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Archidiacono, M., Giusarma, E., Melchiorri, A., & Mena, O. (2012). Dark radiation in extended cosmological scenarios. Phys. Rev. D, 86(4), 043509–7pp.
Abstract: Recent cosmological data have provided evidence for a “dark” relativistic background at high statistical significance. Parameterized in terms of the number of relativistic degrees of freedom N-eff, however, the current data seem to indicate a higher value than the one expected in the standard scenario based on three active neutrinos. This dark radiation component can be characterized not only by its abundance but also by its clustering properties, as its effective sound speed and its viscosity parameter. It is therefore crucial to study the correlations among the dark radiation properties and key cosmological parameters, as the dark energy equation of state or the running of the scalar spectral index, with current and future cosmic microwave background data. We find that dark radiation with viscosity parameters different from their standard values may be misinterpreted as an evolving dark energy component or as a running spectral index in the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Azzolini, V., Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2012). Study of (B)over-bar -> X(u)l(v)over-bar decays in B(B)over-bar events tagged by a fully reconstructed B-meson decay and determination of vertical bar V-ub vertical bar. Phys. Rev. D, 86(3), 032004–23pp.
Abstract: We report measurements of partial branching fractions for inclusive charmless semileptonic B decays (B) over bar -> X(u)l (v) over bar and the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element vertical bar V-ub vertical bar. The analysis is based on a sample of 467 x 10(6) Y(4S) -> B (B) over bar decays recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP- II e(+)e(-) storage rings. We select events in which the decay of one of the B mesons is fully reconstructed and an electron or a muon signals the semileptonic decay of the other B meson. We measure partial branching fractions Delta B in several restricted regions of phase space and determine the CKM element vertical bar V-ub vertical bar based on different QCD predictions. For decays with a charged lepton momentum p(l)* > 1.0 GeV in the B meson rest frame, we obtain Delta B = (1.80 +/- 0.13(stat) +/- 0.15(sys) +/- 0.02(theo)) x 10(-3) from a fit to the two-dimensional M-X – q(2) distribution. Here, M-X refers to the invariant mass of the final state hadron X and q(2) is the invariant mass squared of the charged lepton and neutrino. From this measurement we extract vertical bar V-ub vertical bar = (4.33 +/- 0.24(exp) +/- 0.15(theo)) x 10(-3) as the arithmetic average of four results obtained from four different QCD predictions of the partial rate. We separately determine partial branching fractions for (B) over bar (0) and B- decays and derive a limit on the isospin breaking in (B) over bar -> X(u)l (v) over bar decays.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., et al. (2012). Measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy for charged particle production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV lead-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. C, 86(1), 014907–41pp.
Abstract: Differential measurements of charged particle azimuthal anisotropy are presented for lead-lead collisions at root sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, based on an integrated luminosity of approximately 8 μb(-1). This anisotropy is characterized via a Fourier expansion of the distribution of charged particles in azimuthal angle relative to the reaction plane, with the coefficients v(n) denoting the magnitude of the anisotropy. Significant v(2)-v(6) values are obtained as a function of transverse momentum (0.5 < p(T) < 20 GeV), pseudorapidity (|eta| < 2.5), and centrality using an event plane method. The v(n) values for n >= 3 are found to vary weakly with both eta and centrality, and their p(T) dependencies are found to follow an approximate scaling relation, v(n)(1/n)(p(T)) proportional to v(2)(1/2)(p(T)), except in the top 5% most central collisions. A Fourier analysis of the charged particle pair distribution in relative azimuthal angle (Delta phi = phi(a)-phi(b)) is performed to extract the coefficients v(n,n) = < cos n Delta phi >. For pairs of charged particles with a large pseudorapidity gap (|Delta eta = eta(a) – eta(b)| > 2) and one particle with p(T) < 3 GeV, the v(2,2)-v(6,6) values are found to factorize as v(n,n)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) approximate to v(n) (p(T)(a))v(n)(p(T)(b)) in central and midcentral events. Such factorization suggests that these values of v(2,2)-v(6,6) are primarily attributable to the response of the created matter to the fluctuations in the geometry of the initial state. A detailed study shows that the v(1,1)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) data are consistent with the combined contributions from a rapidity-even v(1) and global momentum conservation. A two-component fit is used to extract the v(1) contribution. The extracted v(1) isobserved to cross zero at pT approximate to 1.0 GeV, reaches a maximum at 4-5 GeV with a value comparable to that for v(3), and decreases at higher p(T).
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2012). Search for the decay modes D-0 -> e(+) e(-), D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-), and D-0 -> e(+/-) μ-/+. Phys. Rev. D, 86(3), 032001–10pp.
Abstract: We present searches for the rare decay modes D-0 -> e(+) e(-), D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-), and D-0 -> e(+/-) mu(-/+) in continuum e(+) e(-) -> c (c) over bar events recorded by the BABAR detector in a data sample that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 468 fb(-1). These decays are highly Glashow-Iliopoulos-Maiani suppressed but may be enhanced in several extensions of the standard model. Our observed event yields are consistent with the expected backgrounds. An excess is seen in the D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-) channel, although the observed yield is consistent with an upward background fluctuation at the 5% level. Using the Feldman-Cousins method, we set the following 90% confidence level intervals on the branching fractions: B(D-0 -> e(+) e(-)) < 1.7 x 10(-7), B(D-0 -> mu(+) mu(-)) within [0.6,8.1] x 10(-7), and B(D-0 -> e(+/-) mu(-/+)) < 3.3 x 10(-7).
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2012). Unquenching the gluon propagator with Schwinger-Dyson equations. Phys. Rev. D, 86(1), 014032–24pp.
Abstract: In this article we use the Schwinger-Dyson equations to compute the nonperturbative modifications caused to the infrared finite gluon propagator (in the Landau gauge) by the inclusion of a small number of quark families. Our basic operating assumption is that the main bulk of the effect stems from the "one-loop dressed'' quark loop contributing to the full gluon self-energy. This quark loop is then calculated, using as basic ingredients the full quark propagator and quark-gluon vertex; for the quark propagator we use the solution obtained from the quark-gap equation, while for the vertex we employ suitable Ansatze, which guarantee the transversality of the answer. The resulting effect is included as a correction to the quenched gluon propagator, obtained in recent lattice simulations. Our main finding is that the unquenched propagator displays a considerable suppression in the intermediate momentum region, which becomes more pronounced as we increase the number of active quark families. The influence of the quarks on the saturation point of the propagator cannot be reliably computed within the present scheme; the general tendency appears to be to decrease it, suggesting a corresponding increase in the effective gluon mass. The renormalization properties of our results, and the uncertainties induced by the unspecified transverse part of the quark-gluon vertex, are discussed. Finally, the gluon propagator is compared with the available unquenched lattice data, showing rather good agreement.
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