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1. Observation of a pseudoscalar excess at the top quark pair production threshold

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/adf7d3  

   Collaboration, The_CMS (August 2025, Reports on Progress in Physics)

   Abstract A search for resonances in top quark pair ( $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$) production in final states with two charged leptons and multiple jets is presented, based on proton–proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at $\sqrt{s}=13\text{TeV}$, corresponding to 138 fb⁻¹. The analysis explores the invariant mass of the $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$system and two angular observables that provide direct access to the correlation of top quark and antiquark spins. A significant excess of events is observed near the kinematic $\mathrm{t}\bar{\mathrm{t}}$threshold compared to the non-resonant production predicted by fixed-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD). The observed enhancement is consistent with the production of a color-singlet pseudoscalar ( ${}^1{\text{S}}_0^{\left[1\right]}$) quasi-bound toponium state, as predicted by non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics. Using a simplified model for ${}^1{\text{S}}_0^{\left[1\right]}$toponium, the cross section of the excess above the pQCD prediction is measured to be $8.8{}_{-1.4}^{+1.2}\text{pb}$. 

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2. Universal trimers with p-wave interactions and the faux-Efimov effect

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6455/ad987b  

   Chen, Yu-Hsin; Greene, Chris_H (December 2024, Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)

   Abstract An unusual class of equal massp-wave universal trimers with symmetry $L^{\mathrm{\Pi }}=1^{\pm }$is identified, for both a two-component fermionic trimer withs- andp-wave scattering length close to unitarity and for a one-component fermionic trimer atp-wave unitarity. Moreover, fermionic trimers made of atoms with two internal spin components are found for $L^{\mathrm{\Pi }}=1^{\pm }$, when thep-wave interaction between spin-up and spin-down fermions is close to unitarity and/or when the interaction between two spin-up fermions is close to thep-wave unitary limit. The universality of thesep-wave universal trimers is tested here by considering van der Waals interactions in a Lennard–Jones potential with different numbers of two-body bound states; our calculations also determine the value of the scattering volume or length where the trimer state hits zero energy and can be observed as a recombination resonance. The faux-Efimov effect appears with trimer symmetry $L^{\mathrm{\Pi }}=1^{-}$when the two fermion interactions are close top-wave unitarity and the lowest $1/R^2$coefficient gets modified, thereby altering the usual Wigner threshold law for inelastic processes involving three-body continuum channels. 

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3. Stabilizing Ti ₃ C ₂ T _x MXene flakes in air by removing confined water

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2400084121  

   Fang, Hui; Thakur, Anupma; Zahmatkeshsaredorahi, Amirhossein; Fang, Zhenyao; Rad, Vahid; Shamsabadi, Ahmad A; Pereyra, Claudia; Soroush, Masoud; Rappe, Andrew M; Xu, Xiaoji G; et al (July 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   MXenes have demonstrated potential for various applications owing to their tunable surface chemistry and metallic conductivity. However, high temperatures can accelerate MXene film oxidation in air. Understanding the mechanisms of MXene oxidation at elevated temperatures, which is still limited, is critical in improving their thermal stability for high-temperature applications. Here, we demonstrate that Ti ${}_3$C ${}_2$T ${}_x$MXene monoflakes have exceptional thermal stability at temperatures up to 600 ${}^{°}$C in air, while multiflakes readily oxidize in air at 300 ${}^{°}$C. Density functional theory calculations indicate that confined water between Ti ${}_3$C ${}_2$T ${}_x$flakes has higher removal energy than surface water and can thus persist to higher temperatures, leading to oxidation. We demonstrate that the amount of confined water correlates with the degree of oxidation in stacked flakes. Confined water can be fully removed by vacuum annealing Ti ${}_3$C ${}_2$T ${}_x$films at 600 ${}^{°}$C, resulting in substantial stability improvement in multiflake films (can withstand 600 ${}^{°}$C in air). These findings provide fundamental insights into the kinetics of confined water and its role in Ti ${}_3$C ${}_2$T ${}_x$oxidation. This work enables the use of stable monoflake MXenes in high-temperature applications and provides guidelines for proper vacuum annealing of multiflake films to enhance their stability. 

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4. Precision measurement of the neutral pion lifetime

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay6641  

   Larin, I.; Zhang, Y.; Gasparian, A.; Gan, L.; Miskimen, R.; Khandaker, M.; Dale, D.; Danagoulian, S.; Pasyuk, E.; Gao, H.; et al (April 2020, Science)

   The explicit breaking of the axial symmetry by quantum fluctuations gives rise to the so-called axial anomaly. This phenomenon is solely responsible for the decay of the neutral pion π⁰into two photons (γγ), leading to its unusually short lifetime. We precisely measured the decay width Γ of the ${\pi }^0\to \gamma \gamma$process. The differential cross sections for π⁰photoproduction at forward angles were measured on two targets, carbon-12 and silicon-28, yielding $\mathrm{\Gamma }\left({\pi }^0\to \gamma \gamma \right)=7.798\pm 0.056\left(\mathrm{stat}\mathrm{.}\right)\pm 0.109\left(\mathrm{syst}\mathrm{.}\right)\mathrm{ eV}$, where stat. denotes the statistical uncertainty and syst. the systematic uncertainty. We combined the results of this and an earlier experiment to generate a weighted average of $\mathrm{\Gamma }\left({\pi }^0\to \gamma \gamma \right)=7.802\pm 0.052\left(\mathrm{stat}\mathrm{.}\right)\pm 0.105\left(\mathrm{syst}\mathrm{.}\right)\mathrm{ eV}$. Our final result has a total uncertainty of 1.50% and confirms the prediction based on the chiral anomaly in quantum chromodynamics. 

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5. Electron impact excitation of allowed and forbidden transitions between fine-structure levels in Ti III

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/ad95b8  

   Wang, Yang; Cao, Qiu-Yao; Zhu, Xi-Ming; Du, Chun-Meng; Bartschat, Klaus (November 2024, Plasma Sources Science and Technology)

   Abstract Introduction: We present an extensive theoretical investigation of the electron impact excitation of doubly-ionized titanium (Ti III) to meet the needs of spectral analysis and plasma modeling. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this work is to extend the currently scarce database of both structure and collision data for Ti III. METHODS: The calculation was performed in the close-coupling approximation using theB-splineR-matrix method. The multi-configuration Hartree–Fock method in combination withB-spline configuration interaction expansions and the non-orthogonal orbitals technique is employed for accurate descriptions of the target wave functions and adequate accounts of the various interactions between the target states. Relativistic effects are treated at the semi-relativistic Breit-Pauli approximation level. RESULTS: The present close-coupling expansion includes 138 fine-structure levels of Ti III belonging to the $3d^2$, $4s^2$, $4s4p$, $3d4l$( $l=0-3$), $3d5l$( $l=0-3$), $3d6s$, and $3d6p$configurations. Comprehensive sets of radiative and electron collisional data are reported for all of the possible transitions between the 138 fine-structure levels. Thermally averaged collision strengths are determined using a Maxwellian distribution for a wide range of temperatures from ${10}^2$K to ${10}^5$K. The accuracy of the calculated radiative parameters is validated by comparing with available values from the NIST database and previous literature. CONCLUSION: Given the lack of sufficient currently available experimental and theoretical data, the electron impact excitation cross sections of the Ti III fine-structure levels presented here are systematic, extensive, and internally consistent, thus making them suitable for many modeling applications. 

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