values extracted in the LHC, ATLAS, and CMS combinations arising from the categories described in the text, sorted in order of decreasing value of the combined LHC uncertainty.
Searches for dark matter with liquid xenon time projection chamber experiments have traditionally focused on the region of the parameter space that is characteristic of weakly interacting massive particles, ranging from a few GeV/$c^2$ to a few TeV/$c^2$. Models of dark matter with a mass much heavier than this are well motivated by early production mechanisms different from the standard thermal freeze-out, but they have generally been less explored experimentally. In this work, we present a re-analysis of the first science run (SR1) of the LZ experiment, with an exposure of $0.9$ tonne$\times$year, to search for ultraheavy particle dark matter. The signal topology consists of multiple energy deposits in the active region of the detector forming a straight line, from which the velocity of the incoming particle can be reconstructed on an event-by-event basis. Zero events with this topology were observed after applying the data selection calibrated on a simulated sample of signal-like events. New experimental constraints are derived, which rule out previously unexplored regions of the dark matter parameter space of spin-independent interactions beyond a mass of 10$^{17}$ GeV/$c^2$.
Upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section from the multiple-scatter analysis.
Upper limit on the WIMP-nucleus scattering cross section from the multiple-scatter analysis.
Upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section from the single-scatter analysis.
Based on a data sample of 10 billion $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESIII detector, improved measurements of the Dalitz decays $\eta/\eta'\rightarrow\gamma e^+e^-$ are performed, where the $\eta$ and $\eta'$ are produced through the radiative decays $J/\psi\rightarrow\gamma \eta/\eta'$. The branching fractions of $\eta\rightarrow\gamma e^+e^-$ and $\eta'\rightarrow\gamma e^+e^-$ are measured to be $(7.07 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.23)\times10^{-3}$ and $(4.83\pm0.07\pm0.14)\times10^{-4}$, respectively. Within the single pole model, the parameter of electromagnetic transition form factor for $\eta\rightarrow\gamma e^+e^-$ is determined to be $\Lambda_{\eta}=(0.749 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.007)~ {\rm GeV}/c^{2}$. Within the multi-pole model, we extract the electromagnetic transition form factors for $\eta'\rightarrow\gamma e^+e^-$ to be $\Lambda_{\eta'} = (0.802 \pm 0.007\pm 0.008)~ {\rm GeV}/c^{2}$ and $\gamma_{\eta'} = (0.113\pm0.010\pm0.002)~ {\rm GeV}/c^{2}$. The results are consistent with both theoretical predictions and previous measurements. The characteristic sizes of the interaction regions for the $\eta$ and $\eta'$ are calculated to be $(0.645 \pm 0.023 \pm 0.007 )~ {\rm fm}$ and $(0.596 \pm 0.005 \pm 0.006)~ {\rm fm}$, respectively. In addition, we search for the dark photon in $\eta/\eta^\prime\rightarrow\gamma e^{+}e^{-}$, and the upper limits of the branching fractions as a function of the dark photon are given at 90% confidence level.
The binned invariant mass spectrum of $e^+e^-$ pairs produced from the $\eta\to \gamma e^+e^-$ transition. The efficiency-corrected and background-subtracted data are binned in M($e^+e^-$) and the number of events in each bin is shown.
The binned invariant mass spectrum of $e^+e^-$ pairs produced from the $\eta^\prime\to \gamma e^+e^-$ transition. The efficiency-corrected and background-subtracted data are binned in M($e^+e^-$) and the number of events in each bin is shown.
Following the first science results of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating from the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, USA, we report the initial limits on a model-independent non-relativistic effective field theory describing the complete set of possible interactions of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) with a nucleon. These results utilize the same 5.5 t fiducial mass and 60 live days of exposure collected for the LZ spin-independent and spin-dependent analyses while extending the upper limit of the energy region of interest by a factor of 7.5 to 270 keVnr. No significant excess in this high energy region is observed. Using a profile-likelihood ratio analysis, we report 90% confidence level exclusion limits on the coupling of each individual non-relativistic WIMP-nucleon operator for both elastic and inelastic interactions in the isoscalar and isovector bases.
Data points used in analysis in log_10(S2)-S1 space.
Data selection efficiency as a function of nuclear recoil energy
Isoscalar WIMP-nucleon elastic coupling limit for Operator 8
Using a sample of $(10087\pm44)\times 10^6$$J/\psi$ events, which is about 45 times larger than that was previously analyzed, a further investigation on the $J/\psi\rightarrow \gamma 3(\pi^+\pi^-)$ decay is performed. A significant distortion at 1.84 GeV/$c^2$ in the line-shape of the $3(\pi^+\pi^-)$ invariant mass spectrum is observed for the first time, which could be resolved by two overlapping resonant structures, $X(1840)$ and $X(1880)$. The new state $X(1880)$ is observed with a statistical significance larger than $10\sigma$. The mass and width of $X(1880)$ are determined to be $1882.1\pm1.7\pm0.7$ MeV/$c^2$ and $30.7\pm5.5 \pm2.4$ MeV, respectively, which indicates the existence of a $p\bar{p}$ bound state.
The binned invariant mass spectrum of 6pi. The data correspond to Figure 3 of the event sample collected by BESIII. The mass range 1.55 < M(6pi) < 2.07 GeV is subdivided into 130 equidistant M(6pi) bins with a width of 4 MeV. The binned mass spectrum has been corrected by efficiency and the background Jpsi -> pi0 3(pi+ pi-) has been removed.
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