In this proceedings, we will describe the physics program of the ESSnuSBplus, phase-I of the ESSnuSB project. ESSnuSB is a future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Europe which aims to measure $δ_{\rm CP}$ at the second oscillation maximum with with unprecedented precision. Apart from studying the beam based physics, the large far detector is also capable of studying various other physics cases involving solar, atmopsheric and supernova neutrinos. Under the ESSnuSBplus project, there will be a low energy monitored beam and a low energy nuSTORM facility for the measurement of cross-section.

Neural scaling laws describe how model performance improves as a power law in compute, model size, and dataset size. While well-established for large language models, these relationships are emerging for large models in particle physics. As with language, empirical studies show that the performance scales as a power law. However, unlike natural language or image domains, fundamental physics has high-fidelity simulators that produce synthetic data cheaply. This favors scaling regimes where additional data is cheaper than additional parameters, and allows the pretraining dataset itself to be engineered to influence the scaling. For the task of classifying hadronic jets produced in collisions of high-energy particle beams, we show that the scaling behavior can be engineered towards requiring more data rather than larger models by inclusion of pretraining data which is more diverse and better aligned with the downstream classification task.

We study resonant heterodyne up-conversion in the RADES-BabyIAXO haloscope as a method to search for low-mass dark matter axions using microwave cavities. Starting from axion electrodynamics, we derive the axion-induced source term and the power extracted through a readout mode, explicitly accounting for the finite axion linewidth. This leads to effective quality factors that determine the pump-axion mixing, detection bandwidth, and detected signal power. We extend the BI-RME 3D full-wave formulation to heterodyne axion detection in a realistic two-port cavity, including pump leakage into the readout channel. Applying the formalism to the largest RADES-BabyIAXO cavity identifies the $\mathrm{quasi\textrm{-}TE}_{011}-\mathrm{quasi\textrm{-}TM}_{010}$ mode pair as a favorable configuration, enabling sensitivity to axion frequencies between 0.9 and 34.6 MHz. Analytical and full-wave predictions show excellent agreement at resonance, while the full-wave model provides a more accurate description off resonance and allows a precise characterization of the pump leakage. We also derive the optimal port couplings that maximize the scanning rate. Sensitivity projections for cryogenic copper and superconducting niobium cavities indicate that, under thermal-noise-limited conditions and assuming sufficient pump-leakage rejection, the experiment could probe axion-photon couplings down to $10^{-15}\,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$ at 90% confidence level, representing a significant improvement over previous heterodyne-based searches.

Charged-particle tracking -- reconstructing trajectories from sparse detector measurements -- is a fundamental high-energy-physics inference problem and a canonical example of learning under extreme combinatorial ambiguity. At the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), tracking must remain accurate and efficient despite unprecedented collision densities. Graph neural networks perform strongly, but incur substantial costs from graph construction and processing, while transformer-based approaches rely on auxiliary stages that prevent end-to-end optimization. To address this, we present HEPTv2, an end-to-end point-transformer architecture that reconstructs tracks from detector hits in one trainable pipeline. HEPTv2 combines a locality-aware point encoder with a track decoder that predicts complete trajectories without graph-building, clustering, or filtering. The encoder uses locality-sensitive hashing in detector coordinate space to preserve tracking-relevant geometry while enabling efficient local attention. The decoder resolves ambiguities through sectorized decoding and direct hit-to-track prediction under joint encoder-decoder supervision, allowing the full pipeline to be optimized end-to-end. On TrackML, HEPTv2 achieves 98.6% double-majority tracking efficiency at a 0.8% fake rate, while requiring only $\sim$15~ms inference time and 0.4~GB peak memory per event on a NVIDIA A100 GPU. Latency and memory scale approximately linearly for events with up to $5\times10^5$ hits. HEPTv2 establishes a new state of the art in the accuracy-latency trade-off, improving efficiency by 4.5% over the strongest prior transformer and by 1.1--2.2% over optimized graph-based pipelines, while reducing latency by factors of 7 and 38--52, respectively. These results show end-to-end transformers can deliver the accuracy and efficiency required for real-time particle reconstruction at the HL-LHC.

