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We present the measurement of ${\pi }^{+}$-argon inelastic cross sections using the ProtoDUNE single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber in the incident ${\pi }^{+}$kinetic energy range of 500–800 MeV in multiple exclusive channels (absorption, charge exchange, and the remaining inelastic interactions). The results of this analysis are important inputs to simulations of liquid argon neutrino experiments such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and the Short Baseline Neutrino program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. They will be employed to improve the modeling of final state interactions within neutrino event generators used by these experiments, as well as the modeling of ${\pi }^{+}$-argon secondary interactions within the liquid argon. This is the first measurement of ${\pi }^{+}$-argon absorption at this kinetic energy range as well as the first ever measurement of ${\pi }^{+}$-argon charge exchange. 

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation neutrino experiment with a rich physics program that includes searches for the hypothetical phenomenon of proton decay. Utilizing liquid-argon time-projection chamber technology, DUNE is expected to achieve world-leading sensitivity in the proton decay channels that involve charged kaons in their final states. The first DUNE demonstrator, ProtoDUNE Single-Phase, was a 0.77 kt detector that operated from 2018 to 2020 at the CERN Neutrino Platform, exposed to a mixed hadron and electron test-beam with momenta ranging from 0.3 to $7\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c}$. We present a selection of low-energy kaons among the secondary particles produced in hadronic reactions, using data from the 6 and $7\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c}$beam runs. The selection efficiency is 1% and the sample purity 92%. The initial energies of the selected kaon candidates encompass the expected energy range of kaons originating from proton decay events in DUNE (below $\sim 200\mathrm{MeV}$). In addition, we demonstrate the capability of this detector technology to discriminate between kaons and other particles such as protons and muons, and provide a comprehensive description of their energy loss in liquid argon, which shows good agreement with the simulation. These results pave the way for future proton decay searches at DUNE. 

The 2x2 Demonstrator, a prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) liquid argon (LAr) Near Detector, was exposed to the Neutrinos from the Main Injector (NuMI) neutrino beam at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). This detector is a prototype of a new modular design for a liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC), comprising a two-by-two array of four modules, each further segmented into two optically isolated LArTPCs. The 2x2 Demonstrator features a number of pioneering technologies, including a low-profile resistive field shell to establish drift fields, native 3D ionization pixelated imaging, and a high-coverage dielectric light readout system. The 2.4-tonne active mass detector is flanked upstream and downstream by supplemental solid-scintillator tracking planes, repurposed from the MINERvA experiment, which track ionizing particles exiting the argon volume. The antineutrino beam data collected by the detector over a 4.5 day period in 2024 include over 30,000 neutrino interactions in the LAr active volume—the first neutrino interactions reported by a DUNE detector prototype. During its physics-quality run, the 2x2 Demonstrator operated at a nominal drift field of 500 V/cm and maintained good LAr purity, with a stable electron lifetime of approximately 1.25 ms. This paper describes the detector and supporting systems, summarizes the installation and commissioning, and presents the initial validation of collected NuMI beam and off-beam self-triggers. In addition, it highlights observed interactions in the detector volume, including candidate muon antineutrino events. 

