Semileptonic decays of heavy quarks in quantum chromodynamics

We investigate the semileptonic decays of heavy quarks in the leading non-trivial order in quantum chromodynamics. Effects of gluon corrections and the initial quark Fermi motion on the semileptonic rates and decay distributions are calculated. The resulting lepton energy spectrum for the charm semileptonic decay is compared with data to extract the mass of the charm quark. This is combined with the semileptonic branching ratio to predict the charm-quark lifetime. We find the lepton energy spectrum very stable with respect to gluon corrections. Expected spectra from the semileptonic decays of bottom and top quarks are presented. We also study the semileptonic decay process Q → q?v_? + G, involving the emission of a single hard non-collinear gluon. This process should be observable with a branching ratio of a few percent in the decays of top (and heavier) quarks.     

Pion asymmetry in the three-body radiative decays of polarized hyperons

We have calculated the energy dependence of pion asymmetry relative to the direction of hyperon polarization in the three-body radiative decays of polarized hyperons, using the inner bremsstrahlung model. We find that in the low pion energy region, the pion asymmetry in the radiative decay relative to the non-radiative decay is kinematically enhanced. For certain decays, this effect could be exploited experimentally to obtain additional information about the properties of the hyperons.     

Weak radiative hyperon decays in the pole model

We compute the parity conserving and parity violating amplitudes of the weak radiative hyperon decays in a pole model which includes negative parity intermediate states. The matrix elements are determined from experimentally known quantities and also evaluated in a nonrelativistic quark model. We find good numerical agreement with the data for the decay Σ⁺→P+γ and obtain predictions for the other decays where experimental information has been scarce up to now.     

Signatures of chargino production ine + e − collisions

We treat the production of charged gauginos ine ⁺ e ^? annihilation and their most important decays. Mixing of charged as well as of neutral gauginos in a general form is included. Formulae for the cross section, the lepton and missing energy spectrum are presented. We also give numerical results for three distinct mixing possibilities.     

Quest for precision in hadronic cross sections at low energy: Monte Carlo tools vs. experimental data

We present the achievements of the last years of the experimental and theoretical groups working on hadronic cross section measurements at the low-energy e ⁺ e ^? colliders in Beijing, Frascati, Ithaca, Novosibirsk, Stanford and Tsukuba and on τ decays. We sketch the prospects in these fields for the years to come. We emphasise the status and the precision of the Monte Carlo generators used to analyse the hadronic cross section measurements obtained as well with energy scans as with radiative return, to determine luminosities and τ decays. The radiative corrections fully or approximately implemented in the various codes and the contribution of the vacuum polarisation are discussed.     

Results from DASP one + e − annihilation between 3.1 and 5.2 GeV

This paper summarizes the measurements one ⁺ e ^? annihilation performed by the DASP Collaboration in the energy range between 3.1 and 5.2 GeV. The following topics are covered: total cross section, production and two body decays of the narrow resonances, radiative decays of theJ/ψ and ψ′ resonances and evidence for theX(2.82), ψ′ cascade decays, inclusive η production and evidence for theF meson, semileptonic decays of charmed mesons and properties of the heavy lepton.     

Comments on the symmetry relations in the hyperon radiative decays

We demonstrate that in general Hara's theorem which gives various symmetry relations for the hyperon radiative decays is not valid. The new relations we derive are different from those given by Hara. But for the Σ⁺→P_γ decay, the asymmetry parameter is still zero in the exact SU(3) limit.     

Radiative corrections to high-energy neutrino scattering

Motivated by precise neutrino experiments, we reconsider the electromagnetic radiative corrections to the data. We investigate the usefulness and demonstrate the simplicity of the “leading log” approximation: the calculation to order α ln (Q/μ), α ln (Q/m_q). Here Q is an energy scale of the overall process, μ is the lepton mass and m_q is a hadronic mass, the effective quark mass in a parton model. We identify those questions the answers to which do not depend on unknown hadron parameters like quark masses. The leading log radiative corrections to dδ/dy distributions and to suitably interpreted dδ/dx distributions are quark-mass independent. We improve upon the conventional leading log approximation and compute explicitly the largest terms that lie beyond the leading log level. In practice this means that our model-independent formulae, though approximate, are likely to be excellent estimates everywhere except at low energy or very large y. We point out that radiative corrections to measurements of deviations from the Callan-Gross relation and to measurements of the “sea” constituency of nucleons are gigantic. The QCD inspired study of deviations from scaling is of particular interest. We compute, beyond the leading log level, the radiative corrections to the QCD predictions.     

