Prospects for direct searches for light Higgs bosons at the ILC with 250 GeV

The particle discovered in the Higgs boson searches at the LHC with a mass of about 125 GeV is compatible within the present uncertainties with the Higgs boson predicted in the Standard Model (SM), but it could also be identified with one of the neutral Higgs bosons in a variety of Beyond the SM (BSM) theories with an extended Higgs sector. The possibility that an additional Higgs boson (or even more than one) could be lighter than the state that has been detected at 125 GeV occurs generically in many BSM models and has some support from slight excesses that were observed above the background expectations in Higgs searches at LEP and at the LHC. The couplings between additional Higgs fields and the electroweak gauge bosons in BSM theories could be probed by model-independent Higgs searches at lepton colliders. We present a generator-level extrapolation of the limits obtained at LEP to the case of a future $e^+e^-$ collider, both for the search where the light Higgs boson decays into a pair of bottom quarks and for the decay-mode-independent search utilising the recoil method. We find that at the ILC with a c.m. energy of 250 GeV, an integrated luminosity of 500 fb^{-1} and polarised beams, the sensitivity to a light Higgs boson with reduced couplings to gauge bosons is improved by more than an order of magnitude compared to the LEP limits and goes much beyond the projected indirect sensitivity of the HL-LHC with 3000 fb^{-1} from the rate measurements of the detected state at 125 GeV.Comment: Minor changes, version to appear in EPJC, 13 pages, 4 figure

Dispersion relation formalism for virtual Compton scattering and the generalized polarizabilities of the nucleon

A dispersion relation formalism for the virtual Compton scattering (VCS) reaction on the proton is presented, which for the first time allows a dispersive evaluation of 4 generalized polarizabilities at a four-momentum transfer $Q^2 \leq$ 0.5 GeV$^2$. The dispersive integrals are calculated using a state-of-the-art pion photo- and electroproduction analysis. The dispersion formalism provides a new tool to analyze VCS experiments above pion threshold, thus increasing the sensitivity to the generalized polarizabilities of the nucleon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Higher order forward spin polarizability

As a guideline for future experiments to extract the four (leading) spin polarizabilities of the nucleon, we have constructed the forward amplitude for polarized Compton scattering by dispersion integrals. These integrals have been saturated by recently measured helicity-dependent photoabsorption cross sections as well as predictions for pion photoproduction multipoles from several phenomenological descriptions and chiral perturbation theory. The comparison of these results corroborates the strategy to extract the spin polarizabilities by fitting them to polarized Compton data and fixing all higher order spin effects by dispersion relations based on pion photoproduction multipoles.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 3 Tables; version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Dispersion-theoretical analysis of the nucleon electromagnetic formfactors

Dispersion relations allow for a coherent description of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors measured over a large range of momentum transfer, Q^2 \simeq 0 \ldots 35 GeV^2. Including constraints from unitarity and perturbative QCD, we present a novel parametrisation of the absorptive parts of the various isoscalar and isovector nucleon form factors. Using the current world data, we obtain results for the electromagnetic form factors, nucleon radii and meson couplings. We stress the importance of measurements at large momentum transfer to test the predictions of perturbative QCD

The Counting of Generalized Polarizabilities

We demonstrate a concise method to enumerate the number of generalized polarizabilities---quantities characterizing the independent observables in singly-virtual Compton scattering---for a target particle of arbitrary spin s. By using crossing symmetry and J^{PC} conservation, we show that this number is (10s+1+delta_{s,0}).Comment: 10 pages, revtex4, no figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Paper now divided into sections and clarifying comments added, but physics content unchange

