A search for flavor violating decays of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi></math> boson to charged leptons is performed using data from proton-proton collisions at <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></math> collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>138</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><msup><mi>fb</mi><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></math>. Each of the decays <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>τ</mi></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>μ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> is considered. The data are consistent with the backgrounds expected from standard model processes. For the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math> channel the observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction is <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>1.9</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2.0</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>7</mn></mrow></msup></math>, which is the most stringent direct limit to date on this process; the corresponding limits for the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>μ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> channels are <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>13.8</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>11.4</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>6</mn></mrow></msup></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>12.0</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>5.3</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>6</mn></mrow></msup></math>, respectively. Additionally, the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math> final state is used to search for lepton flavor violating decays of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>Z</mi><mo>′</mo></msup></math> resonances in the mass range from 110 to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mn>500</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></mrow></math>. No significant excess is observed above the predicted background levels.

Armenia

A. Hayrapetyan

V. Makarenko

A. Tumasyan

Austria

W. Adam

J.W. Andrejkovic

L. Benato

T. Bergauer

M. Dragicevic

C. Giordano

P.S. Hussain

M. Jeitler

N. Krammer

A. Li

D. Liko

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. Van Laer

P. Van Mechelen

J. Bierkens

N. Breugelmans

J. D’Hondt

S. Dansana

A. De Moor

M. Delcourt

F. Heyen

Y. Hong

P. Kashko

S. Lowette

I. Makarenko

D. Müller

J. Song

S. Tavernier

M. Tytgat

G.P. Van Onsem

S. Van Putte

D. Vannerom

B. Bilin

B. Clerbaux

A.K. Das

I. De Bruyn

G. De Lentdecker

H. Evard

L. Favart

P. Gianneios

A. Khalilzadeh

F.A. Khan

A. Malara

M.A. Shahzad

L. Thomas

M. Vanden Bemden

C. Vander Velde

P. Vanlaer

F. Zhang

M. De Coen

D. Dobur

G. Gokbulut

J. Knolle

L. Lambrecht

D. Marckx

K. Skovpen

N. Van Den Bossche

J. van der Linden

J. Vandenbroeck

L. Wezenbeek

S. Bein

A. Benecke

A. Bethani

G. Bruno

A. Cappati

J. De Favereau De Jeneret

C. Delaere

A. Giammanco

A.O. Guzel

V. Lemaitre

J. Lidrych

P. Malek

P. Mastrapasqua

S. Turkcapar

Brazil

G.A. Alves

M. Barroso Ferreira Filho

E. Coelho

C. Hensel

T. Menezes De Oliveira

C. Mora Herrera

P. Rebello Teles

M. Soeiro

E.J. Tonelli Manganote

A. Vilela Pereira

W.L. Aldá Júnior

H. Brandao Malbouisson

W. Carvalho

Search for charged lepton flavor violating <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>Z</mi><mo>′</mo></msup></math> boson decays in proton-proton collisions at <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></math>

We present a critical assessment of the present <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>B</mi></math> anomalies in the exclusive <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>b</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>s</mi><mo>ℓ</mo><mo>ℓ</mo></math> mode based on the QCD factorization (QCDf) approach. In particular, we analyze the impact of different local form factor calculations and of the largest bin in the low-<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>q</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></math> region. We also present a model-independent analysis of the new results of the LHCb and CMS experiments on the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>B</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><msup><mi>K</mi><mo>*</mo></msup><msup><mi>μ</mi><mo>+</mo></msup><msup><mi>μ</mi><mo>−</mo></msup></math> angular observables. In addition, we update the global fit by including all <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>b</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>s</mi></math> observables incorporating the new data from CMS and the LHCb. In these analyses, we use 10% or higher guesstimates of the nonfactorizable power corrections as additional uncertainties, serving as a placeholder for robust estimates of these contributions. Updating earlier results, we also analyze the combined LHCb and CMS data on the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>B</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><msup><mi>K</mi><mo>*</mo></msup><msup><mi>μ</mi><mo>+</mo></msup><msup><mi>μ</mi><mo>−</mo></msup></math> angular observables using data-driven approaches to find indications of whether these tensions between the QCDf predictions and the present data are due to underestimated subleading hadronic contributions or due to new physics effects.

