Analysis of Ωb? (bss) and Ωc0 (css) with QCD sum rules

We calculate the masses and the pole residues of the heavy baryons Ω _c ⁰(css) and Ω _b ⁻(bss) with the QCD sum rules. The numerical values  GeV (or  GeV) and  GeV (or  GeV) are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

NLO contributions to <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>→<Emphasis Type="Italic">KK</Emphasis><Superscript>*</Superscript> decays in the pQCD approach

We calculate the important next-to-leading-order (NLO) contributions to the B→KK ^* decays from the vertex corrections, the quark loops, and the magnetic penguins in the perturbative QCD (pQCD) factorization approach. The pQCD predictions for the CP-averaged branching ratios are , , and Br(B ⁰→K ⁺ K ^*−+K ⁻ K ^*+)≈1.3×10⁻⁷, which agree well with both the experimental upper limits and the predictions based on the QCD factorization approach. Furthermore, the CP violating asymmetries of the considered decay modes are also evaluated. The NLO pQCD predictions for and decays are and .     

Structures of the f 0(980), a 0(980) mesons and the strong coupling constants g_{f_0 K^+ K^-} , g_{a_0 K^+ K^-} with light-cone QCD sum rules

Making the assumption of explicit isospin violation arising from f ₀(980)-a ₀(980) mixing, we take the point of view that the scalar mesons f ₀(980) and a ₀(980) have both strange and non-strange quark-antiquark components and evaluate the strong coupling constants within the framework of the light-cone QCD sum rules approach. The large strong scalar-KK couplings through both the and components , , and will support the hadronic dressing mechanism; furthermore, in spite of the constituent structure differences between the f ₀(980) and a ₀(980) mesons, the strange components have larger strong coupling constants with the K ⁺ K ^- state than the corresponding non-strange ones, and . From the existing controversial values, we cannot reach a general consensus on the strong coupling constants and the mixing angles.Received: 9 January 2004, Revised: 23 July 2004, Published online: 2 September 2004     

Search for charged Higgs bosons at LEP in general two Higgs doublet models

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons was performed in the data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP II at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 209 GeV. Five different final states, , , , and were considered, accounting for the major expected decays in type I and type II Two Higgs Doublet Models. No significant excess of data compared to the expected Standard Model processes was observed. The existence of a charged Higgs boson with mass lower than 76.7 GeV/c² (type I) or 74.4 GeV/c² (type II) is excluded at the 95% confidence level, for a wide range of the model parameters. Model independent cross-section limits have also been calculated.Received: 30 September 2003, Revised: 12 February 2004, Published online: 8 April 2004     

A measurement of semileptonic B decaysto narrow orbitally-excited charm mesons

The decay chain is identified in a sample of 3.9 million hadronic Z decays collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. The branching ratio BR is measured to be for the J ^P =1⁺ (D⁰ ₁) state. For decays into the J ^P =2⁺ (D₂ ^*0) state, an upper limit of 1.4 x 10^-3 is placed on the branching ratio at the 95% confidence level.Received: 20 December 2002, Revised: 15 April 2003, Published online: 12 September 2003     

Flavour-independent h<Superscript>0</Superscript>A<Superscript>0</Superscript> search and two Higgs doublet model interpretation of neutral Higgs boson searches at LEP

Upper limits on the cross-section of the pair-production process , assuming 100 branching fraction to hadrons, are derived from a new search for the hadrons final state, independently of the hadronic flavour of the decay products. This study, combined with previously published searches for the neutral Higgs bosons h⁰ and A⁰, is used to constrain the Type II Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM(II)) with no CP violation in the Higgs sector and no additional non-Standard Model particles besides the five Higgs bosons. The analysis combines LEP1 and LEP2 data collected with the OPAL detector up to the highest available centre-of-mass energies. The searches are sensitive to the and decay modes of the Higgs bosons. A benchmark scan of the 2HDM(II) parameter space is performed. Large regions of the 2HDM(II) parameter space explored are excluded at the 95% CL in the ( and planes, using both direct neutral Higgs boson searches and indirect limits derived from Standard Model high precision measurements. The region GeV and GeV is excluded at 95 % CL, independently of and for selected values of which are representative of a complete -scan.Received: 28 July 2004, Revised: 4 January 2005, Published online: 3 March 2005     

