Study of Rare B Meson Decays Related to the CKM Angle Beta at BaBar

This study reports measurements of the branching fractions of B meson decays to {eta}{prime}K{sup +}, {eta}{prime}K{sup 0}, {omega}{pi}{sup +}, {omega}K{sup +}, and {omega}K{sup 0}. Charge asymmetries are measured for the charged modes and the time-dependent CP-violation parameters S and C are measured for the neutral modes. The results are based on a data sample of 347 fb{sup -1} containing 383 million B{bar B} pairs recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- storage ring located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Statistically significant signals are observed for all channels with the following results: B(B{sup +} {yields} {eta}{prime}K{sup +}) = (70.0{+-}1.5{+-}2.8)x10{sup -6}, B(B{sup 0} {yields} {eta}{prime}K{sup 0}) = (66.6{+-}2.6{+-}2.8)x10{sup -6}, B(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup +}) = (6.7{+-}0.5{+-}0.4)x10{sup -6}, B(B{sup +} {yields} {omega}K{sup +}) = (6.3{+-}0.5{+-}0.3)x10-6, and B(B{sup 0} {yields} ?K0) = (5.6{+-}0.8{+-}0.3)x10-6, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. We measure A{sub ch}({eta}{prime}K{sup +}) = +0.010{+-}0.022{+-}0.006, A{sub ch}({omega}{pi}{sup +}) = -0.02{+-}0.08{+-}0.01, A{sub ch}({omega}K{sup +}) = -0.01{+-}0.07{+-}0.01, S{sub {eta}{prime}K{sup 0}{sub S}} = 0.56{+-}0.12{+-}0.02, C{sub {eta}{prime}K{sup 0}{sub S}} = -0.24 {+-} 0.08 {+-} 0.03, S{sub {omega}{prime}K{sup 0}{sub S}} = 0.62+0.25 -0.29 {+-} 0.02, and C{sub {omega}{prime}K{sup 0}{sub S}} = -0.39+0.25 -0.24 {+-} 0.03. The result in S{sub {eta}{prime}K{sup 0}{sub S}} contributes to the published measurement from BABAR, which differs from zero by 5.5 standard deviations and is the first observation of mixing-induced CP-violation in a charmless B decay

Flux profile scanners for scattered high-energy electrons

The paper describes the design and performance of flux integrating Cherenkov scanners with air-core reflecting light guides used in a high-energy, high-flux electron scattering experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The scanners were highly radiation resistant and provided a good signal to background ratio leading to very good spatial resolution of the scattered electron flux profile scans.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figure

On the influence of the cosmological constant on gravitational lensing in small systems

The cosmological constant Lambda affects gravitational lensing phenomena. The contribution of Lambda to the observable angular positions of multiple images and to their amplification and time delay is here computed through a study in the weak deflection limit of the equations of motion in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. Due to Lambda the unresolved images are slightly demagnified, the radius of the Einstein ring decreases and the time delay increases. The effect is however negligible for near lenses. In the case of null cosmological constant, we provide some updated results on lensing by a Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; v2: extended discussion on the lens equation, references added, results unchanged, in press on PR

The Debye temperature of YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7-. delta. and its dependence on the volume fraction of superconductivity

Specific-heat measurements, on polycrystalline samples of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}}, YBCO, have shown sample-to-sample variations in the volume fraction of superconductivity, f{sub s}, which is correlated with the concentration of Cu{sup 2+} magnetic moments in the YBCO lattice. At low temperatures the lattice specific heat also varies with f{sub s}, but these variations do not persist above {approximately}20K. The low-temperature data show that {Theta}{sub 0}{sup {minus}3} varies linearly with f{sub 3}, and give values of 520 and 390K for {Theta}{sub o} for fully-superconducting and fully-normal'' YBCO, respectively. These results suggest that the long wavelength phonon modes are altered when Cu{sup 2+} magnetic moments are present in the lattice. The fact that different samples have the same lattice specific heat at {approximately}20K and above T{sub c} indicates that the higher energy phonon modes are insensitive to these Cu{sup 2+} moments

A Depleted Argon Dark Matter Search

No abstract prepared

Quenching and annealing effects on the specific heat of YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7[minus][delta]]

Effect of heat treatments and quenching with no change in oxygen content was studied for a polycrystalline sample of YBCO. Quenching the sample changes the specific heat and resistivity, showing that nonsuperconducting regions, some of which are not associated with Cu[sup 2+] moments, can be created in YBCO by heat treatment alone

Precision measurement of the weak mixing angle in Moller scattering

We report on a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (Moeller) scattering: A{sub PV} = (-131 {+-} 14 (stat.) {+-} 10 (syst.)) x 10{sup -9}, leading to the determination of the weak mixing angle sin{sup 2} {theta}{sub W}{sup eff} = 0.2397 {+-} 0.0010 (stat.) {+-} 0.0008 (syst.), evaluated at Q{sup 2} = 0.026 GeV{sup 2}. Combining this result with the measurements of sin{sup 2} {theta}{sub W}{sup eff} at the Z{sup 0} pole, the running of the weak mixing angle is observed with over 6{sigma} significance. The measurement sets constraints on new physics effects at the TeV scale