MT2-reconstructed invisible momenta as spin analizers, and an application to top polarization

Full event reconstruction is known to be challenging in cases with more than one undetected final-state particle, such as pair production of two states each decaying semi-invisibly. On the other hand, full event reconstruction would allow to access angular distributions sensitive to the spin fractions of the decaying particles, thereby dissecting their production mechanism. We explore this possibility in the case of Standard-Model t-tbar production followed by a leptonic decay of both W bosons, implying two undetected final-state neutrinos. We estimate the t and tbar momentum vectors event by event using information extracted from the kinematic variable MT2. The faithfulness of the estimated momenta to the true momenta is then tested in observables sensitive to top polarization and t-tbar spin correlations. Our method thereby provides a novel approach towards the evaluation of these observables, and towards testing t-tbar production beyond the level of the total cross section. While our discussion is confined to t-tbar production as a benchmark, the method is applicable to any process whose decay topology allows to construct MT2.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables. Changes in v2: new paragraph on ISR (end of sec. 2.2); new sec. 3.3 on the method's comparison with existing ones; typos fixed; reference added. Matches journal version (JHEP

Thermodynamic arrow of time of quantum projective measurements

We investigate a thermodynamic arrow associated with quantum projective measurements in terms of the Jensen-Shannon divergence between the probability distribution of energy change caused by the measurements and its time reversal counterpart. Two physical quantities appear to govern the asymptotic values of the time asymmetry. For an initial equilibrium ensemble prepared at a high temperature, the energy fluctuations determine the convergence of the time asymmetry approaching zero. At low temperatures, finite survival probability of the ground state limits the time asymmetry to be less than $\ln 2$. We illustrate our results for a concrete system and discuss the fixed point of the time asymmetry in the limit of infinitely repeated projections.Comment: 6 pages in two columns, 1 figure, to appear in EP

Recent Advances in Noble Metal (Pt, Ru, and Ir)-Based Electrocatalysts for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Noble metal (Pt, Ru, and Ir)-based electrocatalysts are currently considered the most active materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Although they have been associated with high cost, easy agglomeration, and poor stability during the HER reaction, recent efforts to intentionally tailor noble-metal-based catalysts have led to promising improvements, with lower cost and superior activity, which are critical to achieving large-scale production of pure hydrogen. In this mini-review, we focus on the recent advances in noble-metal-based HER electrocatalysts. In particular, the synthesis strategies to enhance cost-effectiveness and the catalytic activity for HER are highlighted