Searches for exclusive Higgs boson decays into D⁎γ and Z boson decays into D0γ and Ks0γ in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for exclusive decays of the Higgs boson into D⁎γ and of the Z boson into D0γ and Ks0γ can probe flavour-violating Higgs boson and Z boson couplings to light quarks. Searches for these decays are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136.3 fb−1 collected at s=13TeV between 2016–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. In the D⁎γ and D0γ channels, the observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits on the respective branching fractions are B(H→D⁎γ)<1.0(1.2)×10−3, B(Z→D0γ)<4.0(3.4)×10−6, while the corresponding results in the Ks0γ channel are B(Z→Ks0γ)<3.1(3.0)×10−6

Measurement of vector boson production cross sections and their ratios using pp collisions at √s = 13.6 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract available from publisher's website

Beam-induced backgrounds measured in the ATLAS detector during local gas injection into the LHC beam vacuum

Inelastic beam-gas collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), within a few hundred metres of the ATLAS experiment, are known to give the dominant contribution to beam backgrounds. These are monitored by ATLAS with a dedicated Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM) and with the rate of fake jets in the calorimeters. These two methods are complementary since the BCM probes backgrounds just around the beam pipe while fake jets are observed at radii of up to several metres. In order to quantify the correlation between the residual gas density in the LHC beam vacuum and the experimental backgrounds recorded by ATLAS, several dedicated tests were performed during LHC Run 2. Local pressure bumps, with a gas density several orders of magnitude higher than during normal operation, were introduced at different locations. The changes of beam-related backgrounds, seen in ATLAS, are correlated with the local pressure variation. In addition the rates of beam-gas events are estimated from the pressure measurements and pressure bump profiles obtained from calculations. Using these rates, the efficiency of the ATLAS beam background monitors to detect beam-gas events is derived as a function of distance from the interaction point. These efficiencies and characteristic distributions of fake jets from the beam backgrounds are found to be in good agreement with results of beam-gas simulations performed with theFluka Monte Carlo programme

Spatial and temporal patterns of neurogenesis in the embryo of the locust (Schistocerca gregaria)

Embryonic neurogenesis in the ventral nerve cord of the locust Schistocerca gregaria was studied using toluidine blue (TB) staining and birthdating of cells by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR). In the thorax, the neuroblasts (NBs) start dividing at the 28% stage and neurogenesis continues until 90%. In the abdomen, neurogenesis starts at about 30% and continues until 70%. Every NB appears to have its own fixed period of division before disappearing. Thus a specific spatial and temporal pattern of NB degeneration can be seen in every segment. This pattern is identical in each of the three thoracic ganglia. We have traced the fate of each of the original complement of NBs in the mesothoracic neuromere and specified the stage of development at which each NB ends its lineage and disappears. The abdominal segments A2 to A7 share an identical pattern of NB death, which is not comparable to the thoracic pattern. The progress of neurogenesis is marked by a gradual decrease in the number of NBs, with NBs in the thoracic ganglia persisting longer than their abdominal homologues. The differences between the thoracic and abdominal NBs are also reflected in the rates at which they divide, thoracic NBs dividing at almost twice the rate of the abdominal NBs