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1. Measurement of non-prompt $${{\textrm{D}}^{0}}$$-meson elliptic flow in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 5.02$$ TeV

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-12259-3  

   Acharya, S; Adamová, D; Aglieri_Rinella, G; Agnello, M; Agrawal, N; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, S; Ahn, S U; Ahuja, I; Akindinov, A; et al (December 2023, The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract The elliptic flow$$(v_2)$$ $\left(v_2\right)$of$${\textrm{D}}^{0}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons from beauty-hadron decays (non-prompt$${\textrm{D}}^{0})$$ ${\text{D}}^0)$was measured in midcentral (30–50%) Pb–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair$$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 5.02$$ $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The$${\textrm{D}}^{0}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons were reconstructed at midrapidity$$(|y|<0.8)$$ $\left(\right|y|<0.8)$from their hadronic decay$$\mathrm {D^0 \rightarrow K^-\uppi ^+}$$ $D^0\to K^{-}{\pi }^{+}$, in the transverse momentum interval$$2< p_{\textrm{T}} < 12$$ $2<p_{\text{T}}<12$ GeV/c. The result indicates a positive$$v_2$$ $v_2$for non-prompt$${{\textrm{D}}^{0}}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons with a significance of 2.7$$\sigma $$ $\sigma$. The non-prompt$${{\textrm{D}}^{0}}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$-meson$$v_2$$ $v_2$is lower than that of prompt non-strange D mesons with 3.2$$\sigma $$ $\sigma$significance in$$2< p_\textrm{T} < 8~\textrm{GeV}/c$$ $2<p_{\text{T}}<8\text{GeV}/c$, and compatible with the$$v_2$$ $v_2$of beauty-decay electrons. Theoretical calculations of beauty-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding medium describe the measurement within uncertainties. 

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2. Spectroscopic investigation of $$^{54}$$Cr via $$\alpha $$-transfer reaction

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01619-0  

   Das, Biswajit; Kundu, A.; Palit, R.; Dey, P.; Malik, Vishal; Garg, U.; Negi, D.; Laskar, S_R; Santra, Rajkumar; Jadhav, S_K; et al (June 2025, The European Physical Journal A)

   Abstract Low-lying states in$$^{54}$$ $_{}^{54}$Cr have been investigated via the$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-transfer reaction$$^{50}$$ $_{}^{50}$Ti($$^{7}$$ $_{}^7$Li,t) at a bombarding energy of 20 MeV. The exclusive$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-transfer channel is separated from other reaction channels through the appropriate energy gate on the complementary particle, triton. Levels of$$^{54}$$ $_{}^{54}$Cr populated exclusively by the$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-transfer process could be identified up to$$\approx $$ $\approx$5 MeV excitation energy and angular momentum up to$$(8)^{+}$$ ${\left(8\right)}^{+}$, by identifying the corresponding known$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$-rays. These include multiple low-lying non-yrast 2$$^+$$ $_{}^{+}$and 4$$^+$$ $_{}^{+}$states, which would otherwise be unfavorable via fusion evaporation reactions. The feeding-subtracted$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$-ray yields have been extracted to estimate the population of various excited states through the transfer process. The measured integrated transfer cross sections for all the observed yrast and non-yrast states are compared with Coupled Channels calculations usingfrescoto extract the$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$+$$^{50}$$ $_{}^{50}$Ti core spectroscopic factors. For the yrast states, a higher$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$+core overlap is seen for the$$2^+$$ $2^{+}$and$$4^+$$ $4^{+}$states, while it is seen to be less favorable for the$$6^+$$ $6^{+}$and$$(8)^+$$ ${\left(8\right)}^{+}$states when$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-transfer is considered to occur predominantly as a direct one-step process to the$$^{50}$$ $_{}^{50}$Ti core ground state. The yrast$$2^+$$ $2^{+}$, and$$4^+$$ $4^{+}$states are predominantly populated by single-step transfer, while for the states with spin$$\ge $$ $\ge$5, the possibility of core excitation followed by$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-transfer shows a larger$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-core overlap. For the non-yrast$$0^+$$ $0^{+}$,$$2^+$$ $2^{+}$, and$$4^+$$ $4^{+}$states, single-step transfer shows moderate to small$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$-core overlap. No higher spin non-yrast states are observed. 

