Abstract: We present measurements of the branching fractions of three-prong and five-prong tau decay modes using a sample of 430 million tau lepton pairs, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 468 fb(-1), collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e_e storage rings at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The tau(-) -> (3 pi)(-) eta nu(tau), tau(-) -> (3 pi)(-) omega nu(tau), and tau(-) f(1) (1285)nu(tau) branching fractions are presented, as well as a new limit on the branching fraction of the second-class current decay tau(-) -> pi(-) eta'(958)nu(tau). We search for the decay mode tau(-) -> K- eta'(958)nu(tau) and for five-prong decay modes with kaons, and place the first upper limits on their branching fractions.

Abstract: This paper presents a search for a new heavy particle produced in association with a top or antitop quark. Two models in which the new heavy particle is a color singlet or a color triplet are considered, decaying, respectively, to (t)over-barq or tq, leading to a resonance within the t(t)over-bar + jets signature. The full 2011 ATLAS pp collision data set from the LHC (4.7 fb(-1)) is used to search for t(t)over-bar events produced in association with jets, in which one of the W bosons from the top quarks decays leptonically and the other decays hadronically. The data are consistent with the Standard Model expectation, and a new particle with mass below 430 Gev for both W' boson and color triplet models is excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming unit right-handed coupling.

Abstract: Many models of dark matter contain more than one new particle beyond those in the Standard Model. Often, heavier particles decay into the lightest dark matter particle as the Universe evolves. Here, we explore the possibilities which arise if one of the products in a (heavy particle) -> (dark matter) decay is a positron, and the lifetime is shorter than the age of the Universe. The positrons cool down by scattering off the cosmic microwave background and eventually annihilate when they fall into Galactic potential wells. The resulting 511 keV flux not only places constraints on this class of models, but might even be consistent with that observed by the INTEGRAL satellite.

Abstract: We make a theoretical study of the eta(1405) -> pi(0)f(0)(980) and eta(1405) -> pi(0)a(0)(980) reactions with an aim to determine the isospin violation and the mixing of the f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) resonances. We make use of the chiral unitary approach where these two resonances appear as composite states of two mesons, dynamically generated by the meson-meson interaction provided by chiral Lagrangians. We obtain a very narrow shape for the f(0)(980) production in agreement with a BES experiment. As to the amount of isospin violation, or f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) mixing, assuming constant vertices for the primary eta(1405) -> pi K-0 (K) over bar and eta(1405) -> pi(0)pi(0)eta production, we find results which are much smaller than found in the recent experimental BES paper, but consistent with results found in two other related BES experiments. We have tried to understand this anomaly by assuming an I = 1 mixture in the eta(1405) wave function, but this leads to a much bigger width of the f(0)(980) mass distribution than observed experimentally. The problem is solved by using the primary production driven by eta' -> K*(K) over bar followed by K* -> K pi, which induces an extra singularity in the loop functions needed to produce the f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) resonances. Improving upon earlier work along the same lines, and using the chiral unitary approach, we can now predict absolute values for the ratio Gamma(pi(0), pi(+)pi(-))/Gamma(pi(0), pi(0)eta) which are in fair agreement with experiment. We also show that the same results hold if we had the eta(1475) resonance or a mixture of these two states, as seems to be the case in the BES experiment.

Abstract: From a picture of the X(3872) where the resonance is a bound state of D (D) over bar*- c.c., we evaluate the decay width into the J/psi gamma channel, which is sensitive to the internal structure of this state. For this purpose we evaluate the loops through which the X(3872) decays into its components, and the J/psi and the photon are radiated from these components. We use the local hidden gauge approach extrapolated to SU(4) with a particular SU(4) breaking. The radiative decay involves anomalous couplings, and we obtain acceptable values which are compared to experiments and results of other calculations. Simultaneously, we evaluate the decay rate for the X(3872) into J/psi omega and J/psi rho, and the results obtained for the ratio of these decay widths are compatible with the experiment. We also show that considering only the (D) over bar D-0*(0) – c.c. component in the radiative decay reduces the partial decay width in more than three orders of magnitude, in large discrepancy with experiment.