The azimuthal-correlation distributions between electrons from the decays of heavy-flavor hadrons and associated charged particles in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 5.02$$ TeV are reported for the 0–10% and 30–50% centrality classes. This measurement provides access to the jet-like correlation observables in the heavy-flavor sector in Pb–Pb collisions. The analysis is performed for trigger electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays with transverse momentum $$4< p_\textrm{T}^\textrm{e} < 16~\textrm{GeV}/c$$ , considering associated particles within the transverse-momentum range $$1< p_\textrm{T}^\textrm{assoc} < 7$$ $$\textrm{GeV}/c$$ , and a pseudorapidity difference of $$|\Delta \eta |<1$$ between the trigger electron and associated particles. The per-trigger nuclear modification factor ( $$I_\textrm{AA}$$ ) is calculated to compare the near- and away-side peak yields to those in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 5.02$$ TeV. In 0–10% central collisions, the $$I_\textrm{AA}$$ indicates a hint of enhancement of associated-particle yields with $$p_\textrm{T}<3$$ GeV/$\textit{c}$ on the near side, and a suppression of yields with $$p_\textrm{T}>4$$ GeV/$\textit{c}$ on the away side. The $$I_\textrm{AA}$$ for electron triggers from heavy-flavor hadron decays is compared with that for light-flavor and strange-particle triggers to investigate the dependence on different fragmentation processes and parton-medium dynamics, and is found to be the same within uncertainties.

United States

I. Abualrob

Italy

S. Acharya

G. Aglieri Rinella

L. Aglietta

M. Agnello

N. Agrawal

India

Z. Ahammed

S. Ahmad

Slovakia

I. Ahuja

Indonesia

Z. Akbar

A. Akindinov

Germany

V. Akishina

M. Al-Turany

D. Aleksandrov

B. Alessandro

China

H. Alfanda

Mexico

R. Alfaro Molina

B. Ali

A. Alici

South Korea

A. Alkin

Norway

J. Alme

G. Alocco

T. Alt

A. Altamura

I. Altsybeev

Romania

C. Andrei

United Kingdom

N. Andreou

A. Andronic

E. Andronov

V. Anguelov

F. Antinori

P. Antonioli

N. Apadula

H. Appelshäuser

France

C. Arata

S. Arcelli

R. Arnaldi

Brazil

J. Arneiro

I. Arsene

M. Arslandok

A. Augustinus

R. Averbeck

M. Azmi

Japan

H. Baba

A. Babu

A. Badalà

J. Bae

Y. Bae

Y. Baek

X. Bai

R. Bailhache

Y. Bailung

R. Bala

A. Baldisseri

Poland

B. Balis

S. Bangalia

Z. Banoo

V. Barbasova

F. Barile

L. Barioglio

Greece

M. Barlou

B. Barman

Hungary

G. Barnaföldi

L. Barnby

E. Barreau

V. Barret

L. Barreto

K. Barth

E. Bartsch

N. Bastid

G. Batigne

D. Battistini

B. Batyunya

D. Bauri

Peru

J. Alba

Denmark

I. Bearden

P. Becht

D. Behera

S. Behera

I. Belikov

V. Bella

F. Bellini

R. Bellwied

L. Beltran

Y. Beltran

G. Bencedi

A. Bensaoula

S. Beole

Y. Berdnikov

A. Berdnikova

L. Bergmann

L. Bernardinis

L. Betev

P. Bhaduri

T. Bhalla

A. Bhasin

B. Bhattacharjee

S. Bhattarai

L. Bianchi

Czechia

J. Bielčík

Medium-induced modification of azimuthal correlations of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays with charged particles in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\mathbf {\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 5.02}$$ TeV

Primordial black holes (PBHs) formed during first-order phase transitions provide a powerful link between the early-universe microphysics and observable signatures today, including dark matter and gravitational waves. In this work we develop a unified description of PBH formation based on the Israel junction conditions, which capture collapse dynamics without relying on conventional overdensity or pressure-balance arguments. As a first application, we show that exotic objects such as Fermi-balls can collapse into PBHs even when most of the vacuum energy is trapped in solitonic cores, leading to a different gravitational-wave signal relative to vacuum-only scenarios. As a second application, we study multiple phase transitions in a hidden sector, which generate correlated gravitational-wave spectra and PBH abundances across transitions. Our framework, while analytically controlled, is broadly applicable to hidden-sector models with general vacuum, radiation, and matter contributions. We present the resulting predictions for PBH mass spectra, dark matter fractions, and gravitational-wave signals, highlighting parameter regions that remain open in current searches and motivating future probes.

