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At least 865 records · Page 48

Calibration of a soft secondary vertex tagger using proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Several processes studied by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider produce low-momentum b-flavored hadrons in the final state. This paper describes the calibration of a dedicated tagging algorithm that identifies b-flavored hadrons outside of hadronic jets by reconstructing the soft secondary vertices originating from their decays. The calibration is based on a proton-proton collision dataset at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 . Scale factors used to correct the algorithm’s performance in simulated events are extracted for the b-tagging efficiency and the mistag rate of the algorithm using a data sample enriched in $t\overline{t}$ events. Several orthogonal measurement regions are defined, binned as a function of the multiplicities of soft secondary vertices and jets containing a b-flavored hadron in the event. The mistag rate scale factors are estimated separately for events with low and high average numbers of interactions per bunch crossing. The results, which are derived from events with low missing transverse momentum, are successfully validated in a phase space characterized by high missing transverse momentum and therefore are applicable to new physics searches carried out in either phase space regime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Measurement of the tt production cross section in pp collisions at {radical}(s)=1.96 TeV using soft electron b-tagging

We present a measurement of the top-quark pair-production cross section in pp collisions at {radical}(s)=1.96 TeV using a data sample corresponding to 1.7 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We reconstruct tt events in the lepton+jets channel, consisting of e{nu}+jets and {mu}{nu}+jets final states. The dominant background is the production of W bosons in association with multiple jets. To suppress this background, we identify electrons from the semileptonic decay of heavy-flavor jets (''soft electron tags''). From a sample of 2196 candidate events, we obtain 120 tagged events with a background expectation of 51{+-}3 events, corresponding to a cross section of {sigma}{sub tt}=7.8{+-}2.4(stat){+-}1.6(syst){+-}0.5(lumi) pb. We assume a top-quark mass of 175 GeV/c{sup 2}. This is the first measurement of the tt cross section with soft electron tags in run II of the Tevatron.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Factorization and resummation of Higgs boson differential distributions in soft-collinear effective theory

We derive a factorization theorem for the Higgs boson transverse momentum (p{sub T}) and rapidity (Y) distributions at hadron colliders, using the soft-collinear effective theory (SCET), for m{sub h}>>p{sub T}>>{Lambda}{sub QCD}, where m{sub h} denotes the Higgs mass. In addition to the factorization of the various scales involved, the perturbative physics at the p{sub T} scale is further factorized into two collinear impact-parameter beam functions (IBFs) and an inverse soft function (ISF). These newly defined functions are of a universal nature for the study of differential distributions at hadron colliders. The additional factorization of the p{sub T}-scale physics simplifies the implementation of higher order radiative corrections in {alpha}{sub s}(p{sub T}). We derive formulas for factorization in both momentum and impact parameter space and discuss the relationship between them. Large logarithms of the relevant scales in the problem are summed using the renormalization group equations of the effective theories. Power corrections to the factorization theorem in p{sub T}/m{sub h} and {Lambda}{sub QCD}/p{sub T} can be systematically derived. We perform multiple consistency checks on our factorization theorem including a comparison with known fixed-order QCD results. We compare the SCET factorization theorem with the Collins-Soper-Sterman approach to low-p{sub T} resummation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Computation of the soft anomalous dimension matrix in coordinate space

We complete the coordinate space calculation of the three-parton correlation in the two-loop massive soft anomalous dimension matrix. The full answer agrees with the result found previously by a different approach. The coordinate space treatment of renormalized two-loop gluon exchange diagrams exhibits their color symmetries in a transparent fashion. We compare coordinate space calculations of the soft anomalous dimension matrix with massive and massless eikonal lines and examine its nonuniform limit at absolute threshold.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Two-loop soft anomalous dimensions for single top quark associated production with a W{sup -} or H{sup -}

I present results for the two-loop soft anomalous dimensions for associated production of a single top quark with a W boson or a charged Higgs boson. The calculation uses expressions for the massive cusp anomalous dimension, which are presented in different forms, and it allows soft-gluon resummation at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm (NNLL) accuracy. From the NNLL resummed cross section I derive approximate NNLO cross sections for bg{yields}tW{sup -} and bg{yields}tH{sup -} at LHC energies of 7, 10, and 14 TeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Suppressing lepton flavor violation in a soft-wall extra dimension

A soft-wall warped extra dimension allows one to relax the tight constraints imposed by electroweak data in conventional Randall-Sundrum models. We investigate a setup, where the lepton flavor structure of the standard model is realized by split fermion locations. Bulk fermions with general locations are not analytically tractable in a soft-wall background, so we follow a numerical approach to perform the Kaluza-Klein reduction. Lepton flavor violation is induced by the exchange of Kaluza-Klein gauge bosons. We find that rates for processes such as muon-electron conversion are significantly reduced compared to hard-wall models, allowing for a Kaluza-Klein scale as low as 2 TeV. Accommodating small neutrino masses forces one to introduce a large hierarchy of scales into the model, making pressing the question of a suitable stabilization mechanism.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

