Abstract: This Letter presents the first search for supersymmetry in final states containing one isolated electron or muon, jets, and missing transverse momentum from root s = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The data were recorded by the ATLAS experiment during 2010 and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 35 pb(-1). No excess above the standard model background expectation is observed. Limits are set on the parameters of the minimal supergravity framework, extending previous limits. Within this framework, for A(0) = 0 GeV, tan beta = 3, and μ> 0 and for equal squark and gluino masses, gluino masses below 700 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

Abstract: A search for a Higgs boson has been performed in the H -> WW -> l nu jj channel in 1.04 fb(-1) of pp collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed over the expected background and limits on the Higgs boson production cross section are derived for a Higgs boson mass in the range 240 GeV < m(H) < 600 GeV. The best sensitivity is reached for m(H) = 400 GeV, where the 95% confidence level upper bound on the cross section for H -> WW production is 3.1 pb, or 2.7 times the standard model prediction.

Abstract: A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the two photon decay channel is reported, using 1.08 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. No significant excess is observed in the investigated mass range of 110-150 GeV. Upper limits on the cross-section,times branching ratio of between 2.0 and 5.8 times the Standard Model prediction are derived for this mass range.

Abstract: We present searches for rare or forbidden charm decays of the form X(c)(+) -> h(+/-)l(+/-)l((l)+), where X(c)(+) is a charm hadron (D(+), D(s)(+), or A(c)(+)), h +/- is a pion, kaon, or proton, and l((l)+/-) is an electron or muon. The analysis is based on 384 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) annihilation data collected at or close to the gamma(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. No significant signal is observed for any of the 35 decay modes that are investigated. We establish 90% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions between 1 x 10(-6) and 44 x 10(-6) depending on the channel. In most cases, these results represent either the first limits or significant improvements on existing limits for the decay modes studied.

Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay is a very active field in which the number of proposals for next-generation experiments has proliferated. In this paper we attempt to address both the sense and the sensitivity of such proposals. Sensitivity comes first, by means of proposing a simple and unambiguous statistical recipe to derive the sensitivity to a putative Majorana neutrino mass, m(beta beta). In order to make sense of how the different experimental approaches compare, we apply this recipe to a selection of proposals, comparing the resulting sensitivities. We also propose a “physics-motivated range” (PMR) of the nuclear matrix elements as a unifying criterium between the different nuclear models. The expected performance of the proposals is parametrized in terms of only four numbers: energy resolution, background rate (per unit time, isotope mass and energy), detection efficiency, and beta beta isotope mass. For each proposal, both a reference and an optimistic scenario for the experimental performance are studied. In the reference scenario we find that all the proposals will be able to partially explore the degenerate spectrum, without fully covering it, although four of them (KamLAND-Zen, CUORE, NEXT and EXO) will approach the 50 meV boundary. In the optimistic scenario, we find that CUORE and the xenon-based proposals (KamLAND-Zen, EXO and NEXT) will explore a significant fraction of the inverse hierarchy, with NEXT covering it almost fully. For the long term future, we argue that Xe-136-based experiments may provide the best case for a 1-ton scale experiment, given the potentially very low backgrounds achievable and the expected scalability to large isotope masses.