Search

This study investigates the astronomical implications of the Ghosh-Kumar rotating Black Hole (BH), particularly its behaviour on shadow images, illuminated by celestial light sources and equatorial thin accretion disks. Our research delineates a crucial correlation between dynamics of the shadow images and the parameters $a$,~ $q$ and the $\theta_{obs}$, which aptly reflect the influence of the model parameters on the optical features of shadow images. Initially, elevated behavior of both $a$ and $q$ transforms the geometry of the shadow images from perfect circles to an oval shape and converges them towards the centre of the screen. By imposing the backward ray-tracing method, we demonstrate the optical appearance of shadow images of the considering BH spacetime in the celestial light source. The results demonstrate that the Einstein ring shows a transition from an axisymmetric closed circle to an arc-like shape on the screen as well as producing the deformation on the shadow shape with the modifications of spacetime parameters at the fixed observational position. Next, we observe that the attributes of accretion disks along with the relevant parameters on the shadow images are illuminated by both prograde and retrograde accreting flow. Our study reveals the process by which the accretion disk transitions from a disk-like structure to a hat-like shape with the aid of observational angles. Moreover, with an increase of $q$, the observed flux of both direct and lensed images of the accretion disk gradually moves towards the lower zone of the screen. Furthermore, we present the intensity distribution of the redshift factors on the screen. Our analysis suggests that the observer can see both redshift and blueshift factors on the screen at higher observational angles, while augmenting the values of both $a$ and $q$, enhancing the effect of redshift on the screen., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures

Recent measurements of the lepton flavor universality ratios $R^{\mu e}_{K}$ and $R^{\mu e}_{K^*}$ in $B\to \left(K, K^*\right)\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\left(e^+e^-\right)$ at LHCb align with the Standard Model predictions, necessitating search for the complementary decay modes. In this context, we derive the angular decay distributions of the four-fold $B \to K_{1}(1270,1400)(\to V P) \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decays, where $K_1 $ is an axial-vector meson, $V=\rho, K^{\ast}$, and $P=K, \pi$. Considering the weak effective Hamiltonian with vector and axial-vector new physics operators, and employing the helicity formalism, we obtain the four-dimensional differential decay distributions and extract various physical observables. These include differential branching ratios, lepton forward-backward asymmetry, forward-backward asymmetry for transversely polarized $K_1$ meson, longitudinal and transverse polarization fractions of the $K_1$ meson, and the normalized angular coefficients with longitudinally and transversely polarized final state vector meson $V$, in the cascade decay $K_1\to VP$. Based on the latest global fit analysis data for all $b\to s$ transitions, we predict the results of these observables in various bins of the square of the momentum transfer, $q^2$. Our findings indicate that these physical observables are not only sensitive to new physics but can also differentiate between various new physics scenarios in certain kinematical regions. The precise measurements of these observables in $B \to K_{1}(1270,1400)(\to V P) \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decays at current and future experiments will provide opportunities for the complementary searches for physics beyond the Standard Model in $b\to s\ell^+\ell^-$ decays., Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, 14 tables

The Standard Model (SM) is lepton flavor universal, and the recent measurements of lepton flavor universality in $B \to (K,K^*)\ell^{+}\ell^{-}$, for $\ell = \mu, \; e$, decays now lie close to the SM predictions. However, this is not the case for the $\tau$ to $\mu$ ratios in these decays, where there is still some window open for the new physics (NP), and to accommodate them various extensions to the SM are proposed. It will be interesting to identify some observables which are not only sensitive on the parametric space of such NP models but also have some discriminatory power. We find that the polarization of the $K^{*}$ may play an important role, therefore, we have computed the unpolarized and polarized lepton flavor universality ratios of $\tau$ to $\mu$ in $B\to K^{*}\ell^{+}\ell^{+}$, $\ell= \mu, \tau$ decays. The calculation shows that in most of the cases, the values of the various proposed observables fall within the current experimental sensitivity, and their study at some on going and future experiments will serve as a tool to segregate the variants of the NP models., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures

New research has highlighted a shortfall in the Standard Model (SM) because it predicts neutrinos to have zero mass. However, recent experiments on neutrino oscillation have revealed that the majority of neutrino parameters indeed indicate their significant mass. In response, scientists are increasingly incorporating discrete symmetries alongside continuous ones for better justification of observed patterns of neutrino mixing. In this study, we have examined a model within $A_4\times Z_3\times Z_{10}$ symmetry to estimate the neutrino masses using particle swarm optimization technique for both mass hierarchy of neutrino. This model employed a hybrid seesaw mechanism, a combination of seesaw mechanism of type-I and type-II, to establish the effective Majorana neutrino mass matrix. After calculating the mass eigenvalues and lepton mixing matrix upto second order perturbation theory in this framework, this study seeks to investigate the scalar potential for vacuum expectation values (VEVs), optimize the parameters, $U_{PMNS}$ matrix, neutrino masses: $|{m_{1}^{\prime}}^N|=0.0292794-0.0435082\ eV$, $|{m_{2}^{\prime}}^N|=1.78893\times 10^{-18}-0.0293509\ eV$, $|{m_{3}^{\prime}}^N|=0.0307414-0.0471467\ eV$, $|{m_{1}^{\prime}}^I|=0.00982013-0.0453623\ eV$, $|{m_{2}^{\prime}}^I_|=0.0379702-0.0471197\ eV$, and $|{m_{3}^{\prime}}^I|=0.0122063-0.027544\ eV$, effective neutrino mass parameters: $\langle {m_{ee}} \rangle^N=(0.170-3.93)\times10^{-2}\ eV$, $\langle {m_{\beta}} \rangle^N=(0.471-1.39)\times10^{-2}\ eV$, $\langle {m_{ee}} \rangle^I=(1.85-4.55)\times10^{-2}\ eV$ and $\langle {m_{\beta}} \rangle^I=(2.26-4.56)\times10^{-2}\ eV$, are predicted for both mass hierarchy through particle swarm optimization (PSO), showing strong agreement with recent experimental findings., Comment: 20 Pages

Recent research has indicated that the Standard Model (SM), while historically highly effective, is found to be insufficient due to its prediction of zero mass for neutrinos. With the exception of a few, the majority of the parameters related to neutrinos have been determined by neutrino oscillation experiments with excellent precision. Experiments on neutrino oscillation and neutrino mixing have shown that neutrinos are massive. To fill in gaps, discrete symmetries are becoming more common alongside continuous symmetries while describing the observed pattern of neutrino mixing. Here, we present a $T_7$ flavor symmetry to explain the masses of charged leptons and neutrinos. The light neutrino mass matrix is derived using seesaw mechanism of type I, which involves the Dirac neutrino mass matrix as well as the right-handed neutrino mass matrix. We estimate the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata matrix ($U_{PMNS}$), three mixing angles, $\theta_{12}$, $\theta_{23}$ and $\theta_{13}$, which are strongly correlated with the recent experimental results. The extent of $CP$ violation in neutrino oscillations is obtained by calculating Jarskog invariant $(J_{CP})$ on the behalf of $U_{PMNS}$. We also find the masses of three neutrinos and Effective Majorana neutrino mass parameter $\langle m_{ee} \rangle$ which is $1.0960$ $meV$ and $10.9217$ $meV$ for normal and inverted hierarchy, respectively., Comment: 23 Pages

