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I review theoretical issues associated with the Higgs boson and the mystery of spontaneous breaking of the electroweak gauge symmetry. In addition, this essay is intended as an introduction to the special issue of Annalen der Physik, “Particle Physics after the Higgs”.
A primary problem affecting perturbative quantum chromodynamic (pQCD) analyses is the lack of a method for setting the QCD running-coupling renormalization scale such that maximally precise fixed-order predictions for physical observables are obtained. The Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) eliminates the ambiguities associated with the conventional renormalization scale-setting procedure, yielding predictions that are independent of the choice of renormalization scheme. The QCD coupling scales and the effective number of quark flavors are set order-by-order in the pQCD series. The PMC has a solid theoretical foundation, satisfying the standard renormalization group invariance condition and all of the self-consistency conditions derived from the renormalization group. The PMC scales at each order are obtained by shifting the arguments of the strong force coupling constant αs to eliminate all non-conformal {βi} terms in the pQCD series. The {βi} terms are determined from renormalization group equations without ambiguity. The correct behavior of the running coupling at each order and at each phase-space point can then be obtained. The PMC reduces in the N C → 0 Abelian limit to the Gell-Mann-Low method. In this brief report, we summarize the results of our recent application of the PMC to a number of collider processes, emphasizing the generality and applicability of this approach. A discussion of hadronic Z decays shows that, by applying the PMC, one can achieve accurate predictions for the total and separate decay widths at each order without scale ambiguities. We also show that, if one employs the PMC to determine the top-quark pair forward-backward asymmetry at the next-to-next-to-leading order level, one obtains a comprehensive, self-consistent pQCD explanation for the Tevatron measurements of the asymmetry. This accounts for the “increasing-decreasing” behavior observed by the D0 collaboration for increasing tt¯ invariant mass. At lower energies, the angular distributions of heavy quarks can be used to obtain a direct determination of the heavy quark potential. A discussion of the angular distributions of massive quarks and leptons is also presented, including the fermionic component of the two-loop corrections to the electromagnetic form factors. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that the application of the PMC systematically eliminates a major theoretical uncertainty for pQCD predictions, thus increasing collider sensitivity to possible new physics beyond the Standard Model.
The production of D *± , D ± and D $±\atop{s}$charmed mesons has been measured with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV at the LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 280 nb -1 . The charmed mesons have been reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum 3.5 T (D)<100 GeV and pseudorapidity |η(D)|<2.1. The differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity were measured for D *± and D ± production. The next-to-leading-order QCD predictions are consistent with the data in the visible kinematic region within the large theoretical uncertainties. Using the visible D cross sections and an extrapolation to the full kinematic phase space, the strangeness-suppression factor in charm fragmentation, the fraction of charged non-strange D mesons produced in a vector state, and the total cross section of charm production at √s = 7 TeV were derived.
This is the fifth in a series of papers studying the astrophysics and cosmology of massive, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters. Our sample comprises 40 clusters identified as being dynamically relaxed and hot in Papers I and II of this series. Here we use constraints on cluster mass profiles from X-ray data to test some of the basic predictions of cosmological structure formation in the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. In addition, we present constraints on the concentration–mass relation for massive clusters, finding a power-law mass dependence with a slope of κ m = –0.16 ± 0.07, in agreement with CDM predictions. For this relaxed sample, the relation is consistent with a constant as a function of redshift (power-law slope with 1 + z of κ ζ = –0.17 ± 0.26), with an intrinsic scatter of σln c = 0.16 ± 0.03. We investigate the shape of cluster mass profiles over the radial range probed by the data (typically ~50 kpc–1 Mpc), and test for departures from the simple Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) form, for which the logarithmic slope of the density profile tends to –1 at small radii. Specifically, we consider as alternatives the generalized NFW (GNFW) and Einasto parametrizations. For the GNFW model, we find an average value of (minus) the logarithmic inner slope of β = 1.02 ± 0.08, with an intrinsic scatter of σ β = 0.22 ± 0.07, while in the Einasto case we constrain the average shape parameter to be α = 0.29 ± 0.04 with an intrinsic scatter of σ α = 0.12 ± 0.04. Our results are thus consistent with the simple NFW model on average, but we clearly detect the presence of intrinsic, cluster-to-cluster scatter about the average.
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EXO-200 is a single phase liquid xenon detector designed to search for neutrinoless ββ decay of 136 Xe to the ground state of 136 Ba. We report here on a search for the two-neutrino ββ decay of 136 Xe to the first 0 + excited state, 0 + 1 , of Ba136 based on a 100 kg yr exposure of 136 Xe. Using a specialized analysis employing a machine learning algorithm, we obtain a 90% CL half-life sensitivity of 1.7×10 24 yr. We find no statistically significant evidence for the 2νββ decay to the excited state resulting in a lower limit of T 2ν 1/2 (0 + → 0 + 1 ) > 6.9 ×10 23 yr at 90% CL. In conclusion, this observed limit is consistent with the estimated half-life of 2.5×10 25 yr.