Alpha-gamma decay studies of 255Rf, 251No and 247Fm

The decay of the isotopes ²⁵⁵Rf, ²⁵¹No and ²⁴⁷Fm produced in the reactions , and was investigated by means of α-γ spectroscopy. Previously observed γ transitions in coincidence with α decays of ²⁵⁵Rf were confirmed, their energies and line intensities were measured more precisely, and their multipolarities were determined as E1. In ²⁵¹No a new isomeric state at E ^* > 1700keV with a half-life of ≈ 2μs was identified. The decay of ²⁴⁷Fm was measured more precisely. A partial level scheme of the daughter nucleus ²⁴³Cf could be established.     

Thermal unparticles: a new form of energy density in the universe

An unparticle with scaling dimension has peculiar thermal properties due to its unique phase space structure. We find that the equation of state parameter , the ratio of pressure to energy density, is given by providing a new form of energy in our universe. In an expanding universe, the unparticle energy density evolves dramatically differently from that for photons. For , even if at a high decoupling temperature T _D is very small, it is possible to have a large relic density at present photon temperature T _γ ⁰, large enough to play the role of dark matter. We calculate T _D and using photon–unparticle interactions for illustration.     

Study of spin and decay-plane correlations of W bosons in the e + e$^-\rightarrow$ W + W- process at LEP

Data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies GeV are used to study correlations of the spin of W bosons using events. Spin correlations are favoured by data, and found to agree with the Standard Model predictions. In addition, correlations between the W-boson decay planes are studied in and events. Decay-plane correlations are measured to be consistent with the Standard Model predictions.Received: 26 October 2004, Revised: 15 January 2005, Published online: 3 March 2005     

Seesaw induced electroweak scale, the hierarchy problemand sub-eV neutrino masses

We describe a model for the scalar sector where all interactions occur either at an ultra-high scale, Λ_U~10¹⁶-10¹⁹ GeV, or at an intermediate scale, Λ_I = 10⁹-10¹¹ GeV. The interaction of physics on these two scales results in an SU(2) Higgs condensate at the electroweak (EW) scale, Λ_EW, through a seesaw-like Higgs mechanism, , while the breaking of the SM SU(2) x U(1) gauge symmetry occurs at the intermediate scale Λ_I . The EW scale is, therefore, not fundamental but is naturally generated in terms of ultra-high energy phenomena and so the hierarchy problem is alleviated. We show that the class of such "seesaw Higgs" models predict the existence of sub-eV neutrino masses which are generated through a "two-step" seesaw mechanism in terms of the same two ultra-high scales: . The neutrinos can be either Dirac or Majorana, depending on the structure of the scalar potential. We also show that our seesaw Higgs model can be naturally embedded in theories with tiny extra dimensions of size fm, where the seesaw induced EW scale arises from a violation of a symmetry at a distant brane; in particular, in the scenario presented there are seven tiny extra dimensions. Received: 19 August 2004, Revised: 27 July 2005, Published online: 14 October 2005     

Loss of collectivity in 79Rb

High-spin states in ⁷⁹Rb were populated in the reaction at E(beam) = 60 MeV. The lifetimes of the excited states of the positive-parity yrast band and of the negative-parity band in ⁷⁹Rb were measured by the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The deduced transition quadrupole moments Q_t are found to have a decreasing trend with rotational frequency for both the bands, consistent with those found experimentally in neighbouring nuclei. An erratum to this article is available at .     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>(3872) and other possible heavy molecular states