HS Hya about to turn off its eclipses

Aims: We aim to perform the first long-term analysis of the system HS Hya. Methods: We performed an analysis of the long-term evolution of the light curves of the detached eclipsing system HS Hya. Collecting all available photometric data since its discovery, the light curves were analyzed with a special focus on the evolution of system's inclination. Results: We find that the system undergoes a rapid change of inclination. Since its discovery until today the system's inclination changed by more than 15 deg. The shape of the light curve changes, and now the eclipses are almost undetectable. The third distant component of the system is causing the precession of the close orbit, and the nodal period is about 631 yr. Conclusions: New precise observations are desperately needed, preferably this year, because the amplitude of variations is decreasing rapidly every year. We know only 10 such systems on the whole sky at present.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in 2012A&A...542L..23

Gender Mainstreaming: Who Wins? Gender & Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in West Africa

Gender roles in agriculture can be quite specific, not only in view of particular labor inputs during the production cycle but also in terms of who farms and who trades certain crops. Using data collected over ten years in West Africa, this study looked at market-oriented urban vegetable production in West Africa and Ghana in particular. Gender disaggregated data on key issues such as access and control of resources, division of tasks, decision-making process and challenges faced was collected from farmers and traders. With several exceptions, a clear gender distinction emerged across the sub-region: men dominate urban vegetable farming, while women manage vegetable marketing. The general differentiation is attributed to societal norms, but other factors play a role as well. Female farmers, for example, feel constrained by existing irrigation practices that are energy-intensive and conflict with household duties. Male farmers, on the other hand, feel significantly oppressed by their dependency on credit and prices dictated by market women, and feel disadvantaged when entering the vegetable retail market. Improved irrigation technology could facilitate a better gender balance on the farm, but mainstreaming gender balance in vegetable wholesale and retail is likely to disadvantage women

News From The Gamma Cephei Planetary System

The Gamma Cephei planetary system is one of the most interesting systems due to several reasons: 1.) it is the first planet candidate detected by precise radial velocity (RV) measurements that was discussed in the literature (Campbell et al. 1988); 2.) it is a tight binary system with a ~ 20AU; and 3.) the planet host star is an evolved K-type star. In Hatzes et al. (2003) we confirmed the presence of the planetary companion with a minimum mass of 1.7 M_Jup at 2 AU. In this paper we present additional eight years of precise RV data from the Harlan J. Smith 2.7 m Telescope and its Tull Coude spectrograph at McDonald Observatory. The 900 d signal, that is interpreted as the presence of the giant planetary companion, is strongly confirmed by adding the new data. We present an updated orbital solution for the planet, which shows that the planet is slightly more massive and the orbit more circular than previous results have suggested. An intensive high-cadence week of RV observations in 2007 revealed that Gamma Cep A is a multi-periodic pulsator. We discuss this issue within the context of searching for additional planets in this system.Comment: Part of PlanetsbeyondMS/2010 proceedings http://arxiv.org/html/1011.660

Low-energy and low-momentum representation of the virtual Compton scattering amplitude

We perform an expansion of the virtual Compton scattering amplitude for low energies and low momenta and show that this expansion covers the transition from the regime to be investigated in the scheduled photon electroproduction experiments to the real Compton scattering regime. We discuss the relation of the generalized polarizabilities of virtual Compton scattering to the polarizabilities of real Compton scattering.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX2e/RevTeX, no figure

Measurement of the LT-asymmetry in \pi^0 electroproduction at the energy of the \Delta (1232) resonance

The reaction p(e,e'p)pi^0 has been studied at Q^2=0.2 (GeV/c)^2 in the region of W=1232 MeV. From measurements left and right of q, cross section asymmetries \rho_LT have been obtained in forward kinematics \rho_LT(\theta_\pi^0=20deg) = (-11.68 +/- 2.36_stat +/- 2.36_sys)$ and backward kinematics \rho_LT(\theta_\pi^0=160deg) =(12.18 +/- 0.27_stat +/- 0.82_sys). Multipole ratios \Re(S_1+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 and \Re(S_0+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 were determined in the framework of the MAID2003 model. The results are in agreement with older data. The unusally strong negative \Re(S_0+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 required to bring also the result of Kalleicher et al. in accordance with the rest of the data is almost excluded.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Changed content. Accepted for publication in EPJ