Search for contact interactions in the reactionse+e?→l+l? ande+e?→γγ

Contact interactions are searched for using the differential cross sections for the reactionse ⁺ e ^–e ⁺ e ^–,e ⁺ e ^–µ ⁺ µ ^–,e ⁺ e ^{– + –} ande ⁺ e ^– measured at 12 energies around theZ peak and corresponding to about 20 pb^–1 of cumulated luminosity. Four-fermion contact term models assuming various chiralities of lepton currents are fitted to the lepton data and lower limits on the energy scale of such terms are set at 95% c.l. The limits vary in the range 0.9–4.7 TeV, depending on the model and on the lepton flavour. Theee contact terms are searched for assuming various chiralities. Limits on the energy scale between 79 and 130 GeV are extracted from the data. The results are compared and combined with those reported at lower energies.Deceased     

Measurement of the photon structure functionF2γ in the reactione+e?→e+e?+hadrons at LEP

We present measurements of the hadronic photon structure functionF ₂ (x), in twoQ ² ranges with mean values of 5.9 GeV² and 14.7 GeV². The data were taken by the OPAL experiment at LEP, with close to theZ ⁰ mass and correspond to an integratede ⁺ e ^– luminosity of 44.8 pb^–1. In the context of a QCD-based model we find the quark transverse momentum cutoff separating the vector meson dominance (VMD) and perturbative QCD regions to be 0.27±0.10 GeV. We confirm that there is a significant pointlike component of the photon when the probe photon hasQ ²>4 GeV². Our measurements extend to lower values ofx than any previous experiment, and no increase ofF ₂ (x) is observed.     

Electromagnetic structure of W± bosons in the e–e+ → W+W– reaction

A model-independent analysis of anomalous gauge coupling constants of W ^± bosons is presented and the corresponding restrictions on them and on the electromagnetic characteristics of W ^± bosons following from the experiments on measuring the e⁺ e^- ? W⁺ W^- ? ( e

Associated production of light gravitinos in e+e? and e?γ collisions

Light gravitino productions in association with a neutralino (selectron) in e ⁺ e ⁻ (e ⁻ γ) collisions are restudied in a scenario that the lightest supersymmetric particle is a gravitino and the produced neutralino (selectron) promptly decays into a photon (electron) and a gravitino. We explicitly give the helicity amplitudes for the production processes by using the effective goldstino interaction Lagrangian, and present the cross sections with different collision energies and mass spectra. We also examine selection efficiencies by kinematical cuts and beam polarizations for the signal and background processes, and show that the energy and angular distributions of the photon (electron) can explore the mass of the t-channel exchange particle as well as the mass of the decaying particle at a future e ⁺ e ⁻ (e ⁻ γ) collider.     

π+π+ and π+π? Colliding in Noncommutative Space

By studying the scattering process of scalar particle pion on the noncommutative scalar quantum electrodynamics, the non-commutative amendment of differential scattering cross-section is found, which is dependent of polar-angle and the results are significantly different from that in the commutative scalar quantum electrodynamics, particularly when cosθ∼±1. The non-commutativity of space is expected to be explored at around Λ_NC∼TeV.     

Power corrections in e+e?→π+π?,K+K? and B→Kπ,ππ

CLEO-c measurements of the timelike form factors F _π , F _K at ?s=3.671\sqrt{s}=3.671 GeV provide a direct probe of power corrections (PC’s) at energies near m _B . PC’s in F _π,K and B→Kπ,ππ are separated into perturbative and soft parts. In F _π,K the latter are ≥O(10) larger. A PC fit to the B→Kπ,ππ data also yields a ≥O(10) soft-to-perturbative hierarchy for the QCD penguin PC’s. Hence, both can be attributed to dominance of the soft-overlap between energetic (approximately) back-to-back collinear partons, and consistency of the B→Kπ,ππ fit with the Standard Model appears to be naturally realized. The CP asymmetries S_{Ks p⁰}S_{K_{s} \pi^{0}}, C_{Ks p⁰}C_{K_{s} \pi^{0}} are well determined, providing a clean test for new physics.     

Constraints on the Z-Z′ mixing angle from data measured for the process e+e? → W+W? at the LEP2 collider

An analysis of effects induced by new neutral gauge Z′ bosons was performed on the basis of data from the OPAL, DELPHI, ALEPH, and L3 experiments devoted to measuring differential cross sections for the process of the annihilation production of pairs of charged gauge W ^± bosons at the LEP2 collider. By using these experimental data, constraints on the Z′-boson mass and on the angle of Z-Z′ mixing were obtained for a number of extended gauge models.     

Perspectives for the measurement of Ds+ mesons via?the?Ds+ →K+K?π+ channel in the ALICE experiment

Heavy quarks, such as charm, are produced in hard scatterings in the early stages of high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions and are expected to be a powerful tool to investigate the properties of the quark gluon plasma (QGP). The tracking detectors of the ALICE apparatus will allow to track and identify particles in central rapidity range down to low P _t . Among D mesons it would be particularly interesting to measure D _s yield via an exclusive hadronic decay channel because it could help to disentangle different hadronization mechanisms. The possibility of reconstructing the D _s meson through its D _s ⁺→K ⁺ K ⁻ π ⁺ decay channel in the central barrel was studied. The problem considered is characterized by the comparatively low yield of the D _s mesons against the huge amount of combinatorial background. Different kinematic and topological cuts have been studied in order to increase the signal-to-background ratio and the statistical significance. In addition, D _s mesons preferentially decay through intermediate resonant states and this fact can improve the separation of signal from background. Results of cut parameters tuning and values of significance for an analysis performed on simulated data are presented.     