CDMS II data from the five-tower runs at the Soudan Underground Laboratory were reprocessed with an improved charge-pulse fitting algorithm. Two new analysis techniques to reject surface-event backgrounds were applied to the 612 kg days germanium-detector weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-search exposure. An extended analysis was also completed by decreasing the 10 keV analysis threshold to ~5 keV, to increase sensitivity near a WIMP mass of 8 GeV/c 2 . After unblinding, there were zero candidate events above a deposited energy of 10 keV and six events in the lower-threshold analysis. This yielded minimum WIMP-nucleon spin-independent scattering cross-section limits of 1.8×10 –44 and 1.18×10 –41 at 90% confidence for 60 and 8.6 GeV/c 2 WIMPs, respectively. This improves the previous CDMS II result by a factor of 2.4 (2.7) for 60 (8.6) GeV/c 2 WIMPs.
Charge asymmetry in the processes e + e – → μ + μ – γ and e + e – → π + π – γ is measured using 232 fb –1 of data collected with the BABAR detector at e + e – center-of-mass energies near 10.58 GeV. An observable is introduced and shown to be very robust against detector asymmetries while keeping a large sensitivity to the physical charge asymmetry that results from the interference between initial- and final-state radiation (FSR). The asymmetry is determined as a function of the invariant mass of the final-state tracks from production threshold to a few GeV/c 2 . It is compared to the expectation from QED for e + e – → μ + μ – γ, and from theoretical models for e + e – → π + π – γ. A clear interference pattern is observed in e + e – → π + π – γ, particularly in the vicinity of the f 2 (1270) resonance. As a result, the inferred rate of lowest-order FSR production is consistent with the QED expectation for e + e – → μ + μ – γ, and is negligibly small for e + e – → π + π – γ.
Here we study the processes γγ→K$0\atop{S}$K ± π ∓ and γγ→K + K - π 0 using a data sample of 519 fb -1 recorded with the BABAR detector operating at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e + e - collider at center-of-mass energies at and near the Υ(nS) (n=2, 3, 4) resonances. We observe ηc decays to both final states and perform Dalitz plot analyses using a model-independent partial wave analysis technique. This allows a model-independent measurement of the mass-dependence of the I=1/2 Kπ S-wave amplitude and phase. A comparison between the present measurement and those from previous experiments indicates similar behavior for the phase up to a mass of 1.5 GeV/c 2 . In contrast, the amplitudes show very marked differences. Lastly, the data require the presence of a new a 0 (1950) resonance with parameters m=1931±14±22 MeV/c 2 and Γ=271±22±29 MeV.
We describe in detail a previously published measurement of CP violation in B 0 -B¯ 0 oscillations, based on an integrated luminosity of 425.7 fb -1 collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEPII collider. We apply a novel technique to a sample of about 6 million B¯ 0 →D* + ℓ - ν ℓ ¯ decays selected with partial reconstruction of the D*+ meson. The charged lepton identifies the flavor of one B meson at its decay time, the flavor of the other B is determined by kaon tagging. We determine a CP violating asymmetry ACP=(N(B0B0)-N(B¯ 0 B¯ 0 ))/(N(B 0 B 0 )+N(B¯ 0 B¯ 0 ))=(0.06±0.17 +0.38 -0.32 )% corresponding to Δ CP =1-|q/p|=(0.29±0.84 +1.88 -1.61 )×10 -3 . This measurement is consistent and competitive with those obtained at the B factories with dilepton events.
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When using a sample of ( 470.9 ± 2.8 ) × 10 6 B$\bar{B}$ pairs, we measure the decay branching fraction B ( B 0 → D * - π + π - π + ) = ( 7.26 ± 0.11 ± 0.31 ) × 10 -3 , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. These measurement will be helpful in studies of lepton universality by measuring B ( B 0 → D * - τ + ν τ ) using τ + → π + π - π + ¯ ν τ decays, normalized to B ( B 0 → D * - π + π - π + ) .
Here, we study the processes e + e - → K$0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ π 0 γ , K $0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ η γ , and K$0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ π 0 π 0 γ , where the photon is radiated from the initial state, providing cross section measurements for the hadronic final states over a continuum of center-of-mass energies. The results are based on 469 fb -1 of data collected at or near the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We present the first measurements of the e + e - → K$0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ π 0 , K$0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ η , and K$0\atop{S}$ K$0\atop{L}$ π 0 π 0 cross sections up to a center-of-mass energy of 4 GeV and study their intermediate resonance structures. We observe J / ψ decays to all of these final states for the first time, present measurements of their J / ψ branching fractions, and search for ψ (2S) decays.
