Peer review Unravelling New Physics Signals at the HL-LHC with Low-Energy Constraints Maria Ubiali Cambridge

This work presents a referee-style critical assessment of the manuscript “Unravelling New Physics Signals at the HL-LHC with Low-Energy Constraints”. The analysis examines the conceptual foundations, statistical methodology, and physical interpretation underlying the use of closure-test PDF fits to identify Beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) effects in high-energy Drell–Yan observables. We show that the central claims of the manuscript rely on a circular use of internally defined consistency criteria, an overinterpretation of closure-test outcomes, and an assumed separation between low- and high-energy observables that is not derived from first principles. The reliance on projected datasets and framework-dependent reweighting procedures further weakens the physical robustness of the conclusions. The assessment demonstrates that the reported “unravelling” of BSM signals reflects limitations of PDF parametrisation flexibility rather than the emergence of model-independent physical diagnostics. On this basis, the manuscript is found to lack the conceptual and methodological grounding required to support its claims.