Abstract: We present a one-loop calculation of the oblique S parameter within Higgsless models of electroweak symmetry breaking and analyze the phenomenological implications of the available electroweak precision data. We use the most general effective Lagrangian with at most two derivatives, implementing the chiral symmetry breaking SU(2)(L) circle times SU(2)(R) -> SU(2)(L+R) with Goldstones, gauge bosons and one multiplet of vector and axial-vector massive resonance states. Using the dispersive representation of Peskin and Takeuchi and imposing the short-distance constraints dictated by the operator product expansion, we obtain S at the NLO in terms of a few resonance parameters. In asymptotically-free gauge theories, the final result only depends on the vector-resonance mass and requires M-V > 1.8TeV (3.8TeV) to satisfy the experimental limits at the 3 sigma (1 sigma) level; the axial state is always heavier, we obtain M-A > 2.5TeV (6.6TeV) at 3 sigma (1 sigma). In strongly-coupled models, such as walking or conformal technicolour, where the second Weinberg sum rule does not apply, the vector and axial couplings are not determined by the short-distance constraints; but one can still derive a lower bound on S, provided the hierarchy M-V < M-A remains valid. Even in this less constrained situation, we find that in order to satisfy the experimental limits at 3 sigma one needs M-V,M-A > 1.8TeV.

Abstract: We determine the bottom quark mass from non-relativistic large-n gamma sum rules with renormalization group improvement at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. We compute the theoretical moments within the vNRQCD formalism and account for the summation of powers of the Coulomb singularities as well as of logarithmic terms proportional to powers of alpha(s) ln(n). The renormalization group improvement leads to a substantial stabilization of the theoretical moments compared to previous fixed-order analyses, which did not account for the systematic treatment of the logarithmic alpha(s) ln(n) terms, and allows for reliable single moment fits. For the current world average of the strong coupling (alpha(s) (M-Z) = 0.1183 +/- 0.0010) we obtain M-b(1S) = 4.755 +/- 0.057(pert) +/- 0.009 alpha(s) +/- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom 1S mass and (m) over bar (b) ((m) over bar (b)) = 4.235 +/- 0.055(pert) +/- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom (MS) over bar mass, where we have quoted the perturbative error and the uncertainties from the strong coupling and the experimental data.

Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is a facility built to detect air showers produced by cosmic rays above 10(17) eV. During clear nights with a low illuminated moon fraction, the UV fluorescence light produced by air showers is recorded by optical telescopes at the Observatory. To correct the observations for variations in atmospheric conditions, atmospheric monitoring is performed at regular intervals ranging from several minutes (for cloud identification) to several hours (for aerosol conditions) to several days (for vertical profiles of temperature, pressure, and humidity). In 2009, the monitoring program was upgraded to allow for additional targeted measurements of atmospheric conditions shortly after the detection of air showers of special interest, e. g., showers produced by very high-energy cosmic rays or showers with atypical longitudinal profiles. The former events are of particular importance for the determination of the energy scale of the Observatory, and the latter are characteristic of unusual air shower physics or exotic primary particle types. The purpose of targeted (or “rapid”) monitoring is to improve the resolution of the atmospheric measurements for such events. In this paper, we report on the implementation of the rapid monitoring program and its current status. The rapid monitoring data have been analyzed and applied to the reconstruction of air showers of high interest, and indicate that the air fluorescence measurements affected by clouds and aerosols are effectively corrected using measurements from the regular atmospheric monitoring program. We find that the rapid monitoring program has potential for supporting dedicated physics analyses beyond the standard event reconstruction.