In this report, we derive analytical expressions for the time resolution limits of standard silicon sensors, LGADs, and 3D trench sensors. We separately examine the effects of Landau fluctuations and electronic noise. To analyze Landau fluctuations, we relate the time resolution of a single electron-hole pair generated at a random position in the sensor to the time resolution associated with the full ionization pattern produced by a charged particle. For electronic noise, we explore optimal filtering techniques that minimize its impact on time resolution, and evaluate how closely these can be approximated by practical filters. Finally, we demonstrate that the combined effect of Landau fluctuations and electronic noise cannot, in general, be simply expressed as the quadratic sum of the individual contributions.

Heavy-flavor quarks produced in proton-proton (pp) collisions provide a unique opportunity to investigate the evolution of quark-initiated parton showers from initial hard scatterings to final-state hadrons. By examining jets that contain heavy-flavor hadrons, this study explores the effects of both perturbative and non-perturbative QCD on jet formation and structure. The angular differences between various jet axes, $\Delta R_{\rm axis}$, offer insight into the radiation patterns and fragmentation of charm quarks. The first measurement of D$^{0}$-tagged jet axes differences in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV by the ALICE experiment at the LHC is presented for jets with transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}^{\rm ch~jet} \geq 10$ ${\rm GeV}/c$ and D$^0$ mesons with $p_{\rm T}^{\rm D^{0}} \geq 5$ ${\rm GeV}/c$. In this D$^0$-meson-tagged jet measurement, three jet axis definitions, each with different sensitivities to soft, wide-angle radiation, are used: the Standard axis, Soft Drop groomed axis, and Winner-Takes-All axis. Measurements of the radial distributions of D$^0$ mesons with respect to the jet axes, $\Delta R_{\mathrm{axis-D^0}}$, are reported, along with the angle, $\Delta R_{\mathrm{axis}}$, between the three jet axes. The D$^{0}$ meson emerges as the leading particle in these jets, closely aligning with the Winner-Takes-All axis and diverging from the Standard jet axis. The results also examine how varying the sensitivity to soft radiation with grooming influences the orientation of the Soft Drop jet axis, and uncover that charm-jet structure is more likely to survive grooming when the Soft Drop axis is further from the D$^{0}$ direction, providing further evidence of the dead-cone effect recently measured by ALICE.

The FCC integrated programme comprises an $\rm e^+e^-$ high-luminosity circular collider that will produce very large samples of data in an energy range $88 \le \sqrt{s} \le 365$ GeV, followed by a high-energy $\rm pp$ machine that, with the current baseline plan, will operate at a collision energy of around 85 TeV and deliver datasets an order of magnitude larger than those of the HL-LHC. This visionary project will allow for transformative measurements across a very broad range of topics, which in almost all cases will exceed in sensitivity the projections of any other proposed facility, and simultaneously provide the best possible opportunity for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model. The highlights of the physics programme are presented, together with discussion on the key attributes of the integrated project that enable the physics reach. It is noted that the baseline programme of FCC-ee, in particular, is both flexible and extendable, and also that the synergy and complementarity of the electron and proton machines, and the sharing of a common infrastructure, provides a remarkably efficient, timely and cost-effective approach to addressing the most pressing open questions in elementary particle physics.

Results of the BM@N experiment at the Nuclotron/NICA complex on the production of protons, deuterons and tritons in interactions of an argon beam of 3.2 AGeV with fixed targets of C, Al, Cu, Sn and Pb are presented. Transverse mass spectra, rapidity distributions and multiplicities of protons, deuterons and tritons are measured. The results are treated within a coalescence approach and compared with predictions of theoretical models and with other measurements

We present the current status of the MATHUSLA (MAssive Timing Hodoscope for Ultra-Stable neutraL pArticles) long-lived particle (LLP) detector at the HL-LHC, covering the design, fabrication and installation at CERN Point 5. MATHUSLA40 is a 40 m-scale detector with an air-filled decay volume that is instrumented with scintillator tracking detectors, to be located near CMS. Its large size, close proximity to the CMS interaction point and about 100 m of rock shielding from LHC backgrounds allows it to detect LLP production rates and lifetimes that are one to two orders of magnitude beyond the ultimate reach of the LHC main detectors. This provides unique sensitivity to many LLP signals that are highly theoretically motivated, due to their connection to the hierarchy problem, the nature of dark matter, and baryogenesis. Data taking is projected to commence with the start of HL-LHC operations. We summarize the new 40m design for the detector that was recently presented in the MATHUSLA Conceptual Design Report, alongside new realistic background and signal simulations that demonstrate high efficiency for the main target LLP signals in a background-free HL-LHC search. We argue that MATHUSLA's uniquely robust expansion of the HL-LHC physics reach is a crucial ingredient in CERN's mission to search for new physics and characterize the Higgs boson with precision.