The first evidence of electroweak (EW) production of pairs of Z bosons in association with two jets (jj) in the final state ZZjj $\to$ $\ell\ellνν$jj, where $\ell$ = e, $μ$, is reported by the CMS experiment. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected by requiring exactly two leptons of same flavor and opposite charge, large missing transverse momentum, and two jets with a large rapidity separation and large invariant mass. The EW production cross section in a fiducial volume is $σ_{\mathrm{EW}}$(pp $\to$ ZZjj $\to$ $\ell\ellνν$jj) = 0.37$^{+0.14}_{-0.12}$ (stat)$^{+0.06}_{-0.06}$ (syst) fb, in agreement with the standard model prediction of 0.39 $\pm$ 0.06 fb. The observed (expected) significance of the signal is 3.1 (2.8) standard deviations. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings are derived in terms of dimension-8 effective field theory operators. A combination with the previously reported result from the ZZ decay channel with four charged leptons yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.0 (4.5) standard deviations for the EW production of Z boson pairs.

We explore signatures of a massive right-handed neutrino (RHN) in angular distributions of $\bar{B} \to D^* (\to D π) τ(\to πν_τ) \bar X$ decays, where $X$ is an invisible state. We assume the new physics is described by the standard model effective field theory extended with an RHN in the MeV-GeV mass range. We calculate for the first time the full differential distributions in terms of the visible final states, including the decay of the $τ$ lepton. We evaluate the sensitivity of various distributions to the new physics operators.

The success of DUNE's MeV physics program depends upon high-precision knowledge of the charged-current (CC) $ν_e+\mathrm{^{40}Ar}$ cross section. While there are indirect constraints at the 10% level for the nuclear transitions that constitute this cross section, the only direct measurement in the MeV range has an uncertainty of $\sim$50%. We show, surprisingly, that the cross section can be precisely measured using the solar-neutrino data themselves. This is possible because of independent knowledge of the $^8$B flux and survival probability, plus the distinctive angular distributions of the Fermi and Gamow-Teller transitions that comprise the cross section. We propose new methods to extract the transition strengths, considering both intuitive groupings and a Principal Component Analysis. Under pessimistic assumptions about detection, but taking detector uncertainties to be controlled, we demonstrate that a precision of $\lesssim$2% on the cross section can be achieved in the 9-15 MeV energy range. These results will be an important foundation for studying the cross section up to several tens of MeV, where the complexity increases significantly due to nuclear breakup channels but where reducing uncertainties is critical for supernova and atmospheric neutrino studies.

A variety of experiments are operating or planned to search for displaced decays of light long-lived dark sector particles. In case such a state is discovered, the next step is determining its quantum numbers. We identify an angular observable, reconstructible solely from the decay products' four-momenta, that exhibits an anisotropic distribution for vector bosons from light meson decays and an isotropic distribution for scalars. We demonstrate that searches at DUNE, SHiP and FASER2 will be able to identify the mediator spin in sizable regions of yet unconstrained parameter space.

We revisit flavor oscillations in vacuum in terms of the propagation time of intermediate states. In the limit of a long propagation time (or distance), degenerate intermediate states exhibit oscillatory behavior, as described by the Jacob--Sachs (or Grimus--Stockinger) theorem within wave-packet quantum field theory. By explicitly evaluating the relevant integrals using the saddle-point method, we derive an extended expression for the flavor-changing amplitude that remains valid even for shorter propagation times. We show that oscillations occur only when the propagation time exceeds a threshold set by the energy uncertainty of the external wave packets and by the decay width of the propagating particle. For shorter propagation, the intermediate particle behaves as a purely virtual state, in the sense that it cannot propagate over a macroscopic distance. Although a direct experimental test of the transition from virtual to real propagation is challenging, since it typically occurs at microscopic scales, our result implies that the Jacob--Sachs theorem holds to higher accuracy than previously expected, even at short propagation times. Our formalism applies not only to neutrinos but also to other propagating particles, and future improvements in energy resolution may make this threshold observable.

Any observation of charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) would be a clear signal of beyond-the-Standard-Model physics. Here, we propose a novel CLFV search using neutrino telescopes with their large cosmic-ray muon samples. Specifically, we use a recent IceCube cosmic-ray muon dataset and propose a new search for muon-to-tau conversion inside the IceCube detector. We illustrate our idea with CLFV interactions described by model-independent Effective Field Theory (EFT) operators and present the IceCube sensitivity on the relevant EFT scale. We also consider a specific realization of the EFT operator in terms of an axial-vector $Z'$ interaction and show sensitivities in the $Z'$ mass-coupling plane. We compare our sensitivities with those from low-energy CLFV searches, as well as from current and future collider experiments. We also show projections from next-generation neutrino telescopes, such as IceCube-Gen2 and HUNT, and demonstrate how neutrino telescopes can provide a powerful complementary probe of CLFV.

