Abstract: We report on a measurement of the fraction of events with a W or Z boson which are produced diffractively in (p) over barp collisions at root s = 1.96 TeV, using data from 0.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector equipped with a Roman- pot spectrometer that detects the (p) over bar from (p) over bar + p -> (p) over bar + [X + W/Z]. We find that (1.00 +/- 0.11)% of Ws and (0.88 +/- 0.22)% of Zs are produced diffractively in a region of antiproton or proton fractional momentum loss xi of 0.03 < xi < 0.10 and 4-momentum transferred squared t of -1 < t < 0 (GeV/c)(2), where we account for the events in which the proton scatters diffractively while the antiproton dissociates, (p) over bar + p -> [X + W/Z] + p, by doubling the measured proton dissociation fraction. We also report on searches for W and Z production in double Pomeron exchange, (p) over bar + p -> [X + W/Z] + p, and on exclusive Z production, (p) over bar + p -> (p) over bar + Z + p. No signal is seen above background for these processes, and comparisons are made with expectations.

Abstract: As a result of a new improved fit to old bubble chamber data of the dominant axial C-5(A) nucleon-to-delta form factor, and due to the relevance of this form factor for neutrino induced coherent pion production, we reevaluate our model predictions in [Phys. Rev. D 79, 013002 ( 2009)] for different observables of the latter reaction. Central values for the total cross sections increase by 20%-30%, while differential cross sections do not change their shape appreciably. Furthermore, we also compute the uncertainties on total, differential, and flux-averaged cross sections induced by the errors in the determination of C-5(A). Our new results turn out to be compatible within about 1 sigma with the former ones. Finally, we stress the existing tension between the recent experimental determination of the sigma(CCcoh pi(+))/sigma(NCcoh pi(0)) ratio by the SciBooNE Collaboration and the theoretical predictions.

Abstract: The production rate and kinematics of photons produced in association with Z bosons are studied using 2 fb(-1) of p (p) over bar collision data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross section for p (p) over bar -> l(+)l(-)gamma + X ( where the leptons l are either muons or electrons with dilepton mass M-ll > 40 GeV/c(2), and where the photon has transverse energy E-T(gamma) > 7 GeV and is well separated from the leptons) is 4.6 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst) +/- 0.3 (lum) pb, which is consistent with standard model expectations. We use the photon E-T distribution from Z gamma events where the Z has decayed to mu(+) mu(-) ,e(+) e(-), or nu(+) nu(-) to set limits on anomalous (non standard model) trilinear couplings between photons and Z bosons.

Abstract: We propose an A(4) flavor-symmetric SU(3) circle times SU(2) circle times U(1) seesaw model where lepton number is broken spontaneously. A consistent two-zero texture pattern of neutrino masses and mixing emerges from the interplay of type-I and type-II seesaw contributions, with important phenomenological predictions. We show that, if the Majoron becomes massive, such seesaw scenario provides a viable candidate for decaying dark matter, consistent with cosmic microwave background lifetime constraints that follow from current WMAP observations. We also calculate the subleading one-loop-induced decay into photons which leads to a monoenergetic emission line that may be observed in future x-ray missions such as Xenia.

Abstract: We present an efficient method of reconstructing the parameters of the constrained MSSM from assumed future LHC data, applied both on their own right and in combination with the cosmological determination of the relic dark matter abundance. Focusing on the ATLAS SU3 benchmark point, we demonstrate that our simple Gaussian approximation can recover the values of its parameters remarkably well. We examine two popular noninformative priors and obtain very similar results, although when we use an informative, naturalness-motivated prior, we find some sizeable differences. We show that a further strong improvement in reconstructing the SU3 parameters can by achieved by applying additional information about the relic abundance at the level of WMAP accuracy, although the expected data from Planck will have only a very limited additional impact. Further external data may be required to break some remaining degeneracies. We argue that the method presented here is applicable to a wide class of low-energy effective supersymmetric models, as it does not require one to deal with purely experimental issues, e.g., detector performance, and has the additional advantages of computational efficiency. Furthermore, our approach allows one to distinguish the effect of the model's internal structure and of the external data on the final parameters constraints.