Abstract: A search for resonant production of high-mass top-quark pairs is performed on 2.05 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV collected in 2011 with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This analysis of the lepton+jets final state is specifically designed for the particular topology that arises from the decay of highly boosted top quarks. The observed t (t) over bar invariant mass spectrum is found to be compatible with the Standard Model prediction and 95% credibility level upper limits are derived on the t (t) over bar production rate through new massive states. An upper limit of 0.7 pb is set on the production cross section times branching fraction of a narrow 1 TeV resonance. A Kaluza-Klein gluon with a mass smaller than 1.5 TeV is excluded.

Abstract: We make a theoretical study of the eta(1405) -> pi(0)f(0)(980) and eta(1405) -> pi(0)a(0)(980) reactions with an aim to determine the isospin violation and the mixing of the f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) resonances. We make use of the chiral unitary approach where these two resonances appear as composite states of two mesons, dynamically generated by the meson-meson interaction provided by chiral Lagrangians. We obtain a very narrow shape for the f(0)(980) production in agreement with a BES experiment. As to the amount of isospin violation, or f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) mixing, assuming constant vertices for the primary eta(1405) -> pi K-0 (K) over bar and eta(1405) -> pi(0)pi(0)eta production, we find results which are much smaller than found in the recent experimental BES paper, but consistent with results found in two other related BES experiments. We have tried to understand this anomaly by assuming an I = 1 mixture in the eta(1405) wave function, but this leads to a much bigger width of the f(0)(980) mass distribution than observed experimentally. The problem is solved by using the primary production driven by eta' -> K*(K) over bar followed by K* -> K pi, which induces an extra singularity in the loop functions needed to produce the f(0)(980) and a(0)(980) resonances. Improving upon earlier work along the same lines, and using the chiral unitary approach, we can now predict absolute values for the ratio Gamma(pi(0), pi(+)pi(-))/Gamma(pi(0), pi(0)eta) which are in fair agreement with experiment. We also show that the same results hold if we had the eta(1475) resonance or a mixture of these two states, as seems to be the case in the BES experiment.

Abstract: It is well known that avalanche photodiodes operated in the Geiger mode above the breakdown voltage offer a virtually infinite gain and time accuracy in the picosecond range that can be used for single photon detection. However, their performance in particle detection still remains unexplored. In this contribution, we are going to expose different steps that we have taken in order to prove the efficiency of the Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes in the aforementioned field. In particular, we will present a setup for the characterization of these sensors in a test beam. The expected results of the test beam at DESY and CERN have been simulated with Geant4 and will also be exposed.