We present a study of charge sharing and electronic cross-talk in second-generation Large-Area Picosecond Photodetectors (LAPPD Gen 2). The LAPPD is a vacuum-based device consisting of a photocathode, two microchannel plates, and a resistive anode that capacitively couples to an 8 $\times$ 8 pixelated readout board (25.4 mm $\times$ 25.4 mm pixel area). Using a picosecond pulsed laser, we measure signal distributions across the resistive anode and quantify coupling between target and neighboring pixels. We further examine the relationship between dark-count rate and LAPPD voltage settings, identifying decay behavior characterized by fast, intermediate, and slow relaxation timescales. We additionally observe the LAPPD behaving as a resonant cavity by injecting electrical pulses into the readout board. To further interpret observed signals, we develop a pulse-classification method and identify additional features at approximately 60 ns and 110 ns. Finally, we implement a first-principles Monte Carlo simulation to model the radial and temporal distributions of observed signals, including contributions from electron backscatter and potential ion afterpulsing. The simulation shows reasonable agreement with the experimentally derived pulse classifications.

We assess the tension between theoretical predictions and the values quoted by the Particle Data Group (PDG) for the partial decay width and branching fraction associated with the radiative charmonium decay $J/ψ\toγη_c$. A profile scan over the most recent PDG data depending on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\toγη_c)$ suggests that the correlation between measured branching fractions is compatible with lattice QCD determinations of the partial decay widths $Γ(J/ψ\toγη_c)$ and $Γ(η_c\toγγ)$. We propose a theoretically grounded photon line shape for the radiative decay spectrum and a prescription for the extraction of (product) branching fractions involving the magnetic dipole (M1) transition $J/ψ\toγη_c$. This approach obviates the need to modify the photon energy spectrum line shape using empirical damping functions, as done in the most recent experimental extractions of $\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\toγη_c)$ from the photon line shape, thereby eliminating an inherent ambiguity in the determination of the derived observables.

With initial state radiation, the multi-TeV muon collider can be regarded as an electroweak boson collider. The dominant production mode of the certain process becomes the vector boson fusion channel, because the corresponding cross section typically increases logarithmically at high energies. This also holds true for new physics beyond the standard model. Within the $U(1)$ gauged extension of seesaw models, the heavy neutral lepton has additional interactions with the new gauge boson $Z'$ and heavy Higgs $H$. In this paper, we investigate the production of heavy neutral lepton $N$ via the new vector boson fusion processes $Z'Z'\to H\to NN$ with and $Z'Z'\to NN$ without heavy Higgs at the multi-TeV muon collider. Different from the canonical vector boson fusion processes $WW/ZZ\to H\to NN$, the new process $Z'Z'\to H\to NN$ is not suppressed by the small mixing angle $α$ between the Higgs bosons. Meanwhile, the pair production process $Z'Z'\to NN$ is also viable even for heavy Higgs $m_H> \sqrt{s}$. Therefore, these new avenues provide alternative pathways to probe the intrinsic feature of the heavy neutral lepton. We then perform a detailed analysis of the lepton number violation signals via the new vector boson fusion with heavy Higgs $μ^+μ^-\to μ^+μ^- H \to μ^+μ^- NN$ and without heavy Higgs $μ^+μ^-\to μ^+μ^- NN$, followed by $N\to μ^\pm jj$, where the two jets from $W$ boson decay are treated as one fat-jet $J$.

The recent LHCb observation of $Ξ_{cc}^{+}$ opens the ultra-low-$Q$ transition $Ξ_{cc}^{++}\toΞ_{cc}^{+}$ as an experimentally motivated null test of charged-current new physics. Our two- and three-body analyses show sensitivity to effective baryon-level couplings of $\mathcal{O}(10^{-6}-10^{-7})$ for MeV-scale recoil momenta. We establish a practical no-go result for a universal light charged scalar $ϕ^+$: with a first-generation $ϕ^+\bar u d$ coupling, existing electroweak-precision and beta-decay constraints are parametrically stronger than the projected LHCb sensitivity. We then identify a two-charm-selective charged-current portal whose leading operator has a nonzero matrix element in doubly charmed baryons but vanishes at leading order in pions, nucleons, nuclei, and singly charmed mesons. In this class of models, $Ξ_{cc}^{++}\toΞ_{cc}^{+}$ transitions can provide the leading direct probe of the portal interaction.

Extensions of the Standard Model featuring both an enlarged scalar sector and vector-like fermions arise naturally in a wide class of well-motivated theoretical frameworks. In such scenarios, vector-like Quarks (VLQs) can exhibit non-standard decay modes involving additional Higgs states, giving rise to distinctive collider signatures that remain largely unexplored by existing experimental searches. We investigate the prospects of probing this possibility at the high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) through the decay of vector-like top partner ($T$) to charged Higgs ($H^{\pm}$) followed by the decay, $H^\pm\toτν$, producing a final state containing two tau leptons, two $b$-jets, and missing transverse energy. A model-independent collider analysis is performed using global kinematic observables constructed from visible objects and the missing transverse momentum vector to suppress the dominant backgrounds. Polarization-sensitive observables built from the hadronic $τ$ decay products are also examined as complementary probes of the spin-$0$ origin of the $τ$ leptons. The expected discovery sensitivity is evaluated using the Asimov significance for an integrated luminosity of $3$ ab$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV. Our results demonstrate that the $2τ\:+\:2b\:+$ missing $E_T$ channel provides a promising and largely orthogonal avenue to search for non-standard VLQ decays in extended Higgs sectors, with discovery-level sensitivity achievable for VLQ masses up to approximately $1.9$ TeV.

Recent experimental advances in the baryon sector, including the observation of doubly charmed states, have renewed interest in the production mechanisms of increasingly heavy hadronic systems, calling for precision and uncertainty-controlled descriptions. We present the OMG3Q1.1 framework for the fragmentation of same-flavor all-heavy $Ω_{3Q}$ baryons in high-energy hadronic collisions. The construction combines diquark-inspired inputs for constituent-heavy-quark and gluon channels with threshold-aware DGLAP evolution within the HF-NRevo scheme. A replica-based strategy consistently quantifies perturbative missing-higher-order effects (F-MHOUs) and nonperturbative wave-function uncertainties (F-NPWFs), yielding the first uncertainty-resolved fragmentation-function set for the $Ω_{3Q}$ sector. The resulting LHAPDF6 grids are employed to investigate semi-inclusive $Ω_{3Q}$ plus jet production at the HL-LHC and future FCC within the (sym)JETHAD environment. The OMG3Q1.1 framework establishes a precision-oriented baseline for rare triply heavy baryons and provides a foundation for future studies of the heavy-flavor baryon landscape.

The $Ω^-$ baryon, composed of three strange quarks (sss), was predicted by the quark model and discovered in 1964, playing a pivotal role in establishing quarks as fundamental constituents of matter. Despite its importance, experimental knowledge of its mass remains limited, with the current world average relying on measurements performed more than four decades ago and lacking robust estimates of systematic uncertainties. This is notable given the central role of the $Ω^-$ mass, and alternatively that of the $Ξ^-$(dss), in lattice QCD calculations, where it is widely used to set the overall physical scale. Precise scale setting is essential for first-principles studies of quark confinement, chiral symmetry breaking, and stringent tests of the Standard Model. Here we report high-precision measurements of the masses of the $Ω^-$ and $Ξ^-$ baryons and their antiparticles, determined from invariant-mass reconstruction of their decay products in proton$-$proton collisions at the LHC. The analysis exploits the excellent tracking and particle-identification capabilities of the ALICE experiment, enabling accurate reconstruction of the displaced decay vertices characteristic of these short-lived particles. Each mass is measured with a fractional uncertainty of about 60 parts per million, for example $M_{\barΩ^+}=1672.558\,\pm\,0.034\,({\rm stat.})\,\pm\,0.102\,({\rm syst.})$ MeV/$c^2$. The precisely known K$^0_{\rm S}$ and $Λ$ masses are used for calibration. These results establish new precision benchmarks in strange-baryon spectroscopy and enable stringent tests of Charge-Parity-Time invariance in the multistrange-hadron sector. Our measurement reduces the scale uncertainty in lattice QCD calculations, enabling for instance sub per mille precision for the hadronic vacuum-polarization contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment.

