<p>The absence of definitive results for WIMP dark matter has sparked growing interest in alternative dark matter candidates, such as axions and axionlike particles (ALPs), which also provide insight into the strong CP problem. The Mitchell Institute Neutrino Experiment at Reactor (MINER), conducted at the Nuclear Science Center of Texas A&M University, investigated ALPs near a 1 MW h TRIGA nuclear reactor core, positioned approximately 4 m away. This experiment employed cryogenic sapphire detectors with a low detection threshold (<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mo>≈</mo><mn>100</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>eV</mi></math>), equipped with a transition edge sensor capable of detecting athermal phonons. Due to the low-background environment, we were able to exclude ALPs with axion-photon coupling and axion-electron coupling as small as <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>g</mi><mrow><mi>a</mi><mi>γ</mi><mi>γ</mi></mrow></msub><mo>=</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>5</mn></mrow></msup></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>g</mi><mrow><mi>a</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>e</mi></mrow></msub><mo>=</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>7</mn></mrow></msup></math>, respectively. Energy depositions below 3 keV were not considered and remain blinded for our coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering analysis. This is the first result demonstrating the MINER experiment’s potential to probe low-mass ALPs, enabled by its low-threshold detector and proximity to a reactor.</p>

United States

M. Mirzakhani

W. Baker

India

M. Chaudhuri

J.B. Dent

R. Dey

B. Dutta

Canada

V. Iyer

A. Jastram

V.K.S. Kashyap

A. Kubik

K. Lang

R. Mahapatra

S. Maludze

N. Mirabolfathi

B. Mohanty

D. Mondal

H. Neog

Australia

J.L. Newstead

M. Platt

S. Sahoo

J. Sander

L.E. Strigari

J. Walker

MINER reactor based search for axionlike particles using sapphire (<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mtext>Al</mtext><mn>2</mn></msub><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">O</mi><mn>3</mn></msub></math>) detectors

The structure of the proton-unbound nucleus <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Al</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> has been studied via proton transfer from a <math altimg='si2.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Be</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>9</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> target to a <math altimg='si3.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Mg</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>20</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> beam at <math altimg='si4.svg'><mi>E</mi><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><mi>A</mi></math> = 103 MeV. Three resonant states in <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Al</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> are identified by the invariant-mass reconstruction of <math altimg='si5.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Ne</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>18</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> + 3 <italic>p</italic> events. The decay-energy spectra for the two subsystems of <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Al</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math>, i.e. <math altimg='si5.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Ne</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>18</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> + 1 <italic>p</italic> and <math altimg='si5.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Ne</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>18</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> + 2 <italic>p</italic>, indicate that the observed resonant state with the lowest energy has decay branches consisting of three sequential steps of one-proton decay. Based on the <italic>ab initio</italic> and the distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) calculations, this resonant state at <math altimg='si7.svg'><msup><mrow><mi>E</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>&#8270;</mo></mrow></msup></math> = 6.09(11) MeV likely has a spin-parity of <math altimg='si8.svg'><mo stretchy='false'>(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><msup><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math>- <math altimg='si9.svg'><mn>7</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><msup><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup><mo stretchy='false'>)</mo></math>. Meanwhile, the possibility that the observed resonant peak represents an admixture of several states cannot be ruled out. The good isospin-symmetry of the low-lying states with <math altimg='si10.svg'><msub><mrow><mi>d</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>5</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math>, <math altimg='si11.svg'><msub><mrow><mi>d</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>3</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math> configurations in the <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Al</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math>- <math altimg='si12.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>O</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> pair and the <italic>ab initio</italic> calculations indicate weak configuration mixing between the <italic>s</italic>- and <italic>d</italic>-orbital components. The systematics of experimental energy differences between the <math altimg='si13.svg'><mn>5</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><msup><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math> ground state and lowest-lying <math altimg='si14.svg'><mn>3</mn><mo stretchy='false'>/</mo><msup><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo linebreak='badbreak' linebreakstyle='after'>+</mo></mrow></msup></math> excited state for isotopes (isotones) of <math altimg='si15.svg'><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy='false'>(</mo><mi>N</mi><mo stretchy='false'>)</mo></math> = 13 suggest a likely semimagic nature of <math altimg='si1.svg'><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>Al</mi></mrow><mprescripts /><none /><mrow><mn>21</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math>.