Study of QGP signatures with the ? → K+K– signal in Pb-Pb ALICE events

The ϕ → K ⁺ K ^– decay channel in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC is studied through a full simulation of the ALICE detector. The study focuses on possible signatures in this channel of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. On a basis of 10⁶ collisions at high centrality some proposed QGP signatures are clearly visible both in K ⁺ K ^– invariant mass and transverse mass distributions. The high significance of this observation appears to reside heavily on the use of the TOF (Time Of Flight) system of ALICE in addition to its central tracking detectors. An erratum to this article is available at .     

K+→π+π0e+e?: a novel short-distance probe

We study the decay K ⁺→π ⁺ π ⁰ e ⁺ e ⁻, currently under analysis by the NA62 Collaboration at CERN. In particular, we provide a detailed analysis of the Dalitz plot for the long-distance, γ ^∗-mediated, contributions (Bremsstrahlung, direct emission and its interference). We also examine a set of asymmetries to isolate genuine short-distance effects. While we show that charge asymmetries are not required to test short distances, they provide the best environment for its detection. This constitutes by itself a strong motivation for NA62 to study K ⁻ decays in the future. We therefore provide a detailed study of different charge asymmetries and the corresponding estimated signals. Whenever possible, we make contact with the related processes K ⁺→π ⁺ π ⁰ γ and K _L →π ⁺ π ⁻ e ⁺ e ⁻ and discuss the advantages of K ⁺→π ⁺ π ⁰ e ⁺ e ⁻ over them.     

Measurement of the decayτ? →ρ?ντ

An analysis of the decay ^--0 v has been performed using the ARGUS detector at the DORIS II storage ring. The branching ratio has been determined to be Br(^--0 v =(22.6±0.4±0.9)%. The shape of the ^-0 invariant mass spectrum is found to be in good agreement with the predictions obtained using the conserved vector current (CVC) hypothesis, suggesting that the ^-0 system is produced in aJ ^P=1^– state. An analysis of the measured decay angular distribution of the pions with respect to the flight direction of the ^-0 system demonstrates the vector nature of the coupling at the v vertex. With the assumption of zerov mass thev spin has been shown to be .Supported by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, under contract number 054DO51 P     

Spin Correlations in e+e? Pair Creation by Two-Photons and Entanglement in QED

Spin correlations of e ⁺ e ⁻ pair productions of two colliding photons are investigated and explicit expressions for their corresponding probabilities are derived and found to be energy (speed) dependent, for initially linearly and circularly polarized photons, different from those obtained by simply combining the spins of the relevant particles, for initially polarized photons. These expressions also depend on the angles of spin of e ⁺ (and/or of e ⁻), for initially linearly polarized photons, but not for circularly polarized photons, as a function of the energy. It is remarkable that these explicit results obtained from quantum field theory show a clear violation of Bell’s inequality of Local Hidden Variables theories at all energies beyond that of the threshold one for particle production, in support of quantum field theory in the relativistic regime. We hope that our explicit expression will lead to experiments, of the type described in the bulk of this paper, which can monitor energy (and speed) in polarization correlation experiments.     

Scalar mesons in the decays η′ → 3π0 and η′ → π0π+π?

The decays η → 3π ⁰ and η → π ⁰ π ⁺ π ⁻ are considered within the isobar model. It is shown that, in order to explain the branching ratio and the shape of the Dalitz plot for the decay η′ → 3π ⁰, it is sufficient to take into account the contributions of the σ and a ₀ mesons. The inclusion of the σ meson is necessary for reproducing the shape of the distribution over the Dalitz plot. The branching ratio for the decay η′ → π ⁰ π ⁺ π ⁻ is obtained. The predictions for the distributions over the Dalitz plot for this decay are presented. These predictions depend strongly on model parameters.     

Novel insights into the γγ?→π0 transition form factor

BaBar’s observation of significant deviations of the pion transition form factor (TFF) from the asymptotic expectation with Q ²>9 GeV² has brought about a serious crisis to the fundamental picture established for such a simple q[`(q)]q\bar{q} system by perturbative QCD, i.e. the dominance of collinear factorization at high momentum transfers for the pion TFF. We show that non-factorizable contributions due to open flavors in γγ ^∗→π ⁰ could be an important source that contaminates the pQCD asymptotic limit and causes such deviations with Q ²>9 GeV². Within an effective Lagrangian approach, the non-factorizable amplitudes can be related to intermediate hadron loops, i.e. K ^(∗) and D ^(∗) etc., and their corrections to the π ⁰ and η TFFs can be estimated.     

T-Odd correlation in K+ → π0l+νγ decays beyond the standard model

The T-odd correlation in the decays K ⁺ → π ⁰ l ⁺ νγ (l = e, μ) is investigated as a function of the parameters of the effective Lagrangian. It is shown that the T-odd correlation offers a good indicator of new physics in the vector and pseudovector sectors of the model under consideration. In the scalar and pseudoscalar sectors, investigation of the T-odd correlation gives no way to improve the current limits on the parameters of various extensions of the Standard Model. __________ Translated from Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 67, No. 5, 2004, pp. 1025–1032. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Braguta, Likhoded, Chalov.     

Bs0 → μ+μ? in LHCb

Due to its sensitivity to New Physics contributions, the branching ratio of the very rare decay B _s ⁰ → μ ⁺ μ ⁻ is one of the most interesting measurements using the first data from the LHC accelerator. The analysis strategy for the study of this channel in the LHCb experiment is presented, as well as a review of the potential of the experiment in such study, using the latest simulations. With four months of nominal data taking, any enhancement from the Standard Model prediction can be excluded.