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1. 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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2. Stochastic ultralight dark matter fluctuations in pulsar timing arrays

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.055017  

   Kim, Hyungjin; Mitridate, Andrea (March 2024, Physical Review D)

   Metric perturbations induced by ultralight dark matter (ULDM) fields have long been identified as a potential target for pulsar timing array (PTA) observations. Previous works have focused on the coherent oscillation of metric perturbations at the characteristic frequency set by the ULDM mass. In this work, we show that ULDM fields source low-frequency stochastic metric fluctuations and that these low-frequency fluctuations can produce distinctive detectable signals in PTA data. Using the NANOGrav 12.5-yr dataset and synthetic datasets mimicking present and future PTA capabilities, we show that the current and future PTA observations provide the strongest probe of ULDM density within the Solar System for masses in the range of ${10}^{-18}\mathrm{eV}-{10}^{-16}\mathrm{eV}$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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3. Search for a ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$ resonance in four-muon final states at Belle II

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.112015  

   Adachi, I; Adamczyk, K; Aggarwal, L; Ahmed, H; Aihara, H; Akopov, N; Aloisio, A; Anh_Ky, N; Asner, D M; Atmacan, H; et al (June 2024, Physical Review D)

   We report on a search for a resonance $X$decaying to a pair of muons in $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to {\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}X$events in the $0.212–9.000\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$mass range, using $178{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of data collected by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider at a center of mass energy of 10.58 GeV. The analysis probes two different models of $X$beyond the standard model: a $Z^{\prime }$vector boson in the $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$model and a muonphilic scalar. We observe no evidence for a signal and set exclusion limits at the 90% confidence level on the products of cross section and branching fraction for these processes, ranging from 0.046 fb to 0.97 fb for the $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$model and from 0.055 fb to 1.3 fb for the muonphilic scalar model. For masses below $6\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$, the corresponding constraints on the couplings of these processes to the standard model range from 0.0008 to 0.039 for the $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$model and from 0.0018 to 0.040 for the muonphilic scalar model. These are the first constraints on the muonphilic scalar from a dedicated search. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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4. Search for New Resonances Decaying to Pairs of Merged Diphotons in Proton-Proton Collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.041801  

   Hayrapetyan, A; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Andrejkovic, J W; Bergauer, T; Chatterjee, S; Damanakis, K; Dragicevic, M; Hussain, P S; Jeitler, M; et al (January 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   A search is presented for an extended Higgs sector with two new particles, $X$and $\varphi$, in the process $X\to \varphi \varphi \to \left(\gamma \gamma \right)\left(\gamma \gamma \right)$. Novel neural networks classify events with diphotons that are merged and determine the diphoton masses. The search uses LHC proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$collected with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $138{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. No evidence of such resonances is seen. Upper limits are set on the production cross section for $m_X$between 300 and 3000 GeV and $m_{\varphi }/m_X$between 0.5% and 2.5%, representing the most sensitive search in this channel. © 2025 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration2025CERN 

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5. 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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