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1. A QCD $R$ -axion

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.015048  

   Unwin, James; Yildirim, Tom (January 2025, Physical Review D)

   $R$-parity can be extended to a continuous global $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$symmetry. We investigate whether an anomalous $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$can be identified as the Peccei-Quinn symmetry suitable for solving the strong $CP$problem within supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. In this case, $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$is broken at some intermediate scale and the quantum chromodynamics axion is the $R$-axion. Moreover, the $R$-symmetry can potentially be gauged via the Green-Schwarz mechanism within completions to supergravity, in order to evade the axion quality problem. Obstacles to realizing this scenario are highlighted and phenomenologically viable approaches are identified. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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2. Search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs via gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion in the $b\overline{b}{\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$ final state in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$ with the ATLAS detector

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.032012  

   Aad, G; Aakvaag, E; Abbott, B; Abeling, K; Abicht, N J; Abidi, S H; Aboelela, M; Aboulhorma, A; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; et al (August 2024, Physical Review D)

   A search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs in the $HH\to b\overline{b}{\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$channel is performed using $140{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The analysis strategy is optimized 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 ${\mu }_{HH}<5.9\left(3.3\right)$is set at 95% confidence-level on the Higgs boson pair production cross section normalized 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. © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration2024CERN 

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3. Bayesian Search of Massive Scalar Fields from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Binaries

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.191402  

   Xie, Yiqi; Chung, Adrian Ka-Wai; Sotiriou, Thomas P; Yunes, Nicolás (May 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   Massive scalar fields are promising candidates for addressing many unresolved problems in fundamental physics. We report the first model-agnostic Bayesian search of massive scalar fields that are nonminimally coupled to gravity in LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA gravitational-wave data. We find no evidence for such fields and place the most stringent upper limits on their coupling for scalar masses $\lesssim 2\times {10}^{-12}\mathrm{eV}$. We exemplify the strength of these bounds by applying them to massive scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, finding the tightest constraints on the coupling constant to date, $\sqrt{{\alpha }_{\mathrm{GB}}}\lesssim 1\mathrm{km}$for scalar masses $\lesssim {10}^{-13}\mathrm{eV}$to 90% credible level. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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4. One-jettiness DIS event shape at ${\mathrm{N}}^3\mathrm{LL}+\mathcal{O}\left({\alpha }_s^2\right)$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.014045  

   Cao, Haotian; Kang, Zhong-Bo; Liu, Xiaohui; Mantry, Sonny (July 2024, Physical Review D)

   We present results for the ${\tau }_1$and ${\tau }_{1a}$1-jettiness global event shape distributions, for deep inelastic scattering (DIS), at the ${\mathrm{N}}^3\mathrm{LL}+\mathcal{O}\left({\alpha }_s^2\right)$level of accuracy. These event-shape distributions quantify and characterize the pattern of final state radiation in electron-nucleus collisions. They can be used as a probe of nuclear structure functions, as nuclear medium effects in jet production, and for a precision extraction of the QCD strong coupling. The results presented here, along with the corresponding numerical codes, can be used for analyses with HERA data, in Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) simulation studies, and for eventual comparison with real EIC data. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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5. Constraints on metastable superheavy dark matter coupled to sterile neutrinos with the Pierre Auger Observatory

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L081101  

   Abdul_Halim, A; Abreu, P; Aglietta, M; Allekotte, I; Almeida_Cheminant, K; Almela, A; Aloisio, R; Alvarez-Muñiz, J; Ammerman_Yebra, J; Anastasi, G A; et al (April 2024, Physical Review D)

   Dark matter particles could be superheavy, provided their lifetime is much longer than the age of the Universe. Using the sensitivity of the Pierre Auger Observatory to ultrahigh energy neutrinos and photons, we constrain a specific extension of the Standard Model of particle physics that meets the lifetime requirement for a superheavy particle by coupling it to a sector of ultralight sterile neutrinos. Our results show that, for a typical dark coupling constant of 0.1, the mixing angle ${\theta }_m$between active and sterile neutrinos must satisfy, roughly, ${\theta }_m\lesssim 1.5\times {10}^{-6}(M_X/{10}^9\mathrm{GeV}{)}^{-2}$for a mass $M_X$of the dark-matter particle between ${10}^8\mathrm{GeV}$and ${10}^{11}\mathrm{GeV}$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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