Abstract: In this work we explore the applicability of a special gluon mass generating mechanism in the context of the linear covariant gauges. In particular, the implementation of the Schwinger mechanism in pure Yang-Mills theories hinges crucially on the inclusion of massless bound-state excitations in the fundamental nonperturbative vertices of the theory. The dynamical formation of such excitations is controlled by a homogeneous linear Bethe-Salpeter equation, whose nontrivial solutions have been studied only in the Landau gauge. Here, the form of this integral equation is derived for general values of the gauge-fixing parameter, under a number of simplifying assumptions that reduce the degree of technical complexity. The kernel of this equation consists of fully dressed gluon propagators, for which recent lattice data are used as input, and of three-gluon vertices dressed by a single form factor, which is modeled by means of certain physically motivated Ansatze. The gauge-dependent terms contributing to this kernel impose considerable restrictions on the infrared behavior of the vertex form factor; specifically, only infrared finite Ansatze are compatible with the existence of nontrivial solutions. When such Ansatze are employed, the numerical study of the integral equation reveals a continuity in the type of solutions as one varies the gauge-fixing parameter, indicating a smooth departure from the Landau gauge. Instead, the logarithmically divergent form factor displaying the characteristic “zero crossing,” while perfectly consistent in the Landau gauge, has to undergo a dramatic qualitative transformation away from it, in order to yield acceptable solutions. The possible implications of these results are briefly discussed.

Abstract: Using a nonrelativistic constituent quark model in which the degrees of freedom are quarkantiquark and meson- meson components, we have recently shown that the Dd((*))K thresholds play an important role in lowering the mass of the c (S) over bar states associated with the physical D-s0(*)(2317) and D-s1(2460) mesons. This observation is also supported by other theoretical approaches such as latticeregularized QCD or chiral unitary theory in coupled channels. Herein, we extend our computation to the lowest P- wave Bs mesons, taking into account the corresponding J(P) = 0(+), 1(-) and 2(+) bottomstrange states predicted by the naive quark model and the BK and B* K thresholds. We assume that mixing with B-s((*))eta and isospin-violating decays to B-s((*))pi are negligible. This computation is important because there is no experimental data in the b (S) over bar sector for the equivalent j(q)(p) = 1/2(+) (D-s0(*)(2317), D-s1 (2460)) heavy-quark multiplet and, as it has been seen in the c (s) over bar sector, the naive theoretical result can be wrong by more than 100 MeV. Our calculation allows us to introduce the coupling with the D-wave B*K channel and to compute the probabilities associated with the different Fock components of the physical state.

Abstract: The decays B+-> J/psi 3 pi(+)2 pi(-) and B+ -> psi(2S)pi(+)pi(+)pi(-) are observed for the first time using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment in proton- proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The branching fractions relative to that of B+ -> psi(2S)K+ are measured to be B(B+-> J/psi 3 pi(+)2 pi(-))/B(B+ -> psi (2S)K+) = (1.88 +/- 0.17 +/- 0.09)x10(-2). B(B+ -> psi(2S)pi(+)pi(+)pi(-))/B(B+ -> psi (2S)K+) = (3.04 +/- 0.50 +/- 0.26)X10(-2) where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.

Abstract: A search for the CP-violating strong decays eta -> pi(+)pi(-) and eta ' (958) -> pi(+)pi(-) has been performed using approximately 2.5 x 10(7) events of each of the decays D+ -> pi(+)pi(+)pi(-) and D-s(+) -> pi(+)pi(+)pi(-), recorded by the LHCb experiment. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1) of pp collision data recorded during LHC Run 1 and 0.3fb(-1) recorded in Run 2. No evidence is seen for D-(s)(+) -> pi(+)eta((')) with eta((')) -> pi(+)pi(-), and upper limits at 90% confidence level are set on the branching fractions, B(eta -> pi(+)pi(-)) < 1.6 x 10(-5) and B(eta' -> pi(+)pi(-)) < 1.8 x 10(-5). The limit for the eta decay is comparable with the existing one, while that for the eta' is a factor of three smaller than the previous limit.

Abstract: Measurements of normalized differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as a function of the top-quark, t (t) over bar system and event-level kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. The observables have been chosen to emphasize the t (t) over bar production process and to be sensitive to effects of initial-and final-state radiation, to the different parton distribution functions, and to non-resonant processes and higher-order corrections. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1), recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in the lepton+jets channel, requiring exactly one charged lepton and at least four jets with at least two of the jets tagged as originating from a b-quark. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in fair agreement with the predictions over a wide kinematic range. Nevertheless, most generators predict a harder top-quark transverse momentum distribution at high values than what is observed in the data. Predictions beyond NLO accuracy improve the agreement with data at high top-quark transverse momenta. Using the current settings and parton distribution functions, the rapidity distributions are not well modelled by any generator under consideration. However, the level of agreement is improved when more recent sets of parton distribution functions are used.