Abstract: We determine the bottom quark mass from non-relativistic large-n gamma sum rules with renormalization group improvement at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. We compute the theoretical moments within the vNRQCD formalism and account for the summation of powers of the Coulomb singularities as well as of logarithmic terms proportional to powers of alpha(s) ln(n). The renormalization group improvement leads to a substantial stabilization of the theoretical moments compared to previous fixed-order analyses, which did not account for the systematic treatment of the logarithmic alpha(s) ln(n) terms, and allows for reliable single moment fits. For the current world average of the strong coupling (alpha(s) (M-Z) = 0.1183 +/- 0.0010) we obtain M-b(1S) = 4.755 +/- 0.057(pert) +/- 0.009 alpha(s) +/- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom 1S mass and (m) over bar (b) ((m) over bar (b)) = 4.235 +/- 0.055(pert) +/- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom (MS) over bar mass, where we have quoted the perturbative error and the uncertainties from the strong coupling and the experimental data.

Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is exploring the potential of the radio detection technique to study extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) addresses both technological and scientific aspects of the radio technique. A first phase of AERA has been operating since September 2010 with detector stations observing radio signals at frequencies between 30 and 80 MHz. In this paper we present comparative studies to identify and optimize the antenna design for the final configuration of AERA consisting of 160 individual radio detector stations. The transient nature of the air shower signal requires a detailed description of the antenna sensor. As the ultra-wideband reception of pulses is not widely discussed in antenna literature, we review the relevant antenna characteristics and enhance theoretical considerations towards the impulse response of antennas including polarization effects and multiple signal reflections. On the basis of the vector effective length we study the transient response characteristics of three candidate antennas in the time domain. Observing the variation of the continuous galactic background intensity we rank the antennas with respect to the noise level added to the galactic signal.

Abstract: Weak gravitational lensing is one of the key probes of the cosmological model, dark energy, and dark matter, providing insight into both the cosmic expansion history and large scale structure growth history. Taking into account a broad spectrum of physics affecting growth – dynamical dark energy, extended gravity, neutrino masses, and spatial curvature – we analyze the cosmological constraints. Similarly we consider the effects of a range of systematic uncertainties, in shear measurement, photometric redshifts, intrinsic alignments, and the nonlinear power spectrum, on cosmological parameter extraction. We also investigate, and provide fitting formulas tor, the influence of survey parameters such as redshift depth, galaxy number densities, and sky area on the cosmological constraints in the beyond-ACDM parameter space. Finally, we examine the robustness of results for different fiducial cosmologies.