Abstract: Symmetry transformations have been proven a bedrock tool for understanding the nature of particle interactions, formulating, and testing fundamental theories. Based on the up to now unbroken CPT symmetry, the violation of the CP symmetry between matter and antimatter by weak interactions, discovered in the decay of kaons in 1964 and observed more recently in 2001 in B mesons, strongly suggests that the behavior of these particles under weak interactions must also be asymmetric under time reversal T. However, until recent years there has not been a direct detection of the expected time-reversal violation in the time evolution of any system. This Colloquium examines the field of time-reversal symmetry breaking in the fundamental laws of physics. For transitions, its observation requires an asymmetry with exchange of initial and final states. A discussion is given of the conceptual basis for such an exchange with unstable particles, using the quantum properties of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement available at B meson factories combined with the decay as a filtering measurement. The method allows a clear-cut separation of different transitions between flavor and CP eigenstates in the decay of neutral B mesons. These ideas have been implemented for the experiment by the BABAR Collaboration at SLAC's B factory. The results, presented in 2012, prove beyond any doubt the violation of time-reversal invariance in the time evolution between these two states of the neutral B meson.

Abstract: A search is presented for the decay Upsilon(1S) -> gamma A(0), A(0) -> c (c) over barc, where A(0) is a candidate for the CP-odd Higgs boson of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model. The search is based on data collected with the BABAR detector at the Upsilon(2S) resonance. A sample of Upsilon(1S) mesons is selected via the decay Upsilon(2S) -> pi(+)pi(-)Upsilon(1S) . The A(0) -> c (c) over bar decay is identified through the reconstruction of hadronic D-0, D+,and D-0 (2010)(+) meson decays. No significant signal is observed. The measured 90% confidence-level upper limits on the product branching fraction beta(Upsilon(1S) -> gamma A(0)) x beta(A(0) -> (c) over barc range from 7.4 x 10(-5) to 2.4 x 10(-3) for A(0) masses from 4.00 to 8.95 GeV/c(2) and 9.10 to 9.25 GeV/c(2), where the region between 8.95 and 9.10 GeV/c(2) is excluded because of background from Upsilon(2S) -> gamma chi(bJ)(1P), chi(bJ)(1P) -> gamma Upsilon(1S) decays.

Abstract: We present a search for a neutral, long-lived particle L that is produced in e(+)e(-)collisions and decays at a significant distance from the e(+)e(-) interaction point into various flavor combinations of two oppositely charged tracks. The analysis uses an e(+)e(-) data sample with a luminosity of 489.1 fb(-1) collected by the BABAR detector at the Upsilon(4S), Upsilon(3S), and Upsilon(2S) resonances and just below the Upsilon(4S). Fitting the two-track mass distribution in search of a signal peak, we do not observe a significant signal, and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the L production cross section, branching fraction, and reconstruction efficiency for six possible two-body L decay modes as a function of the L mass. The efficiency is given for each final state as a function of the mass, lifetime, and transverse momentum of the candidate, allowing application of the upper limits to any production model. In addition, upper limits are provided on the branching fraction B(B -> XsL), where X-s is a strange hadronic system.