Sinan Sagir

The use of online travel agency (OTA) in the sphere of tourism and hospitality industry is steadily rising along with digitalization. The aim of the investigation is to explore the relationship between the elements of trustworthiness (perceived ability, perceived benevolence, and perceived integrity) and the use of online travel agencies. In this study, a purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from the 292 clients of online travel agencies in Bangladesh. With the application of SPSS version 24 and AMOS version 26, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the research model. The findings indicate that all three elements of trustworthiness - perceived ability, perceived benevolence, and perceived integrity positively influence tourists to use online travel agencies. It scaled a new development in social exchange theory (SET) by introducing the elements of trustworthiness in the context of online travel agencies (OTAs). The present study's findings have important and useful ramifications for online travel service providers, online service agents, and managers of various tourism platforms. They should develop and put into practice strategies to manage trustworthiness across various levels of online travel services to achieve improved responses from travelers.

A measurement of the Higgs boson Yukawa coupling to the top quark is presented using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, recorded with the CMS detector. The coupling strength with respect to the standard model value, $Y_\mathrm{t}$, is determined from kinematic distributions in $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ final states containing ee, $μμ$, or e$μ$ pairs. Variations of the Yukawa coupling strength lead to modified distributions for $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ production. In particular, the distributions of the mass of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ system and the rapidity difference of the top quark and antiquark are sensitive to the value of $Y_\mathrm{t}$. The measurement yields a best fit value of $Y_\mathrm{t} =$ 1.16 $^{+0.24}_{-0.35}$, bounding $Y_\mathrm{t}$ $\lt$ 1.54 at a 95% confidence level.

Abstract In this work, simulations of multi-petawatt lasers in the range of ∼0.2 PW–∼100 PW with varying Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) azimuthal modes as well as linearly polarized (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) laser beams striking near critical density targets were studied by using three-dimensional particle in cell (PIC) codes. Particle acceleration mechanisms have a dependence on laser polarization and it affects the energy gained by the particles. It is known that laser pulses can be polarized helically by applying the LG distribution function to the fundamental Gaussian laser profile. In this study, differently polarized laser beams with varying powers were employed to study laser driven particle acceleration and compares accelerated charged particles’ energy spectra and angular distribution. It is seen that LG laser beams can accelerate higher energetic particles due to higher conversion efficiency compared to LP and CP laser beams. It is also seen that LG laser beams can collimate ions with a narrower spread compared to LP and CP beams. Furthermore, ions can have a smaller divergence angle with increasing azimuthal mode index when the laser is LG polarized. We also studied the energy deposition of these particles in a water cell obtained by the PIC codes for different laser parameters by using Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations which suggests that LG laser beam can be useful for the future hadron therapy applications.

A search for exclusive two-photon production via photon exchange in proton-proton collisions, pp $\to$ p$γγ$p with intact protons, is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 9.4 fb$^{-1}$ collected in 2016 using the CMS and TOTEM detectors at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC. Events are selected with a diphoton invariant mass above 350 GeV and with both protons intact in the final state, to reduce backgrounds from strong interactions. The events of interest are those where the invariant mass and rapidity calculated from the momentum losses of the forward-moving protons matches the mass and rapidity of the central, two-photon system. No events are found that satisfy this condition. Interpreting this result in an effective dimension-8 extension of the standard model, the first limits are set on the two anomalous four-photon coupling parameters. If the other parameter is constrained to its standard model value, the limits at 95% CL are $\lvertζ_1\rvert$ $\lt$ 2.9 $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ GeV$^{-4}$ and $\lvertζ_2\rvert$ $\lt$ 6.0 $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ GeV$^{-4}$.

A search for long-lived particles (LLPs) produced in association with a Z boson is presented. The study is performed using data from proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment during 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 117 fb$^{-1}$. The LLPs are assumed to decay to a pair of standard model quarks that are identified as displaced jets within the CMS tracker system. Triggers and selections based on Z boson decays to electron or muon pairs improve the sensitivity to light LLPs (down to 15 GeV). This search provides sensitivity to beyond the standard model scenarios which predict LLPs produced in association with a Z boson. In particular, the results are interpreted in the context of exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of scalar LLPs (H $\to$ SS). The Higgs boson decay branching fraction is constrained to values less than 6% for proper decay lengths of 10-100 mm and for LLP masses between 40 and 55 GeV. In the case of low-mass ($\approx$15 GeV) scalar particles that subsequently decay to a pair of b quarks, the search is sensitive to branching fractions $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$ SS) $\lt$ 20% for proper decay lengths of 10-50 mm. The use of associated production with a Z boson increases the sensitivity to low-mass LLPs of this analysis with respect to gluon fusion searches. In the case of 15 GeV scalar LLPs, the improvement corresponds to a factor of 2 at a proper decay length of 30 mm.

