2,567 research outputs found
SuperB: a linear high-luminosity B Factory
This paper is based on the outcome of the activity that has taken place
during the recent workshop on "SuperB in Italy" held in Frascati on November
11-12, 2005. The workshop was opened by a theoretical introduction of Marco
Ciuchini and was structured in two working groups. One focused on the machine
and the other on the detector and experimental issues.
The present status on CP is mainly based on the results achieved by BaBar and
Belle. Estabilishment of the indirect CP violation in B sector in 2001 and of
the direct CP violation in 2004 thanks to the success of PEP-II and KEKB e+e-
asymmetric B Factories operating at the center of mass energy corresponding to
the mass of the Y(4s). With the two B Factories taking data, the Unitarity
Triangle is now beginning to be overconstrained by improving the measurements
of the sides and now also of the angles alpha, and gamma. We are also in
presence of the very intriguing results about the measurements of sin(2 beta)
in the time dependent analysis of decay channels via penguin loops, where b -->
s sbar s and b --> s dbar d. Tau physics, in particular LFV search, as well as
charm and ISR physics are important parts of the scientific program of a SuperB
Factory. The physics case together with possible scenarios for the high
luminosity SuperB Factory based on the concepts of the Linear Collider and the
related experimental issues are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, INFN Roadmap Repor
Female house sparrows "count on" male genes: experimental evidence for MHC-dependent mate preference in birds
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Females can potentially assess the quality of potential mates using their secondary sexual traits, and obtain "good genes" that increase offspring fitness. Another potential indirect benefit from mating preferences is genetic compatibility, which does not require extravagant or viability indicator traits. Several studies with mammals and fish indicate that the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) influence olfactory cues and mating preferences, and such preferences confer genetic benefits to offspring. We investigated whether individual MHC diversity (class I) influences mating preferences in house sparrows (<it>Passer domesticus</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, we found no evidence that females preferred males with high individual MHC diversity. Yet, when we considered individual MHC allelic diversity of the females, we found that females with a low number of alleles were most attracted to males carrying a high number of MHC alleles, which might reflect a mating-up preference by allele counting.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first experimental evidence for MHC-dependent mating preferences in an avian species to our knowledge. Our findings raise questions about the underlying mechanisms through which birds discriminate individual MHC diversity among conspecifics, and they suggest a novel mechanism through which mating preferences might promote the evolution of MHC polymorphisms and generate positive selection for duplicated MHC loci.</p
A Study of Time-Dependent CP-Violating Asymmetries and Flavor Oscillations in Neutral B Decays at the Upsilon(4S)
We present a measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in
neutral B meson decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II
asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The data
sample consists of 29.7 recorded at the
resonance and 3.9 off-resonance. One of the neutral B mesons,
which are produced in pairs at the , is fully reconstructed in
the CP decay modes , , , () and , or in flavor-eigenstate
modes involving and (). The flavor of the other neutral B meson is tagged at the time of
its decay, mainly with the charge of identified leptons and kaons. The proper
time elapsed between the decays is determined by measuring the distance between
the decay vertices. A maximum-likelihood fit to this flavor eigenstate sample
finds . The value of the asymmetry amplitude is determined from
a simultaneous maximum-likelihood fit to the time-difference distribution of
the flavor-eigenstate sample and about 642 tagged decays in the
CP-eigenstate modes. We find , demonstrating that CP violation exists in the neutral B meson
system. (abridged)Comment: 58 pages, 35 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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Measurement of B(B-->X_s {\gamma}), the B-->X_s {\gamma} photon energy spectrum, and the direct CP asymmetry in B-->X_{s+d} {\gamma} decays
The photon spectrum in B --> X_s {\gamma} decay, where X_s is any strange
hadronic state, is studied using a data sample of (382.8\pm 4.2) \times 10^6
e^+ e^- --> \Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected by the BABAR experiment at
the PEP-II collider. The spectrum is used to measure the branching fraction B(B
--> X_s \gamma) = (3.21 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.08)\times 10^{-4} and the
first, second, and third moments = 2.267 \pm 0.019 \pm 0.032 \pm
0.003 GeV,, )^2> = 0.0484 \pm 0.0053 \pm 0.0077 \pm
0.0005 GeV^2, and )^3> = -0.0048 \pm 0.0011 \pm 0.0011
\pm 0.0004 GeV^3, for the range E_\gamma > 1.8 GeV, where E_{\gamma} is the
photon energy in the B-meson rest frame. Results are also presented for
narrower E_{\gamma} ranges. In addition, the direct CP asymmetry A_{CP}(B -->
X_{s+d} \gamma) is measured to be 0.057 \pm 0.063. The spectrum itself is also
unfolded to the B-meson rest frame; that is the frame in which theoretical
predictions for its shape are made.Comment: 37 pages, 19 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. No
analysis or results have changed from previous version. Some changes to
improve clarity based on interactions with Phys. Rev. D referees, including
one new Figure (Fig. 13), and some minor wording/punctuation/spelling
mistakes fixe
Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B- --> D0 K*-
We present a measurement of the branching fraction for the decay B- --> D0
K*- using a sample of approximately 86 million BBbar pairs collected by the
BaBar detector from e+e- collisions near the Y(4S) resonance. The D0 is
detected through its decays to K- pi+, K- pi+ pi0 and K- pi+ pi- pi+, and the
K*- through its decay to K0S pi-. We measure the branching fraction to be
B.F.(B- --> D0 K*-)= (6.3 +/- 0.7(stat.) +/- 0.5(syst.)) x 10^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 1 postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
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Precise Measurement of the e+ e- --> pi+ pi- (gamma) Cross Section with the Initial-State Radiation Method at BABAR
A precise measurement of the cross section of the process
from threshold to an energy of 3GeV is obtained
with the initial-state radiation (ISR) method using 232fb of data
collected with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies near
10.6GeV. The ISR luminosity is determined from a study of the leptonic process
, which is found to agree with the
next-to-leading-order QED prediction to within 1.1%. The cross section for the
process is obtained with a systematic uncertainty
of 0.5% in the dominant resonance region. The leading-order hadronic
contribution to the muon magnetic anomaly calculated using the measured
cross section from threshold to 1.8GeV is .Comment: 58 pages, 56 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of Branching Fractions and Rate Asymmetries in the Rare Decays B -> K(*) l+ l-
In a sample of 471 million BB events collected with the BABAR detector at the
PEP-II e+e- collider we study the rare decays B -> K(*) l+ l-, where l+ l- is
either e+e- or mu+mu-. We report results on partial branching fractions and
isospin asymmetries in seven bins of di-lepton mass-squared. We further present
CP and lepton-flavor asymmetries for di-lepton masses below and above the J/psi
resonance. We find no evidence for CP or lepton-flavor violation. The partial
branching fractions and isospin asymmetries are consistent with the Standard
Model predictions and with results from other experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Study of the reaction e^{+}e^{-} -->J/psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} via initial-state radiation at BaBar
We study the process with
initial-state-radiation events produced at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy
collider. The data were recorded with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass
energies 10.58 and 10.54 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 454
. We investigate the mass
distribution in the region from 3.5 to 5.5 . Below 3.7
the signal dominates, and above 4
there is a significant peak due to the Y(4260). A fit to
the data in the range 3.74 -- 5.50 yields a mass value
(stat) (syst) and a width value (stat)(syst) for this state. We do not
confirm the report from the Belle collaboration of a broad structure at 4.01
. In addition, we investigate the system
which results from Y(4260) decay
Branching fraction and form-factor shape measurements of exclusive charmless semileptonic B decays, and determination of |V_{ub}|
We report the results of a study of the exclusive charmless semileptonic
decays, B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0 l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu, B^+ -->
eta l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta^' l^+ nu, (l = e or mu) undertaken with
approximately 462x10^6 B\bar{B} pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance
with the BABAR detector. The analysis uses events in which the signal B decays
are reconstructed with a loose neutrino reconstruction technique. We obtain
partial branching fractions in several bins of q^2, the square of the momentum
transferred to the lepton-neutrino pair, for B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0
l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta l^+ nu. From these distributions,
we extract the form-factor shapes f_+(q^2) and the total branching fractions
BF(B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu) = (1.45 +/- 0.04_{stat} +/- 0.06_{syst})x10^-4
(combined pi^- and pi^0 decay channels assuming isospin symmetry), BF(B^+ -->
omega l^+ nu) = (1.19 +/- 0.16_{stat} +/- 0.09_{syst})x10^-4 and BF(B^+ --> eta
l^+ nu) = (0.38 +/- 0.05_{stat} +/- 0.05_{syst})x10^-4. We also measure BF(B^+
--> eta^' l^+ nu) = (0.24 +/- 0.08_{stat} +/- 0.03_{syst})x10^-4. We obtain
values for the magnitude of the CKM matrix element V_{ub} by direct comparison
with three different QCD calculations in restricted q^2 ranges of B --> pi l^+
nu decays. From a simultaneous fit to the experimental data over the full q^2
range and the FNAL/MILC lattice QCD predictions, we obtain |V_{ub}| = (3.25 +/-
0.31)x10^-3, where the error is the combined experimental and theoretical
uncertainty.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures, submitted to PR
Observation of time-reversal violation in the B0 meson system
The individually named authors work collectively as The BABAR Collaboration. Copyright @ 2012 American Physical Society.Although CP violation in the B meson system has been well established by the B factories, there has been no direct observation of time-reversal violation. The decays of entangled neutral B mesons into definite flavor states (B0 or BÂŻÂŻÂŻ0), and J/ÏK0L or ccÂŻK0S final states (referred to as B+ or Bâ), allow comparisons between the probabilities of four pairs of T-conjugated transitions, for example, BÂŻÂŻÂŻ0âBâ and BââBÂŻÂŻÂŻ0, as a function of the time difference between the two B decays. Using 468Ă106 BBÂŻÂŻÂŻ pairs produced in ΄(4S) decays collected by the BABAR detector at SLAC, we measure T-violating parameters in the time evolution of neutral B mesons, yielding ÎS+T=â1.37±0.14(stat)±0.06(syst) and ÎSâT=1.17±0.18(stat)±0.11(syst). These nonzero results represent the first direct observation of T violation through the exchange of initial and final states in transitions that can only be connected by a T-symmetry transformation.DOE and NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada), CEA and CNRS-IN2P3 (France), BMBF and
DFG(Germany), INFN (Italy), FOM (The Netherlands),
NFR (Norway), MES (Russia), MINECO (Spain), STFC
(United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from
the Marie Curie EIF (European Union), the A. P. Sloan
Foundation (USA) and the Binational Science Foundation
(USA-Israel)
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