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3. Photo-response of the $$N=Z$$ nucleus $$^{24}$$Mg

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-01111-7  

   Deary, J; Scheck, M; Schwengner, R; O’Donnell, D; Bemmerer, D; Beyer, R; Hensel, Th; Junghans, A R; Kögler, T; Müller, S E; et al (September 2023, The European Physical Journal A)

   Abstract The electricE1 and magneticM1 dipole responses of the$$N=Z$$ $N=Z$nucleus$$^{24}$$ ${}^{24}$Mg were investigated in an inelastic photon scattering experiment. The 13.0 MeV electrons, which were used to produce the unpolarised bremsstrahlung in the entrance channel of the$$^{24}$$ ${}^{24}$Mg($$\gamma ,\gamma ^{\prime }$$ $\gamma ,{\gamma }^{\prime }$) reaction, were delivered by the ELBE accelerator of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The collimated bremsstrahlung photons excited one$$J^{\pi }=1^-$$ $J^{\pi }=1^{-}$, four$$J^{\pi }=1^+$$ $J^{\pi }=1^{+}$, and six$$J^{\pi }=2^+$$ $J^{\pi }=2^{+}$states in$$^{24}$$ ${}^{24}$Mg. De-excitation$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$rays were detected using the four high-purity germanium detectors of the$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$ELBE setup, which is dedicated to nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments. In the energy region up to 13.0 MeV a total$$B(M1)\uparrow = 2.7(3)~\mu _N^2$$ $B\left(M1\right)\uparrow =2.7\left(3\right){\mu }_N^2$is observed, but this$$N=Z$$ $N=Z$nucleus exhibits only marginalE1 strength of less than$$\sum B(E1)\uparrow \le 0.61 \times 10^{-3}$$ $\sum B\left(E1\right)\uparrow \le 0.61\times {10}^{-3}$ e$$^2 \, $$ ${}^2$fm$$^2$$ ${}^2$. The$$B(\varPi 1, 1^{\pi }_i \rightarrow 2^+_1)/B(\varPi 1, 1^{\pi }_i \rightarrow 0^+_{gs})$$ $B(\Pi 1,1_i^{\pi }\to 2_1^{+})/B(\Pi 1,1_i^{\pi }\to 0_{\mathrm{gs}}^{+})$branching ratios in combination with the expected results from the Alaga rules demonstrate thatKis a good approximative quantum number for$$^{24}$$ ${}^{24}$Mg. The use of the known$$\rho ^2(E0, 0^+_2 \rightarrow 0^+_{gs})$$ ${\rho }^2(E0,0_2^{+}\to 0_{\mathrm{gs}}^{+})$strength and the measured$$B(M1, 1^+ \rightarrow 0^+_2)/B(M1, 1^+ \rightarrow 0^+_{gs})$$ $B(M1,1^{+}\to 0_2^{+})/B(M1,1^{+}\to 0_{\mathrm{gs}}^{+})$branching ratio of the 10.712 MeV$$1^+$$ $1^{+}$level allows, in a two-state mixing model, an extraction of the difference$$\varDelta \beta _2^2$$ $\Delta {\beta }_2^2$between the prolate ground-state structure and shape-coexisting superdeformed structure built upon the 6432-keV$$0^+_2$$ $0_2^{+}$level. 

