Abstract: Collapsing supermassive stars (M greater than or similar to 3 x 10(4) M-circle dot) at high redshifts can naturally provide seeds and explain the origin of the supermassive black holes observed in the centers of nearly all galaxies. During the collapse of supermassive stars, a burst of non-thermal neutrinos is generated with a luminosity that could greatly exceed that of a conventional core collapse supernova explosion. In this work, we investigate the extent to which the neutrinos produced in these explosions can be observed via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS). Large scale direct dark matter detection experiments provide particularly favorable targets. We find that upcoming O(100) tonne-scale experiments will be sensitive to the collapse of individual supermassive stars at distances as large as O(10) Mpc.

Abstract: The first measurements from proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. Data were collected in December 2009 using a minimum-bias trigger during collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 900 GeV. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity, and the relationship between mean transverse momentum and charged-particle multiplicity are measured for events with at least one charged particle in the kinematic range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.5 and p(T) > 500 MeV. The measurements are compared to Monte Carlo models of proton-proton collisions and to results from other experiments at the same centre-of-mass energy. The charged-particle multiplicity per event and unit of pseudorapidity eta = 0 is measured to be 1.333 +/- 0.003(stat.) +/- 0.040(syst.), which is 5-15% higher than the Monte Carlo models predict.

Abstract: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z similar to 0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z similar to 2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T-eff < 5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H] > -0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SEGUE-2. The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the APOGEE along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in 2014 December.

Abstract: A study of B-s(0) -> eta(c)phi and B-s(0) -> eta(c)pi(+)pi(-) decays is performed using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), collected with the LHCb detector in Run 1 of the LHC. The observation of the decay B-s(0) -> eta(c)phi is reported, where the eta(c) meson is reconstructed in the p (p) over bar, K+K-pi(+)pi(-), pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi-and K+K-K+K-decay modes and the phi(1020) in the K+K-decay mode. The decay B-s(0) -> J/psi phi is used as a normalisation channel. Evidence is also reported for the decay B-s(0) -> eta(c)pi(+)pi(-), where the eta(c) meson is reconstructed in the p (p) over bar decay mode, using the decay B-s(0) -> J/psi phi pi(+)pi-as a normalisation channel. The measured branching fractions are B(B-s(0) -> eta(c)phi) = (5 : 01 +/- 0 : 53 +/- 0 : 27 +/- 0 : 63) x 10(-4), B(B-s(0) -> eta(c)pi(+)pi(-)) = (1 : 76 +/- 0 : 59 +/- 0 : 12 +/- 0 : 29) x 10(-4), where in each case the fi rst uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the external branching fractions.

Abstract: We study the forward-backward asymmetry A(FB) in pp -> l(+)l(-) at the Z peak within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We find that this observable provides per mille level constraints on the vertex corrections of the Z boson to quarks, which close a flat direction in the electroweak precision SMEFT fit. Moreover, we show that current A(FB) data is precise enough so that its inclusion in the fit improves significantly LEP bounds even in simple New Physics setups. This demonstrates that the LHC can compete with and complement LEP when it comes to precision measurements of the Z boson properties.