Limits on the ejecta mass during the search for kilonovae associated with neutron star-black hole mergers: A case study of S230518h, GW230529, S230627c and the low-significance candidate S240422ed

Physical Review D American Physical Society (APS) 112:8 (2025) 083002

Authors:

M Pillas, S Antier, K Ackley, T Ahumada, D Akl, L de Almeida, S Anand, C Andrade, I Andreoni, KA Bostroem, M Bulla, E Burns, T Cabrera, S Chang, H Choi, B O’Connor, MW Coughlin, W Corradi, AR Gibbs, T Dietrich, D Dornic, J-G Ducoin, P-A Duverne, H-B Eggenstein, M Freeberg, M Dyer, M Fausnaugh, Wen-fai Fong, F Foucart, D Frostig, N Guessoum, Vaidehi Gupta, P Hello, G Hosseinzadeh, L Hu, T Hussenot-Desenonges, M Im, R Jayaraman, M Jeong, V Karambelkar, M Kasliwal, S Kim, CD Kilpatrick, N Kochiashvili, S Karpov, K Kunnumkai, M Lamoureux, CU Lee, N Lourie, J Lyman, M Mašek, F Magnani, G Mo, M Molham, AH Nitz, M Nicholl, F Navarete, K Noysena, D O’Neill, GSH Paek, A Palmese, R Poggiani, T Pradier, O Pyshna, Y Rajabov, JC Rastinejad, DJ Sand, P Shawhan, M Shrestha, R Simcoe, SJ Smartt, D Steeghs, R Stein, HF Stevance, A Takey, M Sun, A Toivonen, D Turpin, K Ulaczyk, A Wold, T Wouters

Abstract:

Neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers, detectable via their gravitational-wave (GW) emission, are expected to produce kilonovae (KNe). Four NSBH candidates have been identified and followed-up by more than fifty instruments since the start of the fourth GW observing run (O4), in May 2023, up to July 2024; however, no confirmed associated KN has been detected. This study evaluates ejecta properties from multimessenger observations to understand the absence of detectable KN: we use GW public information and joint observations taken from 05.2023 to 07.2024 (LVK, ATLAS, DECam, GECKO, GOTO, GRANDMA, SAGUARO, TESS, WINTER, ZTF). First, our analysis on follow-up observation strategies shows that, on average, more than 50% of the simulated KNe associated with NSBH mergers reach their peak luminosity around one day after merger in the g, r, i- bands, which is not necessarily covered for each NSBH GW candidate. We also analyze the trade-off between observation efficiency and the intrinsic properties of the KN emission, to understand the impact on how these constraints affect our ability to detect the KN, and underlying ejecta properties for each GW candidate. In particular, we can only confirm the kilonova was not missed for 1% of the GW230529 and S230627c sky localization region, given the large sky localization error of GW230529 and the large distance for S230627c and, their respective KN faint luminosities. More constraining, for S230518h, we infer the dynamical ejecta and postmerger disk wind ejecta mdyn,mwind<0.03M⊙ and the viewing angle θ>25°. Similarly, the nonastrophysical origin of S240422ed is likely further confirmed by the fact that we would have detected even a faint KN at the time and presumed distance of the S240422ed event candidate, within a minimum 45% credible region of the sky area, that can be larger depending on the KN scenario.

Infrared spectral signatures of light r-process elements in kilonovae

(2025)

Authors:

Anders Jerkstrand, Quentin Pognan, Smaranika Banerjee, Nicholas Sterling, Jon Grumer, Niamh Ferguson, Keith Butler, James Gillanders, Stephen Smartt, Kyohei Kawaguchi, Blanka Vilagos

Low-redshift constraints on structure growth from CMB lensing tomography

(2025)

Authors:

Andrea Rubiola, Matteo Zennaro, Carlos García-García, David Alonso

Probing the Higgs boson CP properties in vector-boson fusion production in the H → τ + τ − channel with the ATLAS detector

Journal of High Energy Physics Springer 2025:10 (2025) 92

Authors:

G Aad, E Aakvaag, B Abbott, S Abdelhameed, K Abeling, NJ Abicht, SH Abidi, M Aboelela, A Aboulhorma, H Abramowicz, Y Abulaiti, BS Acharya, A Ackermann, C Adam Bourdarios, L Adamczyk, SV Addepalli, MJ Addison, J Adelman, A Adiguzel, T Adye, AA Affolder, Y Afik, MN Agaras, A Aggarwal

Abstract:

The CP properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the vector-boson fusion production mode. The analysis exploits the decay mode of the Higgs boson into two τ-leptons using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Results are obtained using the Optimal Observable method. CP-violating interactions between the Higgs boson and electroweak gauge bosons are considered in the effective field theory framework, with the interaction strength described in the HISZ basis by d~, and in the Warsaw basis by cHW~, cHB~, and cHW~B. No deviations relative to the Standard Model are observed, and limits are obtained on the strength parameters. The d~ parameter is constrained to the interval [−0.012, 0.044] at the 95% confidence level while cHW~ is constrained to [−0.24, 0.83], when considering both linear and quadratic effects of physics beyond the Standard Model.

Search for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Journal of High Energy Physics Springer 2025:10 (2025) 93

Authors:

G Aad, E Aakvaag, B Abbott, S Abdelhameed, K Abeling, NJ Abicht, SH Abidi, M Aboelela, A Aboulhorma, H Abramowicz, Y Abulaiti, BS Acharya, A Ackermann, C Adam Bourdarios, L Adamczyk, SV Addepalli, MJ Addison, J Adelman, A Adiguzel, T Adye, AA Affolder, Y Afik, MN Agaras, A Aggarwal

Abstract:

A search for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark, tH, is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search targets Higgs-boson decays into bb¯, WW*, ZZ*, and ττ, accompanied by an isolated lepton (electron or muon) from the top-quark decay. Multivariate techniques are employed to enhance the separation between signal and background processes. The observed signal strength, μtH, defined as the ratio between the measured cross-section and the predicted Standard Model value, is μtH = 8.1 ± 2.6 (stat.) ± 2.0 (syst.). The significance of the observed (expected) signal above the background-only expectation is 2.8 (0.4) standard deviations. The corresponding observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the tH cross-section is found to be 13.9 (6.1) times the value predicted by the Standard Model. An interpretation with an inverted sign of the top-quark Yukawa coupling is performed, and the signal strength and corresponding limit are reported.