Previously, we proposed an infrared vacuum wave functional for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>S</mi><mi>U</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mi>N</mi><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math> Yang-Mills theory peaked at thin center vortices and showed that it yields an area law for the Wilson loop. In this work, we use this wave functional to calculate the spatial ’t Hooft loop, for which we find a perimeter law, in accordance with ’t Hooft’s criterion for confinement.

Brazil

Germany

D.R. Junior

L.E. Oxman

H. Reinhardt

’t Hooft loop in a center-vortex wave functional

This paper presents a study of the charmless three-body decays $$ {B}_{(s)}^0\to {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0{h}^{+}h{\prime}^{-} $$ (where $\textit{h}$ $\textit{′}$ = $\textit{π, K}$), using a sample of $\textit{pp}$ collision data collected by the LHCb experiment during Runs 1 and 2 of the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb . The decay $$ {B}_s^0\to {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0{K}^{+}{K}^{-} $$ is observed for the first time, and the following ratios of branching fractions are measured:

Netherlands

R. Aaij

United Kingdom

A. Abdelmotteleb

Switzerland

C. Abellan Beteta

F. Abudinén

T. Ackernley

United States

A. Adefisoye

Spain

B. Adeva

M. Adinolfi

Sweden

P. Adlarson

France

H. Afsharnia

C. Agapopoulou

C. Aidala

Z. Ajaltouni

S. Akar

K. Akiba

Italy

P. Albicocco

J. Albrecht

F. Alessio

Z. Aliouche

P. Alvarez Cartelle

R. Amalric

S. Amato

J. Amey

Y. Amhis

China

L. An

L. Anderlini

M. Andersson

A. Andreianov

P. Andreola

M. Andreotti

D. Andreou

A. Anelli

D. Ao

F. Archilli

M. Argenton

Costa Rica

S. Arguedas Cuendis

A. Artamonov

M. Artuso

E. Aslanides

R. Ataíde Da Silva

M. Atzeni

B. Audurier

D. Bacher

I. Bachiller Perea

S. Bachmann

M. Bachmayer

J. Back

P. Baladron Rodriguez

V. Balagura

W. Baldini

L. Balzani

H. Bao

J. Baptista de Souza Leite

C. Barbero Pretel

M. Barbetti

I. Barbosa

R. Barlow

M. Barnyakov

S. Barsuk

W. Barter

M. Bartolini

J. Bartz

J. Basels

Poland

S. Bashir

G. Bassi

B. Batsukh

P. Battista

A. Bay

A. Beck

M. Becker

F. Bedeschi

I. Bediaga

N. Behling

S. Belin

V. Bellee

K. Belous

I. Belov

I. Belyaev

E. Ben-Haim

G. Benane

G. Bencivenni

A. Berezhnoy

R. Bernet

S. Bernet Andres

E. Bertholet

A. Bertolin

C. Betancourt

F. Betti

J. Bex

Ia. Bezshyiko

J. Bhom

M. Bieker

N. Biesuz

P. Billoir

A. Biolchini

M. Birch

F. Bishop

A. Bitadze

A. Bizzeti

T. Blake

Improved branching-fraction measurements of $$ {B}_{(s)}^0\to {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0{h}^{+}h{\prime}^{-} $$ decays and first observation of $$ {B}_s^0\to {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0{K}^{+}{K}^{-} $$

We compute the complete two-loop unrenormalized electroweak corrections to the Higgsstrahlung process <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>+</mo></msup><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>−</mo></msup><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>H</mi><mi>Z</mi></math> at future Higgs factories. Our result for a given center-of-mass energy is expressed as a piecewise function defined by several deeply expanded power series, which has high precision and can be further manipulated efficiently. We find that the finite part of the unrenormalized two-loop electroweak corrections can contribute a few thousandths, which might indicate their importance to match the precision of future Higgs factories. This work represents the first complete calculation of the unrenormalized two-loop electroweak corrections for processes with four external particles.

Xiang Chen

Xin Guan

Chuan-Qi He

Zhao Li

Xiao Liu

Yan-Qing Ma

Complete two-loop unrenormalized electroweak corrections to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>+</mo></msup><msup><mi>e</mi><mo>−</mo></msup><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>H</mi><mi>Z</mi></math>

We present high-precision predictions for associated <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>t</mi><mi>W</mi></math> production at the LHC that incorporate the next-to-next-to-leading-order hard and soft functions as well as the complete next-to-next-to-next-to-leading-order scale-dependent terms derived from the corresponding anomalous dimensions. These higher-order corrections, which dominate the full perturbative results, increase the next-to-leading-order cross section by more than 10%. Based on the comparison with ATLAS and CMS measurements, we directly extract the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mo stretchy="false">|</mo><msub><mrow><mi>V</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>t</mi><mi>b</mi></mrow></msub><mo stretchy="false">|</mo><mo>=</mo><mn>0.99</mn><mo>±</mo><mn>0.03</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mrow><mi>expt</mi></mrow><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>±</mo><mn>0.03</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mtext>theor</mtext><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></mrow></math> without assuming unitarity, achieving a precision comparable with the current world average value.

