arXiv subjects

M. Becker

Publications and source records attributed to M. Becker.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Production of hydrogen isotopes and charged pions in p (3.5 GeV) + Nb reactions

The double differential production cross sections, $d^2σ/dΩdE$, for hydrogen isotopes and charged pions in the reaction of p + Nb at 3.5 GeV proton beam energy have been measured by the High Acceptance DiElectron Spectrometer (HADES). Thanks to the high acceptance of HADES at forward emission angles and usage of its magnetic field, the measured energy range of hydrogen isotopes could be significantly extended in comparison to the relatively scarce experimental data available in the literature. The data provide information about the development of the intranuclear cascade in the proton-nucleus collisions. They can as well be utilized to study the rate of energy/momentum dissipation in the nuclear systems and the mechanism of elementary and composite particle production in excited nuclear matter at normal density. Data of this type are important also for technological and medical applications. Our results are compared to models developed to describe the processes relevant to nuclear spallation (INCL++) or oriented to probe either the elementary hadronic processes in nuclear matter or the behavior of compressed nuclear matter (GiBUU).

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2022

Cross-correlation of DES Y3 lensing and ACT/${\it Planck}$ thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect II: Modeling and constraints on halo pressure profiles

Hot, ionized gas leaves an imprint on the cosmic microwave background via the thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect. The cross-correlation of gravitational lensing (which traces the projected mass) with the tSZ effect (which traces the projected gas pressure) is a powerful probe of the thermal state of ionized baryons throughout the Universe, and is sensitive to effects such as baryonic feedback. In a companion paper (Gatti et al. 2021), we present tomographic measurements and validation tests of the cross-correlation between galaxy shear measurements from the first three years of observations of the Dark Energy Survey, and tSZ measurements from a combination of Atacama Cosmology Telescope and ${\it Planck}$ observations. In this work, we use the same measurements to constrain models for the pressure profiles of halos across a wide range of halo mass and redshift. We find evidence for reduced pressure in low mass halos, consistent with predictions for the effects of feedback from active galactic nuclei. We infer the hydrostatic mass bias ($B \equiv M_{500c}/M_{\rm SZ}$) from our measurements, finding $B = 1.8\pm0.1$ when adopting the ${\it Planck}$-preferred cosmological parameters. We additionally find that our measurements are consistent with a non-zero redshift evolution of $B$, with the correct sign and sufficient magnitude to explain the mass bias necessary to reconcile cluster count measurements with the ${\it Planck}$-preferred cosmology. Our analysis introduces a model for the impact of intrinsic alignments (IA) of galaxy shapes on the shear-tSZ correlation. We show that IA can have a significant impact on these correlations at current noise levels.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Measurement of global polarization of Λ hyperons in few-GeV heavy-ion collisions

The global polarization of Λ hyperons along the total orbital angular momentum of a relativistic heavy-ion collision is presented based on the high statistics data samples collected in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.4 GeV and Ag+Ag at 2.55 GeV with the High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at GSI, Darmstadt. This is the first measurement below the strangeness production threshold in nucleon-nucleon collisions. Results are reported as a function of the collision centrality as well as a function of the hyperon transverse momentum (p_T) and rapidity (y_{CM}) for the range of centrality 0--40%. We observe a strong centrality dependence of the polarization with an increasing signal towards peripheral collisions. For mid-central (20--40%) collisions the polarization magnitudes are (%) = 6.8 \pm 1.3 (stat.) \pm 2.1 (syst.) for Au+Au and (%) = 6.2 \pm 0.4 (stat.) \pm 0.6 (syst.) for Ag+Ag, which are the largest values observed so far. This observation thus provides a continuation of the increasing trend previously observed by STAR and contrasts expectations from recent theoretical calculations predicting a maximum in the region of collision energies about 3 GeV. The observed polarization is of a similar magnitude as predicted by 3D fluid dynamics and the UrQMD plus thermal vorticity model and significantly above results from the AMPT model.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2022

Test of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays

The Standard Model of particle physics currently provides our best description of fundamental particles and their interactions. The theory predicts that the different charged leptons, the electron, muon and tau, have identical electroweak interaction strengths. Previous measurements have shown a wide range of particle decays are consistent with this principle of lepton universality. This article presents evidence for the breaking of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays, with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations, based on proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are of processes in which a beauty meson transforms into a strange meson with the emission of either an electron and a positron, or a muon and an antimuon. If confirmed by future measurements, this violation of lepton universality would imply physics beyond the Standard Model, such as a new fundamental interaction between quarks and leptons.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for massive long-lived particles decaying semileptonically at sqrt(s)=13 TeV