Germany

Tobias Hurth

CERN

Farvah Mahmoudi

France

Yann Monceaux

Siavash Neshatpour

Data-driven analyses and model-independent fits for present <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>b</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>s</mi><mo>ℓ</mo><mo>ℓ</mo></math> results

We develop a unified dynamical systems framework for spatially flat FLRW cosmology in $\textit{f}$($\textit{Q}$) gravity, covering all three connection branches using a single set of Hubble-normalised variables without fixing the function $\textit{f}$($\textit{Q}$) a priori. This model-independent and connection-agnostic approach enables direct comparison across connection choices and uncovers structural features of the cosmological dynamics not visible in connection-specific formulations. While the existing works narrowly focus only on fixed point analysis, in our work we put special efforts to identify the invariant submanifolds, model-independent trajectories and physically viable regions of phase space across connections. For a broad class of viable $\textit{f}$($\textit{Q}$) models, we establish the generic existence of de Sitter attractors and matter-dominated fixed points in the two branches of connection, offering a robust route to late-time acceleration without fine-tuning. We further identify an invariant submanifold that yields $$\Lambda $$ CDM-like background evolution despite underlying dynamics distinct from General Relativity, providing a geometric origin for cosmic acceleration distinguishable only at the perturbation level. We also derive a first integral on this submanifold, allowing analytic reconstruction of the dynamical connection and uncovering hidden conservation laws. Another key feature we found is that while trivial connections exhibit strong parameter dependence, the nontrivial branches often feature parameter-independent behaviours. We also study the variation of the effective gravitational coupling, $$k_{\text {eff}}$$ , across branches and show how this can be constrained using astrophysical observations, which bridges theoretical viability with observational consistency in a novel way. Applying our framework to the illustrative model $$f(Q)=\alpha Q + \beta (-Q)^n$$ , we find late-time acceleration and $$\Lambda $$ CDM-like behaviour without vacuum energy. Finally, we propose a general route for extending dynamical systems analysis to broader classes of $\textit{f}$($\textit{Q}$) models using the $$m_i$$ -hierarchy method. This framework enables closure for models previously inaccessible to standard approaches and offers a diagnostic tool for identifying structurally viable cosmologies within modified gravity theories.

India

Jibitesh Dutta

Wompherdeiki Khyllep

Thailand

South Africa

Saikat Chakraborty

China

Daniele Gregoris

Khamphee Karwan

A unified dynamical systems framework for cosmology in $\textit{f}$($\textit{Q}$) gravity: generic features across the connection branches

We present a PyTorch-based framework for forward folded reactor neutrino spectrum fitting that accelerates the two main bottlenecks: IBD mapping and detector response, using (i) result caching, (ii) banded sparse matrices, and (iii) blocked construction of the response. On an Intel Xeon Gold 6338 CPU, these techniques reduce per-fit walltime by $$\approx 7\times $$ (median over 5 runs) relative to a dense, unoptimized implementation, with $$<10^{-6}$$ relative spectral error versus a double-precision baseline. The framework has been applied to reactor-neutrino oscillation analyses and is reusable in other neutrino experiments that rely on forward-folded energy spectra, enabling practical Feldman–Cousins coverage studies and large parameter scans at substantially lower computational cost.

Jingqin Xue

Han Zhang

Hongfang Shen

Guangbao Sun

Dian Li

Liangqianjin Fan

Haifeng Yao

Liang Zhan

Xiang Zhou

Xuefeng Ding

High-performance statistical methods for reactor neutrino oscillations

Compact formulas (2.1), (3.14) presented in this paper permit to formulate the Kallen-Lehmann harmonic decompositions of the products of two spinor and of spinor and scalar harmonic functions on AdS and Wightman functions on dS spaces; the correct flat space limit of the corresponding Kallen-Lehmann densities is demonstrated, the connection between poles of the Kallen-Lehmann density and the late-time divergence of the spinor-scalar loop is traced in the Yukawa model with light scalar field. Also in section 4 the relatively simple, suitable for calculations Kallen-Lehmann representations of the real parts of spinor and scalar one-loop self-energies on dS space-time are proposed, and corresponding spectral equations for conformal dimensions in the chain approximation are written down.

Russia

Boris Altshuler

Kallen-Lehmann representation for Spinor-Scalar Loops in de Sitter Space-time. Spectral equations

It is commonly believed that a unitary supersymmetric quantum field theory (QFT) involving graviton and gravitino fields on fixed 4-dimensional de Sitter spacetime ($\textit{dS}$ ) cannot exist due to known challenges associated with supersymmetry (SUSY) in $\textit{dS}$ . In this paper, we contradict this expectation by presenting a new unitary supersymmetric QFT on $\textit{dS}$ : the free supersymmetric theory of the chiral graviton and chiral gravitino fields. By chiral we mean that the corresponding field strengths are anti-self-dual, and the gauge potentials are complex, each carrying a single complex propagating degree of freedom. The global SUSY transformations are generated by the standard Dirac Killing spinors of $\textit{dS}$ . The theory overcomes the known obstacles to unitary global SUSY on $\textit{dS}$ by closing the commutator between two SUSY transformations on $\textit{so}$(4, 2) ⊕ $\textit{u}$(1) rather than the de Sitter algebra $\textit{so}$(4, 1). Crucially, the $\textit{so}$(4, 2) symmetry is realised through unconventional conformal-like transformations. This free theory cannot become interacting while preserving SUSY in a way that makes the spin-2 sector the true graviton sector of General Relativity, as the three-graviton coupling cannot be $\textit{u}$(1)-invariant.