Strangeness enhancement is defined as the increased relative production of strange hadrons in heavy-ion collisions compared to proton--proton (pp) interactions. It was originally proposed as one of the signatures of quark--gluon plasma (QGP) formation. At the LHC, the ALICE experiment observed that strange-hadron-to-pion yield ratios rise with increasing charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity, independently of collision energy ($\sqrt{s}$) and system size, from pp to p--Pb and up to Pb--Pb collisions. To gain deeper insight into the mechanisms of strangeness production, the ALICE collaboration has measured the probability distribution of producing a given number of strange particles ($K^{0}_{S}$, $Λ$, $Ξ$, and $Ω$) of the same species per event in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}~=~5.02$ TeV. This measurement extends the study of strangeness production beyond the mean particle yield by employing, for the first time, a technique based on event-by-event particle counting. It provides a new test bench for production mechanisms, probing events with large imbalances between strange and non-strange content. The results are compared with state-of-the-art phenomenological models implemented in commonly used Monte Carlo event generators, offering enhanced sensitivity to the underlying dynamics of strangeness production.

Measurements of charged-particle transverse momentum spectra, multiplicity, and mean transverse momentum are presented as a function of pseudorapidity and collision centrality in O+O and Ne+Ne collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_\text{NN}}}= 5.36$ TeV using 27.7 $μ\text{b}^{-1}$ and 53.1 $μ\text{b}^{-1}$ data sets recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The collision centrality is characterized by the total transverse energy measured in the ATLAS forward calorimeters. The kinematics of charged particles are reconstructed with the inner detector over the fiducial pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges $|η|<2.5$ and $0.27 < p_{\text{T}} < 5$ GeV using data from the ATLAS inner detector. The per-event charged-particle pseudorapidity density $dn/dη$ and mean transverse momentum $\langle p_{\text{T}}\rangle$ are measured over this fiducial range as a function of $η$. The results are reported in 5%-wide centrality intervals covering the 5-80% centrality range, and in 1%-wide intervals covering the 0-5% centrality range. Invariant per-event yields are evaluated as a function of $η$ and $p_{\text{T}}$. Their $p_{\text{T}}$ dependence is fitted to estimate extrapolated $dn/dη$ and $\langle p_{\text{T}}\rangle$ values over $0 < p_{\text{T}} < 5$ GeV. To evaluate the impact of using pseudorapidity instead of rapidity, measurements are also performed as a function of rapidity computed using a pion mass hypothesis. The fiducial and extrapolated results are compared with hydrodynamic calculations.

The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX), DarkSHINE, and LOHENGRIN are proposed new experiments. They aim to search for missing momentum signals sourced by the direct production of dark photons with masses in the MeV-GeV range in bremsstrahlung processes, in which an electron beam of a few GeV scatters off a fixed target. So far, the signal characteristics, i.e. the behavior of the recoiling electron, have mostly been studied in coherent Bethe-Heitler electron-nucleus scattering with a dark photon that couples only to the Standard Model charged leptons. In this work, we present the calculations of the differential cross sections of all contributing real emission processes up to third order in the electromagnetic fine structure constant and fourth order in the kinetic mixing parameter associated with the dark photon. We consider a dark photon coupling to both the beam electron and the hadronic target and we take into account the scattering off both the target nucleus and its nuclear constituents. Besides real emission processes, we also discuss virtual dark photon contributions and their relevance for the signal prediction. After discussing the different phase space regions and constraints emerging from the experimental setups, we show numerical results of the cross sections and differential distributions, including the signal and dominant background. Within our framework, we find that the LOHENGRIN experiment will require an extension of its HCAL to effectively veto background processes originating from diffractive scattering. Apart from that, the contributions beyond coherent Bethe-Heitler scattering, in the presence of realistic experimental selections, have only a limited effect on the predicted signal and background in the relevant dark photon mass range.

Two recent independent analyses of Belle II $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ν\barν$ data yield limits on ${\mathcal B}(B^+ \! \to \! K^+ a)$ -- the two-body mode to a light invisible particle such as the QCD axion -- differing by a factor of roughly four; we trace this to the choice of kinematic variable space. The central figure of merit is the resolution in the reconstructed di-neutrino invariant mass $q^2_{\rm rec}$: fine-grained binning resolves the narrow axion signal, while coarse binning dilutes it into a background-dominated range. A BDT axis trained on $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ν\barν$ adds little discriminating power for $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ a$, as this axis is largely uncorrelated with $q^2$. These expectations are confirmed by a set of numerical tests. The subleading shape systematics omitted from our $q^2_{\rm rec}$-based approach {\em lower}, not raise, the $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ a$ limit: by better accommodating the $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ν\barν$ shape, they leave less room for the axion signal, making our $q^2_{\rm rec}$-based bound conservative, if anything. A dedicated reanalysis confirms that the kinematic-axes choice alone accounts for the factor-of-four sensitivity difference, and that the $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ a$ bound varies sizeably within the $q^2_{\rm rec}\timesη({\rm BDT}_2)$ space, depending on the SM-likeness of $B^+ \! \to \! K^+ν\barν$, thus losing the dual-probe feature of our $q^2_{\rm rec}$-based approach. These results point to a broader consideration: likelihoods dominated by BDT variables are of limited use for reinterpretations when the signal shape differs appreciably from the BDT's training signal. We therefore advocate that experimental collaborations publish likelihood projections in physical variable spaces alongside BDT-based likelihoods, to maximise the reinterpretability of their measurements.

Neutrons are important final-state particles in neutrino interactions, yet they are not considered or reconstructed in most current neutrino LArTPC physics analyses. In this paper, we present a simulation-based proof-of-concept study of neutron reconstruction in a generic LArTPC detector. Leveraging isolated, MeV-scale energy deposits, or blips, from neutron inelastic scattering, and using realistic blip response from published experimental results, we demonstrate the capability to identify neutrons and to reconstruct the direction and energy of the final-state neutron system in sub-GeV neutrino interactions. We then explore how neutron-related blip attributes can be used to improve physics studies of neutrino interactions, such as enhancing neutrino-antineutrino separation in atmospheric neutrinos and reverse-horn-current beam neutrinos. This simple study provides an initial quantification of LArTPC neutron reconstruction capabilities, which we expect to improve with future advancements in blip reconstruction, identification, and classification algorithms, as well as the modeling of neutrons.

Inclusive, differential and production-mode cross-section measurements of the Higgs boson are performed in the $H \to ZZ^{*} \to 4\ell$ decay channel. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13.6$ TeV and recorded with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 164 fb$^{-1}$. The inclusive fiducial cross-section for the $H \to ZZ^{*} \to 4\ell$ process is measured to be $σ_{\textrm{fid}} = 3.65^{+0.35}_{-0.33}~\textrm{fb}$, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of $σ_{\textrm{fid}}^{\textrm{SM}} = 3.68 \pm 0.17~\textrm{fb}$. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of key kinematic observables of the Higgs boson and the four-lepton final state. Cross-sections are measured for the main production-modes in several exclusive regions of the Higgs boson production phase space and combined to measure an overall Higgs boson signal strength, defined as the measured cross-section normalised to the SM prediction, of $μ= 0.99 \pm 0.13$. The results are interpreted in terms of modifications of Higgs boson couplings using the $κ$ framework, within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory, and in scenarios probing the Higgs boson self-coupling. All the results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.

Azimuthal anisotropy scaling functions are constructed from species-resolved anisotropy measurements in Pb+Pb ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.76, 5.02~TeV) and Au+Au ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=7.7--200~GeV) collisions to probe baryon transport and medium response at finite baryon chemical potential ($μ_B$). Within this data-driven framework, meson and baryon anisotropies spanning the collective-flow and quenching regimes collapse onto common scaling curves, enabling quantitative separation of viscous attenuation, radial flow, and hadronic re-scattering. The attenuation scale $k_β$ exhibits a non-monotonic beam-energy dependence, coincident with the low-energy rise of hadronic re-scattering, consistent with a temperature-dependent specific shear viscosity featuring a near-minimum near the QCD critical region. A charge-odd baryon--antibaryon separation in the effective radial-flow response is negligible at LHC energies but grows toward lower $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. This species-uniform, baryon-number-scaling separation across $p,Λ,Ξ,Ω$, and $d$ disfavors a purely hadronic origin and supports junction-driven net-baryon transport at finite $μ_B$, enhancing the experimental visibility of critical dynamics in finite, rapidly evolving systems. Together, these results establish species-resolved scaling functions as a compact and robust tool for constraining baryon stopping, medium opacity, and QGP transport properties.

We consider nuclear gamma decays and $γ$-emitting reactions that can be an efficient source of hypothetical millicharged particles ($χ$). In particular, we revisit the production of millicharged particles in nuclear reactor environment, pointing out that $γ$ cascades from $^{239}$U is an overlooked yet a powerful source of $χ\barχ$ pairs. This leads to an increased flux compared to previous studies. We then apply new estimates of the flux to derive novel limits on the value of millicharge, $\varepsilon = Q_χ/e$, from the electron recoil searched for in a variety of experiments placed in proximity to the reactor cores. The derived limits on $\varepsilon$ are the strongest in the interval of masses $\sim 0.7-2$ MeV. We also derive the MCP flux from the Sun and point out potential sensitivity of the low-threshold dark matter search experiments.