China

L. Ni

Y. Jin

Z.H. Li

K.W. Brown

H. Hua

C.Y. Niu

J.G. Li

A.K. Anthony

J. Barney

R.J. Charity

D. Dell'Aquila

J.M. Elson

J. Estee

G. Jhang

W.G. Lynch

N. Michel

L.G. Sobotka

S. Sweany

F.C.E. Teh

A. Thomas

C.Y. Tsang

M.B. Tsang

S.M. Wang

H.Y. Wu

C.X. Yuan

K. Zhu

Observation of three-proton-decaying resonant states in <sup>21</sup>Al

Reported here are transverse single-spin asymmetries (<math><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>N</mi></msub></math>) in the production of charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum (<math><msub><mi>p</mi><mi>T</mi></msub></math>) and Feynman-<math><mi>x</mi></math> (<math><msub><mi>x</mi><mi>F</mi></msub></math>) in polarized <math><msup><mi>p</mi><mo>↑</mo></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math>, <math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>↑</mo></mrow></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math>, and <math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>↑</mo></mrow></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> collisions at <math><msqrt><msub><mi>s</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></math>. The measurements have been performed at forward and backward rapidity (<math><mn>1.4</mn><mo>&lt;</mo><mo>|</mo><mi>η</mi><mo>|</mo><mo>&lt;</mo><mn>2.4</mn></math>) over the range of <math><mn>1.5</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>c</mi><mo>&lt;</mo><msub><mi>p</mi><mi>T</mi></msub><mo>&lt;</mo><mn>7.0</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>c</mi></math> and <math><mn>0.04</mn><mo>&lt;</mo><mo>|</mo><msub><mi>x</mi><mi>F</mi></msub><mo>|</mo><mo>&lt;</mo><mn>0.2</mn></math>. A nonzero asymmetry is observed for positively charged hadrons at forward rapidity (<math><msub><mi>x</mi><mi>F</mi></msub><mo>&gt;</mo><mn>0</mn></math>) in <math><msup><mi>p</mi><mo>↑</mo></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math> collisions, whereas the <math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>↑</mo></mrow></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math> and <math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>↑</mo></mrow></msup><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> results show smaller asymmetries. This finding provides new opportunities to investigate the origin of transverse single-spin asymmetries and a tool to study nuclear effects in <math><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>A</mi></math> collisions.

Hungary

N. J. Abdulameer

U. Acharya

C. Aidala

Japan

Y. Akiba

M. Alfred

V. Andrieux

N. Apadula

H. Asano

B. Azmoun

Russia

V. Babintsev

N. S. Bandara

K. N. Barish

S. Bathe

A. Bazilevsky

M. Beaumier

R. Belmont

A. Berdnikov

Y. Berdnikov

L. Bichon

B. Blankenship

D. S. Blau

J. S. Bok

V. Borisov

M. L. Brooks

J. Bryslawskyj

V. Bumazhnov

S. Campbell

V. Canoa Roman

R. Cervantes

M. Chiu

C. Y. Chi

I. J. Choi

South Korea

J. B. Choi

Israel

Z. Citron

M. Connors

R. Corliss

Y. Corrales Morales

N. Cronin

M. Csanád

T. Csörgő

T. W. Danley

M. S. Daugherity

G. David

C. T. Dean

K. DeBlasio

K. Dehmelt

A. Denisov

A. Deshpande

E. J. Desmond

A. Dion

D. Dixit

V. Doomra

J. H. Do

A. Drees

K. A. Drees

J. M. Durham

A. Durum

H. En’yo

A. Enokizono

R. Esha

B. Fadem

W. Fan

N. Feege

D. E. Fields

Czechia

M. Finger

D. Firak

D. Fitzgerald

S. L. Fokin

J. E. Frantz

A. Franz

A. D. Frawley

Y. Fukuda

P. Gallus

C. Gal

P. Garg

H. Ge

M. Giles

F. Giordano

Y. Goto

N. Grau

S. V. Greene

M. Grosse Perdekamp

T. Gunji

H. Guragain

T. Hachiya

J. S. Haggerty

K. I. Hahn

H. Hamagaki

H. F. Hamilton

J. Hanks

S. Y. Han

M. Harvey

S. Hasegawa

T. O. S. Haseler

T. K. Hemmick

X. He

J. C. Hill

K. Hill

A. Hodges

Transverse single-spin asymmetry of charged hadrons at forward and backward rapidity in polarized <math><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math>, <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math>, and <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> collisions at <math><msqrt><msub><mi>s</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></math>

Presented are the first measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetries (<math><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>N</mi></msub></math>) for neutral pions and eta mesons in <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> and <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math> collisions at <math><msqrt><msub><mi>s</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></math> in the pseudorapidity range <math><mo>|</mo><mi>η</mi><mo>|</mo><mo>&lt;</mo><mn>0.35</mn></math> with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The asymmetries are consistent with zero, similar to those for midrapidity neutral pions and eta mesons produced in <math><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math> collisions. These measurements show no evidence of additional effects that could potentially arise from the more complex partonic environment present in proton-nucleus collisions.