Based on the full BABAR data sample of 466.5 million $B\bar{B}$ pairs, we present measurements of the electron spectrum from semileptonic B meson decays. We fit the inclusive electron spectrum to distinguish Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) suppressed B → X u eν decays from the CKM-favored B → X c eν decays, and from various other backgrounds, and determine the total semileptonic branching fraction B (B → Xeν) = ( 10.34 ± 0.04 stat ± 0.2 6 syst )%, averaged over B ± and B 0 mesons. We determine the spectrum and branching fraction for charmless B → X u eν decays and extract the CKM element | V ub | , by relying on four different QCD calculations based on the heavy quark expansion. While experimentally, the electron momentum region above 2.1 GeV / c is favored, because the background is relatively low, the uncertainties for the theoretical predictions are largest in the region near the kinematic endpoint. Detailed studies to assess the impact of these four predictions on the measurements of the electron spectrum, the branching fraction, and the extraction of the CKM matrix element |V ub | are presented, with the lower limit on the electron momentum varied from 0.8 GeV / c to the kinematic endpoint. We determine |V ub | using each of these different calculations and find, |V ub | = ( 3.794 ± 0.107 exp $+ 0.292\atop{ - 0.219 SF}$ $+ 0.078 \atop{- 0.068 theory}$ ) × 10 - 3 (De Fazio and Neubert), (4.563 ± 0.126 exp $+ 0.230\atop {- 0.208 SF}$ $+ 0.162\atop{- 0.163 theory}$ ) ×10 -3 (Bosch, Lange, Neubert, and Paz), (3.959 ± 0.104 exp $+ 0.164\atop{- 0.154 SF}$ $+ 0.042\atop{ - 0.079 theory}$ ) × 10 -3 (Gambino, Giordano, Ossola, and Uraltsev), (3.848 ± 0.108 exp $+ 0.084\atop{ - 0.070 theory}$) × 10 -3 (dressed gluon exponentiation), where the stated uncertainties refer to the experimental uncertainties of the partial branching fraction measurement, the shape function parameters, and the theoretical calculations.
Here, we study the processes e + e - → γ ISR J/ψ , where J/ψ → π + π - π 0 , J/ψ → K + K - π 0 , and J / ψ → K$0\atop{S}$ K ± π ∓ using a data sample of 519 fb -1 recorded with the BABAR detector operating at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e + e - collider at center-of-mass energies at and near the Υ (nS) (n = 2 , 3 , 4) resonances. We measure the ratio of branching fractions R 1 = $B(J/ψ →K^+K^- π^0)\atop{B(J/ψ →π^+π^- π^0)}$ and R 2 = $B(J/ψ →K^0_SK^±π^∓)\atop{B(J/ψ →π^+π^- π^0)}$. We perform Dalitz plot analyses of the three J/ψ decay modes and measure fractions for resonances contributing to the decays. We also analyze the J/ψ → $π^+π^- π^0$ decay using the Veneziano model. We observe structures compatible with the presence of ρ (1450) in all three J/ψ decay modes and measure the relative branching fraction: R (p(1450)) = $Bp(1450)→K^+K^-)\atop{B(p(1450)→π^+π^-)}$ +0.307 ± 0.084 (stat) ± 0.082 (sys).
We report a measurement of the time-dependent CP asymmetry of B¯ 0 → D$^{(*)}_{CP}$h 0 decays, where the light neutral hadron h 0 is a π 0 , η, or ω meson, and the neutral D meson is reconstructed in the CP eigenstates K + K – , K$^{0}_{S}$π 0 , or K$^{0}_{S}$ω. The measurement is performed combining the final data samples collected at the Υ(4S) resonance by the BABAR and Belle experiments at the asymmetric-energy B factories PEP-II at SLAC and KEKB at KEK, respectively. The data samples contain (471 ± 3) × 10 6 BB¯ pairs recorded by the BABAR detector and (772 ± 11) × 10 6 BB¯ pairs recorded by the Belle detector. We measure the CP asymmetry parameters –ηfS = +0.66 ± 0.10(stat) ± 0.06(syst) and C = –0.02 ± 0.07(stat) ± 0.03(syst). Here, these results correspond to the first observation of CP violation in B¯ 0 → D$^{(*)}_{CP}$h 0 decays. The hypothesis of no mixing-induced CP violation is excluded in these decays at the level of 5.4 standard deviations.