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1. Shedding Light on the Origin of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$ , the Heaviest $s$ -Process–Only Isotope in the Solar System

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.052702  

   Casanovas-Hoste, A; Domingo-Pardo, C; Lerendegui-Marco, J; Guerrero, C; Tarifeño-Saldivia, A; Krtička, M; Pignatari, M; Calviño, F; Schumann, D; Heinitz, S; et al (July 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the $r$-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as $s$-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$, the heaviest $s$-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance. Besides the impact of uncertainties from stellar models and galactic chemical evolution simulations, this discrepancy was further obscured by rather divergent theoretical estimates for the neutron capture cross section of its radioactive precursor in the neutron-capture flow, ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$( $t_{1/2}=3.78\mathrm{yr}$), and by the lack of experimental data on this reaction. We present the first ever neutron capture measurement on ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$, conducted at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF, employing a sample of only 9 mg of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$produced at the Institute Laue Langevin high flux reactor. By complementing our new results with semiempirical calculations we obtained, at the $s$-process temperatures of $kT\approx 8\mathrm{keV}$and $kT\approx 30\mathrm{keV}$, Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) of 580(168) mb and 260(90) mb, respectively. These figures are about 3% lower and 20% higher than the corresponding values widely used in astrophysical calculations, which were based only on theoretical calculations. By using the new ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$MACS, the uncertainty arising from the ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}(\mathrm{n},\gamma )$cross section on the $s$-process abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$has been reduced from $\sim 30\%$down to $+8\%/-6\%$, and the $s$-process calculations are in agreement with the latest solar system abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$reported by K. Lodders in 2021. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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2. Solar neutrinos and ${\nu }_2$ visible decays to ${\nu }_1$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.013003  

   de_Gouvêa, André; Weill, Jean; Sen, Manibrata (January 2024, Physical Review D)

   Experimental bounds on the neutrino lifetime depend on the nature of the neutrinos and the details of the potentially new physics responsible for neutrino decay. In the case where the decays involve active neutrinos in the final state, the neutrino masses also qualitatively impact how these manifest themselves experimentally. In order to further understand the impact of nonzero neutrino masses, we explore how observations of solar neutrinos constrain a very simple toy model. We assume that neutrinos are Dirac fermions and there is a new massless scalar that couples to neutrinos such that a heavy neutrino— ${\nu }_2$with mass $m_2$—can decay into a lighter neutrino— ${\nu }_1$with mass $m_1$—and a massless scalar. We find that the constraints on the new physics coupling depend, sometimes significantly, on the ratio of the daughter-to-parent neutrino masses and that, for large-enough values of the new physics coupling, the “dark side” of the solar neutrino parameter space— ${\sin }^2{\theta }_{12}\sim 0.7$—provides a reasonable fit to solar neutrino data, if only ${}^8\mathrm{B}$or ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$neutrino data alone are considered, but no allowed region is found in the combined analysis. Our results generalize to other neutrino-decay scenarios, including those that mediate ${\nu }_2\to {\nu }_1{\overline{\nu }}_3{\nu }_3$when the neutrino mass ordering is inverted mass and $m_2>m_1\gg m_3$, the mass of ${\nu }_3$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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3. First Measurement of $A=4$ Hypernuclei and Antihypernuclei at the LHC