James Dent

Bhaskar Dutta

Mudit Rai

Primordial black holes at the junction

We study an extension of the vector-like lepton dark matter model by introducing scalar leptoquarks that modify the properties of the vector-like lepton dark matter candidate, helping it evade stringent direct detection constraints. In the minimal setup, the neutral component of a pure $\textit{SU}$(2) doublet vector-like lepton fails to simultaneously account for the observed relic abundance while remaining consistent with current direct detection limits. We show that the addition of the scalar leptoquarks can induce corrections to the mass of the vector-like lepton dark matter, splitting it into two non-degenerate pseudo-Dirac states. This mass splitting can help evade the direct detection bounds naturally. In addition, the extended setup also opens up a larger parameter space of the model that can accommodate the correct relic density.

Shyamashish Dey

Santosh Rai

Exploring fermionic dark matter in the presence of scalar leptoquarks

Accelerator-based neutrino experiments offer a competitive environment to search for long-lived particles with sub-GeV masses. Yet, many theoretical models involving such particles predict very similar phenomenology and nearly identical final-state signatures. In view of this, we study the capabilities of upcoming experiments—specifically the DUNE near detectors—to distinguish between different classes of long-lived particles and the mechanisms by which they are produces. We expound how the experiment’s excellent energy resolution, combined with the possibility to move the detector off-axis (the DUNE-PRISM concept), work in tandem to improve the discrimination power.

Kevin J. Kelly

Long-lived particle production through the DUNE-PRISM concept

The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K K ) produced in p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $$\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb–Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p–Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K K are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and $${\text{K}}_{\text{s}}^{0}{\text{K}}_{\text{s}}^{0}$$ correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at various energies and in $\textit{π}$ $\textit{π}$ correlations in p–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$$ TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p–Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb–Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p–Pb collisions.

A. Agarwal

S. Ahn

N. Alizadehvandchali

J. Alvarado

L. Aphecetche

D. Averyanov

A. Balbino

C. Bartels

Sweden

S. Basu

J. Bazo Alba

C. Beattie

A. Bell Hechavarria

S. Belokurova

M. Besoiu

Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$$ TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

We study the lepton flavor conserving and violating couplings of a doubly charged scalar at a 3 TeV muon collider. Using a model-independent Lagrangian, we analyze the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>e</mi><mi>e</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>μ</mi><mi>μ</mi></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>τ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> final states mediated by the doubly charged scalar to probe individual couplings to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>μ</mi><mi>e</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>μ</mi><mi>μ</mi></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>μ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math>. We find that for a doubly charged scalar of mass greater than 1 TeV and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi mathvariant="script">O</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math> couplings, we achieve high signal significance in these channels. We delineate the collider’s sensitivity in the mass-coupling plane, highlighting the extensive reach of the muon collider in probing these couplings far beyond the current experimental limits. We also propose an angular distribution variable to discriminate between the exchange of a doubly charged scalar from that of a neutral scalar, which gives identical signals.

Nivedita Ghosh

Santosh Kumar Rai

Tousik Samui

Agnivo Sarkar

Investigating the leptonic couplings of doubly charged scalars at the muon collider

