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  1. We report a search for a heavy neutral lepton (HNL) that mixes predominantly withντ. The search utilizes data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energye+ecollider. The data sample was collected at and just below the center-of-mass energies of theϒ(4S)andϒ(5S)resonances and has an integrated luminosity of915fb1, corresponding to(836±12)×106e+eτ+τevents. We search for production of the HNL (denotedN) in the decayτπNfollowed by its decay viaNμ+μντ. The search focuses on the parameter-space region in which the HNL is long-lived, so that theμ+μoriginate from a common vertex that is significantly displaced from the collision point of the KEKB beams. Consistent with the expected background yield, one event is observed in the data sample after application of all the event-selection criteria. We report limits on the mixing parameter of the HNL with theτneutrino as a function of the HNL mass.

    Published by the American Physical Society2024 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025
  2. Abstract

    Results are presented for the measurement of large-scale anisotropies in the arrival directions of ultra–high-energy cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during 19 yr of operation, prior to AugerPrime, the upgrade of the observatory. The 3D dipole amplitude and direction are reconstructed above 4 EeV in four energy bins. Besides the established dipolar anisotropy in R.A. above 8 EeV, the Fourier amplitude of the 8–16 EeV energy bin is now also above the 5σdiscovery level. No time variation of the dipole moment above 8 EeV is found, setting an upper limit to the rate of change of such variations of 0.3% yr−1at the 95% confidence level. Additionally, the results for the angular power spectrum are shown, demonstrating no other statistically significant multipoles. The results for the equatorial dipole component down to 0.03 EeV are presented, using for the first time a data set obtained with a trigger that has been optimized for lower energies. Finally, model predictions are discussed and compared with observations, based on two source emission scenarios obtained in the combined fit of spectrum and composition above 0.6 EeV.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 1, 2025
  3. Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 1, 2025
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  5. Abstract

    The flux of ultra-high energy cosmic rays reaching Earth above the ankle energy (5 EeV) can be described as a mixture of nuclei injected by extragalactic sources with very hard spectra and a low rigidity cutoff.Extragalactic magnetic fields existing between the Earth and the closest sources can affect the observed CR spectrum by reducing the flux of low-rigidity particles reaching Earth. We perform a combined fit of the spectrum and distributions of depth of shower maximum measured with the Pierre Auger Observatory including the effect of this magnetic horizon in the propagation of UHECRs in the intergalactic space.We find that, within a specific range of the various experimental and phenomenological systematics, the magnetic horizon effect can be relevant for turbulent magnetic field strengths in the local neighbourhood in which the closest sources lieof order Brms≃ (50–100) nG (20 Mpc/ds)( 100 kpc/Lcoh)1/2, with dsthe typical intersource separation and Lcohthe magnetic field coherence length. When this is the case,the inferred slope of the source spectrum becomes softer and can be closer to the expectations of diffusive shock acceleration, i.e., ∝ E-2.An additional cosmic-ray population with higher source density and softer spectra, presumably also extragalactic and dominating the cosmic-ray flux at EeV energies, is also required to reproduce the overall spectrum and composition results for all energies down to 0.6 EeV.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 1, 2025
  6. We measure the branching fraction of the decayBD0ρ(770)using data collected with the Belle II detector. The data contain 387 millionBB¯pairs produced ine+ecollisions at theϒ(4S)resonance. We reconstruct8360±180decays from an analysis of the distributions of theBenergy and theρ(770)helicity angle. We determine the branching fraction to be(0.939±0.021(stat)±0.050(syst))%, in agreement with previous results. Our measurement improves the relative precision of the world average by more than a factor of two.

    Published by the American Physical Society2024 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025
  7. We report on a search for a resonanceXdecaying to a pair of muons ine+eμ+μXevents in the0.2129.000GeV/c2mass range, using178fb1of 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 ofXbeyond the standard model: aZvector boson in theLμLτmodel 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 theLμLτmodel and from 0.055 fb to 1.3 fb for the muonphilic scalar model. For masses below6GeV/c2, the corresponding constraints on the couplings of these processes to the standard model range from 0.0008 to 0.039 for theLμLτmodel 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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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025