The energy calibration of calorimeters at collider experiments, such as the ones at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, is crucial for achieving the experiment's physics objectives. Standard calibration approaches have limitations which become more pronounced as detector granularity increases. In this paper we propose a novel calibration procedure to simultaneously calibrate individual detector cells belonging to a particle shower, by targeting a well-controlled energy reference. The method bypasses some of the difficulties that exist in more standard approaches. It is implemented using differentiable programming. In this paper, simulated energy deposits in the electromagnetic section of a high-granularity calorimeter are used to study the method and demonstrate its performance. It is shown that the method is able to correct for biases in the energy response.

An accurate description of the scalar potential at finite temperature is crucial for studying cosmological first-order phase transitions (FOPT) in the early Universe. At finite temperatures, a precise treatment of thermal resummations is essential, as bosonic fields encounter significant infrared issues that can compromise standard perturbative approaches. The Partial Dressing (or the tadpole resummation) method provides a self consistent resummation of higher order corrections, allowing the computation of thermal masses and the effective potential including the proper Boltzmann suppression factors and without relying on any high-temperature approximation. We systematically compare the Partial dressing resummation scheme results with the Parwani and Arnold Espinosa (AE) ones to investigate the thermal phase transition dynamics in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). Our findings reveal that different resummation prescriptions can significantly alter the nature of the phase transition within the same region of parameter space, confirming the differences that have already been noticed between the Parwani and AE schemes. Notably, the more refined resummation prescription, the Partial Dressing scheme, does not support symmetry non-restoration in 2HDM at high temperatures observed using the AE prescription. Furthermore, we quantify the uncertainties in the stochastic gravitational wave (GW) spectrum from an FOPT due to variations in resummation methods, illustrating their role in shaping theoretical predictions for upcoming GW experiments. Finally, we discuss the capability of the High-Luminosity LHC and proposed GW experiments to probe the FOEWPT-favored region of the parameter space.

Femtoscopy of non-identical particle pairs has been instrumental for precision measurements of both two-particle sources and the final-state interactions in high-energy elementary and heavy-ion collisions. The majority of measurements assessing the source properties are based on identical particle pairs, providing direct access to the characteristics of the single-particle source. The work in this paper demonstrates, via femtoscopy measurements of charged pion-deuteron pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, the feasibility of accessing the characteristics of the single-particle femtoscopic source by using particle pairs with large mass differences such as pions and deuterons. The first experimental results of the measurement of deuteron source sizes in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions are presented. The results show good agreement with the trend derived from other charged hadrons such as pions, kaons, and protons as a function of transverse mass, indicating similar source properties

This study presents the first observation of ultra-long-range two-particle azimuthal correlations with pseudorapidity separation of ($|\Delta \eta| > 5.0$) in proton-proton (pp) and ($|\Delta \eta| > 6.5$) in proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at the LHC, down to and below the minimum-bias multiplicity. Two-particle correlation coefficients (${V}_{2\Delta}$) are measured after removing non-flow (jets and resonance decays) contributions using the template-fit method across various multiplicity classes, providing novel insights into the origin of long-range correlations in small systems. Comparisons with the 3D-Glauber + MUSIC + UrQMD hydrodynamic model reveal significant discrepancies at low multiplicities, indicating possible dynamics beyond typical hydrodynamic behavior. Initial-state models based on the Color Glass Condensate framework generate only short-range correlations, while PYTHIA simulations implemented with the string-shoving mechanism also fail to describe these ultra-long-range correlations. The results challenge existing paradigms and question the underlying mechanisms in low-multiplicity pp and p-Pb collisions. The findings impose significant constraints on models describing collective phenomena in small collision systems and advance the understanding of origin of long-range correlations at Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies.

The formation of light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units (e.g., d, $^3$He, and $^4$He) in high-energy hadronic collisions presents a longstanding mystery in nuclear physics [1,2]. It is not clear how nuclei bound by a few MeV can emerge in environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV [3-5], about 100,000 times hotter than the center of the Sun. Despite extensive studies, this question remained unanswered. The ALICE Collaboration now addresses it with a novel approach using deuteron-pion momentum correlations in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Our results provide model-independent evidence that about 80% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear fusion reactions [6] following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the $\Delta (1232)$. These findings resolve a crucial gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in hadronic collisions. Beyond answering the fundamental question on how nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be employed in the modeling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays [7] and dark matter decays [8,9].

Lightcone distribution amplitudes (LCDAs) within the framework of heavy quark effective theory (HQET) play a crucial role in the theoretical description of weak decays of heavy bottom mesons. However, the first-principle determination of HQET LCDAs faces significant theoretical challenges. In this presentation, we introduce a practical approach to address these obstacles. This makes sequential use of effective field theories. Leveraging the newly-generated lattice ensembles, we present a pioneering lattice calculation, offering new insights into LCDAs for heavy mesons. Additionally, we discuss the impact of these results on the heavy-to-light form factors and briefly give potential future directions in this field.

Smashing nuclei at ultrarelativistic speeds and analyzing the momentum distribution of outgoing debris provides a powerful method to probe the many-body properties of the incoming nuclear ground states. Within a perturbative description of initial-state fluctuations in the quark-gluon plasma, we express the measurement of anisotropic flow in ultra-central heavy-ion collisions as the quantum-mechanical average of a specific set of operators measuring the harmonic structure of the two-body azimuthal correlations among nucleons in the colliding states. These observables shed a new light on spatial correlations in atomic nuclei, while enabling us to test the complementary pictures of nuclear structure delivered by low- and high-energy experiments on the basis of state-of-the-art theoretical approaches rooted in quantum chromodynamics.

