Abstract: We perform a calculation for the three-body N (K) over barK scattering amplitude by using the fixed-center approximation to the Faddeev equations, taking the interaction between N and (K) over bar, N and K, and (K) over bar and K from the chiral unitary approach. The resonant structures show up in the modulus squared of the three-body scattering amplitude and suggest that a N (K) over barK hadron state can be formed. Our results are in agreement with others obtained in previous theoretical works, which claim a new N* resonance around 1920 MeV with spin-parity J(P) = 1/2(+). The existence of these previous works allows us to test the accuracy of the fixed center approximation in the present problem and sets the grounds for possible application in similar problems, as an explorative tool to determine bound or quasibound three-hadron systems.

Abstract: We investigate the reconstruction capabilities of the dark matter mass and spin-independent cross section from future ton-scale direct detection experiments using germanium, xenon, or argon as targets. Adopting realistic values for the exposure, energy threshold, and resolution of dark matter experiments which will come online within 5 to 10 years, the degree of complementarity between different targets is quantified. We investigate how the uncertainty in the astrophysical parameters controlling the local dark matter density and velocity distribution affects the reconstruction. For a 50 GeV WIMP, astrophysical uncertainties degrade the accuracy in the mass reconstruction by up to a factor of similar to 4 for xenon and germanium, compared to the case when astrophysical quantities are fixed. However, the combination of argon, germanium, and xenon data increases the constraining power by a factor of similar to 2 compared to germanium or xenon alone. We show that future direct detection experiments can achieve self-calibration of some astrophysical parameters, and they will be able to constrain the WIMP mass with only very weak external astrophysical constraints.

Abstract: We investigate future constraints on early dark energy (EDE) achievable by the Planck and CMBPol experiments, including cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing. For the dark energy, we include the possibility of clustering through a sound speed c(s)(2) < 1 (cold dark energy) and anisotropic stresses parametrized with a viscosity parameter c(vis)(2). We discuss the degeneracies between cosmological parameters and EDE parameters. In particular we show that the presence of anisotropic stresses in EDE models can substantially undermine the determination of the EDE sound speed parameter c(s)(2). The constraints on EDE primordial energy density are however unaffected. We also calculate the future CMB constraints on neutrino masses and find that they are weakened by a factor of 2 when allowing for the presence of EDE, and highly biased if it is incorrectly ignored.