Abstract: We report a measurement of the branching fraction of the exclusive charmless semileptonic decay B+ -> omega l(+) nu, where l is either an electron or amuon. We use samples of B+ mesons tagged by a reconstructed charmed semileptonic decay of the other B meson in the event. The measurement is based on a data set of 426.1 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) storage rings. We measure a branching fraction of B(B+ -> omega l(+) nu) = (1.35 +/- 0.21 +/- 0.11) x 10(-4), where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. We also present measurements of the partial branching fractions in three bins of q(2), the invariant-mass squared of the lepton-neutrino system, and we compare them to theoretical predictions of the form factors.

Abstract: We report a measurement of the D-0 meson mass using the decay chain D* (2010) + -> D-0 pi(+) with D-0 -> K-K-K+pi(+). The data were recorded with the BABAR detector at center-of-mass energies at and near the Upsilon(4S) resonance, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 477 fb(-1). We obtain m(D-0) (1864: 841 +/- 0: 048 +/- 0: 063) MeV, where the quoted errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. The uncertainty of this measurement is half that of the best previous measurement.

Abstract: We search for a low-mass scalar CP-odd Higgs boson, A(0), produced in the radiative decay of the upsilon resonance and decaying into a tau(+)tau(-) pair: Y(1S) -> gamma A(0). The production of Y(1S) mesons is tagged by Y(2S) -> pi(+)pi(-) Y(1S) transitions, using a sample of (98.3 +/- 0.9) x 10(6) Y(2S) mesons collected by the BABAR detector. We find no evidence for a Higgs boson in the mass range 3: 5 <= m(A)0 <= 9: 2 GeV, and combine these results with our previous search for the tau decays of the light Higgs in radiative Y(3S) decays, setting limits on the coupling of A(0) to the b (b) over bar quarks in the range 0.09-1.9. Our measurements improve the constraints on the parameters of the next-to-minimal-supersymmetric Standard Model and similar theories with low-mass scalar degrees of freedom.

Abstract: The deep ocean is the largest and least known ecosystem on Earth. It hosts numerous pelagic organisms, most of which are able to emit light. Here we present a unique data set consisting of a 2.5-year long record of light emission by deep-sea pelagic organisms, measured from December 2007 to June 2010 at the ANTARES underwater neutrino telescope in the deep NW Mediterranean Sea, jointly with synchronous hydrological records. This is the longest continuous time-series of deep-sea bioluminescence ever recorded. Our record reveals several weeks long, seasonal bioluminescence blooms with light intensity up to two orders of magnitude higher than background values, which correlate to changes in the properties of deep waters. Such changes are triggered by the winter cooling and evaporation experienced by the upper ocean layer in the Gulf of Lion that leads to the formation and subsequent sinking of dense water through a process known as “open-sea convection”. It episodically renews the deep water of the study area and conveys fresh organic matter that fuels the deep ecosystems. Luminous bacteria most likely are the main contributors to the observed deep-sea bioluminescence blooms. Our observations demonstrate a consistent and rapid connection between deep open-sea convection and bathypelagic biological activity, as expressed by bioluminescence. In a setting where dense water formation events are likely to decline under global warming scenarios enhancing ocean stratification, in situ observatories become essential as environmental sentinels for the monitoring and understanding of deep-sea ecosystem shifts.

Abstract: We present here bounds on neutrino masses from the combination of recent Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements and galaxy clustering information from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III. We use the full shape of either the photometric angular clustering (Data Release 8) or the 3D spectroscopic clustering (Data Release 9) power spectrum in different cosmological scenarios. In the Lambda CDM scenario, spectroscopic galaxy clustering measurements improve significantly the existing neutrino mass bounds from Planck data. We find Sigma m(v) < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence level for the combination of the 3D power spectrum with Planck CMB data (wi lensing included) and Wilkinson Microwave Anisoptropy Probe 9-year polarization measurements. Therefore, robust neutrino mass constraints can be obtained without the addition of the prior on the Hubble constant from Hubble Space Telescope. In extended cosmological scenarios with a dark energy fluid or with nonflat geometries, galaxy clustering measurements are essential to pin down the neutrino mass bounds, providing in the majority of cases better results than those obtained from the associated measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale only. In the presence of a freely varying (constant) dark energy equation of state, we find Sigma m(v) < 0.49 eV at 95% confidence level for the combination of the 3D power spectrum with Planck CMB data (with lensing included) and Wilkinson Microwave Anisoptropy Probe 9-year polarization measurements. This same data combination in nonflat geometries provides the neutrino mass bound Sigma m(v) < 0.35 eV at 95% confidence level.