General Lower Bounds for b -> d Penguin Processes

For the exploration of flavour physics, b -> d penguin processes are an important aspect, with the prominent example of \bar B^0_d -> K^0 \bar K^0. We recently derived lower bounds for the CP-averaged branching ratio of this channel in the Standard Model; they were found to be very close to the corresponding experimental upper limits, thereby suggesting that \bar B^0_d -> K^0 \bar K^0 should soon be observed. In fact, the BaBar collaboration subsequently announced the first signals of this transition. Here we point out that it is also possible to derive lower bounds for \bar B -> \rho \gamma decays, which are again surprisingly close to the current experimental upper limits. We show that these bounds are realizations of a general bound that holds within the Standard Model for b -> d penguin processes, allowing further applications to decays of the kind B^\pm -> K^{(\ast)\pm} K^{(\ast)} and B^\pm -> \pi^\pm \ell^+ \ell^-, \rho^\pm \ell^+ \ell^-.Comment: Minor changes, to appear as rapid communication in Phys. Rev

Final State Radiative Effects for the Exact O(alpha) YFS Exponentiated (Un)Stable W+W- Production At and Beyond LEP2 Energies

We present the LL final state radiative effects for the exact O(alpha) YFS exponentiated (un)stable WW pair production at LEP2/NLC energies using Monte Carlo event generator methods. The respective event generator, version 1.12 of the program YFSWW3, wherein both Standard Model and anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are allowed, generates n(\gamma) radiation both from the initial state and from the intermediate W+ W- and generates the LL final state W decay radiative effects. Sample Monte Carlo data are illustrated.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Theoretical uncertainties for measurements of alpha_s from electroweak observables

One of the most precise measurements of the strong coupling constant alpha_s(MZ) is obtained in the context of global analyses of precision electroweak data. This article reviews the sensitivity of different electroweak observables to alpha_s and describes the perturbative uncertainties related to missing higher orders. The complete renormalisation scale dependence for the relevant observables is calculated at next-to-next-to-leading order and a new method is presented to determine the corresponding perturbative uncertainty for measurements of alpha_s based on these observables.Comment: v4: Revised version with new tables and figure

Nonfactorizable QCD and Electroweak Corrections to the Hadronic Z Boson Decay Rate

We present an analysis of two-loop mixed QCD and electroweak corrections to the decay of the Z boson into light quarks. We find that the naive factorization of QCD and electroweak corrections does not describe correctly the two-loop effects. The nonfactorizable corrections shift the width of the Z boson by approximately -0.55(3) MeV and increase the central value of the strong coupling constant determined at LEP by 0.001.Comment: 9 pages, Revte

One-loop contributions of charginos and neutralinos to W-pair production in E+ E- collisions

We study the one-loop effects of charginos and neutralinos on the helicity amplitudes for \eeww in the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The calculation is tested by using two methods. First, the sum rule for the form factors between \eeww and the process where the external $W^\pm$ bosons are replaced by the corresponding Goldstone bosons $\omega^\pm$ is employed to test the analytic expression and the accuracy of the numerical program. Second, the decoupling property in the large mass limit is used to test the overall normalization of the amplitudes. These two tests are most effectively carried out when the amplitudes are expanded in terms of the modified minimal subtraction ($\bar{\rm MS}$) couplings of the standard model. The resulting perturbation expansion is valid at collider energies below and around the threshold of the light supersymmetric particles. We find that the corrections to the cross section of the longitudinally polarized $W$-pair production can be as large as -1.4% at the threshold of the light chargino-pair production for large scattering angles. We also study the effects of the CP-violating phase in the chargino and neutralino sectors on the helicity amplitudes. We find that the resulting CP-violating asymmetries can be at most 0.1%.Comment: 30 pages, 25 figures, Final verision, To appear in Physical Review D, Several sentences are improve

Controlling the sense of molecular rotation

We introduce a new scheme for controlling the sense of molecular rotation. By varying the polarization and the delay between two ultrashort laser pulses, we induce unidirectional molecular rotation, thereby forcing the molecules to rotate clockwise/counterclockwise under field-free conditions. We show that unidirectionally rotating molecules are confined to the plane defined by the two polarization vectors of the pulses, which leads to a permanent anisotropy in the molecular angular distribution. The latter may be useful for controlling collisional cross-sections and optical and kinetic processes in molecular gases. We discuss the application of this control scheme to individual components within a molecular mixture in a selective manner.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to the New Journal of Physics for the "coherent control" special issu

First order radiative corrections to Bhabha scattering in dd dimensions

The luminosity measurement at the projected International Linear $e^+e^-$ Collider ILC is planned to be performed with forward Bhabha scattering with an accuracy of the order of $10^{-4}$. A theoretical prediction of the differential cross-section has to include one-loop weak corrections, with leading higher order terms, and the complete two-loop QED corrections. Here, we present the weak part and the virtual one-loop photonic corrections. For the photonic corrections, the expansions in $\epsilon = (4-d)/2$ are derived with inclusion of the terms of order $\epsilon$ in order to match the two-loop accuracy. For the photonic box master integral in $d$ dimensions we compare several different methods of evaluation.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, uses feynmp.sty, references update

Breit Hamiltonian and QED Effects for Spinless Particles

We describe a simplified derivation for the relativistic corrections of order $\alpha^4$ for a bound system consisting of two spinless particles. We devote special attention to pionium, the bound system of two oppositely charged pions. The leading quantum electrodynamic (QED) correction to the energy levels is of the order of $\alpha^3$ and due to electronic vacuum polarization. We analyze further corrections due to the self-energy of the pions, and due to recoil effects, and we give a complete result for the scalar-QED leading logarithmic corrections which are due to virtual loops involving only the scalar constituent particles (the pions); these corrections are of order $\alpha^5 \ln \alpha$ for S states.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX; references added (J. Phys. B, in press

Pion pole contribution to hadronic light-by-light scattering and muon anomalous magnetic moment

We derive an analytic result for the pion pole contribution to the light-by-light scattering correction to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $a_\mu = (g_\mu-2)/2$. Using the vector meson dominance model (VMD) for the pion transition form factor, we obtain $a_\mu^{{\rm LBL},\pi^0} = +56 \times 10^{-11}$.Comment: 4 pages, revte

Nonlinear effects in tunnelling escape in N-body quantum systems

We consider the problem of tunneling escape of particles from a multiparticle system confined within a potential trap. The process is nonlinear due to the interparticle interaction. Using the hydrodynamic representation for the quantum equations of the multiparticle system we find the tunneling rate and time evolutions of the number of trapped particles for different nonlinearity values.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure