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1. Unveiling hidden physics at the LHC

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10541-4  

   Fischer, Oliver ; Mellado, Bruce ; Antusch, Stefan ; Bagnaschi, Emanuele ; Banerjee, Shankha ; Beck, Geoff ; Belfatto, Benedetta ; Bellis, Matthew ; Berezhiani, Zurab ; Blanke, Monika ; et al ( August 2022 , The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract The field of particle physics is at the crossroads. The discovery of a Higgs-like boson completed the Standard Model (SM), but the lacking observation of convincing resonances Beyond the SM (BSM) offers no guidance for the future of particle physics. On the other hand, the motivation for New Physics has not diminished and is, in fact, reinforced by several striking anomalous results in many experiments. Here we summarise the status of the most significant anomalies, including the most recent results for the flavour anomalies, the multi-lepton anomalies at the LHC, the Higgs-like excess at around 96 GeV, and anomalies in neutrino physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and cosmic rays. While the LHC promises up to 4 $$\hbox {ab}^{-1}$$ ab - 1 of integrated luminosity and far-reaching physics programmes to unveil BSM physics, we consider the possibility that the latter could be tested with present data, but that systemic shortcomings of the experiments and their search strategies may preclude their discovery for several reasons, including: final states consisting in soft particles only, associated production processes, QCD-like final states, close-by SM resonances, and SUSY scenarios where no missing energy is produced. New search strategies could help to unveil the hidden BSM signatures, devised by making use of the CERN open data as a new testing ground. We discuss the CERN open data with its policies, challenges, and potential usefulness for the community. We showcase the example of the CMS collaboration, which is the only collaboration regularly releasing some of its data. We find it important to stress that individuals using public data for their own research does not imply competition with experimental efforts, but rather provides unique opportunities to give guidance for further BSM searches by the collaborations. Wide access to open data is paramount to fully exploit the LHCs potential. 

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2. On the sensitivity reach of $$\textrm{LQ}$$ production with preferential couplings to third generation fermions at the LHC

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-12177-4  

   Flórez, A. ; Jones-Pérez, J. ; Gurrola, A. ; Rodriguez, C. ; Peñuela-Parra, J. ( November 2023 , The European Physical Journal C)

   Leptoquarks ($$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$s) are hypothetical particles that appear in various extensions of the Standard Model (SM), that can explain observed differences between SM theory predictions and experimental results. The production of these particles has been widely studied at various experiments, most recently at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and stringent bounds have been placed on their masses and couplings, assuming the simplest beyond-SM (BSM) hypotheses. However, the limits are significantly weaker for$$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$models with family non-universal couplings containing enhanced couplings to third-generation fermions. We present a new study on the production of a$$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$at the LHC, with preferential couplings to third-generation fermions, considering proton-proton collisions at$$\sqrt{s} = 13 \, \textrm{TeV}$$$\sqrt{s}=13\text{TeV}$and$$\sqrt{s} = 13.6 \, \textrm{TeV}$$$\sqrt{s}=13.6\text{TeV}$. Such a hypothesis is well motivated theoretically and it can explain the recent anomalies in the precision measurements of$$\textrm{B}$$$\text{B}$-meson decay rates, specifically the$$R_{D^{(*)}}$$$R_{D^{(\ast )}}$ratios. Under a simplified model where the$$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$masses and couplings are free parameters, we focus on cases where the$$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$decays to a$$\tau $$$\tau$lepton and a$$\textrm{b}$$$\text{b}$quark, and study how the results are affected by different assumptions about chiral currents and interference effects with other BSM processes with the same final states, such as diagrams with a heavy vector boson,$$\textrm{Z}^{\prime }$$${\text{Z}}^{\prime }$. The analysis is performed using machine learning techniques, resulting in an increased discovery reach at the LHC, allowing us to probe new physics phase space which addresses the$$\textrm{B}$$$\text{B}$-meson anomalies, for$$\textrm{LQ}$$$\text{LQ}$masses up to$$5.00\, \textrm{TeV}$$$5.00\text{TeV}$, for the high luminosity LHC scenario.

    

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3. Searching for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471/ab4574  

   Alimena, Juliette ; Beacham, James ; Borsato, Martino ; Cheng, Yangyang ; Vidal, Xabier Cid ; Cottin, Giovanna ; Curtin, David ; De Roeck, Albert ; Desai, Nishita ; Evans, Jared A. ; et al ( September 2020 , Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics)

   Particles beyond the Standard Model (SM) can generically have lifetimes that are long compared to SM particles at the weak scale. When produced at experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, these long-lived particles (LLPs) can decay far from the interaction vertex of the primary proton–proton collision. Such LLP signatures are distinct from those of promptly decaying particles that are targeted by the majority of searches for new physics at the LHC, often requiring customized techniques to identify, for example, significantly displaced decay vertices, tracks with atypical properties, and short track segments. Given their non-standard nature, a comprehensive overview of LLP signatures at the LHC is beneficial to ensure that possible avenues of the discovery of new physics are not overlooked. Here we report on the joint work of a community of theorists and experimentalists with the ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments—as well as those working on dedicated experiments such as MoEDAL, milliQan, MATHUSLA, CODEX-b, and FASER—to survey the current state of LLP searches at the LHC, and to chart a path for the development of LLP searches into the future, both in the upcoming Run 3 and at the high-luminosity LHC. The work is organized around the current and future potential capabilities of LHC experiments to generally discover new LLPs, and takes a signature-based approach to surveying classes of models that give rise to LLPs rather than emphasizing any particular theory motivation. We develop a set of simplified models; assess the coverage of current searches; document known, often unexpected backgrounds; explore the capabilities of proposed detector upgrades; provide recommendations for the presentation of search results; and look towards the newest frontiers, namely high-multiplicity ‘dark showers’, highlighting opportunities for expanding the LHC reach for these signals.

    

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4. Prospects for beyond the Standard Model physics searches at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment: DUNE Collaboration

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09007-w  

   Abi, B. ; Acciarri, R. ; Acero, M. A. ; Adamov, G. ; Adams, D. ; Adinolfi, M. ; Ahmad, Z. ; Ahmed, J. ; Alion, T. ; Monsalve, S. Alonso ; et al ( April 2021 , The European Physical Journal C)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a powerful tool for a variety of physics topics. The high-intensity proton beams provide a large neutrino flux, sampled by a near detector system consisting of a combination of capable precision detectors, and by the massive far detector system located deep underground. This configuration sets up DUNE as a machine for discovery, as it enables opportunities not only to perform precision neutrino measurements that may uncover deviations from the present three-flavor mixing paradigm, but also to discover new particles and unveil new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model (SM). Of the many potential beyond the Standard Model (BSM) topics DUNE will probe, this paper presents a selection of studies quantifying DUNE’s sensitivities to sterile neutrino mixing, heavy neutral leptons, non-standard interactions, CPT symmetry violation, Lorentz invariance violation, neutrino trident production, dark matter from both beam induced and cosmogenic sources, baryon number violation, and other new physics topics that complement those at high-energy colliders and significantly extend the present reach. 

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5. Highlight: Forward Physics (LHCf + FASER)

   https://doi.org/10.22323/1.397.0025  

   FASER and LHCf Collaborations, Berti ( October 2021 , The Ninth Annual Conference on Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP2021))

   The LHC Run III will be a crucial run for the two LHC forward experiments: LHCf and FASER. In particular, Run III will be the last run where the LHCf detector can operate, and the first run of the new FASER project. The LHCf experiment is dedicated to precise measurements of forward production, necessary to tune hadronic interaction models employed in cosmic-ray physics. In Run III, the experiment will accomplish two fundamental goals: operating in p-p collisions at s√= s = 14 TeV, it will acquire a statistics that is ten times larger respect to Run II, in order to have precise measurements of π0 π 0 production; operating in high energy p-O and O-O collisions, it will measure forward production in a configuration that is very similar to the first interaction of an Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray with an atmospheric nucleus. The FASER experiment is dedicated to the search of new weakly-interacting light particles thanks to a forward detector with proper shielding from Standard Model background. In Run III, it will be able to search for new particles with a good sensitivity, which can be strongly improved after an upgrade before Run IV. In addition, thanks to the dedicated FASERν detector, it will measure neutrino production at a collider for the first time. In this contribution, we discuss the main results expected from the LHCf and FASER experiments in Run III, highlighting their fundamental contribution in research fields that are not accessible to the four large LHC experiments. 

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