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4. An Efficient ZK Compiler from SIMD Circuits to General Circuits

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00145-024-09531-4  

   Bui, Dung; Chu, Haotian; Couteau, Geoffroy; Wang, Xiao; Weng, Chenkai; Yang, Kang; Yu, Yu (January 2025, Journal of Cryptology)

   Abstract We propose a generic compiler that can convert any zero-knowledge (ZK) proof for SIMD circuits to general circuits efficiently, and an extension that can preserve the space complexity of the proof systems. Our compiler can immediately produce new results improving upon state of the art.By plugging in our compiler to Antman, an interactive sublinear-communication protocol, we improve the overall communication complexity for general circuits from$$\mathcal {O}(C^{3/4})$$ $O\left(C^{3/4}\right)$to$$\mathcal {O}(C^{1/2})$$ $O\left(C^{1/2}\right)$. Our implementation shows that for a circuit of size$$2^{27}$$ $2^{27}$, it achieves up to$$83.6\times $$ $83.6\times$improvement on communication compared to the state-of-the-art implementation. Its end-to-end running time is at least$$70\%$$ $70\%$faster in a 10Mbps network.Using the recent results on compressed$$\varSigma $$ $\Sigma$-protocol theory, we obtain a discrete-log-based constant-round zero-knowledge argument with$$\mathcal {O}(C^{1/2})$$ $O\left(C^{1/2}\right)$communication and common random string length, improving over the state of the art that has linear-size common random string and requires heavier computation.We improve the communication of a designatedn-verifier zero-knowledge proof from$$\mathcal {O}(nC/B+n^2B^2)$$ $O(nC/B+n^2{B}^2)$to$$\mathcal {O}(nC/B+n^2)$$ $O(nC/B+n^2)$.To demonstrate the scalability of our compilers, we were able to extract a commit-and-prove SIMD ZK from Ligero and cast it in our framework. We also give one instantiation derived from LegoSNARK, demonstrating that the idea of CP-SNARK also fits in our methodology. 

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5. Spin density matrix elements in exclusive $$\rho ^0$$ meson muoproduction

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11359-4  

   Alexeev, G D; Alexeev, M G; Alice, C; Amoroso, A; Andrieux, V; Anosov, V; Augsten, K; Augustyniak, W; Azevedo, C_D R; Badelek, B; et al (October 2023, The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract We report on a measurement of Spin Density Matrix Elements (SDMEs) in hard exclusive$$\rho ^0$$ ${\rho }^0$meson muoproduction at COMPASS using 160 GeV/cpolarised$$ \mu ^{+}$$ ${\mu }^{+}$and$$ \mu ^{-}$$ ${\mu }^{-}$beams impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. The measurement covers the kinematic range 5.0 GeV/$$c^2$$ $c^2$$$< W<$$ $<W<$17.0 GeV/$$c^2$$ $c^2$, 1.0 (GeV/c)$$^2$$ ${}^2$$$< Q^2<$$ $<Q^2<$10.0 (GeV/c)$$^2$$ ${}^2$and 0.01 (GeV/c)$$^2$$ ${}^2$$$< p_{\textrm{T}}^2<$$ $<p_{\text{T}}^2<$0.5 (GeV/c)$$^2$$ ${}^2$. Here,Wdenotes the mass of the final hadronic system,$$Q^2$$ $Q^2$the virtuality of the exchanged photon, and$$p_{\textrm{T}}$$ $p_{\text{T}}$the transverse momentum of the$$\rho ^0$$ ${\rho }^0$meson with respect to the virtual-photon direction. The measured non-zero SDMEs for the transitions of transversely polarised virtual photons to longitudinally polarised vector mesons ($$\gamma ^*_T \rightarrow V^{ }_L$$ ${\gamma }_T^{\ast }\to V_L^{}$) indicate a violation ofs-channel helicity conservation. Additionally, we observe a dominant contribution of natural-parity-exchange transitions and a very small contribution of unnatural-parity-exchange transitions, which is compatible with zero within experimental uncertainties. The results provide important input for modelling Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs). In particular, they may allow one to evaluate in a model-dependent way the role of parton helicity-flip GPDs in exclusive$$\rho ^0$$ ${\rho }^0$production. 

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