Spin Analysis of Supersymmetric Particles

The spin of supersymmetric particles can be determined at $e^+e^-$ colliders unambiguously. This is demonstrated for a characteristic set of non-colored supersymmetric particles -- smuons, selectrons, and charginos/neutralinos. The analysis is based on the threshold behavior of the excitation curves for pair production in $e^+e^-$ collisions, the angular distribution in the production process and decay angular distributions. In the first step we present the observables in the helicity formalism for the supersymmetric particles. Subsequently we confront the results with corresponding analyses of Kaluza-Klein particles in theories of universal extra space dimensions which behave distinctly different from supersymmetric theories. It is shown in the third step that a set of observables can be designed which signal the spin of supersymmetric particles unambiguously without any model assumptions. Finally in the fourth step it is demonstrated that the determination of the spin of supersymmetric particles can be performed experimentally in practice at an $e^+e^-$ collider.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figure

Arabidopsis ABCG34 contributes to defense against necrotrophic pathogens by mediating the secretion of camalexin

Plant pathogens cause huge yield losses. Plant defense often depends on toxic secondary metabolites that inhibit pathogen growth. Because most secondary metabolites are also toxic to the plant, specific transporters are needed to deliver them to the pathogens. To identify the transporters that function in plant defense, we screened Arabidopsis thaliana mutants of full-size ABCG transporters for hypersensitivity to sclareol, an antifungal compound. We found that atabcg34 mutants were hypersensitive to sclareol and to the necrotrophic fungi Alternaria brassicicola and Botrytis cinerea. AtABCG34 expression was induced by A. brassicicola inoculation as well as by methyl-jasmonate, a defense-related phytohormone, and AtABCG34 was polarly localized at the external face of the plasma membrane of epidermal cells of leaves and roots. atabcg34 mutants secreted less camalexin, a major phytoalexin in A. thaliana, whereas plants overexpressing AtABCG34 secreted more camalexin to the leaf surface and were more resistant to the pathogen. When treated with exogenous camalexin, atabcg34 mutants exhibited hypersensitivity, whereas BY2 cells expressing AtABCG34 exhibited improved resistance. Analyses of natural Arabidopsis accessions revealed that AtABCG34 contributes to the disease resistance in naturally occurring genetic variants, albeit to a small extent. Together, our data suggest that AtABCG34 mediates camalexin secretion to the leaf surface and thereby prevents A. brassicicola infection.117Ysciescopu

Association studies of polybrominated biphenyls in aquatic systems

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47983/1/128_2005_Article_BF01606089.pd

Evidence of the Purely Leptonic Decay B- --> tau- nu_tau-bar

We present the first evidence of the decay B- --> tau- nu_tau-bar using 414 fb^-1 of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. Events are tagged by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in hadronic modes. We detect the signal with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations including systematics, and measure the branching fraction to be Br(B- --> tau- nu_tau-bar) = (1.79 +0.56-0.49(stat) +0.46-0.51(syst))*10^-4. This implies that f_B = 0.229 +0.036-0.031(stat) +0.034-0.037(syst) GeV and is the first direct measurement of this quantity.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter

Moments of the Hadronic Invariant Mass Spectrum in B --> X_c l nu Decays at Belle

We present a measurement of the hadronic invariant mass squared (M^2_X) spectrum in charmed semileptonic B meson decays B --> X_c l nu based on 140 fb^-1 of Belle data collected near the Y(4S) resonance. We determine the first, the second central and the second non-central moments of this spectrum for lepton energy thresholds ranging between 0.7 and 1.9 GeV. Full correlations between these measurements are evaluated.Comment: published version of the paper (one figure added, minor changes in the text); 16 pages, 3 figures, 10 table

