How important are next-to-leading order models in predicting strange particle spectra in p+p collisions at STAR ?

STAR has measured a variety of strange particle species in p + p collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV. These high statistics data are ideal for comparing to existing leading- and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD (pQCD) models. Next-to-leading (NLO) models have been successful in describing inclusive hadron production using parameterized fragmentation functions (FF) for quarks and gluons. However, in order to describe identied strange particle spectra at NLO, knowledge of flavor separated FF is essential. Such FF have recently been parameterized using data by the OPAL experiment and allow for the first time to perform NLO calculation for strange baryons. In fact, comparing the STAR Lambda data with these calculations allow to put a constraint on the gluon fragmentation function. We show that the Leading-order (LO) event generator PYTHIA has to be tuned significantly to reproduce the STAR identified strange particle data. In particular, it fails to describe the observed enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratio at intermediate pT (2-6 GeV/c). In heavy-ion (HI) collisions this observable has been extensively compared with models and shows a strong dependency on collision centrality or parton density. In the HI context the observed enhancement has been explained by recent approaches in terms of parton coalescense and recombination models.Comment: 5 pages, HotQuarks 2006 conference proceeding

Experimental search for W/Z pairs and Higgs bosons at very high energy hadron-hadron colliders

We study, from an experimental point of view, the main ways to detect standard high mass Higgs bosons (from 300 GeV up to about 1 TeV) when they decay into W- and Z-pairs at the SSC. We also consider the corresponding W- and Z/sup 0/-pair continuum which may itself provide interesting physics, and we pay some attention to the case of an intermediate mass charged Higgs decaying into tau..nu../sub tau/ (m/sub H+-/ = 300 GeV). We first explain why and how high energy pp colliders may search for Higgs' and we compare their possible performances to those of the e/sup +/e/sup -/ and ep colliders at all possible mass scale (from few tens of GeV's up to 1 TeV). We then estimate the rates of the signals and the main backgrounds. We define the main characteristics of these events as reproduced by M.C. generators (especially implemented with these processes) and simulated through an idealized 4..pi.. fine-grained calorimeter. A trigger strategy for W- and Z-pairs is derived from this study. 26 refs., 28 figs

High-p_T Higgs Boson Production at Hadron Colliders to Order(alpha_s G_Fermi^3)

We study high--$p_T$ Higgs boson production at hadron colliders to order($\alpha_s$ $G_F^3$) in hadron collisions. In particular, we investigate the process g+q/\bar{q}\ra q/\bar{q}+H, where $q=u,d,c,s,$ or $b$, for the LHC (a $\sqrt{s}=$14~TeV, proton--proton collider). Our results are compared to the order($\alpha_s^3$ $G_F$) calculation. The associated production of a high--$p_T$ Higgs boson with a $b$--quark or anti--quark is comparable to the order($\alpha_s^3$ $G_F$) calculation because of the large top quark mass and the additional contribution of electroweak gauge and Goldstone bosons. The associated production of light quarks, however, is not significant. We also comment on new physics effects in the framework of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian.Comment: Latex file,16 pages, 2 figures, uses psfig.sty, postscript file available at ftp://cithe502.cithep.caltech.edu/pub/mrenna/cp0.ps or at http://www.cithep.caltech.edu/~mrenn

Searching for a Light Stop at the Tevatron

We describe a method to help the search for a light stop squark [M(stop) + M(LSP) < M(top)] at the Fermilab Tevatron. Traditional search methods rely upon a series of stringent background-reducing cuts which, unfortunately, leave very few signal events given the present data set. To avoid this difficulty, we instead suggest using a milder set of cuts, combined with a "superweight," whose purpose is to discriminate between signal and background events. The superweight consists of a sum of terms, each of which are either zero or one. The terms are assigned event-by-event depending upon the values of various observables. We suggest a method for choosing the observables as well as the criteria used to assign the values such that the superweight is "large" for the supersymmetric signal and "small" for the standard model background. For illustration, we mainly consider the detection of stops coming from top decay, making our analysis especially relevant to the W+2 jets top sample.Comment: 45 pages, revtex, 15 figures included. Final version, as will appear in Phys. Rev. D. Contains an expanded introduction plus a few additional reference

Antiprotons in cosmic rays from neutralino annihilation

We calculate the antiproton flux due to relic neutralino annihilations, in a two-dimensional diffusion model compatible with stable and radioactive cosmic ray nuclei. We find that the uncertainty in the primary flux induced by the propagation parameters alone is about two orders of magnitude at low energies, and it is mainly determined by the lack of knowledge on the thickness of the diffusive halo. On the contrary, different dark matter density profiles do not significantly alter the flux: a NFW distribution produces fluxes which are at most 20% higher than an isothermal sphere. The most conservative choice for propagation parameters and dark matter distribution normalization, together with current data on cosmic antiprotons, cannot lead to any definitive constraint on the supersymmetric parameter space, neither in a low-energy effective MSSM, or in a minimal SUGRA scheme. However, if the best choice for propagation parameters - corresponding to a diffusive halo of L=4 kpc - is adopted, some supersymmetric configurations with the neutralino mass of about 100 GeV should be considered as excluded. An enhancement flux factor - due for instance to a clumpy dark halo or to a higher local dark matter density - would imply a more severe cut on the supersymmetric parameters.Comment: 23 pages, 2 tables and 19 figures, typeset with ReVTeX4. The paper may also be found at http://www.to.infn.it/~fornengo/papers/pbar03.ps.gz or through http://www.to.infn.it/astropart/index.html A subsection added. Final version to appear in PR

Detecting W/Z pairs and Higgs at high energy pp colliders: Main experimental issues

The main detection issues implied by the search for W and Z/sup 0/ pairs and Higgs in a high energy pp collider context are discussed here. It includes: precise electron identification, missing energy measurement, multilepton recognition, sophisticated jet pattern recognition, and pile-up. The study uses, as much as possible, a ''realistic simulation of life.'