We study the Einstein images of a charged Rastall AdS black hole (BH) within the fabric of AdS/CFT correspondence. Considering the holographic setup, we analyze the amplitude of the total response function for various values of model parameters. With an increase in parameter $\lambda$ and temperature $T$, the amplitude of the response function is decreased, while it is increased with the increase of the electric charge $e$ and chemical potential $\mu$. The influence of frequency $\omega$ also plays an important role in the bulk field, as it is found that the decreasing $\omega$ leads to an increase in the periods of the waves, which means that the amplitude of the response function also depends on the wave source. The relation between $T$ to the inverse of the horizon $r_{h}$ for the parameter $\lambda$ is interpreted under fixed values of other involved parameters. These, in turn, affect the behavior of the response function and the Einstein ring, which may be used to differentiate the present work from previous studies. Via a special optical system, we construct the holographic images of the BH in bulk. The obtained results show that the Einstein ring always appears with concentric stripes at the position of the north pole, and this ring transforms into the luminosity-deformed ring or bright light spot when the distant observer lies away from the north pole. Moreover, from the brightness profiles, it is observed that as $\lambda$ grows, the shadow radius is significantly decreased, while the brightness of the ring is negligibly changed. We further investigate the influence of $T$ and $\mu$ on the ring radius. These results reveal that the increasing values of $T$ lead to an increase in the shadow radius and decrease as the values of $\mu$ grow. Finally, we finish this work with a discussion of the Einstein ring radius obtained by geometric optics, which is consistent with wave optics., Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) aims to inject oxygen (${}^{16}O$) ions in the next run into its experiments. This include the anticipated one-day physics run focusing on $OO$ collisions at center-of-mass energy \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}} = 7 Tev. In this study, we have used recently developed version of the EPOS (EPOS4) to study the production of identified particles ($\pi^\pm$, $K^\pm$ and $p(\overline{p})$) in $OO$ collisions at 7 Tev. Predictions of transverse momentum ($p_T$) spectra, $\langle p_T \rangle$, integrated yield (dN/dy) for different centrality classes are studied. To provide insight into the collective nature of the produced particles, we look into the $p_T$-differential particle ratios ($K/\pi$ and $p/\pi$) and $p_T$-integrated particle ratios to ($\pi^++\pi^-$) as a function of charge particle multiplicity. The shape of the charge particle multiplicity ($dN/d\eta$) and $\langle p_T \rangle$ is well described by the EPOS4. The EPOS4 predictions for the ratios of $K/\pi$ and $p/\pi$ exhibit a systematic overestimation compared to the observed trends as a function of charged-particle multiplicity. Interestingly, the $OO$ results of $p_T$-integrated particle ratios shows a clear final state multiplicity overlap with $pp$, $p-Pb$ and $Pb-Pb$ collisions. EPOS4 mimics signs of collectivity and is one of the suitable candidates to study ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, the foreseen data from $OO$ collisions at the LHC, when available, will help to better understand the heavy-ion-like behavior in small systems as well as help to put possible constraints on the model parameters., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

This research paper used a newly proposed strategy for finding the exact inflationary solutions to the Friedman equations in the context of Rastall theory of gravity (RTG), which is known as constant-roll warm inflation (CRWI). The dissipative effects produced during WI are studied by introducing a dissipation factor $Q=\frac{\Gamma}{3H}$, where $\Gamma$ is the coefficient of dissipation. We establish the model to evaluate the inflaton field, effective potential requires to produce inflation, and entropy density. These physical quantities lead to developing the important inflationary observables like scalar/tensor power spectrum, scalar spectral index, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and running of spectral-index for two choices of obtained potential that are $V_0=0$ and $V_0\neq0$. In this study, we focus on the effects of the theory parameter $\lambda$, CR parameter $\beta$, and dissipation factor $Q$ (under a high dissipative regime for which $Q=$constant) on inflation and are constrained to observe the compatibility of our model with Planck TT+lowP (2013), Planck TT, TE, EE+lowP (2015), Planck 2018 and BICEP/Keck 2021 bounds. The results are feasible and interesting up to the $2\sigma$ confidence level. Finally, we conclude that the CR technique produces significant changes in the early universe., Comment: 15 Pages, 13 Figures

With the help of AdS/CFT correspondence, we analyze the holographic Einstein images via the response function of the complex scalar field as a probe wave on the AdS Schwarzschild scalar-tensor-vector gravity (STVG) black hole (BH). We find that the amplitude of the response function $|\langle O\rangle|$ decreases with the increasing values of the coupling parameter $\alpha$, while it increases with the decreasing values of temperature $T$. The frequency $\omega$ of the wave source also plays a significant role in wave periods, as we increase the values of $\omega$, we find a decrease in periods of waves, which means that the total response function closely depends on the wave source. Further, we investigate the optical appearance of the holographic images of the BH in bulk. We found that the holographic ring always appears with the concentric stripe surrounded when the observer is located at the north pole, and an extremely bright ring appears when the observer is at the position of the photon sphere of the BH. With the change of the observational angle, this ring will change into a luminosity-deformed ring or a bright light spot. The corresponding brightness profiles show that the luminosity of the ring decreases, and the shadow radius increases with increasing values of $\alpha$. The relation between temperature $T$ and the inverse of the horizon $h_{e}$ is discussed, which shows the smaller values at the beginning of the horizon $h_{e}$, and then increases as the horizon radius increases. This effect can be used to distinguish the STVG BH solution from other BH solutions. Moreover, these significant features are also reflected in the Einstein ring and the corresponding brightness profiles. In addition, we compare the results obtained by wave optics and geometric optics, which are aligned well, implying that the holographic scheme adopted in this paper is valid., Comment: 19 pages, 19 figures

In the search for stable lead (Pb) free perovskites, Vacancy ordered double perovskite (VODP), A$_2$BX$_6$ has emerged as a promising class of materials for solar harvesting owing to their nontoxicity, better stability, and unique optoelectronic properties. Here, we present the stability and the key physical attributes of few selected compounds in a systematic manner using state-of-the-art first-principle calculations. A careful structural and stability analysis via simulating convex hull and compositional phase diagrams for different structural prototypes discloses 14 stable and 1 metastable compounds in this class. The electronic structure calculations using hybrid functional reveals six compounds to acquire band gap in the ideal visible region. These six compounds, namely Cs$_2$SnI$_6$, Cs$_2$PdI$_6$, Cs$_2$TeI$_6$, Cs$_2$TiI$_6$, Cs$_2$PtI$_6$, and Cs$_2$PdBr$_6$, show high optical absorption ($\approx$ 10$^{5}$ cm $^{-1}$) giving rise to high spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency, SLME (15-23\%) in the thin-film thickness range. Close inspection of transport properties reveals polar optical phonon scattering to be the dominant mechanism limiting the overall mobility. Further analysis of the polaron excitations discloses the possibility of large polaron formation at low to moderate defect concentrations. At high defect concentrations, ionized impurity scattering takes over. This suggests that, a simulation based guided control of defect concentrations during synthesis can yield a desired candidate for promissing device application. Additionally, few selected compounds show moderate to high electron mobility values ($\sim$13-63 cm$^2$V$^{-1}$ s$^{-1}$) at room temperature. Overall, the present study paves an important path to help design VODP as Pb-free potential candidates for future optoelectronic applications.

The rare decay $B\rightarrow A\gamma$, with $A$ representing axial-vector mesons such as $K_1 (1270),\; K_1 (1400),\; b_1(1300),\; a_1(1260)$, is studied at next-to-leading order (NLO) in soft collinear effective theory (SCET). The large outgoing meson energy encourages the study of the decay with an appropriate factorization scheme that separates the factorizable and non-factorizable parts systematically. We have analyzed the leading-power and $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ diagrams that contribute to matching to SCET$_I$. The new intermediate theory is matched onto SCET$_{II}$ and the running of SCET$_I$ operators is performed to sum large perturbative logarithms. The values of soft-overlap function $\zeta_{\perp}$ for $K_1 (1270,\;1400), a_{1}$ and $b_{1}$ mesons are estimated from the light cone-sum-rules (LCSR), and later using it the corresponding branching fractions for $B \to \left(K_{1}(1270,\; 1400),\; a_{1},\; b_{1}\right)\gamma$ decays are calculated. We find that in case of $B \to K_{1}(1270,\; 1400)\gamma$ decays the results are in good agreement with their experimental measurements. Also the estimated values of the branching ratios of the $B \to (b_{1},\; a_1)\gamma$ decays are potentially large to be measured at the LHCb and future B-factories.

