RooHammerModel: interfacing the HAMMER software tool with the HistFactory package

Recent $B$-physics results have sparkled great interest in the search for beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) physics in $b\to c\ell \bar{\nu}$ transitions. The need to analyse in a consistent manner big datasets for these searches, using high-statistics Monte-Carlo (MC) samples, led to the development of HAMMER, a software tool which enables to perform a fast morphing of MC-derived templates to include BSM effects and/or alternative parameterisations of long-distance effects, avoiding the need to re-generate simulated samples. This note describes the development of RooHammerModel, an interface between this tool and the commonly-used data-fitting framework HistFactory. The code is written in C++ and admits an alternative usage in standalone RooFit analyses. In this document, the structure and functionality of the user interface are explained. Information of a public repository where it can be accessed is provided, as well as validation and performance studies of the interface. The methods developed in the construction of RooHammerModel can provide specific information for alternative future attempts to interface HAMMER with other data-fitting frameworks

Central exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

Measurements are reported of the central exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Backgrounds are significantly reduced compared to previous measurements made at lower energies through the use of new forward shower counters. The products of the cross-sections and the branching fractions for the decays to dimuons, where both muons are within the pseudorapidity range 2.0 < η < 4.5, are measured to be σJ/ψ→μ+μ−=435±18±11±17 pbσψ(2S)→μ+μ−=11.1±1.1±0.3±0.4 pb. The first uncertainties are statistical, the second are systematic, and the third are due to the luminosity determination. The cross-sections are also measured differentially for meson rapidities between 2.0 and 4.5. Good agreement is observed with theoretical predictions. Photoproduction cross-sections are derived and compared to previous experiments, and a deviation from a pure power-law extrapolation of lower energy data is observed.S

A randomized study of nutritional supplementation in patients with unilateral wet age-related macular degeneration

The purpose of this study is evaluate the efficacy and safety of medicinal products con-taining the original Age-Related Eye Disease group (AREDS) formulation at doses approved in Europe (EU, control group; n = 59) with a product that adds DHA, lutein, zeaxanthin, resveratrol and hydroxytyrosol to the formula (intervention group; n = 50). This was a multicenter, random-ized, observer-blinded trial conducted in patients aged 50 years or older diagnosed with unilateral exudative Age related Macular Degeneration AMD. At month 12, the intervention did not have a significant differential effect on visual acuity compared with the control group, with an estimated treatment difference in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) of -1.63 (95% CI -0.83 to 4.09; p = 0.192). The intervention exhibited a significant and, in most cases, relevant effect in terms of a reduction in some inflammatory cytokines and a greater improvement in the fatty acid profile and serum lutein and zeaxantin concentration. In patients with unilateral wet AMD, the addition of lutein, zeaxanthin, resveratrol, hydroxytyrosol and DHA to the AREDS EU recommended doses in the short-term did not have a differential effect on visual acuity compared to a standard AREDS EU formula but, in addition to improving the fatty acid profile and increasing carotenoid serum levels, may provide a beneficial effect in improving the proinflammatory and proangiogenic profile of patients with AMD. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Measurement of forward J/ψ production cross-sections in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

The production of J/ψ mesons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV is studied with the LHCb detector. Cross-section measurements are performed as a function of the transverse momentum p T and the rapidity y of the J/ψ meson in the region p T < 14 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5, for both prompt J/ψ mesons and J/ψ mesons from b-hadron decays. The production cross-sections integrated over the kinematic coverage are 15.30 ± 0.03 ± 0.86 μb for prompt J/ψ and 2.34 ± 0.01 ± 0.13 μb for J/ψ from b-hadron decays, assuming zero polarization of the J/ψ meson. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The cross-section reported for J/ψ mesons from b-hadron decays is used to extrapolate to a total bb cross-section. The ratios of the cross-sections with respect to √s=8 TeV are also determinedS

Measurement of ϒ production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

The production cross-sections of ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S) and ϒ(3S) mesons in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV are measured with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 277 ± 11 pb−1 recorded by the LHCb experiment in 2015. The ϒ mesons are reconstructed in the decay mode ϒ → μ+μ−. The differential production cross-sections times the dimuon branching fractions are measured as a function of the ϒ transverse momentum, pT, and rapidity, y, over the range 0 < pT < 30 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. The ratios of the cross-sections with respect to the LHCb measurement at s√=8 TeV are also determined. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions based on NRQCD.S

Development of a silicon bulk radiation damage model for Sentaurus TCAD

This article presents a new bulk radiation damage model for p -type silicon for use in Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD. The model is shown to provide agreement between experiment and simulation for the voltage dependence of the leakage current and the charge collection efficiency, for fluences up to 8×10151MeVneq∕cm2

Observation of two new Ξb−\Xi_b^- baryon resonances

Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the $\Xi_b^0 \pi^-$ mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content $bds$ are expected in this mass region: the spin-parity $J^P = \frac{1}{2}^+$ and $J^P=\frac{3}{2}^+$ states, denoted $\Xi_b^{\prime -}$ and $\Xi_b^{*-}$. Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass differences and the width of the heavier state to be $m(\Xi_b^{\prime -}) - m(\Xi_b^0) - m(\pi^{-}) = 3.653 \pm 0.018 \pm 0.006$ MeV$/c^2$, $m(\Xi_b^{*-}) - m(\Xi_b^0) - m(\pi^{-}) = 23.96 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.06$ MeV$/c^2$, $\Gamma(\Xi_b^{*-}) = 1.65 \pm 0.31 \pm 0.10$ MeV, where the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of $\Gamma(\Xi_b^{\prime -}) < 0.08$ MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Study of B−→DK−π+π−B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^- and B−→Dπ−π+π−B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^- decays and determination of the CKM angle γ\gamma

We report a study of the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays, where the neutral $D$ meson is detected through its decays to the $K^{\mp}\pi^{\pm}$ and CP-even $K^+K^-$ and $\pi^+\pi^-$ final states. The measurement is carried out using a proton-proton collision data sample collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0~fb$^{-1}$. We observe the first significant signals in the CP-even final states of the $D$ meson for both the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ modes, as well as in the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed $D\to K^+\pi^-$ final state of the $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. Evidence for the ADS suppressed decay $B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, with $D\to K^+\pi^-$, is also presented. From the observed yields in the $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and their charge conjugate decay modes, we measure the value of the weak phase to be $\gamma=(74^{+20}_{-19})^{\rm o}$. This is one of the most precise single-measurement determinations of $\gamma$ to date.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-020.htm

Measurement of the Bs0→J/ψηB_{s}^{0} \rightarrow J/\psi \eta lifetime

Using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3 fb^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the effective lifetime in the $B^0_s \rightarrow J/\psi \eta$ decay mode, $\tau_{\textrm{eff}}$, is measured to be $\tau_{\textrm{eff}} = 1.479 \pm 0.034~\textrm{(stat)} \pm 0.011 ~\textrm{(syst)}$ ps. Assuming $CP$ conservation, $\tau_{\textrm{eff}}$ corresponds to the lifetime of the light $B_s^0$ mass eigenstate. This is the first measurement of the effective lifetime in this decay mode.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-017.htm