Abstract: The e(+)e(-) -> K+K- cross section and charged-kaon electromagnetic form factor are measured in the e(+)e(-) center-of-mass energy range (E) from 2.6 to 8.0 GeV using the initial-state radiation technique with an undetected photon. The study is performed using 469 fb(-1) of data collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II2 e(+)e(-) collider at center-of-mass energies near 10.6 GeV. The form factor is found to decrease with energy faster than 1/E-2 and approaches the asymptotic QCD prediction. Production of the K+K- final state through the J/psi and psi(2S) intermediate states is observed. The results for the kaon form factor are used together with data from other experiments to perform a model-independent determination of the relative phases between electromagnetic (single-photon) and strong amplitudes in J/psi and psi(2S). K+K- decays. The values of the branching fractions measured in the reaction e(+)e(-) -> K+K- are shifted relative to their true values due to interference between resonant and nonresonant amplitudes. The values of these shifts are determined to be about +/- 5% for the J/psi meson and +/- 15% for the psi(2S) meson.

Abstract: Many extensions of the Standard Model posit the existence of heavy particles with long lifetimes. This article presents the results of a search for events containing at least one long-lived particle that decays at a significant distance from its production point into two leptons or into five or more charged particles. This analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1) collected in 2012 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. No events are observed in any of the signal regions, and limits are set on model parameters within supersymmetric scenarios involving R-parity violation, split supersymmetry, and gauge mediation. In some of the search channels, the trigger and search strategy are based only on the decay products of individual long-lived particles, irrespective of the rest of the event. In these cases, the provided limits can easily be reinterpreted in different scenarios.

Abstract: Background: Identification of proton-neutron mixed-symmetric one-quadrupole phonon excitations (the 2(ms)(+) states) of atomic nuclei provides information on the isovector part of the residual nucleon-nucleon interaction. It was predicted that the 2(ms)(+) state of particular nuclei close to the U(5) limit of the interacting boson model, in particular Ba-140, should be considerably populated by alpha-transfer reactions [C. E. Alonso et al., Phys. Rev. C 78, 017301 (2008)]. Purpose: We aim at the identification of the 2(ms)(+) mixed-symmetry state (MSS) of radioactive Ba-140 and investigate its population by the alpha-transfer reaction as a suitable tool to selectively populate MSSs and as a potential new signature for its mixed-symmetric character. Method: A gamma-ray spectroscopy experiment was performed in inverse kinematics in order to populate the 2(ms)(+) state of Ba-140 by alpha-transfer from a C-nat target on Xe-136 beam ions. The population of the candidate for the 2(ms)(+) state of Ba-140 was measured relative to the population of the 2(1)(+) state. Results: The candidate for the 2(ms)(+) state of Ba-140 was populated by a transfer three times weaker than predicted. Another 2(+) state that can be ruled out as the MSS was in turn as strongly populated by the a transfer as predicted for the MSS. Conclusions: The relative population of 2(+) states by alpha-transfer cannot serve as a new signature for MSSs, since other 2(+) states are also strongly populated. Nevertheless, the substantial population of the MSS candidate of Ba-140 by alpha transfer qualifies this type of reaction as suitable tool to excite MSSs and study their electromagnetic decay properties.