On the stability of a soft-wall model

We investigate the stability and fluctuations of a soft-wall model that has an asymptotically anti-de Sitter metric and a scalar field that has an asymptotically power-law dependence in the conformal coordinate. By imposing UV boundary conditions, the soft-wall mass scale can be fixed to be near the TeV scale and causes the radion to no longer be massless. A hierarchy between the weak scale and the Planck scale can be generated for various particle spectrum behavior, although natural values only occur for a gravitational sector containing scalar fields that act like unparticles. In addition, if bulk standard model fields have nonstandard couplings to the gravitational sector, then a discrete particle spectrum can be realized in the nongravitational sector. This allows for the possibility of an unparticle solution to the hierarchy problem.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in soft-collinear effective theory

We formulate N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in terms of soft-collinear effective theory. The effective Lagrangian in soft-collinear effective theory is developed according to the power counting by a small parameter {eta}{approx}p{sub perpendicular}/Q. All the particles in this theory are in the adjoint representation of the SU(N) gauge group, and we derive the collinear gauge-invariant Lagrangian in the adjoint and fundamental representations, respectively. We consider collinear and ultrasoft Wilson lines in this theory, and show the ultrasoft factorization of the collinear Lagrangian by redefining the collinear fields with the use of the ultrasoft Wilson lines. The vertex correction for a vector fermion current at one loop is explicitly presented as an example to illustrate how the computation is performed in the effective theory.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Next-to-next-to-leading-order collinear and soft gluon corrections for t-channel single top quark production

I present the resummation of collinear and soft-gluon corrections to single top quark production in the t channel at next-to-next-to-leading logarithm accuracy using two-loop soft anomalous dimensions. The expansion of the resummed cross section yields approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order cross sections. Numerical results for t-channel single top quark (or single antitop) production at the Tevatron and the LHC are presented, including the dependence of the cross sections on the top quark mass and the uncertainties from scale variation and parton distributions. Combined results for all single top quark production channels are also given.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Large gauge transformations and little group for soft photons

Recently, large gauge transformation (LGT), the residual gauge symmetry after gauge fixing that survives at null infinity, has drawn much attention concerning soft theorems and the memory effect. We point out that LGT charges in quantum electrodynamics are in fact one of noncompact generators of the two dimensional Euclidean group. Moreover, by comparing two equivalent descriptions of gauge transformation, we suggest that LGT is simply another way of describing the gauged little group for massless soft photons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Elastocapillary levelling of thin viscous films on soft substrates

A thin liquid film with nonzero curvature at its free surface spontaneously flows to reach a flat configuration, a process driven by Laplace pressure gradients and resisted by the liquid's viscosity. Inspired by recent progresses on the dynamics of liquid droplets on soft substrates, we here study the relaxation of a viscous film supported by an elastic foundation. Experiments involve thin polymer films on elastomeric substrates, where the dynamics of the liquid-air interface is monitored using atomic force microscopy. A theoretical model that describes the coupled evolution of the solid-liquid and the liquid-air interfaces is also provided. In this soft-levelling configuration, Laplace pressure gradients not only drive the flow, but they also induce elastic deformations on the substrate that affect the flow and the shape of the liquid-air interface itself. This process represents an original example of elastocapillarity that is not mediated by the presence of a contact line. We discuss the impact of the elastic contribution on the levelling dynamics and show the departure from the classical self-similarities and power laws observed for capillary levelling on rigid substrates.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Generating Ultrashort Coherent Soft X-ray Radiation in Storage Rings Using Angular-modulated Electron Beams

A technique is proposed to generate ultrashort coherent soft x-ray radiation in storage rings using angular-modulated electron beams. In the scheme a laser operating in the TEM01 mode is first used to modulate the angular distribution of the electron beam in an undulator. After passing through a special beam line with non-zero transfer matrix element R{sub 54}, the angular modulation is converted to density modulation which contains considerable higher harmonic contents of the laser. It is found that the harmonic number can be one or two orders of magnitude higher than the standard coherent harmonic generation method which relies on beam energy modulation. The technique has the potential of generating femtosecond coherent soft x-ray radiation directly from an infrared seed laser and may open new research opportunities for ultrafast sciences in storage rings.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Electroweak Symmetry Breaking from the Soft Portal into Dark Matter and Prediction for Direct Detection

Scalar dark matter (DM) can have dimensionful coupling to the Higgs boson - the soft portal into DM - which is predicted to be unsuppressed by the underlying SO(10) grand unified theory (GUT). The dimensionful coupling can be large, {mu}/v>>1, without spoiling the perturbativity of low energy theory up to the GUT scale. We show that the soft portal into DM naturally triggers radiative electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) via large 1-loop DM corrections to the effective potential. In this scenario, EWSB, the DM thermal freeze-out cross section, and DM scattering on nuclei are all dominated by the same coupling, predicting the DM mass range to be 700 GeV<M{sub DM}<2 TeV. The spin-independent direct detection cross section is predicted to be just below the present experimental bounds.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Experimental demonstration of a soft x-ray self-seeded free-electron laser