In the context of holography, the Einstein ring of an AdS black hole (BH) in massive gravity (MG) is depicted. An oscillating Gaussian source on one side of the AdS boundary propagates in bulk, and we impose a response function to explain it. Using a wave optics imaging system, we obtain the optical appearance of the Einstein ring. Our research reveals that the ring can change into a luminosity-deformed ring or light spots depending on the variation of parameters and observational positions. When observers are positioned at the north pole, the holographic profiles always appear as a ring with concentric stripe surroundings, and a bright ring appears at the location of the photon sphere of the BH. These findings are consistent with the radius of the photon sphere of the BH, which is calculated in geometrical optics. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the analytical studies of holographic theory, which can be used to evaluate different types of BHs for a fixed wave source and optical system., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures

Decay rates of the positronium hydride PsH, a bound state of a proton, a positron, and two electrons, are determined for two rare channels, PsH $\to p^+ e^- \gamma$ and PsH $\to p^+ e^-$. Previous studies overestimated these rates by factors of about 2 and 700, respectively. We explain the physics underlying these wrong predictions. We confirm a range of static PsH properties, including the non-relativistic ground state energy, expectation values of inter-particle distances and their powers, and the three and four particle coalescence probabilities, using a variational method in the Gaussian basis.

Thanks for the releasing image of supermassive black holes (BHs) by the event horizon telescope (EHT) at the heart of the $M87$ galaxy. After the discovery of this mysterious object, scientists paid attention to exploring the BH shadow features under different gravitational backgrounds. In this scenario, we study the light rings and observational properties of BH shadow surrounded by different accretion flow models and then investigate the effect of model parameters on the observational display and space-time structure of BHs in the framework of our considering system. Under the incompatible configuration of the emission profiles, the images of BHs comprise that the observed luminosity is mainly determined by direct emission, while the lensing ring will provide a small contribution of the total observed flux and the photon ring makes a negligible contribution due to its exponential narrowness. More importantly, the observed regions and specific intensities of all emission profiles are changed correspondingly under variations of parameters. For optically thin accreting matters, we analyze the profile and specific intensity of the shadows with static and infalling accretions models, respectively. We find that with an infalling motion the interior region of the shadows will be darker than in a static case, due to the Doppler effect of the infalling movement. Finally, it is concluded that these findings support that the change of BH state parameters will change the way of space-time geometry, thus affecting the BH shadows dynamics., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

Decay rates of the positronium molecule $\text{Ps}_{2}$ into two photons and into an electron-positron pair are determined. Previous studies find that these rates are very different, \[ \Gamma\left(\text{Ps}_{2}\to e^{+}e^{-}\right)/\Gamma\left(\text{Ps}_{2}\to\gamma\gamma\right)\simeq250\text{ (previous studies)}. \] This is puzzling since both processes have two body final states and are of the same order in the fine structure constant. We propose a simple calculational method and test it with the well-established decay of the positronium ion into an electron and a photon. We then employ it to correct predictions for both these $\text{Ps}_{2}$ decays. We find that previous studies overestimated the $e^{+}e^{-}$ and underestimated the $\gamma\gamma$ channel by factors of about 5.44 and 3.93 respectively. Our results give $\Gamma\left(\text{Ps}_2\to e^+e^-\right)/\Gamma\left(\text{Ps}_2 \to \gamma\gamma\right) \simeq 11.7$.