Utilizing comprehensive experimental data on charmed mesons, we systematically investigate masses of the higher radial and orbital excitations of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>D</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mi>s</mi></msub></math> meson families using the relativistic flux-tube model. Our study employs mass splitting induced by spin-dependent interactions within the j-j coupling scheme. Our predicted masses align well with the experimental measurements for the well-established <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>D</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mi>s</mi></msub></math> states. However, anomalous resonances such as <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>s</mi><mn>0</mn></mrow></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2317</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>s</mi><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2460</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math> do not align with conventional meson states within our theoretical framework. We also study strong decays using an effective Lagrangian formalism that combines heavy-quark symmetry with chiral dynamics, focusing on two-body modes into a charmed meson plus a light pseudoscalar (<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>π</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>K</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>η</mi></math>). Using the combined constraints from masses and decay patterns we propose spectroscopic assignments for several recently observed resonances, including <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2740</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mn>0</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mn>3</mn><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2750</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mn>0</mn></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2550</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mn>0</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mn>1</mn><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2600</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mn>0</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mn>1</mn><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2760</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mn>0</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mi>J</mi><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>3000</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mi>J</mi></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>3000</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mn>2</mn><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>3000</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>s</mi><mn>1</mn></mrow><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2860</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>±</mo></msup></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>s</mi><mn>3</mn></mrow><mo>*</mo></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2860</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>±</mo></msup></math>. We also identify <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>s</mi><mi>J</mi></mrow></msub><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>3040</mn><msup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>+</mo></msup></math> as a <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>2</mn><mi>P</mi></math> excitation with <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>J</mi><mi>P</mi></msup><mo>=</mo><msup><mn>1</mn><mo>+</mo></msup></math>. Extending our model, we also calculate the mass spectra of doubly charmed <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">Ξ</mi><mrow><mi>c</mi><mi>c</mi></mrow></msub></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mi><mrow><mi>c</mi><mi>c</mi></mrow></msub></math> baryons within the heavy diquark–light quark picture. These theoretical predictions provide crucial guidance for ongoing and future experimental searches for higher radial and orbital excitations in the charmed meson and doubly charmed baryon sectors.

Pooja Jakhad

Ajay Kumar Rai

Relativistic flux-tube model predictions from charmed mesons to double-charmed baryons

The nuclear modification factor <italic>R</italic> <inf>AA</inf> of charm jets, identified by the presence of a D 0 meson among the jet constituents, has been measured for the first time in Pb&#8211;Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair <math altimg='si8.svg'><mrow><msqrt><msub><mi>s</mi><mtext>NN</mtext></msub></msqrt><mspace width='0.33em' /><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><mn>5.02</mn></mrow></math> TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D 0 mesons and their charge conjugates are reconstructed from the hadronic decay D <math altimg='si9.svg'><mrow><msup><mrow /><mn>0</mn></msup><mo>&#8594;</mo><msup><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow><mo>&#8722;</mo></msup><msup><mi>&#960;</mi><mo>+</mo></msup></mrow></math>. Jets are reconstructed from D 0-meson candidates and charged particles using the anti- <italic>k</italic> <inf>T</inf> algorithm with jet resolution parameter <math altimg='si10.svg'><mrow><mi>R</mi><mspace width='0.33em' /><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><mn>0.3</mn></mrow></math>, in the jet transverse momentum ( <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>) range 5 <math altimg='si11.svg'><mrow><mo>&lt;</mo><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>T</mi></mrow><mrow><mtext>ch</mtext><mspace width='0.33em' /><mtext>jet</mtext></mrow></msubsup><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>&lt;</mo></mrow></math> 50 GeV/ <italic>c</italic> and pseudorapidity | <italic>&#951;</italic> ch&#8201;jet|&#8239;&lt;&#8239;0.6. A hint of reduced suppression in the charm-jet <italic>R</italic> <inf>AA</inf> is observed in comparison to inclusive jets in central Pb&#8211;Pb collisions with a significance of about 2 <italic>&#963;</italic> in 20 <math altimg='si11.svg'><mrow><mo>&lt;</mo><msubsup><mi>p</mi><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>T</mi></mrow><mrow><mtext>ch</mtext><mspace width='0.33em' /><mtext>jet</mtext></mrow></msubsup><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>&lt;</mo></mrow></math> 50&#8239;GeV/ <italic>c</italic>, suggesting the in-medium energy loss to depend on both the difference between quark and gluon coupling strength (Casimir colour-charge effect) and quark mass (dead-cone effect). The data are compared with model calculations that include mass effects in the in-medium energy loss. Several state-of-the-art models are consistent with the data, with the LIDO model providing the best description of the data in the common kinematic range of inclusive and D 0-tagged jets, highlighting the role of mass effects in interpreting the results.