A search is performed for massive long-lived particles (LLP) decaying semileptonically into a muon and two quarks. Two kinds of LLP production processes were considered. In the first, a Higgs-like boson with mass from 30 to 200 GeV is produced by gluon fusion and decays into two LLPs. The analysis covers LLP mass values from 10 GeV up to about one half the Higgs-like boson mass. The second LLP production mode is directly from quark interactions, with LLP masses from 10 to 90 GeV. The LLP lifetimes considered range from 5 to 200 ps. This study uses LHCb data collected from proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 1/fb. No evidence of these long-lived states has been observed, and upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio have been set for each model considered.

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arXiv2022

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: cosmology with moments of weak lensing mass maps

We present a cosmological analysis using the second and third moments of the weak lensing mass (convergence) maps from the first three years of data (Y3) data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The survey spans an effective area of 4139 square degrees and uses the images of over 100 million galaxies to reconstruct the convergence field. The second moment of the convergence as a function of smoothing scale contains information similar to standard shear 2-point statistics. The third moment, or the skewness, contains additional non-Gaussian information. The data is analysed in the context of the $Λ$CDM model, varying 5 cosmological parameters and 19 nuisance parameters modelling astrophysical and measurement systematics. Our modelling of the observables is completely analytical, and has been tested with simulations in our previous methodology study. We obtain a 1.7\% measurement of the amplitude of fluctuations parameter $S_8\equiv σ_8 (Ω_m/0.3)^{0.5} = 0.784\pm 0.013$. The measurements are shown to be internally consistent across redshift bins, angular scales, and between second and third moments. In particular, the measured third moment is consistent with the expectation of gravitational clustering under the $Λ$CDM model. The addition of the third moment improves the constraints on $S_8$ and $Ω_{\rm m}$ by $\sim$15\% and $\sim$25\% compared to an analysis that only uses second moments. We compare our results with {\it Planck} constraints from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), finding a $2.2$ \textendash $2.8σ$ tension in the full parameter space, depending on the combination of moments considered. The third moment independently is in $2.8σ$ tension with {\it Planck}, and thus provides a cross-check on analyses of 2-point correlations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

First measurement of the $Z\rightarrow μ^+ μ^-$ angular coefficients in the forward region of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

The first study of the angular distribution of $μ^+ μ^-$ pairs produced in the forward rapidity region via the Drell-Yan reaction $pp \rightarrow γ^{*}/Z +X \rightarrow l^+ l^- + X$ is presented, using data collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 $\rm{fb}^{-1}$. The coefficients of the five leading terms in the angular distribution are determined as a function of the dimuon transverse momentum and rapidity. The results are compared to various theoretical predictions of the $Z$-boson production mechanism and can also be used to probe transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions within the proton.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Constraints on the CKM angle $γ$ from $B^\pm\to Dh^\pm$ decays using $D\rightarrow h^\pm h^{\prime\mp}π^0$ final states

A data sample collected with the LHCb detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ is used to measure eleven $CP$ violation observables in $B^\pm\to Dh^\pm$ decays, where $h$ is either a kaon or a pion. The neutral $D$ meson decay is reconstructed in the three-body final states: $K^\pmπ^\mpπ^0$}; $π^+π^-π^0$; $K^+K^-π^0$ and the suppressed $π^\pm K^\mpπ^0$ combination. The mode where a large $CP$ asymmetry is expected, $B^\pm\to [π^\pm K^\mpπ^0]_DK^\pm$, is observed with a significance greater than seven standard deviations. The ratio of the partial width of this mode relative to that of the favoured mode, $B^\pm\to [K^\pmπ^\mpπ^0]_D K^\pm$, is $R_{{\rm ADS}(K)} = (1.27\pm0.16\pm0.02)\times 10^{-2}$. Evidence for a large $CP$ asymmetry is also seen: $A_{{\rm ADS}(K)} = -0.38\pm0.12\pm0.02$. Constraints on the CKM angle $γ$ are calculated from the eleven reported observables.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: imprints of cosmic voids and superclusters in the Planck CMB lensing map