A measurement of inclusive four-jet production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13\TeV is presented. The transverse momenta of jets within $\lvert\eta\rvert \lt$ 4.7 reach down to 35, 30, 25, and 20 GeV for the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-leading jet, respectively. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of the jet transverse momentum, jet pseudorapidity, and several other observables that describe the angular correlations between the jets. The measured distributions show sensitivity to different aspects of the underlying event, parton shower, and matrix element calculations. In particular, the interplay between angular correlations caused by parton shower and double-parton scattering contributions is shown to be important. The double-parton scattering contribution is extracted by means of a template fit to the data, using distributions for single-parton scattering obtained from Monte Carlo event generators and a double-parton scattering distribution constructed from inclusive single-jet events in data. The effective double-parton scattering cross section is calculated and discussed in view of previous measurements and of its dependence on the models used to describe the single-parton scattering background.

In this work, simulations of multipetawatt lasers at irradiances ${\sim }10^{23} \ \mathrm {W}\ \mathrm {cm}^{-2}$ , striking solid targets and implementing two-dimensional particle-in-cell code was used to study particle acceleration. Preformed plasma at the front surface of a solid target increases both the efficiency of particle acceleration and the reached maximum energy by the accelerated charged particles via nonlinear plasma processes. Here, we have investigated the preformed plasma scale length effects on particle acceleration in the presence and absence of nonlinear quantum electrodynamic (QED) effects, including quantum radiation reaction and multiphoton Breit–Wheeler pair production, which become important at irradiances ${\sim } 10^{23}\ \mathrm {W}\ \mathrm {cm}^{-2}$ . Our results show that QED effects help particles gain higher energies with the presence of preformed plasma. In the results for all cases, preplasma leads to more efficient laser absorption and produces more energetic charged particles, as expected. In the case where QED is included, however, physical mechanisms changed and generated secondary particles ( $\gamma$ -rays and positrons) reversing this trend. That is, the hot electrons cool down due to QED effects, while ions gain more energy due to different acceleration methods. It is found that more energetic $\gamma$ -rays and positrons are created with increasing scale length due to high laser conversion efficiency ( ${\sim }$ 24 % for $\gamma$ -rays and $\sim$ 4 % for positrons at $L = 7\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m}$ scale length), which affects the ion and electron acceleration mechanisms. It is also observed that the QED effect reduces the collimation of angular distribution of accelerated ions because the dominant ion acceleration mechanism is changing when QED is involved in the process.

Charge-dependent anisotropy Fourier coefficients ($v_n$) of particle azimuthal distributions are measured in pPb and PbPb collisions at $ \sqrt{\smash[b]{s_{_{\mathrm{NN}}}}} = $ 5.02 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The normalized difference in the second-order anisotropy coefficients ($v_2$) between positively and negatively charged particles is found to depend linearly on the observed event charge asymmetry with comparable slopes for both pPb and PbPb collisions over a wide range of charged particle multiplicity. In PbPb, the third-order anisotropy coefficient, $v_3$, shows a similar linear dependence with the same slope as seen for $v_2$. The observed similarities between the $v_2$ slopes for pPb and PbPb, as well as the similar slopes for $v_2$ and $v_3$ in PbPb, are compatible with expectations based on local charge conservation in the decay of clusters or resonances, and constitute a challenge to the hypothesis that the observed charge asymmetry dependence of $v_2$ in heavy ion collisions arises from a chiral magnetic wave.

The strong Coulomb field created in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is expected to produce a rapidity-dependent difference ($\Delta v_2$) in the second Fourier coefficient of the azimuthal distribution (elliptic flow, $v_2$) between $\mathrm{D}^0$ ($\mathrm{\bar{u}c}$) and $\overline{\mathrm{D}}^0$ ($\mathrm{u\bar{c}}$) mesons. Motivated by the search for evidence of this field, the CMS detector at the LHC is used to perform the first measurement of $\Delta v_2$. The rapidity-averaged value is found to be $\langle\Delta v_2 \rangle =$ 0.001 $\pm$ 0.001 (stat) $\pm$ 0.003 (syst) in PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV. In addition, the influence of the collision geometry is explored by measuring the $\mathrm{D}^0$ and $\overline{\mathrm{D}}^0$ mesons $v_2$ and triangular flow coefficient ($v_3$) as functions of rapidity, transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$), and event centrality (a measure of the overlap of the two Pb nuclei). A clear centrality dependence of prompt $\mathrm{D}^0$ meson $v_2$ values is observed, while the $v_3$ is largely independent of centrality. These trends are consistent with expectations of flow driven by the initial-state geometry.

