Abstract: In 1988 the NA31 experiment presented the first evidence of direct CP violation in the K-0 -> pi pi decay amplitudes. A clear signal with a 7.2 sigma statistical significance was later established with the full data samples from the NA31, E731, NA48 and KTeV experiments, confirming that CP violation is associated with a Delta S = 1 quark transition, as predicted by the Standard Model. However, the theoretical prediction for the measured ratio epsilon'/epsilon has been a subject of strong controversy along the years. Although the underlying physics was already clarified in 2001, the recent release of improved lattice data has revived again the theoretical debate. We review the current status, discussing in detail the different ingredients that enter into the calculation of this observable and the reasons why seemingly contradictory predictions were obtained in the past by several groups. An update of the Standard Model prediction is presented and the prospects for future improvements are analysed. Taking into account all known short-distance and long-distance contributions, one obtains Re (epsilon' / epsilon) = (15 +/- 7) . 10(-4), in good agreement with the experimental measurement.

Abstract: Precise measurements of the lepton properties provide stringent tests of the Standard Model and accurate determinations of its parameters. We overview the present status of tau physics, highlighting the most recent developments, and discuss the prospects for future improvements. The leptonic decays of the tau lepton probe the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the W boson. The universality of the leptonic Z couplings has also been tested through Z -> l(+)l(-) decays. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low-energy effects of the strong interaction in very clean conditions. Accurate determinations of the QCD coupling and the Cabibbo mixing V-us have been obtained with tau data. The large mass of the tau opens the possibility to study many kinematically-allowed exclusive decay modes and extract relevant dynamical information. Violations of flavour and CP conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays. Related subjects such as μdecays, the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments, neutrino mixing and B-meson decays into tau leptons are briefly covered. Being one the fermions most strongly coupled to the scalar sector, the tau lepton is playing now a very important role at the LHC as a tool to test the Higgs properties and search for new physics at higher scales.

Abstract: Electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the electron positron collider LEP at CERN from 1995 to 2000 are reported. The combined data set considered in this report corresponds to a total luminosity of about 3 fb(-1) collected by the four LEP experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, 13 and OPAL, at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 130 GeV to 209 GeV. Combining the published results of the four LEP experiments, the measurements include total and differential cross-sections in photon-pair, fermion-pair and four-fermion production, the latter resulting from both double-resonant WW and ZZ production as well as singly resonant production. Total and differential cross-sections are measured precisely, providing a stringent test of the Standard Model at centre-of-mass energies never explored before in electron positron collisions. Final-state interaction effects in four-fermion production, such as those arising from colour reconnection and Bose Einstein correlations between the two W decay systems arising in WW production, are searched for and upper limits on the strength of possible effects are obtained. The data are used to determine fundamental properties of the W boson and the electroweak theory. Among others, the mass and width of the W boson, m(w) and Gamma(w), the branching fraction of W decays to hadrons, B(W -> had), and the trilinear gauge-boson self-couplings g(1)(Z), K-gamma and lambda(gamma), are determined to be: m(w) = 80.376 +/- 0.033 GeV Gamma(w) = 2.195 +/- 0.083 GeV B(W -> had) = 67.41 +/- 0.27% g(1)(Z) = 0.984(-0.020)(+0.018) K-gamma – 0.982 +/- 0.042 lambda(gamma) = 0.022 +/- 0.019.

Abstract: The cross section for the production of W bosons with subsequent decay W -> tau nu(tau) is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on a data sample that was recorded in 2010 at a proton-proton center-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb(-1). The cross section is measured in a region of high detector acceptance and then extrapolated to the full phase space. The product of the total W production cross section and the W -> tau nu(tau) branching ratio is measured to be sigma(tot)(W -> tau nu tau) = 11.1 +/- 0.3 (stat) +/- 1.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (lumi) nb. (C) 2011 CERN.

Abstract: A search for a heavy Standard Model Higgs boson decaying via H -> ZZ -> l(+)l(-)q (q) over bar, where l = e, mu, is presented. The search is performed using a data set of pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.04 fb(-1) collected in 2011 by the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC collider. No significant excess of events above the estimated background is found. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the production cross section (relative to that expected from the Standard Model) of a Higgs boson with a mass in the range between 200 and 600 GeV are derived. Within this mass range, there is at present insufficient sensitivity to exclude a Standard Model Higgs boson. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 360 GeV, where the sensitivity is maximal, the observed and expected cross section upper limits are factors of 1.7 and 2.7, respectively, larger than the Standard Model prediction.