We perform a systematic study of the possible molecular states composed of a pair of heavy mesons such as , , in the framework of the meson exchange model. The exchanged mesons include the pseudoscalar, scalar and vector mesons. Through our investigation, we find the following results. (1) The structure X(3764) is not a molecular state. (2) There exists strong attraction in the range r<1 fm for the system with J=0,1. If future experiments confirm Z ⁺(4051) as a loosely bound molecular state, its quantum number is probably J ^P =0⁺. Its partner state Φ ^**0 may be searched for in the π ⁰ χ _c1 channel. (3) Vector meson exchange provides strong attraction in the channel together with pion exchange. A bound state solution may exist with a reasonable cutoff parameter Λ∼1.4 GeV. X(3872) may be accommodated as a molecular state dynamically although drawing a very definite conclusion needs further investigation. (4) The molecular state may exist.     

Measurement of inclusive jet cross sections in photoproduction at HERA

Inclusive jet cross sections are measured in photoproduction at HERA using the H1 detector. The data sample of events in the kinematic range of photon virtualities and photon-proton centre-of-mass energies represents an integrated luminosity of . Jets are defined using the inclusive algorithm. Single- and multi-differential cross sections are measured as functions of jet transverse energy E_T ^jet and pseudorapidity in the domain and . The cross sections are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations corrected for fragmentation and underlying event effects. The cross section differential in E_T ^jet, which varies by six orders of magnitude over the measured range, is compared with similar distributions from colliders at equal and higher energies.Received: 24 February 2003, Revised: 26 May 2003, Published online: 11 July 2003     

Weakly Non-Ergodic Statistical Physics

For weakly non ergodic systems, the probability density function of a time average observable is where is the value of the observable when the system is in state j=1,…L. p _j ^eq is the probability that a member of an ensemble of systems occupies state j in equilibrium. For a particle undergoing a fractional diffusion process in a binding force field, with thermal detailed balance conditions, p _j ^eq is Boltzmann’s canonical probability. Within the unbiased sub-diffusive continuous time random walk model, the exponent 0<α<1 is the anomalous diffusion exponent 〈x ²〉∼t ^α found for free boundary conditions. When α→1 ergodic statistical mechanics is recovered . We briefly discuss possible physical applications in single particle experiments.     

Di-jet production in photon-photon collisionsat $\sqrt{s_{\protect\bf\mathrm{ee}}}$ from 189 to 209 GeV

Di-jet production is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons at e ⁺ e^- centre-of-mass energies from 189 to 209 GeV at LEP. The data were collected with the OPAL detector. Jets are reconstructed using an inclusive -clustering algorithm for all cross-section measurements presented. A cone jet algorithm is used in addition to study the different structure of the jets resulting from either of the algorithms. The inclusive di-jet cross-section is measured as a function of the mean transverse energy of the two leading jets, and as a function of the estimated fraction of the photon momentum carried by the parton entering the hard sub-process, , for different regions of . Angular distributions in di-jet events are measured and used to demonstrate the dominance of quark and gluon initiated processes in different regions of phase space. Furthermore the inclusive di-jet cross-section as a function of and is presented, where is the jet pseudo-rapidity. Different regions of the - -space are explored to study and control the influence of an underlying event. The results are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and to the predictions of the leading order Monte Carlo generator PYTHIA.Received: 20 December 2002, Published online: 17 October 2003     

Precise predictions for Higgs production in association with a W-boson pair at ILC

Higgs-boson production in association with a W-boson pair at e ⁺ e ⁻ linear colliders is one of the important processes in probing the coupling between the Higgs boson and vector gauge bosons and discovering the signature of new physics. We describe the impact of the complete electroweak (EW) radiative corrections of to this process in the standard model (SM) at the International Linear Collider (ILC), and investigate the dependence of the lowest-order (LO) and EW next-to-leading order (NLO) corrected cross sections on the colliding energy and the Higgs-boson mass. The LO and NLO EW corrected distributions of the invariant mass of the W-boson pair and the transverse momenta of the final W-boson and Higgs boson are presented. Our numerical results show that the relative EW radiative correction (δ _ew) varies from −19.4% to 0.2% when m _H=120 GeV and grows from 300 GeV to 1.2 TeV.     