The LHCb collaboration have recently updated their analysis of the resonant $J/\psi\, p$ mass spectrum in the decay $\Lambda_b^0 \to J/\psi\, p\, K^-$, making use of their combined Run~1 and Run~2 data. In the updated analysis, three narrow states, $P_c (4312)^+$, $P_c (4440)^+$, and $P_c (4457)^+$, are observed. The spin-parity assignments of these states are not yet known. We interpret these narrow resonances as compact hidden-charm diquark-diquark-antiquark pentaquarks. Using an effective Hamiltonian, based on constituent quarks and diquarks, we calculate the pentaquark mass spectrum for the complete $SU (3)_F$ lowest $S$- and $P$-wave multiplets, taking into account dominant spin-spin, spin-orbit, orbital and tensor interactions. The resulting spectrum is very rich and we work out the quark flavor compositions, masses, and $J^P$ quantum numbers of the pentaquarks. However, heavy quark symmetry restricts the observable states in $\Lambda_b$-baryon, as well as in the decays of the other weakly-decaying $b$-baryons, $\Xi_b$ and $\Omega_b$. In addition, some of the pentaquark states are estimated to lie below the $J/\psi\, p$ threshold in $\Lambda_b$-decays (and corresponding thresholds in $\Xi_b$- and $\Omega_b$-decays). They decay via $c \bar c$ annihilation into light hadrons or a dilepton pair, and are expected to be narrower than the $P_c$-states observed. We anticipate their discovery, as well as of the other pentaquark states present in the spectrum at the LHC, and in the long-term future at a Tera-$Z$ factory., Comment: 3 pages. Contribution to the Proceedings of the 40th ICHEP2020 Conference, Prague, Czech Republic (Virtual Conference)

The radiative baryonic decay $\mathcal{B}^{*}\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)\to\mathcal{B}\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)+\gamma$ is a magnetic dipole $(M1)$ transition. It requires the transition magnetic moment $\mu_{\mathcal{B}\left(3/2\right)\to\mathcal{B}\left(1/2\right)}$. The transition magnetic moments for the helicities $1/2$ and $3/2$ are evaluated in the frame work of constituent quark model in which the intrinsic spin and the magnetic moments of quarks $u,d$ and $s$ play a key role. Within this framework, the radiative decays $\Delta^{+}\to p +\gamma$, $\Sigma^{*0}\to \Lambda+\gamma$, $\Sigma^{*+}\to \Sigma^{+}+\gamma$ and $\Xi^{*0}\to \Xi^{0}+\gamma$ are analyzed in detail. The branching ratio for these decays is found to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental values., Comment: 9 pages, no figure

The New Physics (NP) effects are studied in the rare baryonic decay $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda (\to p\pi^-)\ell^{+}\ell^{-}$, with unpolarized $\Lambda_b$ using most general model independent approach by introducing new axial(vector), (pseudo)scalar and tensor operators in the weak effective Hamiltonian corresponding to $b\to s$ transitions. Recently, for $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda (\to p\pi^-)\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decay the LHCb collaboration has measured the branching ratio $(d\mathcal{B}/ds)$, lepton- and hadron-side forward-backward asymmetries, denoted by $A_{FB}^{\ell}$ and $A_{FB}^{\Lambda}$, respectively, and the longitudinal polarization fraction $F_L$ both in the low- and high-recoil regions. To see whether the new $VA$, $SP$ and $T$ couplings can accommodate the available experimental data of these observables, first we have examined their influence on these observables and later we have checked the imprints of these new couplings on a number of interesting but yet not measured observables. It is found that compared to the $VA$ the $SP$ couplings favor experimental data for all the four observables but still no individual coupling is able to accommodate all of the available data simultaneously. To achieve this goal, the pairs of new WCs are taken to check their range that simultaneously satisfy constraints of $B$-Physics and available LHCb data on $d\mathcal{B}/ds$, $F_L$, $A_{FB}^{\ell}$ and $A_{FB}^{\Lambda}$ in several bins for the decay channel under consideration. We find that most of the available data could be accommodated by the different pairs of $VA$ and $SP$ WCs giving more severe constraints on the parametric space of these WCs that is still satisfied with the $B$-physics data.

When a muon bound in an atom decays, there is a small probability that the daughter electron remains bound. That probability is evaluated. Surprisingly, a significant part of the rate is contributed by the negative energy component of the wave function, neglected in a previous study. A simple integral representation of the rate is presented. In the limit of close muon and electron masses, an analytic formula is derived.

