Abstract: Background: The Gamow-Teller response of Ar-40 is important for the use of liquid argon as a medium for neutrino detection. An ambiguity about the Gamow-Teller strength for the excitation of 1(+) states at 2290 and 2730 keV in K-40 results in a significant uncertainty for neutrino capture rates. This ambiguity is caused by the large discrepancy observed between strengths extracted from Ar-40(p, n) charge-exchange data and the transition strengths for the analog transitions studied in the beta decay of Ti-40. Purpose: This study was aimed at resolving the ambiguity between the results from the Ar-40(p, n) charge-exchange and Ti-40 beta-decay data. Method: Shell-model calculations in the sd-pf shell with a new interaction (WBMB-C) were used to study differences between the structure of the transitions from Ar-40 and Ti-40. Distorted-wave Born approximation reaction calculations were used to investigate uncertainties in the extraction of Gamow-Teller strength from the Ar-40(p, n) data. New high-resolution data for the Ar-40(He-3,t) reaction were used to gain further insight into the charge-exchange reaction mechanism and to provide more information to test the validity of the shell-model calculations. Results: The shell-model calculations showed that interference between amplitudes associated with pf and sd components to the low-lying Gamow-Teller transitions, in combination with a difference in Coulomb energy shifts for Ar-40 and Ti-40, can produce the differences on the scale of those observed between the Ar-40 charge-exchange and Ti-40 beta-decay data. In combination with the difference in nuclear penetrability of the (p, n) and (He-3,t) probes, the different contributions from amplitudes associated with transitions in the pf and sd shells are likely also responsible for the observed discrepancy between the ratio of the cross sections for the low-lying 1(+) states in the Ar-40(p, n) and Ar-40(He-3,t) data. Conclusions: On the basis of this study, it is recommended to use Gamow-Teller strengths extracted from the Ar-40(p, n) data, not the Ti-40 beta-decay data, for the calculation of neutrino capture rates. Further theoretical studies are required to achieve a consistent quantitative description for the energy differences between low-lying 1(+) states in K-40 and Sc-40 and the experimentally observed Gamow-Teller strengths.

Abstract: We present measurements of the inclusive production of antideuterons in e(+)e(-) annihilation into hadrons at approximate to 10.58 GeV center-of-mass energy and in Upsilon(1S, 2S, 3S) decays. The results are obtained using data collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II electron-positron collider. Assuming a fireball spectral shape for the emitted antideuteron momentum, we find B(Upsilon(1S) -> (d) over barX) = (2.81 +/- 0.49(stat)-(+0.20)(0.24)(syst)) x 10(-5), B(Upsilon(2S) -> (d) over barX) = (2.64 +/- 0.11(stat)(-0.21)(+0.26)(syst)) x 10(-5), B(Upsilon(3S) -> (d) over barX) = (2.33 +/- 0.15(stat)(-0.28)(+0.31)(syst)) x 10(-5), and sigma(e(+)e(-) -> (d) over barX) = (9.63 +/- 0.41(stat)(-1.01)(+1.17)(syst) fb.

Abstract: Relic neutrinos play an important role in the evolution of the Universe, modifying some of the cosmological observables. We summarize the main aspects of cosmological neutrinos and describe how the precision of present cosmological data can be used to learn about neutrino properties. In particular, we discuss how cosmology provides information on the absolute scale of neutrino masses, complementary to beta decay and neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. We explain why the combination of Planck temperature data with measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillation angular scale provides a strong bound on the sum of neutrino masses, 0.23 eV at the 95% confidence level, while the lensing potential spectrum and the cluster mass function measured by Planck are compatible with larger values. We also review the constraints from current data on other neutrino properties. Finally, we describe the very good perspectives from future cosmological measurements, which are expected to be sensitive to neutrino masses close to the minimum values guaranteed by flavour oscillations.

Abstract: We show that the first-order D = 4, N = 1 pure supergravity lagrangian four-form can be obtained geometrically as a quadratic expression in the curvatures of the Maxwell superalgebra. This is achieved by noticing that the relative coefficient between the two terms of the lagrangian that makes the action locally supersymmetric also determines trivial field equations for the gauge fields associated with the extra generators of the Maxwell superalgebra. Along the way, a convenient geometric procedure to check the local supersymmetry of a class of lagrangians is developed.

Abstract: We reevaluate the B -> rho l(+) nu(l) decay width as a full B. pi pi iota(+)nu iota four-particle decay, in which the two final pions are produced via an intermediate. meson. The decay width can be written as a convolution of the B -> rho l(+) nu(l) decay width, for an off-shell., with the.. pp line shape. This allows us to fully incorporate the effects of the finite. meson width and a better comparison with actual experiments. We use an Omn s representation to provide the dependence of the B.. semileptonic form factors on q2. The Omn s subtraction constants and the overall normalization parameter jVubj are fitted to light cone sum rules and lattice QCD theoretical form-factor calculations, in the low and high q2 regions, respectively, together to the CLEO, BABAR, and Belle experimental partial branching fraction distributions. The extracted value from this global fit is jVubj d3.40 +/- 0.15_ x 10-3, in agreement with jVubj extracted using all other inputs in Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa fits and the exclusive semileptonic B. p channel, but showing a clear disagreement with jVubj extracted from inclusive semileptonic b. u decays. As estimated by [U.-G. Mei beta ner andW. Wang, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2014) 107], taking into account the. meson width effects and the actual acceptance of the experiments is essential to render the jVubj determinations from exclusive B. p and B.. decays totally compatible.