Abstract: XENON is a dark matter direct detection project, consisting of a time projection chamber (TPC) filled with liquid xenon as detection medium. The construction of the next generation detector, XENON1T, is presently taking place at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. It aims at a sensitivity to spin-independent cross sections of 2.10(47) cm(2) for WIMP masses around 50 GeV/c(2), which requires a background reduction by two orders of magnitude compared to XENON100, the current generation detector. An active system that is able to tag muons and muon-induced backgrounds is critical for this goal. A water Cherenkov detector of similar to 10m height and diameter has been therefore developed, equipped with 8 inch photomultipliers and cladded by a reflective foil. We present the design and optimization study for this detector, which has been carried out with a series of Monte Carlo simulations. The muon veto will reach very high detection efficiencies for muons (> 99.5%) and showers of secondary particles from muon interactions in the rock (> 70%). Similar efficiencies will be obtained for XENONnT, the upgrade of XENON1T, which will later improve the WIMP sensitivity by another order of magnitude. With the Cherenkov water shield studied here, the background from muon-induced neutrons in XENON1T is negligible.

Abstract: The direct CP asymmetries of the decays B-0 -> K-*0 mu(+) mu(-) and B+ -> K+ mu(+) mu(-) are measured using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. The respective control modes B-0 -> J/psi K+ and B+ -> J/psi K+ are used to account for detection and production asymmetries. The measurements are made in several intervals of mu(+)mu(-) invariant mass squared, with the phi(1020) and charmonium resonance regions excluded. Under the hypothesis of zero CP asymmetry in the control modes, the average values of the asymmetries are A(CP)(B-0 -> K-*0 mu(+) mu(-) and B+ -> K+ mu(+) mu(-)) = -0.035 +/- 0.024 +/- 0.003, A(CP)(B+ -> K+ mu(+) mu(-) = 0.012 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.001, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are due to systematic effects. Both measurements are consistent with the Standard Model prediction of small CP asymmetry in these decays.

Abstract: A search for an excess of events with multiple high transverse momentum objects including charged leptons and jets is presented, using 20.3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. No excess of events beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. Using extra-dimensional models for black hole and string ball production and decay, exclusion contours are determined as a function of the mass threshold for production and the fundamental gravity scale for two, four and six extra dimensions. For six extra dimensions, mass thresholds of 4.8-6.2 TeV are excluded at 95 % confidence level, depending on the fundamental gravity scale and model assumptions. Upper limits on the fiducial cross-sections for non-Standard Model production of these final states are set.

Abstract: We describe the method devised to reconstruct inclined cosmic-ray air showers with zenith angles greater than 60 degrees detected with the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured signals at the ground level are fitted to muon density distributions predicted with atmospheric cascade models to obtain the relative shower size as an overall normalization parameter. The method is evaluated using simulated showers to test its performance. The energy of the cosmic rays is calibrated using a sub-sample of events reconstructed with both the fluorescence and surface array techniques. The reconstruction method described here provides the basis of complementary analyses including an independent measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using very inclined events collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Abstract: Supersymmetric versions of induced-gravity inflation are formulated within Supergravity (SUGRA) employing two gauge singlet chiral super fields. The proposed super-potential is uniquely determined by applying a continuous R and a discrete Z(n) symmetry. We select two types of logarithmic Kahler potentials, one associated with a no-scale-type SU(2, 1)/SU(2) x U(1)(R) x Z(n) Kahler manifold and one more generic. In both cases, imposing a lower bound on the parameter c R involved in the coupling between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar curvature – e.g. c(R) greater than or similar to 76, 105, 310 for n – 2, 3 and 6 respectively -, inflation can be attained even for subplanckian values of the inflaton while the corresponding effective theory respects the perturbative unitarity. In the case of no-scale SUGRA we show that, for every n, the inflationary observables remain unchanged and in agreement with the current data while the inflaton mass is predicted to be 3 . 10(13) GeV. Beyond no-scale SUGRA the inflationary observables depend mildly on n and crucially on the coefficient involved in the fourth order term of the Kahler potential which mixes the inflaton with the accompanying non-inflaton field.