The symmetries arise due to heavy quark and large energy limit help us to reduce the number of independent form factors in the heavy-to-light $B$-meson decays. It is expected that these symmetry relations are not exact and are broken by the perturbative effects, namely, the vertex corrections and the hard-spectator scatterings. The former are included in the form factors via vertex renormalization whereas the later are calculated through light-cone distribution amplitudes. We first calculate these symmetry breaking corrections to the form factors involved in semileptonic $B$-meson to an axial-vector $(K_{1})$-meson decay. Later, by using these form factors we see their effect on the physical observables such as the zero-position of the forward-backward $(\mathcal{A}_{FB})$ asymmetry and the longitudinal lepton polarization ($P_L$) asymmetry in $B\rightarrow K_1(1270) \mu^+\mu^-$ decay. We find that as a result of these corrections to the form factors, the zero-position of the forward-backward asymmetry is shifted by $10\%$ from its SM value while the effects on $P_L$ are rather insignificant., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, Alberta Thy 10-19, A version Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

The LHCb collaboration have recently updated their analysis of the resonant $J/\psi p$ mass spectrum in the decay $\Lambda_b^0 \to J/\psi p K^-$, making use of their combined Run 1 and Run 2 data. In the updated analysis, three narrow states, $P_c (4312)^+$, $P_c (4440)^+$,and $P_c (4457)^+$, are observed. The spin-parity assignments of these states are not yet known. We interpret these narrow resonances as compact hidden-charm diquark-diquark-antiquark pentaquarks. Using an effective Hamiltonian, based on constituent quarks and diquarks, we calculate the pentaquark mass spectrum for the complete $SU (3)_F$ lowest $S$- and $P$-wave multiplets, taking into account dominant spin-spin, spin-orbit, orbital and tensor interactions. The resulting spectrum is very rich and we work out the quark flavor compositions, masses, and $J^P$ quantum numbers of the pentaquarks. However, heavy quark symmetry restricts the observable states in $\Lambda_b$-baryon, as well as in the decays of the other weakly-decaying $b$-baryons, $\Xi_b$ and $\Omega_b$. In addition, some of the pentaquark states are estimated to lie below the $J/\psi p$ threshold in $\Lambda_b$-decays (and corresponding thresholds in $\Xi_b$- and $\Omega_b$-decays). They decay via $c \bar c$ annihilation into light hadrons or a dilepton pair, and are expected to be narrower than the $P_c$-states observed. We anticipate their discovery, as well as of the other pentaquark states present in the spectrum at the LHC, and in the long-term future at a Tera-$Z$ factory., Comment: 68 pages, 1 figure, 16 tables, submitted to JHEP. V2: discussions extended, references added, typos corrected, results unchanged. V3: A comment added at the end of Sec. 6

Stability and toxicity issues with the hybrid lead iodide perovskite MAPbI$_3$ necessitate a hunt for potential alternatives. Here, we shed light on promising photovoltaic properties of gold mixed-valence halide perovskites Cs$_2$Au$_2$X$_6$ (X = I, Br, Cl). They satisfy fundamental requirements such as nontoxicity, better stability, a band gap in the visible range, and a low excitonic binding energy. Our study shows a favorable electronic structure, resulting in a high optical-transition strength, and thus a sharp rise in the absorption spectrum near the band gap. This, in turn, yields a very high short-circuit current density and hence higher simulated efficiency compared with MAPbI$_3$. However, careful investigation of defect physics reveals the possibility of deep-level defects (such as V$_X$ , V$_{Cs}$, X$_{Au}$, X$_{Cs}$, Au$_i$, and Au$_X$ , X = I, Br), depending on the growth conditions. These can act as carrier traps and become detrimental to photovoltaic performance. The present study should help in taking necessary precautions in synthesizing these compounds in a controlled chemical environment, which should minimize performance limiting defects and pave the way for future studies on this class of materials., Comment: Chosen as Editorial suggestion