Empirical formulas for the fermion spectra and Yukawa matrices

We present empirical relations that connect the dimensionless ratios of low energy fermion masses for the charged lepton, up-type quark and down-type quark sectors and the CKM elements: and . Explaining these relations from first principles imposes strong constraints on the search for the theory of flavor. We present a simple set of normalized Yukawa matrices, with only two real parameters and one complex phase, which accounts with precision for these mass relations and for the CKM matrix elements and also suggests a simpler parametrization of the CKM matrix. The proposed Yukawa matrices accommodate the measured CP-violation, giving a particular relation between standard model CP-violating phases, . According to this relation the measured value of is close to the maximum value that can be reached, for . Finally, the particular mass relations between the quark and charged lepton sectors find their simplest explanation in the context of grand unified models through the use of the Georgi-Jarlskog factor.Received: 31 July 2004, Revised: 22 September 2004, Published online: 9 November 2004     

Updated estimate of the muon magnetic momentusing revised results from <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript> + </Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>-</Superscript>annihilation

A new evaluation of the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the muon magnetic moment is presented. We take into account the reanalysis of the low-energy e ⁺ e ^-annihilation cross section into hadrons by the CMD-2 Collaboration. The agreement between e ⁺ e ^-and spectral functions in the channel is found to be much improved. Nevertheless, significant discrepancies remain in the center-of-mass energy range between 0.85 and , so that we refrain from averaging the two data sets. The values found for the lowest-order hadronic vacuum polarization contributions are where the errors have been separated according to their sources: experimental, missing radiative corrections in e ⁺ e ^-data, and isospin breaking. The corresponding Standard Model predictions for the muon magnetic anomaly read where the errors account for the hadronic, light-by-light (LBL) scattering and electroweak contributions. The deviations from the measurement at BNL are found to be (1.9 ) and (0.7 ) for the e ⁺ e ^-- and -based estimates, respectively, where the second error is from the LBL contribution and the third one from the BNL measurement.Received: 7 September 2003, Published online: 30 October 2003     

Search for chargino and neutralino productionat $\sqrt{s} = 192$-209 GeV at LEP

Approximately 438 pb^-1 of e ⁺ e^- data from the OPAL detector, taken with the LEP collider running at centre-of-mass energies of 192-209 GeV, are analyzed to search for evidence of chargino pair production, , or neutralino associated production, . Limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the product of the cross-section for the process and its branching ratios to topologies containing jets and missing energy, or jets with a lepton and missing energy, and on the product of the cross-section for and its branching ratio to jets. R-parity conservation is assumed throughout this paper. When these results are interpreted in the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, limits are also set on the masses of the and , and regions of the parameter space of the model are ruled out. Nearly model-independent limits are also set at the 95% confidence level on with the assumption that each chargino decays via a W boson, and on with the assumed to decay via a Z⁰.Received: 15 December 2003, Revised: 16 February 2004, Published online: 23 April 2004     

Study of W-boson polarisations and triple gauge boson couplings in the reaction e+e-→W+W- at LEP 2

A determination of the single W spin density matrix (SDM) elements in the reaction e⁺e^-→W⁺W^-→lνqq̄(l=e/μ) is reported at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 520 pb^-1 taken by DELPHI between 1998 and 2000. The single W SDM elements, ρ_ττ’ ^W± (τ,τ’=± 1 or 0), are determined as a function of the W^- production angle with respect to the e^- beam direction and are obtained from measurements of the W decay products by the application of suitable projection operators, Λ_ττ’, which assume the V-A coupling of the W-boson to fermions. The measured SDM elements are used to obtain the fraction of longitudinally polarised Ws, with the result: at a mean energy of 198 GeV. The SDM elements are also used to determine the triple gauge couplings Δg₁ ^Z,Δκ_γ,λ_γ and g₄ ^Z, and . For the CP-violating couplings the results of single parameter fits are: The errors are a combination of statistical and systematic errors. All results are consistent with the Standard Model.