S.U. Ahn

H.M. Alfanda

A.R. Altamura

J.R. Alvarado

M.N. Anaam

J.G.M.C.A. Arneiro

I.C. Arsene

M.D. Azmi

Y.W. Baek

G.G. Barnaföldi

L.S. Barnby

J.L. Bazo Alba

I.G. Bearden

A.D.C. Bell Hechavarria

L.G.E. Beltran

Y.A.V. Beltran

M.G. Besoiu

P.P. Bhaduri

Investigating charm quark energy loss in medium with the nuclear modification factor of D <bold>0</bold>-tagged jets

We study the transport properties of relativistic fluids induced by quantum anomalies in presence of explicit symmetry breaking. To this end we consider a holographic Einstein-Maxwell model in 5 dimensions with pure gauge and a mixed gauge-gravitational Chern-Simons terms, coupled with a scalar field. To study the chiral vortical effects and the energy transport sector, apart from the chiral magnetic effects, we have considered the full backreaction of the gauge field on the metric. We have studied the anomalous effects by using Kubo formulae involving correlators of the charged currents and the energy current. Our findings reveal that, in the presence of explicit symmetry breaking, anomaly-induced transport phenomena can extend beyond anomalous currents and affect non-anomalous sectors as well. In particular, we find that all the conductivities display a distinct sensitivity to the mass parameter controlling the symmetry breaking, thus reflecting the interplay between anomaly coefficients and explicit symmetry breaking terms. These findings highlight the role played by pure gauge and mixed gauge-gravitational anomalies in holographic transport, and their importance for strongly coupled systems with broken symmetries.

Ashis Tamang

Nishal Rai

Spain

Karl Landsteiner

Eugenio Megías

Anomaly induced transport from symmetry breaking in holography

The first results of K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239; production at midrapidity (| <italic>y</italic>|&#8239;&lt;&#8239;0.5) in pp collisions at <math altimg='si2.svg'><mrow><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mspace width='0.33em' /><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><mn>13</mn></mrow></math> TeV as a function of the event multiplicity are presented. The K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239; has been reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K <math altimg='si4.svg'><mrow><msup><mrow /><mo>*</mo></msup><msup><mrow><mo>(</mo><mn>892</mn><mo>)</mo></mrow><mo>&#177;</mo></msup><mo>&#8594;</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><msup><mi>&#960;</mi><mo>&#177;</mo></msup><mspace width='0.33em' /><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>+</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><msubsup><mrow><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>S</mi><mn>0</mn></msubsup></mrow></math> using the ALICE detector at the LHC. For each multiplicity class, the differential transverse momentum ( <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>) spectrum, the mean transverse momentum &#10216; <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>&#10217;, the <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>-integrated yield (d <italic>N</italic>/d <italic>y</italic>), and the ratio of the K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239; to <math altimg='si3.svg'><msubsup><mrow><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>S</mi><mn>0</mn></msubsup></math> yields are reported. These are consistent with previous K*(892) 0 resonance results with a higher level of precision. Comparisons with phenomenological models such as PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8, EPOS-LHC, and DIPSY are also discussed. For the first time, a significant K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239;/ <math altimg='si3.svg'><msubsup><mrow><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>S</mi><mn>0</mn></msubsup></math> suppression in pp collisions is observed at a 7 <italic>&#963;</italic> level passing from low to high multiplicity events. The ratios of the <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>-differential yields of K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239; and <math altimg='si3.svg'><msubsup><mrow><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>S</mi><mn>0</mn></msubsup></math> in high and low multiplicity events are also presented along with their double ratio. For <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf>&#8239;&#8818;&#8239;2 GeV/ <italic>c</italic> this double ratio persists below unity by more than 3 <italic>&#963;</italic> suggesting that the suppression affects mainly low <italic>p</italic> <inf>T</inf> resonances. The measured decreasing trend of the K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239;/ <math altimg='si3.svg'><msubsup><mrow><mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>K</mi></mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant='normal'>S</mi><mn>0</mn></msubsup></math> ratio with increasing multiplicity, which in heavy-ion collisions is typically attributed to the rescattering of decay particles of the short-lived resonances, is reproduced by the EPOS-LHC model without the use of hadronic afterburners.

I.J. Abualrob

A. R J Babu

A. Badalá

V.D. Bella

L. G E Beltran

Multiplicity dependence of K*(892) &#8239;&#177;&#8239; production in pp collisions at <math altimg='si2.svg'><mrow><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mspace width='0.33em' /><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mspace width='0.33em' /><mn>13</mn></mrow></math> TeV