The Linac Coherent Light Source has added self-seeding capability to the soft x-ray range using a grating monochromator system. We report demonstration of soft x-ray self-seeding with a measured resolving power of 2000-5000, wavelength stability of 10 -4 , and an increase in peak brightness by a factor of 2-5 across the photon energy range of 500-1000 eV. By avoiding the need for a monochromator at the experimental station, the self-seeded beam can deliver as much as 50 fold higher brightness to users.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Magnetic Control of Soft Chiral Phonons in PbTe

We report PbTe crystals have a soft transverse optical phonon mode in the terahertz frequency range, which is known to efficiently decay into heat-carrying acoustic phonons, resulting in anomalously low thermal conductivity. Here, we studied this phonon via polarization-dependent terahertz spectroscopy. We observed softening of this mode with decreasing temperature, indicative of incipient ferroelectricity, which we explain through a model including strong anharmonicity with a quartic displacement term. In magnetic fields up to 25 T, the phonon mode splits into two modes with opposite handedness, exhibiting circular dichroism. Their frequencies display Zeeman splitting together with an overall diamagnetic shift with increasing magnetic field. Using a group-theoretical approach, we demonstrate that these observations are the result of magnetic field-induced morphic changes in the crystal symmetries through the Lorentz force exerted on the lattice ions. Thus, our Letter reveals a novel process of controlling phonon properties in a soft ionic lattice by a strong magnetic field.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Discovering Electroweak Interacting Dark Matter at Muon Colliders Using Soft Tracks

Minimal dark matter models feature one neutral particle that serves as a thermal relic dark matter candidate, as well as quasidegenerate charged states with TeV masses. When the charged states are produced at colliders, they can decay into dark matter and a low-momentum (soft) charged particle, which is challenging to reconstruct at hadron colliders. We demonstrate that a 3 TeV muon collider is capable of detecting these soft tracks, enabling the discovery of thermal Higgsinos and similar dark matter candidates that constitute highly motivated scenarios for future collider searches. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Capdevilla, Rodolfo (ORCID:0000000201227704)↗

Soft-hard framework with exact four-momentum conservation for small systems

A new framework, called x-scape, for the combined study of both hard and soft transverse momentum sectors in high-energy proton-proton (𝑝−𝑝) and proton-nucleus (𝑝−𝐴) collisions is set up. A dynamical initial state is set up using the 3d-Glauber model with transverse locations of hotspots within each incoming nucleon. A hard scattering that emanates from two colliding hotspots is carried out using the Pythia generator. Initial state radiation from the incoming hard partons is carried out in a new module called I-matter, which includes the longitudinal location of initial splits. The energy-momentum of both the initial hard partons and their associated beam remnants is removed from the hot spots, depleting the energy-momentum available for the formation of the bulk medium. Outgoing showers are simulated using the matter generator, and results are presented for both cases, allowing for and not allowing for energy loss. First comparisons between this hard-soft model and single inclusive hadron and jet data from 𝑝−𝑝 and minimum bias 𝑝−Pb collisions are presented. Single hadron spectra in 𝑝−𝑝 are used to carry out a limited (in number of parameters) Bayesian calibration of the model. Fair comparisons with data are indicative of the utility of this new framework. Theoretical studies of the correlation between jet 𝑝 𝑇 and event activity at mid and forward rapidity are carried out.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Probing soft X-ray induced photoreduction of a model Mn-complex at cryogenic conditions

Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy of first row transition elements at their respective L -edges provides important information about the oxidation and spin states of the metal centers. However, the associated sample damage in radiation-sensitive samples substantially alters the electronic and chemical structures of redox-active metal centers. Here, we measure the soft X-ray spectrum of the model Mn III (acac) 3 complex containing a redox-active Mn III metal center in an octahedral environment with a superconducting transition-edge sensor detector. To reduce the secondary damage resulting primarily from the diffusion of radicals and electrons, the spectra are collected at 30 K and 80 K on solid samples. Starting from the first scan, we detect the contribution of X-ray induced sample damage leading to a change in the Mn II intensity. However, at low temperatures, particularly at 30 K, we do not observe a gradual increase in the radiation damage with successive scans with the X-ray beam at the same spot. At our estimated dose of 90 kGy, we find 62% of Mn III (acac) 3 is still intact at 30 K. However, at room temperature, we see a gradual increase in radiation damage with increasing numbers of scans at the same spot, which is consistent with the possibility of increased diffusion rates of secondary radicals and electrons as noted in other studies.

L-edge spectroscopy↗