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Neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements are needed to improve interaction modeling to meet the precision needs of neutrino experiments in efforts to measure oscillation parameters and search for physics beyond the Standard Model. We review the difficulties associated with modeling neutrino-nucleus interactions that lead to a dependence on event generators in oscillation analyses and cross section measurements alike. We then describe data-driven model validation techniques intended to address this model dependence. The method relies on utilizing various goodness-of-fit tests and the correlations between different observables and channels to probe the model for defects in the phase space relevant for the desired analysis. These techniques shed light on relevant mismodeling, allowing it to be detected before it begins to bias the cross section results. We compare more commonly used model validation methods which directly validate the model against alternative ones to these data-driven techniques and show their efficacy with fake data studies. These studies demonstrate that employing data-driven model validation in cross section measurements represents a reliable strategy to produce robust results that will stimulate the desired improvements to interaction modeling. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

In the bottomonium sector, the hindered magnetic dipole transitions between P-wave states $h_b\left(2P\right)\to {\chi }_{bJ}\left(1P\right)\gamma$, $J=0$, 1, 2, are expected to be severely suppressed according to the relativized quark model, due to the spin flip of the $b$quark. Nevertheless, a recent model following the coupled-channel approach predicts the corresponding branching fractions to be enhanced by orders of magnitude. In this Letter, we report the first search for such transitions. We find no significant signals and set upper limits at 90% confidence level on the corresponding branching fractions: $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(2P)\to \gamma {\chi }_{b0}(1P\left)\right]<2.7\times {10}^{-1}$, $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(2P)\to \gamma {\chi }_{b1}(1P\left)\right]<5.4\times {10}^{-3}$and $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(2P)\to \gamma {\chi }_{b2}(1P\left)\right]<1.3\times {10}^{-2}$. These values help to constrain the parameters of the coupled-channel models. The results are obtained using a $121.4{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$data sample taken around $\sqrt{s}=10.860\mathrm{GeV}$with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+}{e}^{-}$collider. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

Large neutrino liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments can broaden their physics reach by reconstructing and interpreting MeV-scale energy depositions, or blips, present in their data. We demonstrate new calorimetric and particle discrimination capabilities at the MeV energy scale using reconstructed blips in data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC at Fermilab. We observe a concentration of low-energy ( $<3\mathrm{MeV}$) blips around fiberglass mechanical support struts along the time projection chamber edges with energy spectrum features consistent with the Compton edge of 2.614 MeV ${}^{208}\mathrm{Tl}$decay $\gamma$rays. These features are used to verify proper calibration of electron energy scales in MicroBooNE’s data to few percent precision and to measure the specific activity of ${}^{208}\mathrm{Tl}$in the fiberglass composing these struts, $(11.7\pm 0.2\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 3.1\left(\mathrm{syst}\right))\mathrm{Bq}/\mathrm{kg}$. Cosmogenically produced blips above 3 MeV in reconstructed energy are used to showcase the ability of large LArTPCs to distinguish between low-energy proton and electron energy depositions. An enriched sample of low-energy protons selected using this new particle discrimination technique is found to be smaller in data than in dedicated cosmic-ray simulations, suggesting either incorrect modeling of incident cosmic fluxes or particle transport modeling issues in eant4. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

We report the first evidence for the $h_b\left(2\mathrm{P}\right)\to \mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(1\mathrm{S}\right)\eta$transition with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations. The decay branching fraction is measured to be $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(2\mathrm{P})\to \mathrm{\Upsilon }(1\mathrm{S}\left)\eta \right]=({7.1}_{-3.2}^{+3.7}\pm 0.8)\times {10}^{-3}$, which is noticeably smaller than expected. We also set upper limits on ${\pi }^0$transitions of $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(2\mathrm{P})\to \mathrm{\Upsilon }(1\mathrm{S}\left){\pi }^0\right]<1.8\times {10}^{-3}$, and $\mathcal{B}\left[h_b\right(1\mathrm{P})\to \mathrm{\Upsilon }(1\mathrm{S}\left){\pi }^0\right]<1.8\times {10}^{-3}$, at the 90% confidence level. These results are obtained with a $131.4{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$data sample collected near the $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(5\mathrm{S}\right)$resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+}{e}^{-}$collider. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

We search for excited charmed baryons in the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c^{+}\eta$system using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $980{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The data were collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^{+}{e}^{-}$asymmetric-energy collider. No significant signals are found in the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c^{+}\eta$mass spectrum, including the known ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$. Clear ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$signals are observed in the $p{D}^0$mass spectrum. We set upper limits at 90% credibility level on ratios of branching fractions of ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$decaying to ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c^{+}\eta$relative to ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_c\left(2455\right)\pi$of $<0.13$for the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and $<1.11$for the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$. We measure ratios of branching fractions of ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$decaying to $p{D}^0$relative to ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_c\left(2455\right)\pi$of $0.75\pm 0.03\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.07\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)$for the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2880{)}^{+}$and $3.59\pm 0.21\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.56\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)$for the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c(2940{)}^{+}$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

We perform an angular analysis of the $B\to K^{*}{e}^{+}{e}^{-}$decay for the dielectron mass squared, $q^2$, range of $0.0008–1.1200{\mathrm{GeV}}^2/c^4$using the full Belle dataset in the $K^{*0}\to K^{+}{\pi }^{-}$and $K^{*+}\to K_S^0{\pi }^{+}$channels, incorporating new methods of electron identification to improve the statistical power of the dataset. This analysis is sensitive to contributions from right-handed currents from physics beyond the Standard Model by constraining the Wilson coefficients ${\mathcal{C}}_7^{(\prime )}$. We perform a fit to the $B\to K^{*}{e}^{+}{e}^{-}$differential decay rate and measure the imaginary component of the transversality amplitude to be $A_T^{\mathrm{Im}}=-1.27\pm 0.52\pm 0.12$, and the $K^{*}$transverse asymmetry to be $A_T^{\left(2\right)}=0.52\pm 0.53\pm 0.11$, with $F_L$and $A_T^{\mathrm{Re}}$fixed to the Standard Model values. The resulting constraints on the value of ${\mathcal{C}}_7^{\prime }$are consistent with the Standard Model within a $2\sigma$confidence interval. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

We report the results of the first search for Standard Model and baryon-number-violating two-body decays of the neutral $B$mesons to ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}^0$and ${\mathrm{\Omega }}_c^{(*)0}$using $711{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of data collected at the $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(4S\right)$resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+}{e}^{-}$collider. We observe no evidence of signal from any such decays and set 95% confidence-level upper limits on the products of $B^0$and ${\overline{B}}^0$branching fractions for these two-body decays with $\mathcal{B}({\mathrm{\Omega }}_c^0\to {\pi }^{+}{\mathrm{\Omega }}^{-})$in the range between $9.5\times {10}^{-8}$and $31.2\times {10}^{-8}$. Published by the American Physical Society2024