Study of B0ˉ→D(∗)0π+π−\bar{B^{0}} \to D^{(*)0} \pi^+ \pi^- Decays

We report on a study of $\bar{B^{0}} \to D^{(*) 0} \pi^+ \pi^-$ decays using 29.1 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^{+}e^{-}$ annihilation data recorded at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB storage ring. Making no assumptions about the intermediate mechanism, the branching fractions for $\bar{B}^0 \to D^0 \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{* 0} \pi^+ \pi^-$ are determined to be $(8.0 \pm 0.6 \pm 1.5) \times 10^{-4}$ and $(6.2 \pm 1.2 \pm 1.8) \times 10^{-4}$ respectively. An analysis of $\bar{B^{0}} \to D^{0} \pi^+ \pi^-$ candidates yields to the first observation of the color-suppressed hadronic decay $\bar{B}^0 \to D^0 \rho^0$ with the branching fraction $(2.9 \pm 1.0 \pm 0.4) \times 10^{-4}$. We measure the ratio of branching fractions ${\mathcal B}(\bar{B^0} \to D^0 \rho^0) / {\mathcal B}(\bar{B^0} \to D^0 \omega)$ = 1.6 $\pm$ 0.8.Comment: 13 pages, LaTex, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Observation of B+ -> K+ eta gamma

We report measurements of radiative B decays with K eta gamma final states, using a data sample of 253 /fb recorded at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- storage ring. We observe B+ -> K+ eta gamma for the first time with a branching fraction of (8.4 +- 1.5(stat) +1.2 -0.9(syst)) X 10^{-6} for M(Keta) K0 eta gamma. We also search for B -> K3*(1780) gamma.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.

Search for tau -> e gamma decay at Belle

We have searched for the lepton-flavor-violating decay tau -> e gamma using a data sample of 86.7/fb collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+ e^- collider. No evidence for a signal is obtained, and we set an upper limit for the branching fraction Br(tau -> e gamma) < 3.9 x 10^-7 at the 90% C.L.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, ReVTeX4, eps

Measurement of the gamma gamma -> pi+ pi- and gamma gamma -> K+ K- processes at energies of 2.4 - 4.1 GeV

We have measured pi+pi- and K+K- production in two-photon collisions using 87.7 /fb of data collected with the Belle detector at the asymmetric energy e+e- collider KEKB. The cross sections are measured to high precision in the two-photon center-of-mass energy (W) range between 2.4 GeV < W < 4.1 GeV and angular region |cos theta^{*}| < 0.6. The cross section ratio sigma(gammagamma->K+K-)/sigma(gammagamma->pi+pi-) is measured to be 0.89 +- 0.04(stat) +- 0.15(syst) in the range of 3.0 GeV < W < 4.1 GeV, where the ratio is energy independent. We observe a sin^{-4} theta^{*} behavior of the cross section in the same W range. Production of chi_{c0} and chi_{c2} mesons is observed in both gammagamma -> pi+pi- and gammagamma -> K+K- modes.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett. B, errors relative to the two-photon decay width correcte

Observation of the Decays B0->K+pi-pi0 and B0->rho-K+

We report the observation of B^0 decays to the K^+pi^-pi^0 final state using a data sample of 78 fb^-1 collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB e^+e^- collider. With no assumptions about intermediate states in the decay, the branching fraction is measured to be (36.6^{+4.2}_{-4.3}+- 3.0)*10^-6.We also search for B decays to intermediate two-body states with the same K^+pi^-pi^0 final state. Significant B signals are observed in the rho(770)^- K^+ and K^*(892)^+pi^- channels, with branching fractions of (15.1^{+3.4+1.4+2.0}_{-3.3-1.5-2.1})* 10^-6 and (14.8^{+4.6+1.5+2.4}_{-4.4-1.0-0.9})* 10^-6, respectively. The first error is statistical, the second is systematic and the third is due to the largest possible interference. Contributions from other possible two-body states will be discussed. No CP asymmetry is found in the inclusive K^+pi^-pi^0 or rho^-K^+ modes, and we set 90% confidence level bounds on the asymmetry of -0.12<A_{CP}<0.26 and -0.18<A_{CP}<0.64, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure