Flavor SU(3) analysis of charmless B->PP decays

We perform a global fits to charmless $B \to PP$ decays which independently constrain the $(\bar\rho,\bar\eta)$ vertex of the unitarity triangle. The fitted amplitudes and phase are used to predict the branching ratios and CP asymmetries of all decay modes, including those of the $B_s$ system. Different schemes of SU(3) breaking in decay amplitude sizes are analyzed. The possibility of having a new physics contribution to $K \pi$ decays is also discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figs. Talk given at EPS-HEP07 To appear in the proceedings, Reference adde

U-Spin Tests of the Standard Model and New Physics

Within the standard model, a relation involving branching ratios and direct CP asymmetries holds for the B-decay pairs that are related by U-spin. The violation of this relation indicates new physics (NP). In this paper, we assume that the NP affects only the Delta S = 1 decays, and show that the NP operators are generally the same as those appearing in B -> pi K decays. The fit to the latest B -> pi K data shows that only one NP operator is sizeable. As a consequence, the relation is expected to be violated for only one decay pair: Bd -> K0 pi0 and Bs -> Kbar0 pi0.Comment: 12 pages, latex, no figures. References changed to follow MPL guidelines; info added about U-spin breaking and small NP strong phases; discussion added about final-state pi-K rescattering; analysis and conclusions unaltere

Dynamics of Magnetic Defects in Heavy Fermion LiV2O4 from Stretched Exponential 7Li NMR Relaxation

7Li NMR measurements on LiV2O4 from 0.5 to 4.2 K are reported. A small concentration of magnetic defects within the structure drastically changes the 7Li nuclear magnetization relaxation versus time from a pure exponential as in pure LiV2O4 to a stretched exponential, indicating glassy behavior of the magnetic defects. The stretched exponential function is described as arising from a distribution of 7Li nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates and we present a model for the distribution in terms of the dynamics of the magnetic defects. Our results explain the origin of recent puzzling 7Li NMR literature data on LiV2O4 and our model is likely applicable to other glassy systems.Comment: Four typeset pages including four figure

Quantum and Classical Spins on the Spatially Distorted Kagome Lattice: Applications to Volborthite

In Volborthite, spin-1/2 moments form a distorted Kagom\'e lattice, of corner sharing isosceles triangles with exchange constants $J$ on two bonds and $J'$ on the third bond. We study the properties of such spin systems, and show that despite the distortion, the lattice retains a great deal of frustration. Although sub-extensive, the classical ground state degeneracy remains very large, growing exponentially with the system perimeter. We consider degeneracy lifting by thermal and quantum fluctuations. To linear (spin wave) order, the degeneracy is found to stay intact. Two complementary approaches are therefore introduced, appropriate to low and high temperatures, which point to the same ordered pattern. In the low temperature limit, an effective chirality Hamiltonian is derived from non-linear spin waves which predicts a transition on increasing $J'/J$, from $\sqrt 3\times \sqrt 3$ type order to a new ferrimagnetic {\em striped chirality} order with a doubled unit cell. This is confirmed by a large-N approximation on the O($n$) model on this lattice. While the saddle point solution produces a line degeneracy, $O(1/n)$ corrections select the non-trivial wavevector of the striped chirality state. The quantum limit of spin 1/2 on this lattice is studied via exact small system diagonalization and compare well with experimental results at intermediate temperatures. We suggest that the very low temperature spin frozen state seen in NMR experiments may be related to the disconnected nature of classical ground states on this lattice, which leads to a prediction for NMR line shapes.Comment: revised, section V about exact diagonalization is extensively rewritten, 17 pages, 11 figures, RevTex 4, accepted by Phys. Rev.

11B^{11}B NMR and Relaxation in MgB2MgB_2 Superconductor

$^{11}B$ NMR and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (NSLR) are reported at 7.2 Tesla and 1.4 Tesla in powder samples of the intermetallic compound $MgB_2$ with superconducting transition temperature in zero field $T_c$ = 39.2 K. From the first order quadrupole perturbed NMR specrum a quadrupole coupling frequency of 835 $\pm$ 5 kHz is obtained. The Knight shift is very small and it decreases to zero in the superconducting phase. The NSLR follows a linear law with $T_1T$ = 165 $\pm$ 10 (sec K) . The results in the normal phase indicate a negligible $s$-character of the wave function of the conduction electrons at the Fermi level. Below $T_c$ the NSLR is strongly field dependent indicating the presence of an important contribution related to the density and the thermal motion of flux lines. No coherence peak is observed at the lower field investigated (1.4 T)