Abstract Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) rely on highly pure argon to ensure that ionization electrons produced by charged particles reach readout arrays. ProtoDUNE Single-Phase (ProtoDUNE-SP) was an approximately 700-ton liquid argon detector intended to prototype the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Far Detector Horizontal Drift module. It contains two drift volumes bisected by the cathode plane assembly, which is biased to create an almost uniform electric field in both volumes. The DUNE Far Detector modules must have robust cryogenic systems capable of filtering argon and supplying the TPC with clean liquid. This paper will explore comparisons of the argon purity measured by the purity monitors with those measured using muons in the TPC from October 2018 to November 2018. A new method is introduced to measure the liquid argon purity in the TPC using muons crossing both drift volumes of ProtoDUNE-SP. For extended periods on the timescale of weeks, the drift electron lifetime was measured to be above 30 ms using both systems. A particular focus will be placed on the measured purity of argon as a function of position in the detector. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> An angular analysis ofB⁰→ K^*0e⁺e⁻decays is presented using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb⁻¹. The analysis is performed in the region of the dilepton invariant mass squared of 1.1–6.0 GeV²/c⁴. In addition, a test of lepton flavour universality is performed by comparing the obtained angular observables with those measured inB⁰→ K^*0μ⁺μ⁻decays. In general, the angular observables are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations as well as with global analyses of otherb → sℓ⁺ℓ⁻processes, whereℓis either a muon or an electron. No sign of lepton-flavour-violating effects is observed. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> A search for the decay$$ {B}_c^{+} $$ $B_c^{+}$→ χ_c1(3872)π⁺is reported using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018 at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb⁻¹. No significant signal is observed. Using the decay$$ {B}_c^{+} $$ $B_c^{+}$→ψ(2S)π⁺as a normalisation channel, an upper limit for the ratio of branching fractions$$ {\mathcal{R}}_{\psi (2S)}^{\chi_{c1}(3872)}=\frac{{\mathcal{B}}_{B_c^{+}\to {\chi}_{c1}(3872){\pi}^{+}}}{{\mathcal{B}}_{B_c^{+}\to \psi (2S){\pi}^{+}}}\times \frac{{\mathcal{B}}_{\chi_{c1}(3872)\to J/\psi {\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{-}}}{{\mathcal{B}}_{\psi (2S)\to J/\psi {\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{-}}}<0.05(0.06), $$ $R_{\psi \left(2S\right)}^{{\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right)}=\frac{B_{B_c^{+}\to {\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right){\pi }^{+}}}{B_{B_c^{+}\to \psi \left(2S\right){\pi }^{+}}}\times \frac{B_{{\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right)\to J/\psi {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}}}{B_{\psi \left(2S\right)\to J/\psi {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}}}<0.05\left(0.06\right),$ is set at the 90 (95)% confidence level. 

Abstract The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries perform reconstruction of neutrino interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will operate four large-scale liquid argon time projection chambers at the far detector site in South Dakota, producing high-resolution images of charged particles emerging from neutrino interactions. While these high-resolution images provide excellent opportunities for physics, the complex topologies require sophisticated pattern recognition capabilities to interpret signals from the detectors as physically meaningful objects that form the inputs to physics analyses. A critical component is the identification of the neutrino interaction vertex. Subsequent reconstruction algorithms use this location to identify the individual primary particles and ensure they each result in a separate reconstructed particle. A new vertex-finding procedure described in this article integrates a U-ResNet neural network performing hit-level classification into the multi-algorithm approach used by Pandora to identify the neutrino interaction vertex. The machine learning solution is seamlessly integrated into a chain of pattern-recognition algorithms. The technique substantially outperforms the previous BDT-based solution, with a more than 20% increase in the efficiency of sub-1 cm vertex reconstruction across all neutrino flavours. 

The branching fraction of the decay $B^{+}\to \psi \left(2S\right)\varphi \left(1020\right)K^{+}$, relative to the topologically similar decay $B^{+}\to J/\psi \varphi \left(1020\right)K^{+}$, is measured using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The ratio is found to be $0.061\pm 0.004\pm 0.009$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. Using the world-average branching fraction for $B^{+}\to J/\psi \varphi \left(1020\right)K^{+}$, the branching fraction for the decay $B^{+}\to \psi \left(2S\right)\varphi \left(1020\right)K^{+}$is found to be $(3.0\pm 0.2\pm 0.5\pm 0.2)\times {10}^{-6}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third is due to the branching fraction of the normalization channel. © 2025 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2025CERN 

The first measurement of the $CP$asymmetry of the decay rate ( $A_{CP}$) and the $CP$average ( $\mathrm{\Sigma }{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}$) and $CP$asymmetry ( $\mathrm{\Delta }{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}$) of the forward-backward asymmetry in the muon system of ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c^{+}\to p{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$decays is reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions, recorded by the LHCb experiment from 2016 to 2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $5.4{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The asymmetries are measured in two regions of dimuon mass near the  $\varphi$-meson mass peak. The dimuon-mass integrated results are $A_{CP}=(-1.1\pm 4.0\pm 0.5)\%$, $\mathrm{\Sigma }{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}=(3.9\pm 4.0\pm 0.6)\%$, $\mathrm{\Delta }{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}=(3.1\pm 4.0\pm 0.4)\%$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with the conservation of $CP$symmetry and the Standard Model expectations. © 2025 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration2025CERN