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.162301  

   Acharya, S; Agarwal, A; Aglieri_Rinella, G; Aglietta, L; Agnello, M; Agrawal, N; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, S; Ahn, S U; Ahuja, I; et al (April 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   In this Letter, the first evidence of the ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{He}}$antihypernucleus is presented, along with the first measurement at the LHC of the production of (anti)hypernuclei with mass number $A=4$, specifically $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$. In addition, the antiparticle-to-particle ratios for both hypernuclei ( ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{H}}/{}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{He}}/{}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$) are shown, which are sensitive to the baryochemical potential of the strongly interacting matter created in heavy-ion collisions. The results are obtained from a data sample of central Pb-Pb collisions, collected during the 2018 LHC data taking at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\mathrm{TeV}$. The yields measured for the average of the charge-conjugated states are found to be $[0.78\pm 0.19\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.17\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)]\times {10}^{-6}$for the $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $[1.08\pm 0.34\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.20\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)]\times {10}^{-6}$for the $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$, and the measured antiparticle-to-particle ratios are in agreement with unity. The presence of $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$excited states is expected to strongly enhance the production yield of these hypernuclei. The yield values exhibit a combined deviation of $3.3\sigma$from the theoretical ground-state-only expectation, while the inclusion of the excited states in the calculations leads to an agreement within $0.6\sigma$with the present measurements. Additionally, the measured $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$masses are compatible with the world-average values within the uncertainties. © 2025 CERN, for the ALICE Collaboration2025CERN 

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4. Study of ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0$ and ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_b^0$ Decays to $\mathrm{\Lambda }{h}^{+}{h}^{\prime -}$ and Evidence for $CP$ Violation in ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{K}^{+}{K}^{-}$ Decays

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.101802  

   Aaij, R; Abdelmotteleb, A_S W; Abellan_Beteta, C; Abudinén, F; Ackernley, T; Adefisoye, A A; Adeva, B; Adinolfi, M; Adlarson, P; Agapopoulou, C; et al (March 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   A study of ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0$and ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_b^0$decays to $\mathrm{\Lambda }{h}^{+}{h}^{\prime -}$( $h^{(\prime )}=\pi ,K$) is performed using $pp$collision data collected by the LHCb experiment during LHC Runs 1–2, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The branching fractions for these decays are measured using the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0\to {\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c^{+}(\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{\pi }^{+}){\pi }^{-}$decay as a control channel. The decays ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$and ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_b^0\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{K}^{-}{\pi }^{+}$are observed for the first time. For decay modes with sufficient signal yields, $CP$asymmetries are measured in the full and localized regions of the final-state phase space. Evidence is found for $CP$violation in the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{K}^{+}{K}^{-}$decay, interpreted as originating primarily from an asymmetric ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_b^0\to N^{*+}{K}^{-}$decay amplitude. The measured $CP$asymmetries for other decays are compatible with zero. © 2025 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2025CERN 

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5. First Determination of the Spin-Parity of ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_c(3055{)}^{+,0}$ Baryons

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.081901  

   Aaij, R; Abdelmotteleb, A_S W; Abellan_Beteta, C; Abudinén, F; Ackernley, T; Adefisoye, A A; Adeva, B; Adinolfi, M; Adlarson, P; Agapopoulou, C; et al (February 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   The ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_b^{0(-)}\to {\mathrm{\Xi }}_c\left(3055{)}^{+\left(0\right)}\right(\to D^{+\left(0\right)}\mathrm{\Lambda }){\pi }^{-}$decay chains are observed, and the spin-parity of ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_c(3055{)}^{+\left(0\right)}$baryons is determined for the first time. The measurement is performed using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$, recorded by the LHCb experiment between 2016 and 2018. The spin-parity of the ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_c(3055{)}^{+\left(0\right)}$baryons is determined to be $3/2^{+}$with a significance of more than $6.5\sigma$( $3.5\sigma$) compared to all other tested hypotheses. The up-down asymmetries of the ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_b^{0(-)}\to {\mathrm{\Xi }}_c(3055{)}^{+\left(0\right)}{\pi }^{-}$transitions are measured to be $-0.92\pm 0.10\pm 0.05$( $-0.92\pm 0.16\pm 0.22$), consistent with maximal parity violation, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. These results support the hypothesis that the ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_c(3055{)}^{+\left(0\right)}$baryons correspond to the first $D$-wave $\lambda$-mode excitation of the ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_c$flavor triplet. © 2025 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2025CERN 

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