Abstract: A search for the decay B-s(0) -> D*(-/+)pi(+/-) is presented using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected by LHCb. This decay is expected to be mediated by a W-exchange diagram, with little contribution from rescattering processes, and therefore a measurement of the branching fraction will help us to understand the mechanism behind related decays such as B-s(0) -> pi(+)pi(-) and B-s(0) -> D (D) over bar. Systematic uncertainties are minimized by using B-0 -> D*(-/+)pi(+/-) as a normalization channel. We find no evidence for a signal, and set an upper limit on the branching fraction of B(B-s(0) -> D*(-/+)pi(+/-) < 6.1(7.8) x 10(-6) at 90% (95%) confidence level.

Abstract: The results of a search for an excited bottom-quark b* in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV, using 4.7 fb(-1) of data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. In the model studied, a single b*-quark is produced through a chromomagnetic interaction and subsequently decays to a W boson and a top quark. The search is performed in the dilepton and lepton + jets final states, which are combined to set limits on b*-quark couplings for a range of b*-quark masses. For a benchmark with unit size chromomagnetic and Standard Model-like electroweak b* couplings, b* quarks with masses less than 870 GeV are excluded at the 95% credibility level.

Abstract: A model is developed to describe odd-parity baryon resonances generated dynamically through a unitary baryon-meson coupled-channels approach. The scheme applies to channels with light- and/or heavy-quark content. Distinct features of the model are that i) the interaction is an S-wave contact one, ii) it reduces to the SU(3) Weinberg-Tomozawa Hamiltonian when light pseudoscalar mesons are involved, thus respecting chiral symmetry, iii) spin-flavor is preserved in the light-quark sector, and iv) heavy-quark spin symmetry is fulfilled in the heavy-quark sector. In particular, baryon-meson states with different content in c or in (c) over bar do not mix. The model is a minimal one and it contains no free parameters. In this work, we focus on baryon resonances with hidden charm (at least one (c) over bar and one c quark). We analyze several possible sectors and, for the sector with zero net charm, we write down the most general Lagrangian consistent with SU(3) and heavy-quark spin symmetry. We explicitly study the N and Delta states, which are produced from the S-wave interaction of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with 1/2(+) and 3/2(+) baryons within the charmless and strangeless hidden-charm sector. We predict seven odd-parity N-like and five Delta-like states with masses around 4 GeV, most of them as bound states. These states form heavy-quark spin multiplets, which are almost degenerate in mass. The predicted new resonances definitely cannot be accommodated by quark models with three constituent quarks and they might be looked for in the forthcoming PANDA experiment at the future FAIR facility.

Abstract: Measurements are presented of differential cross-sections for top quark pair production in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV relative to the total inclusive top quark pair production cross-section. A data sample of 2.05 fb(-1) recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used. Relative differential cross-sections are derived as a function of the invariant mass, the transverse momentum and the rapidity of the top quark pair system. Events are selected in the lepton (electron or muon) + jets channel. The background-subtracted differential distributions are corrected for detector effects, normalized to the total inclusive top quark pair production cross-section and compared to theoretical predictions. The measurement uncertainties range typically between 10 % and 20 % and are generally dominated by systematic effects. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectations are observed.

Abstract: The first LHC results seem to disfavor, from the point of view of naturalness, any constrained MSSM realization with universal conditions at the SUSY-breaking scale. A more motivated scenario is given by split-family SUSY, in which the first two generations of squarks are heavy, compatible with a U(2)(3) flavor symmetry. We consider this flavor symmetry to be broken at a very high scale and study the consequences at low energies through its RGE evolution. Initial conditions compatible with a split scenario are found, and the preservation of correlations from minimal U(2)(3) breaking are checked. The various chiral operators in Delta F = 2 processes are analyzed, and we show that, due to LHC gluino bounds, the (LL)(RR) operators cannot always be neglected. Finally, we also study a possible extension of the U(2)(3) model compatible with the lepton sector.