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1. Test of lepton flavor universality in ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$ and ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\text{e}}^{+}{\text{e}}^{-}$ decays in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{\text{s}}=\text{13}\text{TeV}$

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/ad4e65  

   CMS_Collaboration, The (July 2024, Reports on Progress in Physics)

   Abstract A test of lepton flavor universality in ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$and ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\text{e}}^{+}{\text{e}}^{-}$decays, as well as a measurement of differential and integrated branching fractions of a nonresonant ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$decay are presented. The analysis is made possible by a dedicated data set of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\text{TeV}$recorded in 2018, by the CMS experiment at the LHC, using a special high-rate data stream designed for collecting about 10 billion unbiased b hadron decays. The ratio of the branching fractions $B({\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-})$to $B({\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\text{e}}^{+}{\text{e}}^{-})$is determined from the measured double ratio $R\left(\text{K}\right)$of these decays to the respective branching fractions of the ${\text{B}}^{\pm }\to \text{J}/\text{ψ}{\text{K}}^{\pm }$with $\text{J}/\text{ψ}\to {\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$and ${\text{e}}^{+}{\text{e}}^{-}$decays, which allow for significant cancellation of systematic uncertainties. The ratio $R\left(\text{K}\right)$is measured in the range $1.1<q^2<6.0{\text{GeV}}^2$, whereqis the invariant mass of the lepton pair, and is found to be $R\left(\text{K}\right)={0.78}_{-0.23}^{+0.47}$, in agreement with the standard model expectation $R\left(\text{K}\right)\approx 1$. This measurement is limited by the statistical precision of the electron channel. The integrated branching fraction in the sameq²range, $B({\text{B}}^{\pm }\to {\text{K}}^{\pm }{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-})=(12.42\pm 0.68)\times {10}^{-8}$, is consistent with the present world-average value and has a comparable precision. 

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2. Instantons and the large $N=4$ algebra

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8121/ada64d  

   Witten, Edward (January 2025, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical)

   Abstract We investigate the differential geometry of the moduli space of instantons on ${\mathrm{S}}^3\times {\mathrm{S}}^1$. Extending previous results, we show that a sigma-model with this target space can be expected to possess a large $N=4$superconformal symmetry, supporting speculations that this sigma-model may be dual to Type IIB superstring theory on ${\mathrm{AdS}}_3\times {\mathrm{S}}^3\times {\mathrm{S}}^3\times {\mathrm{S}}^1$. The sigma-model is parametrized by three integers—the rank of the gauge group, the instanton number, and a ‘level’ (the integer coefficient of a topologically nontrivialB-field, analogous to a WZW level). These integers are expected to correspond to two five-brane charges and a one-brane charge. The sigma-model is weakly coupled when the level, conjecturally corresponding to one of the five-brane changes, becomes very large, keeping the other parameters fixed. The central charges of the large $N=4$algebra agree, at least semiclassically, with expectations from the duality. 

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3. Computation of the expectation value of the spin operator ${\hat{S}}^2$ for the spin-flip Bethe–Salpeter equation

   https://doi.org/10.1088/2516-1075/ad48ed  

   Barker, B A; Seshappan, A; Strubbe, D A (May 2024, Electronic Structure)

   Abstract Spin-flip (SF) methods applied to excited-state approaches like the Bethe–Salpeter equation allow access to the excitation energies of open-shell systems, such as molecules and defects in solids. The eigenstates of these solutions, however, are generally not eigenstates of the spin operator ${\hat{S}}^2$. Even for simple cases where the excitation vector is expected to be, for example, a triplet state, the value of $⟨{\hat{S}}^2⟩$may be found to differ from 2.00; this difference is called ‘spin contamination’. The expectation values $⟨{\hat{S}}^2⟩$must be computed for each excitation vector, to assist with the characterization of the particular excitation and to determine the amount of spin contamination of the state. Our aim is to provide for the first time in the SF methods literature a comprehensive resource on the derivation of the formulas for $⟨{\hat{S}}^2⟩$as well as its computational implementation. After a brief discussion of the theory of the SF Bethe–Salpeter equation (BSE) and some examples further illustrating the need for calculating $⟨{\hat{S}}^2⟩$, we present the derivation for the general equation for computing $⟨{\hat{S}}^2⟩$with the eigenvectors from an SF-BSE calculation, how it is implemented in a Python script, and timing information on how this calculation scales with the size of the SF-BSE Hamiltonian. 

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4. Measurement of off-shell Higgs boson production in the $H^{\ast }\to ZZ\to 4\ell$ decay channel using a neural simulation-based inference technique in 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/adcd9a  

   The_ATLAS_Collaboration (May 2025, Reports on Progress in Physics)

   Abstract A measurement of off-shell Higgs boson production in the $H^{\ast }\to ZZ\to 4\ell$decay channel is presented. The measurement uses 140 fb⁻¹of proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and supersedes the previous result in this decay channel using the same dataset. The data analysis is performed using a neural simulation-based inference method, which builds per-event likelihood ratios using neural networks. The observed (expected) off-shell Higgs boson production signal strength in the $ZZ\to 4\ell$decay channel at 68% CL is ${0.87}_{-0.54}^{+0.75}$( ${1.00}_{-0.95}^{+1.04}$). The evidence for off-shell Higgs boson production using the $ZZ\to 4\ell$decay channel has an observed (expected) significance of 2.5σ(1.3σ). The expected result represents a significant improvement relative to that of the previous analysis of the same dataset, which obtained an expected significance of 0.5σ. When combined with the most recent ATLAS measurement in the $ZZ\to 2\ell 2\nu$decay channel, the evidence for off-shell Higgs boson production has an observed (expected) significance of 3.7σ(2.4σ). The off-shell measurements are combined with the measurement of on-shell Higgs boson production to obtain constraints on the Higgs boson total width. The observed (expected) value of the Higgs boson width at 68% CL is ${4.3}_{-1.9}^{+2.7}$( ${4.1}_{-3.4}^{+3.5}$) MeV. 

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5. Measurement of $CP$ Violation Observables in $D^{+}\to K^{-}{K}^{+}{\pi }^{+}$ Decays

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.251801  

   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 (December 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   A search for violation of the charge-parity ( $CP$) symmetry in the $D^{+}\to K^{-}{K}^{+}{\pi }^{+}$decay is presented, with proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$, collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the LHCb detector. A novel model-independent technique is used to compare the $D^{+}$and $D^{-}$phase-space distributions, with instrumental asymmetries subtracted using the $D_s^{+}\to K^{-}{K}^{+}{\pi }^{+}$decay as a control channel. The $p$value for the hypothesis of $CP$conservation is 8.1%. The $CP$asymmetry observables $A_{CP|S}^{\varphi {\pi }^{+}}=(0.95\pm 0.43_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 0.26_{\mathrm{syst}})\times {10}^{-3}$and $A_{CP|S}^{{\overline{K}}^{*0}{K}^{+}}=(-0.26\pm 0.56_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 0.18_{\mathrm{syst}})\times {10}^{-3}$are also measured. These results show no evidence of $CP$violation and represent the most sensitive search performed through the phase space of a multibody decay. © 2024 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2024CERN 

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