Abstract: NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta (0v beta beta) decay of Xe-136. The detector possesses two features of great value for 0v beta beta searches: energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at the Q value of Xe-136 and track reconstruction for the discrimination of signal and background events. This combination results in excellent sensitivity, as discussed in this paper. Material-screening measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo detector simulation predict a background rate for NEXT-100 of at most 4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) yr(-1). Accordingly, the detector will reach a sensitivity to the 0v beta beta-decay half-life of 2.8 x 10(25) years (90% CL) for an exposure of 100 kg.year, or 6.0 x 10(25) years after a run of 3 effective years.

Abstract: Motivated by the ATLAS and CMS discovery of a Higgs-like boson with a mass around 125 GeV, and by the need of explaining neutrino masses, we analyse the three canonical SUSY versions of the seesaw mechanism (type I, II and III) with CMSSM boundary conditions. In type II and III cases, SUSY particles are lighter than in the CMSSM (or the constrained type I seesaw), for the same set of input parameters at the universality scale. Thus, to explain m(h0) similar or equal to 125 GeV at low energies, one is forced into regions of parameter space with very large values of m(0), M-1/2 or A(0). We compare the squark and gluino masses allowed by the ATLAS and CMS ranges for m(h0) (extracted from the 2011-2012 data), and discuss the possibility of distinguishing seesaw models in view of future results on SUSY searches. In particular, we briefly comment on the discovery potential of LHC upgrades, for squark/gluino mass ranges required by present Higgs mass constraints. A discrimination between different seesaw models cannot rely on the Higgs mass data alone, therefore we also take into account the MEG upper limit on BR(mu -> e gamma) and show that, in some cases, this may help to restrict the SUSY parameter space, as well as to set complementary limits on the seesaw scale.

Abstract: High pressure xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification are being proposed for rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The discrimination of the rare event through the topological signature of primary ionisation trails is a major asset for this type of TPC when compared to single liquid or double-phase TPCs, limited mainly by the high electron diffusion in pure xenon. Helium admixtures with xenon can be an attractive solution to reduce the electron diffu- sion significantly, improving the discrimination efficiency of these optical TPCs. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe-He mixtures, in the range of 0 to 30% He and demonstrated the small impact on the EL yield of the addition of helium to pure xenon. For a typical reduced electric field of 2.5 kV/cm/bar in the EL region, the EL yield is lowered by similar to 2%, 3%, 6% and 10% for 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% of helium concentration, respectively. This decrease is less than what has been obtained from the most recent simulation framework in the literature. The impact of the addition of helium on EL statistical fluctuations is negligible, within the experimental uncertainties. The present results are an important benchmark for the simulation tools to be applied to future optical TPCs based on Xe-He mixtures.

Abstract: As a top-factory, the LHC is performing a direct study of top-quark anomalous FCNC couplings, which are, however, correlated closely with the rare B- and K-meson decays. In this paper, we study the effects of anomalous tqZ (with q = u, c) couplings in the rare decays B-s,B-d -> mu(+)mu(-), B -> X-s nu(nu) over bar, B -> K(*)nu(nu) over bar, K+ -> pi(+)nu(nu) over bar, and K-L -> pi(0)nu(nu) over bar. With the up-to-date experimental bounds on the branching ratios of these channels, constraints on the left-handed anomalous couplings X-ct(L), and X-ut(L) are derived, respectively. With these low-energy constraints taken into account, we find that, for real couplings X-ct(L) and X-ut(L), the indirect upper bounds on B(t -> qZ) are much lower than that from the D0 collaboration, but are still compatible with the 5 sigma discovery potential of ATLAS with an integrated luminosity of 10 fb(-1). With refined measurements to be available at the LHCb, the future super-B factories, the NA62 at CERN, and the KOTO at J-PARC, closer correlations between the t -> qZ and the rare B- and K-meson decays are expected in the near future, which will be helpful for the searches of thu e top-quark FCNC decays at the LHC.

Abstract: An angular analysis of the B-0 -> K*(0)e(+)e(-) decay is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected with the LHCb experiment. The analysis is conducted in the very low dielectron mass squared (q(2)) interval between 0.0008 and 0.257 GeV2, where the rate is dominated by the B-0 -> K*(0)gamma transition with a virtual photon. The fraction of longitudinal polarisation of the K*(0) meson, F-L, is measured to be F-L = (4.4 +/- 2.6 +/- 1.4)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The A(T)(Re) observable, which is related to the lepton forward-backward asymmetry, is measured to be A(T)(Re) = -0.06 +/- 0.08 +/- 0.02. The A(T)((2)) and A(T)(Im) transverse asymmetries, which are sensitive to the virtual photon polarisation, are found to be A(T)((2)) = 0.11 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.02 and A(T)(Im) = 0.02 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.01. The results are consistent with Standard Model predictions and provide the world's best constraint on the b -> s gamma photon polarisation.