United Kingdom

Atsushi Higuchi

Vasileios Letsios

Unitary rigid supersymmetry for the chiral graviton and chiral gravitino in de Sitter spacetime

We employ deep learning within holographic duality to investigate <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity, a hallmark of strange metals. Utilizing physics-informed neural networks, we incorporate boundary data for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity and bulk differential equations into a loss function. This approach allows us to derive dilaton potentials in Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axion theories, capturing essential features of strange metals, such as <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity and linear specific heat scaling. We also explore the impact of the resistivity slope on dilaton potentials. Regardless of slope, dilaton potentials exhibit universal exponential growth at low temperatures, driving <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity and matching infrared geometric analyses. At a specific slope, our method rediscovers the Gubser-Rocha model, a well-known holographic model of strange metals. Additionally, the robustness of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity at higher temperatures correlates with the asymptotic Anti-de Sitter behavior of the dilaton coupling to the Maxwell term. Our findings suggest that deep learning could help uncover mechanisms in holographic condensed matter systems and advance our understanding of strange metals.

South Korea

Byoungjoon Ahn

Spain

Hyun-Sik Jeong

Chang-Woo Ji

Keun-Young Kim

Kwan Yun

Deep learning-based holography for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>T</mi></math>-linear resistivity

Quantum forces are long-range interactions that arise only at the loop level. In this work, we study the Sommerfeld enhancement of dark matter (DM) annihilation cross sections caused by quantum forces. One notable feature of quantum forces is that they are subject to coherent enhancement in the presence of a background of mediator particles, which occurs in many situations in cosmology. We show that this effect has important implications for the Sommerfeld enhancement and DM physics. For the first time, we calculate the Sommerfeld factor induced by quantum forces for both bosonic and fermionic mediators, including the background corrections. We observe several novel features of the Sommerfeld factor that do not exist in the case of the Yukawa potential, such as temperature-induced resonance peaks for massless mediators, and having both enhancement and suppression effects in the same model with different DM masses. As direct applications, we discuss the DM phenomenology affected by the Sommerfeld enhancement from quantum forces, including thermal freeze-out, CMB spectral distortion from DM annihilation, and DM indirect detection. We highlight one particularly interesting effect relevant to indirect detection caused by the Sommerfeld enhancement in a non-thermal background of bosonic mediators in the galaxy, in which case the DM mass is shifted due to the background correction and the effective cross section for DM annihilation can be either enhanced or suppressed. This may be important for DM searches in the Milky Way or its satellite galaxies.

United States

Steven Ferrante

Maxim Perelstein

Bingrong Yu

Sommerfeld enhancement from quantum forces for dark matter

Through the holographic correspondence, we compute the entanglement entropy of the gluonic field sourced by a quark-antiquark pair undergoing uniform back-to-back acceleration. Previous calculations had obtained this only for the case where the entanglement surface is located midway between the quark and antiquark. Here, we consider the more general case with a relative lateral displacement, and determine the entanglement entropy as a function of the distance between the quark and the entanglement surface. This setup is of interest because it departs from the usual simplifying conditions of staticity and thermality, and because it yields more information about the entanglement pattern in the gluonic field and about the possibility of eventually developing a purely worldsheet interpretation for said entanglement.

Mexico

Andrés Argandoña

Alberto Güijosa

Position dependence of the holographic entanglement entropy for an accelerating quark-antiquark pair

Calculations truncated at a fixed order in perturbation theory are accompanied by an associated theoretical uncertainty, which encodes the missing higher orders (MHOU). This is typically estimated by a scale variation procedure, which has well-known shortcomings. In this work, we propose a simple prescription to directly encode the missing higher order terms using theory nuisance parameters (TNPs) and estimate the uncertainty by their variation. We study multiple processes relevant for Large Hadron Collider physics at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbation theory, obtaining MHOU estimates for differential observables in each case. In cases where scale variations are well-behaved we are able to replicate their effects using TNPs, while we find significant improvement in cases where scale variation typically underestimates the uncertainty.

Matthew A. Lim

Poland

Rene Poncelet

Robust estimates of theoretical uncertainties at fixed-order in perturbation theory