We update our previous extraction of transverse momentum distributions of unpolarized quarks in the pion by implementing a more comprehensive description of theoretical uncertainties and, for the first time, by exploring possible differences among quark flavors. We extract such distributions from all available data for unpolarized pion-nucleus Drell-Yan processes, where the cross section is differential in the transverse momentum of the final lepton pair. The cross section involves transverse momentum distributions in the nucleon, that we consistently take from our previous studies.

We present an investigation into the semileptonic and nonleptonic weak decays of bottom baryons $Ω^{*}_{b}$ and $Ω_{b}$ within the framework of three-point QCD sum rules. In the semileptonic sector, the $Ω^{*}_b\rightarrowΩ_c\ell\barν_{\ell}$ and $Ω_b\rightarrowΩ^*_c\ell\barν_{\ell}$ transitions are specifically considered. Utilizing the operator product expansion up to dimension six, the responsible form factors of these decays are obtained. The acquired form factors enable us to determine the decay widths in three leptonic channels. Branching ratios related to the $Ω_{b}$ baryon semileptonic decays are also presented. These invariant form factors are subsequently employed as inputs to determine the nonleptonic weak decay widths in various modes with emitting a pseudoscalar or vector meson. An extensive investigation into all possible decay channels of bottom baryons provides valuable information for future experiments to examine the SM predictions, explores the new physics effects in heavy baryonic decays, and advances the understanding of the internal structure of heavy baryons.

The $T_{c\bar{s}}$ state observed in the decay $D_{s1}(2460)^+ \to D_s^+π^+π^-$ provides direct evidence for an isovector open-charm tetraquark state with strangeness--a discovery that demands a systematic framework connecting its origin to the nature of the parent $D_{s1}$. We successfully achieve this connection by two mechanisms, triangle loops and the coupled channel of $DK$-$D_sπ$ with pure off-diagonal potentials. We first point out the behavior of propagator of $D_sπ$ will influence the effective potential of $DK\to DK$, then we can successfully obtain the pole of $T_{c\bar{s}}$ on the second Reimann Sheet. By combing with the $ππ$-$KK$ rescattering, not only the two-peak structure in $D_{s1}(2460)$ decay is well reproduced, but also a single-peak structure is predicted in $D_{s1}(2536)$ decay. The marked difference, testable at LHCb and Belle II, is driven by the $S$-wave versus $D$-wave nature of their $D^*K$ couplings, revealing the underlying structural distinction between the two $D_{s1}$ states. By directly linking hadronic structure to decay patterns, this work provides a template for deciphering the nature of such exotic states. More broadly, by revealing how non-perturbative coupled-channel effects manifest in exotic hadrons, our analysis connects to a universal mechanism shared by systems ranging from halo nuclei to atomic Feshbach resonances, offering a unified perspective across these fields.

ATLAS and CMS have recently reported enhancements in the top-antitop production rate near threshold, a region where non-perturbative QCD dynamics associated with toponium formation become relevant. We investigate how this behaviour is modified in the presence of a neutral pseudoscalar that couples to gluons and top quarks, using an effective description that consistently incorporates perturbative Standard Model and new physics contributions, their interference and non-perturbative threshold effects. We show that the combined effect of those ingredients markedly shapes the viable region of the pseudoscalar parameter space, particularly for narrow resonances with masses close to twice the top mass. While Standard Model threshold effects could explain a sizeable part of the measured enhancements, the current data remain compatible with additional contributions from pseudoscalar interactions.

We use the Caley-Hamilton theorem to derive analytical solutions for the three-flavor neutrino propagation amplitude in a constant-density medium and their derivatives with respect to the mixing parameters. This approach avoids the diagonalization of the Hamiltonian and exploits precomputed matrix invariants to separate the dependence of oscillation probabilities on neutrino energy and propagation baseline. The results are implemented in the CHIC software, which provides simple, fast and efficient computation of oscillation probabilities and their derivatives. Finally, we demonstrate the value of probability gradients for neutrino data analyses and introduce a complementary visualization, the oscillograds, to probe underlying features of neutrino mixing.