Jia-Le Ding

Hai Tao Li

Jian Wang

Approximate <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><msup><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">N</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup><mi>LO</mi></mrow></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">N</mi><mn>3</mn></msup><mi>LO</mi></math> QCD predictions for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>t</mi><mi>W</mi></math> production

We propose a nonperturbative completion of two-point correlators in <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>T</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></math>-deformed conformal field theories (CFTs) and analyze their behavior at distance scales shorter than the fundamental length scale set by the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>T</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></math> deformation. Building on the interpretation of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>T</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></math> deformation as a coupling to two-dimensional quantum gravity with a unique built-in length scale, we advance the study of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>T</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></math>-deformed CFTs as a toy model for Planckian physics. As we probe shorter distances, trans-Planckian oscillations are followed by a super-Planckian regime in which correlations are typically suppressed by geometric randomness, in contrast to the power-law growth characteristic of CFTs. Moreover, their dependence on distance becomes exponentially weaker, suggesting that the underlying geometric structure has been largely erased—a behavior broadly consistent with expectations for quantum spacetime in this regime.

Japan

Shinji Hirano

Vinayak Raj

Nonperturbative effects in <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>T</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></math>-deformed conformal field theories: A toy model for Planckian physics

We investigate thick-brane configurations in five-dimensional $$f(T,T_G)$$ modified teleparallel gravity. In five dimensions, the torsional Gauss–Bonnet invariant $$T_G$$ contributes dynamically, leading to genuinely new effects even at linear order. Within a warped geometry supported by a scalar field, we construct explicit solutions and show that the $$T_G$$ sector significantly modifies the brane structure. In particular, the coupling parameter controls the deformation of the warp factor and energy density; for sufficiently negative values it can induce a genuine two-peak internal structure. We further analyze the localization of spin-1/2 fermions via a Yukawa coupling. For odd Yukawa functions the system admits a normalizable chiral zero mode, while the opposite chirality remains delocalized. The massive Kaluza–Klein spectrum is strongly affected by the torsional Gauss–Bonnet term, which modifies the effective potentials and leads to the appearance of resonant quasi-localized states. Our results show that $$f(T,T_G)$$ gravity provides a richer framework for braneworld models, where torsional higher-order corrections play a key role in shaping both geometry and field localization.

A. Moreira

F. Belchior

Mexico

Shi-Hai Dong

Greece

Chile

E. Saridakis

Thick branes and fermion localization in five-dimensional $$f(T,T_G)$$ gravity

In this work, holographic approach has been used to analyse the transport properties of baryon rich back-reacted thermal plasma with finite ’t Hooft coupling correction. The dual bulk geometry is charged AdS black hole with higher derivative Gauss–Bonnet (GB) correction and string cloud. Specially, we have studied the nature of drag force, jet quenching parameter, screening length, radial profile and energy loss with respect to different parameters. The drag force and jet quenching parameter are enhanced with GB coupling, baryon and flavor density whereas the screening length reduces with these parameters. The radial profile and energy loss of the rotating quark has also been studied and it is observed that the radial profile decreases with increase in baryon potential and flavor density, temperature and angular frequency, whereas it is enhanced with conjugate momenta and GB coupling. Further, the energy loss of the quark grows with potential and flavor density, velocity and angular frequency and it is suppressed with GB coupling.

India

Rishi Pokhrel

Indra Chettri

Karma Sherpa

Tanay Dey

Transport properties of baryon rich back-reacted thermal plasma with finite ’t Hooft coupling correction

A search for single production of a vector-like T quark with charge 2$\textit{e}$/3, decaying to a top quark and a neutral scalar boson is presented. The boson can be a standard model Higgs boson (H) or a new scalar boson (ϕ). In the first case, a branching fraction of 25% is assumed for the decay T → tH, while in the second case the T quark is assumed to decay exclusively to tϕ. The top quark is identified via its lepton+jets decay, and the neutral boson via its decay into a bottom quark-antiquark pair. Final states with Lorentz-boosted topologies are considered and machine-learning techniques are exploited for optimal event classification. The analysis uses data collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb recorded at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of cross section and branching fraction for a T quark in a narrow-width approximation. They vary between 14.7 and 0.1 fb, for T quark masses in the range 1.3–3.0 TeV and ϕ boson masses in the range 25–250 GeV. These are the first exclusion limits set on the production of a single T quark decaying into a top quark and a new neutral scalar boson. For the decay channel into a top quark and a standard model Higgs boson, the results provide the best limits on production cross sections to date, for T quark masses above 2 TeV.

Armenia

A. Hayrapetyan

V. Makarenko

A. Tumasyan

Austria

W. Adam

J. Andrejkovic

L. Benato

T. Bergauer

M. Dragicevic

C. Giordano

P. Hussain

M. Jeitler

N. Krammer

A. Li

D. Liko

M. Matthewman

I. Mikulec

J. Schieck

R. Schöfbeck

D. Schwarz

M. Shooshtari

M. Sonawane

W. Waltenberger

C.E. Wulz

Belgium

T. Janssen

H. Kwon

D. Ocampo Henao

T. Laer

P. Mechelen

J. Bierkens

N. Breugelmans

J. D’Hondt

S. Dansana

A. Moor

M. Delcourt

F. Heyen

Y. Hong

P. Kashko

S. Lowette

I. Makarenko

D. Müller

J. Song

S. Tavernier

M. Tytgat

Search for single production of a vector-like T quark decaying to a top quark and a neutral scalar boson in the lepton+jets final state in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV