Heavy Flavor Physics

The main purpose of Heavy Flavor experiments is to discover physics beyond the Standard Model, or characterize it, should it be found elsewhere. Thus, current limits on New Physics (NP) are reviewed. New results are presented, some involving processes that could show NP even with current data. Specific topics include the CKM element |Vub|, the forward-backward asymmetry in B -> K* mu+ mu-, b-hadron fractions at the LHC, B(Bs -> mu+ mu-), first observations of several Bs and Bc decay modes, the X(4140), new b-baryons and their decays, searches for Majorana neutrinos, and Lepton Flavor Violation.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the DPF-2011 Conference, Providence, RI, August 8-13, 2011, 16 pages, 26 figures; version 2 fixed some typographical error

Measurement of the ZZ production cross section and limits on anomalous neutral triple gauge couplings in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} =7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the ZZ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV using data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is presented. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.02fb-1, 12 events containing two Z boson candidates decaying to electrons and/or muons were observed. The expected background contribution is 0.3^{+0.9}_{-0.3} (stat) ^{+0.4}_{-0.3} (syst) events. The total cross section for on-shell ZZ production has been determined to be \sigma_{ZZ}_{tot}= 8.4^{+2.7}_{-2.3}(stat) ^{+0.4}_{-0.7}(syst)\pm 0.3 (lumi) pb$ and is compatible with the Standard Model expectation of 6.5^{+0.3}_{-0.2} pb calculated at the next-to-leading order in QCD. Limits on anomalous neutral triple gauge boson couplings are derived.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of the DPF-2011 Conference, Providence, RI, August 8-13, 201

MICE: the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment. Step I: First Measurement of Emittance with Particle Physics Detectors

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented

MICE: The muon ionization cooling experiment. Step I: First measurement of emittance with particle physics detectors

Copyright @ 2011 APSThe Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented.This work was supported by NSF grant PHY-0842798