A measurement of the top quark mass is performed using a data sample enriched with single top quark events produced in the $t$ channel. The study is based on proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, recorded at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016.Candidate events are selected by requiring an isolated high-momentum lepton (muon or electron) and exactly two jets, of which one is identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminants are designed to separate the signal from the background. Optimized thresholds are placed on the discriminant outputs to obtain an event sample with high signal purity. The top quark mass is found to be 172.13$^{+0.76}_{-0.77}$ GeV, where the uncertainty includes both the statistical and systematic components, reaching sub-GeV precision for the first time in this event topology. The masses of the top quark and antiquark are also determined separately using the lepton charge in the final state, from which the mass ratio and difference are determined to be 0.9952$^{+0.0079}_{-0.0104}$ and 0.83$^{+1.79}_{-1.35}$ GeV, respectively. The results are consistent with $CPT$ invariance.

Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson are presented, using the $\tau$ lepton decay channel. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, jet multiplicity, and transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event if any. The analysis is performed using proton-proton data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. These are the first differential measurements of the Higgs boson cross section in the final state of two $\tau$ leptons, and they constitute a significant improvement over measurements in other final states in events with a large jet multiplicity or with a Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson.

The associated production of a W and a Z boson is studied in final states with multiple leptons produced in proton-proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV using 137 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. A measurement of the total inclusive production cross section yields $\sigma_{\text{tot}}$(pp $\to$ WZ) = 50.6 $\pm$ 0.8 (stat) $\pm$ 1.5 (syst) $\pm$ 1.1 (lum) $\pm$ 0.5 (thy) pb. Measurements of the fiducial and differential cross sections for several key observables are also performed in all the final-state lepton flavour and charge compositions with a total of three charged leptons, which can be electrons or muons. All results are compared with theoretical predictions computed up to next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics plus next-to-leading order in electroweak theory and for various sets of parton distribution functions. The results include direct measurements of the charge asymmetry and the W and Z vector boson polarization. The first observation of longitudinally polarized W bosons in WZ production is reported. Anomalous gauge couplings are searched for, leading to new constraints on beyond-the-standard-model contributions to the WZ triple gauge coupling.

A search for new long-lived particles decaying to leptons using proton-proton collision data produced by the CERN LHC at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV is presented. Events are selected with two leptons (an electron and a muon, two electrons, or two muons) that both have transverse impact parameter values between 0.01 and 10 cm and are not required to form a common vertex. Data used for the analysis were collected with the CMS detector in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 118 (113) fb$^{-1}$ in the ee channel (e$\mu$ and $\mu\mu$ channels). The search is designed to be sensitive to a wide range of models with displaced e$\mu$, ee, and $\mu\mu$ final states. The results constrain several well-motivated models involving new long-lived particles that decay to displaced leptons. For some areas of the available phase space, these are the most stringent constraints to date.

The CMS experiment at the LHC has measured the differential cross sections of Z bosons decaying to pairs of leptons, as functions of transverse momentum and rapidity, in lead-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The measured Z boson elliptic azimuthal anisotropy coefficient is compatible with zero, showing that Z bosons do not experience significant final-state interactions in the medium produced in the collision. Yields of Z bosons are compared to Glauber model predictions and are found to deviate from these expectations in peripheral collisions, indicating the presence of initial collision geometry and centrality selection effects. The precision of the measurement allows, for the first time, for a data-driven determination of the nucleon-nucleon integrated luminosity as a function of lead-lead centrality, thereby eliminating the need for its estimation based on a Glauber model.

Measurements of differential and double-differential cross sections of top quark pair ($\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}$) production are presented in the lepton+jets channels with a single electron or muon and jets in the final state. The analysis combines for the first time signatures of top quarks with low transverse momentum $p_\text{T}$, where the top quark decay products can be identified as separated jets and isolated leptons, and with high $p_\text{T}$, where the decay products are collimated and overlap. The measurements are based on proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The cross sections are presented at the parton and particle levels, where the latter minimizes extrapolations based on theoretical assumptions. Most of the measured differential cross sections are well described by standard model predictions with the exception of some double-differential distributions. The inclusive $\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}$ production cross section is measured to be $\sigma_{\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}} = $ 791 $\pm$ 25 pb, which constitutes the most precise measurement in the lepton+jets channel to date.