Transverse single-spin asymmetry of midrapidity <math><msup><mi>π</mi><mn>0</mn></msup></math> and <math><mi>η</mi></math> mesons in <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> and <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math> collisions at <math><msqrt><msub><mi>s</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></math>

We use the spectral lag catalog of 46 short GRBs aggregated by Xiao et al. (Astrophys J Lett 924:L29, 2022), to carry out an independent search for Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). For this purpose, we use a power-law model as a function of energy for the intrinsic astrophysical induced spectral lags. The expansion history of the universe needed for constraining LIV was obtained in a non-parametric method using cosmic chronometers. We use Bayesian model comparison to determine if the aforementioned spectral lags show evidence for LIV as compared to only astrophysically induced lags. We do not find any evidence for LIV, and obtain 95% CL lower limits on the corresponding energy scale to be  $$4 \times 10^{15}$$  <math> <mrow> <mn>4</mn> <mo>×</mo> <msup> <mn>10</mn> <mn>15</mn> </msup> </mrow> </math>   GeV and  $$6.8 \times 10^{9}$$  <math> <mrow> <mn>6.8</mn> <mo>×</mo> <msup> <mn>10</mn> <mn>9</mn> </msup> </mrow> </math>   GeV for the linear and quadratic LIV models respectively. Our results obtained by using the flat  $$\Lambda $$  <math> <mi>Λ</mi> </math>  CDM model for characterizing the cosmic expansion history are consistent with those obtained using chronometers.

Shantanu Desai

Rajdeep Agrawal

Germany

Haveesh Singirikonda

Search for Lorentz invariance violation using Bayesian model comparison applied to Xiao et al. GRB spectral lag catalog

We study the dynamics of M-theory on isolated non-toric Calabi-Yau threefold singularities of type (A  j  , A  l ) and (A  k  , D  n ), engineering five-dimensional rank-zero SCFTs. Our approach consists in mapping these backgrounds to type IIA string theory with D6 branes at angles and O6 −  planes, computing the five-dimensional open string modes located at the brane intersections. This permits us to characterize the Higgs Branches of these theories as algebraic varieties, determine the flavour and gauge group and inspect subtleties related to T-branes. Our methods apply for all the considered singularities: we give a closed formula for the (A  j  , A  l ) Higgs Branches, and tables for the Higgs Branches of the (A  k  , D  n ) series.

Italy

Mario Marco

Andrea Sangiovanni

Higgs Branches of rank-0 5d theories from M-theory on (Aj , Al) and (Ak , Dn) singularities

In 2015 the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider recorded <math><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math>, <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math>, and <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> collision data at center of mass energies of <math><mrow><msqrt><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>s</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></mrow></math> with the proton beam(s) transversely polarized. At very forward rapidities <math><mrow><mi>η</mi><mo>&gt;</mo><mn>6.8</mn></mrow></math> relative to the polarized proton beam, neutrons were detected either inclusively or in (anti)correlation with detector activity related to hard collisions. The resulting single spin asymmetries, that were previously reported, have now been extracted as a function of the transverse momentum of the neutron as well as its longitudinal momentum fraction <math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>x</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>F</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></math>. The explicit kinematic dependence, combined with the correlation information allows for a closer look at the interplay of different mechanisms suggested to describe these asymmetries, such as hadronic interactions or electromagnetic interactions in ultraperipheral collisions, UPC. Events that are correlated with a hard collision indeed display a mostly negative asymmetry that increases in magnitude as a function of transverse momentum with only little dependence on <math><msub><mi>x</mi><mi>F</mi></msub></math>. In contrast, events that are not likely to have emerged from a hard collision display positive asymmetries for the nuclear collisions with a kinematic dependence that resembles that of a UPC based model. Because the UPC interaction depends strongly on the charge of the nucleus, those effects are very small for <math><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></math> collisions, moderate for <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math> collisions, and large for <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> collisions.

U. A. Acharya

S. Esumi

R. S. Hollis

K. Homma

B. Hong

T. Hoshino

Transverse single spin asymmetries of forward neutrons in <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>p</mi></mrow></math>, <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Al</mi></mrow></math>, and <math><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>Au</mi></mrow></math> collisions at <math><mrow><msqrt><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>s</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>N</mi><mi>N</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>200</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></mrow></math> as a function of transverse and longitudinal momenta

•A new indirect measurement of the $^{27}$Al(p,α)$^{24}$Mg has been carried out down to astrophysical energies.•The strength of the 84.3 keV resonance has been measured, and more stringent upper limits of nearby resonances have been set.•A new recommended reaction rate has been established, leading to a factor of 3 lower $^{27}$Al destruction rate.•Preliminary nucleosynthesis calculations have shown ∼30% changes in $^{27}$Al and $^{24}$Mg abundances for intermediate mass stars.

M. La Cognata

S. Palmerini

South Africa

P. Adsley

France

F. Hammache

A. Di Pietro

P. Figuera

R. Alba

S. Cherubini

F. Dell'Agli

G.L. Guardo

M. Gulino

L. Lamia

Exploring the astrophysical energy range of the Al Mg reaction: A new recommended reaction rate