Precision neutral current asymmetry parameter measurements from the Tau polarization at LEP

Measurements of the lepton polarization and forward-backward polarization asymmetry near the Z resonance using the OPAL detector are described. The measurements are based on analyses of and decays from a sample of 144,810 candidates corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 151 pb. Assuming that the lepton decays according to V–A theory, we measure the average polarization near to be and the polarization forward-backward asymmetry to be , where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Taking into account the small effects of the photon propagator, photon-Z interference and photonic radiative corrections, these results can be expressed in terms of the lepton neutral current asymmetry parameters: These measurements are consistent with the hypothesis of lepton universality and combine to give . Within the context of the Standard Model this combined result corresponds to . Combing these results with those from the other OPAL neutral current measurements yields a value of . Received: 5 March 2001 / Published online: 6 July 2001     

Realistic neutrinogenesis with radiative vertex correction

We propose a new model for naturally realizing light Dirac neutrinos and explaining the baryon asymmetry of the universe through neutrinogenesis. To achieve these, we present a minimal construction which extends the Standard Model with a real singlet scalar, a heavy singlet Dirac fermion and a heavy doublet scalar besides three right-handed neutrinos, respecting lepton number conservation and a Z₂$Z_2$ symmetry. The neutrinos acquire small Dirac masses due to the suppression of weak scale over a heavy mass scale. As a key feature of our construction, once the heavy Dirac fermion and doublet scalar go out of equilibrium, their decays induce the CP asymmetry from the interference of tree-level processes with the radiative vertex corrections (rather than the self-energy corrections). Although there is no lepton number violation, an equal and opposite amount of CP asymmetry is generated in the left-handed and the right-handed neutrinos. The left-handed lepton asymmetry would then be converted to the baryon asymmetry in the presence of the sphalerons, while the right-handed lepton asymmetry remains unaffected.     

Extraction of the CKM matrix element V<Subscript>us</Subscript> from the hyperon semileptonic decays

The chiral constituent quark model with configuration mixing ( c \chi CQM _config , which is successful in explaining the weak vector and axial-vector form factors for the strangeness-changing as well as strangeness-nonchanging hyperon semileptonic decays at Q ² = 0 , has been extended to determine the CKM matrix element V _us for the strangeness-changing decays. The implications of the effect of the SU(3) symmetry breaking, Q²-dependence and radiative corrections on the form factors and V _us have also been investigated. It is found that the results with SU(3) symmetry breaking show considerable improvement over the SU(3) symmetric results when compared with the existing experimental data. The inclusion of the Q²-dependence and radiative corrections in form factors have only a small effect on the prediction of V _us as is expected from the theory.     

Physical features of secondary particle distributions ine + e −→heavy particle pair

We discuss the inclusive energy spectrum and angular distribution of a secondary particleh ine ⁺ e ^?→heavy particle pair→h+X and derive the mathematical results of earlier work in a way tht makes the qualitative features of the formulae easily understandable. Some interesting examples of heavy lepton and new hadron decays are considered in detail.     

Model dependence of the electromagnetic corrections to lepton pair production in electron-positron collisions

The electromagnetic radiative corrections toe ⁺ e ^? -annihilation into lepton pairs are calculated including hard photon bremsstrahlung in the standard and extended electroweak models. For \(\sqrt s \) = 38 GeV we find for the standard model, that the radiative corrections toZ-exchange reduce the charge asymmetry up to 1% which is mainly caused by the virtual and soft photon parts of the corrections. For models with a higher forward-backward asymmetry the situation is found to be quite similar.     

First measurement of the Λ→nγ branching ratio

In an experiment performed at the CERN-SPS charged hyperon beam, we have observed the radiative decay Λ→nγ, using well identified Λ from the decays of Ο^? of 116 GeV/c momentum. Neutrons and photons from the Λ decays were observed in liquid argon and lead glass detectors. From a sample of 31 candidates, containing an estimated background of 7.3 events, the decay branching ratio was measured to be Γ(Λ→nγ)/Γ(Λ→all)=(1.02±0.33)×10^?3.     

Polarization in semileptonic \mathrm{B}\rightarrow X\tau decays

The paper gives the polarization of the tau lepton in the semileptonic B decays with respect to the direction of the virtual W boson. The result given includes the nonperturbative HQET corrections. The perturbative QCD corrections are probably negligible, as is suggested by the existing results for the longitudinal polarization of the charged lepton (Jeżabek and Urban, 1998). Received: 14 January 1999 / Revised version: 14 May 1999 / Published online: 14 October 1999     

Is spontaneous breaking of R-parity feasible in minimal low-energy supergravity?

Spontaneous violation of lepton number without breaking Lorentz invariance can, in principle, be incorporated in models with softly broken supersymmetry. We study the situation for minimal low-energy supergravity models coming from a GUT (hence not having hierarchy destabilizing light singlets) and where the SU(2) × U(1) breaking is radiative. It is found that for this type of model, R-parity breaking requires either too heavy a top quark for a realistic superpartner spectrum or too light a superpartner spectrum for a realistic top quark, making the spontaneous violation of lepton number in the third generation incompatible with present experimental data. We do not discard the possibility of having it in a fourth, heavier, generation.     

Investigation of quark-hadron duality in semileptonicB-meson decays

This paper is devoted to the analytical calculation of the lepton spectrum with a restriction on the mass of produced hadron system in semileptonicB-meson decays. Using this analytical dependence, it is shown that the quark-hadron duality in semileptonicB-meson decays could be violated up to 25–30%, and this fact has influence on the semileptonic branching ratio.     

THE ΔS=l WEAK RADIATIVE DECAYS OF HYPERONS

We calculate the rates and asymmetry parameters of radiative hyperon decays based on the hybrid structure of hyperons.We exploit an effective Hamiltonian derived from a penguin-Like Feynman diagram. We also consider a model of a static mean gluon field. A plausible recoil effect is taken into account in the final results. The resultant asymmetry parameters are reasonably consistent with data.