The Pomeron and Odderon in elastic, inelastic and total cross sections at the LHC

A simple model for elastic diffractive hadron scattering, reproducing the dip-bump structure is used to analyze PP and $\bar PP$ scattering. The main emphasis is on the delicate and non-trivial dynamics in the dip-bump region, near t=-1 GeV$^2$. The simplicity of the model and the expected smallness of the absorption corrections enables one the control of various contributions to the scattering amplitude, in particular the interplay between the C-even and C-odd components of the amplitude, as well as their relative contribution, changing with s and t. The role of the non-linearity of the Regge trajectories is scrutinized. The ratio of the real to imaginary parts of the forward amplitude, the ratio of elastic to total cross sections and the inelastic cross section are calculated. Predictions for the LHC energy region, where most of the exiting models will be either confirmed or ruled out, are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures. Small correction. To be published in the International Journal of Modern Physics

Studies of Bs2∗(5840)0 and Bs1(5830)0 mesons including the observation of the Bs2∗(5840)0→B0KS0 decay in proton-proton collisions at s=8TeV.

Measurements of Bs2∗(5840)0 and Bs1(5830)0 mesons are performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of , collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8TeV . The analysis studies P-wave Bs0 meson decays into B(∗)+K- and B(∗)0KS0 , where the B+ and B0 mesons are identified using the decays B+→J/ψK+ and B0→J/ψK∗(892)0 . The masses of the P-wave Bs0 meson states are measured and the natural width of the Bs2∗(5840)0 state is determined. The first measurement of the mass difference between the charged and neutral B∗ mesons is also presented. The Bs2∗(5840)0 decay to B0KS0 is observed, together with a measurement of its branching fraction relative to the Bs2∗(5840)0→B+K- decay

Search for MSSM Higgs bosons decaying to μ+μ-in proton-proton collisions at √s=13TeV

A search is performed for neutral non-standard-model Higgs bosons decaying to two muons in the context of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). Proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeVwere used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb-1. The search is sensitive to neutral Higgs bosons produced via the gluon fusion process or in association with a bbquark pair. No significant deviations from the standard model expectation are observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in the context of the mmod+hand phenomenological MSSM scenarios on the parameter tanβas a function of the mass of the pseudoscalar Aboson, in the range from 130 to 600GeV. The results are also used to set a model-independent limit on the product of the branching fraction for the decay into a muon pair and the cross section for the production of a scalar neutral boson, either via gluon fusion, or in association with bquarks, in the mass range from 130 to 1000GeV