The CMB lensing signal from cosmic voids and superclusters probes the growth of structure in the low-redshift cosmic web. In this analysis, we cross-correlated the Planck CMB lensing map with voids detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (Y3) data set ($\sim$5,000 deg$^{2}$), expanding on previous measurements that used Y1 catalogues ($\sim$1,300 deg$^{2}$). Given the increased statistical power compared to Y1 data, we report a $6.6σ$ detection of negative CMB convergence ($κ$) imprints using approximately 3,600 voids detected from a redMaGiC luminous red galaxy sample. However, the measured signal is lower than expected from the MICE N-body simulation that is based on the $Λ$CDM model (parameters $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.25$, $σ_8 = 0.8$), and the discrepancy is associated mostly with the void centre region. Considering the full void lensing profile, we fit an amplitude $A_κ=κ_{\rm DES}/κ_{\rm MICE}$ to a simulation-based template with fixed shape and found a moderate $2σ$ deviation in the signal with $A_κ\approx0.79\pm0.12$. We also examined the WebSky simulation that is based on a Planck 2018 $Λ$CDM cosmology, but the results were even less consistent given the slightly higher matter density fluctuations than in MICE. We then identified superclusters in the DES and the MICE catalogues, and detected their imprints at the $8.4σ$ level; again with a lower-than-expected $A_κ=0.84\pm0.10$ amplitude. The combination of voids and superclusters yields a $10.3σ$ detection with an $A_κ=0.82\pm0.08$ constraint on the CMB lensing amplitude, thus the overall signal is $2.3σ$ weaker than expected from MICE.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Precision measurement of forward $Z$ boson production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV

A precision measurement of the $Z$ boson production cross-section at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV in the forward region is presented, using $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb$^{-1}$. The production cross-section is measured using $Z\rightarrowμ^+μ^-$ events within the fiducial region defined as pseudorapidity $2.0<η<4.5$ and transverse momentum $p_{T}>20$ GeV/$c$ for both muons and dimuon invariant mass $60<M_{μμ}<120$ GeV/$c^2$. The integrated cross-section is determined to be \begin{equation*} σ(Z\rightarrowμ^+μ^-) = 196.4 \pm 0.2 \pm 1.6 \pm 3.9~pb, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the luminosity determination. The measured results are in agreement with theoretical predictions within uncertainties.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Measurement of the nuclear modification factor and prompt charged particle production in $p\mathrm{Pb}$ and $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\scriptscriptstyle\mathrm{NN}}}=5\,\mathrm{TeV}$

The production of prompt charged particles in proton-lead collisions and in proton-proton collisions at the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy ${\sqrt{s_{\scriptscriptstyle\mathrm{NN}}}=5\,\mathrm{TeV}}$ is studied at LHCb as a function of pseudorapidity ($η$) and transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) with respect to the proton beam direction. The nuclear modification factor for charged particles is determined as a function of $η$ between ${-4.8<η<-2.5}$ (backward region) and ${2.0<η<4.8}$ (forward region), and $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ between ${0.2<p_{\mathrm{T}}<8.0\,\mathrm{GeV}/c}$. The results show a suppression of charged particle production in proton-lead collisions relative to proton-proton collisions in the forward region and an enhancement in the backward region for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ larger than $1.5\,\mathrm{GeV}/c$. This measurement constrains nuclear PDFs and saturation models at previously unexplored values of the parton momentum fraction down to $10^{-6}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Study of the doubly charmed tetraquark $T_{cc}^+$

An exotic narrow state in the $D^0D^0π^+$ mass spectrum just below the $D^{*+}D^0$ mass threshold is studied using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ acquired with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar $T^+_{cc}$ tetraquark with a quark content of $cc\bar{u}\bar{d}$ and spin-parity quantum numbers $\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{P}}=1^+$. Study of the $DD$ mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell $D^{*+}$ mesons is confirmed by the $D^0π^+$ mass distribution. The mass of the resonance and its coupling to the $D^{*}D$ system are analysed. Resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are measured to reveal important information about the nature of the $T^+_{cc}$ state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Observation of an exotic narrow doubly charmed tetraquark

Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. The observation of a new type of hadronic state, a doubly charmed tetraquark containing two charm quarks, an anti-$u$ and an anti-$d$ quark, is reported using data collected by the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This exotic state with a mass of about 3875 MeV$/c^2$ manifests itself as a narrow peak in the mass spectrum of $D^0D^0π^+$ mesons just below the $D^{*+}D^0$ mass threshold. The near threshold mass together with a strikingly narrow width reveals the resonance nature of the state.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Evidence for a new structure in the $J/ψp$ and $J/ψ\bar{p}$ systems in $B_s^0 \to J/ψp \bar{p}$ decays

An amplitude analysis of flavour-untagged $B_s^0 \to J/ψp \bar{p}$ decays is performed using a sample of $797\pm31$ decays reconstructed with the LHCb detector. The data, collected in proton-proton collisions between 2011 and 2018, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 9 $\text{fb}^{-1}$. Evidence for a new structure in the $J/ψp$ and $J/ψ\bar{p}$ systems with a mass of $4337 \ ^{+7}_{-4} \ ^{+2}_{-2}~\text{MeV}$ and a width of $29 \ ^{+26}_{-12} \ ^{+14}_{-14}~\text{MeV}$ is found, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic, with a significance in the range of 3.1 to 3.7 $σ$, depending on the assigned $J^P$ hypothesis.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Angular analysis of $D^0 \to π^+π^-μ^+μ^-$ and $D^0 \to K^+K^-μ^+μ^-$ decays and search for $CP$ violation

The first full angular analysis and an updated measurement of the decay-rate $CP$ asymmetry of the $D^0 \to π^+π^-μ^+μ^-$ and $D^0 \to K^+K^-μ^+μ^-$ decays are reported. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$. The full set of $CP$-averaged angular observables and their $CP$ asymmetries are measured as a function of the dimuon invariant mass. The results are consistent with expectations from the standard model and with $CP$ symmetry.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

$J/ψ$ photo-production in Pb-Pb peripheral collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5 TeV

The photo-production of $J/ψ$ mesons at low transverse momentum is studied in peripheral lead-lead collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 210 $\rm{μb}^{-1}$. The $J/ψ$ candidates are reconstructed through the prompt decay into two muons of opposite charge in the rapidity region of $2.0<y<4.5$. The results significantly improve previous measurements and are compared to the latest theoretical prediction.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Observation of the doubly charmed baryon decay $\it{Ξ_{cc}^{++}\to Ξ_{c}^{'+}π^{+}}$

The $\it{Ξ_{cc}^{++}\to Ξ_{c}^{'+}π^{+}}$ decay is observed using proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of $13\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The $\it{Ξ_{cc}^{++}\to Ξ_{c}^{'+}π^{+}}$ decay is reconstructed partially, where the photon from the $\it{Ξ_{c}^{'+} \to Ξ_{c}^{+}γ}$ decay is not reconstructed and the $pK^-π^+$ final state of the $\it{Ξ_{c}^{+}}$ baryon is employed. The $\it{Ξ_{cc}^{++}\to Ξ_{c}^{'+}π^{+}}$ branching fraction relative to that of the $\it{Ξ_{cc}^{++}\to Ξ_{c}^{+}π^{+}}$ decay is measured to be $1.41 \pm 0.17 \pm 0.10$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Measurement of the charm mixing parameter $y_{CP} - y_{CP}^{Kπ}$ using two-body $D^0$ meson decays

A measurement of the ratios of the effective decay widths of $D^0 \to π^-π^+$ and $D^0 \to K^-K^+$ decays over that of $D^0 \to K^-π^+$ decays is performed with the LHCb experiment using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $13 \, \mathrm{TeV}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $6 \, \mathrm{fb^{-1}}$. These observables give access to the charm mixing parameters $y_{CP}^{ππ} - y_{CP}^{Kπ}$ and $y_{CP}^{KK} - y_{CP}^{Kπ}$, and are measured as $y_{CP}^{ππ} - y_{CP}^{Kπ} = (6.57 \pm 0.53 \pm 0.16) \times 10^{-3}$, $y_{CP}^{KK} - y_{CP}^{Kπ} = (7.08 \pm 0.30 \pm 0.14) \times 10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The combination of the two measurements is $y_{CP} - y_{CP}^{Kπ} = (6.96 \pm 0.26 \pm 0.13) \times 10^{-3}$, which is four times more precise than the previous world average.

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