The ALICE Collaboration reports its first LHC Run 3 measurements of charged-particle pseudorapidity density at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.36$ TeV. Particle multiplicity in high-energy collisions characterises the system geometry, constrains particle-production mechanisms, and is used to estimate initial energy density. Multiplicity also acts as a reference for subsequent measurements as a function of centrality. In this letter, for the first time, charged particles are reconstructed using the upgraded ALICE Inner Tracking System and Time Projection Chamber, while the collision centrality is determined by measuring charged-particle multiplicities with the Fast Interaction Trigger system. Pseudorapidity density, ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}\eta$, is presented, averaged over events, for various centrality classes. Results are shown as a function of pseudorapidity and the average number of participating nucleons ($\langle N_{\mathrm{part}}\rangle$) in the collision. The average charged-particle pseudorapidity density ($\langle {\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}\eta \rangle$) at midrapidity ($|\eta|<0.5$) is 2047 $\pm$ 54 for the 5% most central collisions. The value of $\langle {\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}\eta \rangle$ normalised to $\langle N_{\mathrm{part}}\rangle/2$ as a function of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ follows the trend established in previous measurements in heavy-ion collisions. Theoretical models based on mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions that involve the formation of quark-gluon plasma medium and models based on individual nucleon-nucleon interactions are compared to the data.

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) predicts that, at sufficiently high temperature and energy density, nuclear matter undergoes a phase transition from confined hadrons to a deconfined state of quarks and gluons known as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). One of the historically proposed signatures of QGP formation is strangeness enhancement (SE), characterized by an increased production of strange hadrons in heavy-ion collisions relative to proton--proton (pp) interactions. At the LHC, the ALICE experiment has measured a continuous increase in the strange-to-non-strange hadron yield ratios as a function of midrapidity charged-particle multiplicity, not only in large systems like Pb--Pb but also in small systems such as pp and p--Pb. The origin of SE in small systems is still under debate, motivating further experimental investigations. This article presents recent ALICE analyses that offer complementary insights into the phenomenon. These include (i) multi-differential studies using event-shape observables such as transverse spherocity and the concept of effective energy, and (ii) the first measurement of multiplicity distributions of strange and multi-strange hadrons, P($\textit{n}_{S}$), in pp collisions.

Partonic collectivity is one of the necessary signatures for the formation of Quark-Gluon-Plasma in high-energy nuclear collisions. Number of Constituent Quarks (NCQ) scaling has been observed for light hadron elliptic flow $v_2$ in top energy nuclear collisions at RHIC and the LHC, and this has been theoretically suggested as strong evidence for partonic collectivity. In this letter, a systematic analysis of $v_2$ of $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $K^{0}_{S}$, $p$ and $\Lambda$ in Au+Au collisions at ${\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}}$ = 3.2, 3.5, 3.9, and 4.5 GeV, with the STAR experiment at RHIC, is presented. NCQ scaling is markedly violated at 3.2 GeV, consistent with a hadronic-interaction dominated equation of state. However, as the collision energy increases, a gradual evolution to NCQ scaling is observed. This beam-energy dependence of $v_2$ for all hadrons studied provides evidence for the onset of dominant partonic interactions by ${\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}}$ = 4.5 GeV.

We investigate the longitudinal nuclear suppression factor defined by a scaled ratio of rapidity distributions. To study this experimental observable, we describe three approaches involving numerical and analytical calculations. We first approach this problem by conducting model studies using EPOS, FTFP$_{BERT}$, and HIJING, and notice that while EPOS shows a decreasing trend of this ratio for increasing rapidity, the latter two model calculations display an increment of the ratio. The analytical approaches involve, first, the quasi-exponential distribution obtained from the Tsallis statistics, and second, the nonadditive Boltzmann transport equation in the relaxation time approximation. We notice that our analytical results satisfactorily describe NA61 experimental data (for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=6.3, 7.6, 8.8, 12.3, and 17.3 GeV) for the negatively charged pions.

This Letter analyzes the sensitivity of event geometry estimators to the initial-state kinematics of hard scattering in proton-lead collisions. This analysis uses dijets as a proxy for the parton-parton scattering configuration, correlating it with event geometry estimators, namely the energy deposited in the Zero-Degree Calorimeter and the transverse energy recorded in the Forward Calorimeter in the Pb-going direction. The analysis uses data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider with a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 56 nb$^{-1}$. The jets are measured within the pseudorapidity interval $-$2.8 $<$ $\eta$ $<$ 4.5, where positive $\eta$ values correspond to the direction of the proton beam. Results are presented as a function of the Bjorken-$x$ of the parton originating from the proton, $x_{p}$. Both event geometry estimators are found to be dependent on $x_{p}$, with the energy deposited in the Zero-Degree Calorimeter about six times less sensitive to $x_{p}$ compared with the transverse energy deposited in the Forward Calorimeter.