BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2011). Searches for rare or forbidden semileptonic charm decays. Phys. Rev. D, 84(7), 072006–13pp.
Abstract: We present searches for rare or forbidden charm decays of the form X(c)(+) -> h(+/-)l(+/-)l((l)+), where X(c)(+) is a charm hadron (D(+), D(s)(+), or A(c)(+)), h +/- is a pion, kaon, or proton, and l((l)+/-) is an electron or muon. The analysis is based on 384 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) annihilation data collected at or close to the gamma(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. No significant signal is observed for any of the 35 decay modes that are investigated. We establish 90% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions between 1 x 10(-6) and 44 x 10(-6) depending on the channel. In most cases, these results represent either the first limits or significant improvements on existing limits for the decay modes studied.
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NEXT Collaboration, Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Felkai, R., Kekic, M., Lopez-March, N., et al. (2020). Mitigation of backgrounds from cosmogenic Xe-137 in xenon gas experiments using He-3 neutron capture. J. Phys. G, 47(7), 075001–17pp.
Abstract: Xe-136 is used as the target medium for many experiments searching for 0 nu beta beta. Despite underground operation, cosmic muons that reach the laboratory can produce spallation neutrons causing activation of detector materials. A potential background that is difficult to veto using muon tagging comes in the form of Xe-137 created by the capture of neutrons on Xe-136. This isotope decays via beta decay with a half-life of 3.8 min and a Q(beta) of similar to 4.16 MeV. This work proposes and explores the concept of adding a small percentage of He-3 to xenon as a means to capture thermal neutrons and reduce the number of activations in the detector volume. When using this technique we find the contamination from Xe-137 activation can be reduced to negligible levels in tonne and multi-tonne scale high pressure gas xenon neutrinoless double beta decay experiments running at any depth in an underground laboratory.
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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2010). Measurement of D-0-(D)over-bar(0) Mixing Parameters Using D-0 -> K-S(0)pi(+) pi(-) and D-0 -> (KSK+K-)-K-0 Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 105(8), 081803–7pp.
Abstract: We report a direct measurement of D-0-(D) over bar (0) mixing parameters through a time-dependent amplitude analysis of the Dalitz plots of D-0 -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) and, for the first time, D-0 -> (KSK+K-)-K-0 decays. The low-momentum pion pi(+)(s) in the decay D*(+) -> D-0 pi(+)(s) identifies the flavor of the neutral D meson at its production. Using 468.5 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) colliding-beam data recorded near root s = 10.6 by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy collider at SLAC, we measure the mixing parameters x = [1.6 + 2.3(stat) +/- 1.2(syst) +/- 0.8(model)] X 10(-3), and y = [5.7 +/- 2.0(stat) +/- 1.3(syst) +/- 0.7(model)] X 10(-3). These results provide the best measurement to date of x and y. The knowledge of the value of x, in particular, is crucial for understanding the origin of mixing.
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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2010). Search for B+ meson decay to a(1)(+)(1260)K*(0)(892). Phys. Rev. D, 82(9), 091101–8pp.
Abstract: We present a search for the decay B+ -> a(1)(+)(1260)K*(0)(892). The data, collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, represent 465 X 10(6)B (B) over bar pairs produced in e(+)e(-) annihilation at the energy of the gamma(4S). We find no significant signal and set an upper limit at 90% confidence level on the product of branching fractions B(B+ -> a(1)(+) (1260)K*(0)(892)) X B(a(1)(+)(1260) -> pi(+) pi(-) pi(+)) of 1.8 X 10(-6).
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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2011). Searches for the baryon- and lepton-number violating decays B0 -> Lambda_c+ l-, B- --> Lambda l-, and B- --> (Lambda)bar l-. Phys. Rev. D, 83(9), 091101–8pp.
Abstract: Searches for B mesons decaying to final states containing a baryon and a lepton are performed, where the baryon is either Lambda(c) or Lambda and the lepton is a muon or an electron. These decays violate both baryon and lepton number and would be a signature of physics beyond the standard model. No significant signal is observed in any of the decay modes, and upper limits in the range (3.2-520) x 10(-8) are set on the branching fractions at the 90% confidence level.
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