Top Threshold Physics

Running a future Linear Collider at the top pair threshold allows for precise measurements of the mass, the widths and the couplings of the top quark. I give a nontechnical review on recent theoretical developments and the theory status in top threshold physics concerning QCD corrections and top quark finite lifetime and electroweak effects. I also discuss threshold physics in the context of measurements of the top Yukawa coupling from $e^+e^-\to t\bar t H$ and of squark pair production.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, PoS style. Invited talk presented at the International Workshop on Top Quark Physics, Coimbra, Portugal, 12-15 Jan 200

Charm Quark Mass from Inclusive Semileptonic B Decays

The MSbar charm quark mass is determined to be m_c(m_c)=1224+-17+-54 MeV from a global fit to inclusive B meson decay data, where the first error is experimental, and includes the uncertainty in alpha_s, and the second is an estimate of theoretical uncertainties in the computation. We discuss the implications of the pole mass renormalon in the determination of m_c.Comment: 7 pages, 2 tables; revtex4. References added, minor changes; version to appear in PL

A Merton Model of Credit Risk with Jumps

In this note, we consider a Merton model for default risk, where the firm’s value is driven by a Brownian motion and a compound Poisson process

Uncertainties in the MSbar bottom quark mass from relativistic sum rules

A detailed compilation of uncertainties in the MSbar bottom quark mass m_b(m_b) obtained from low-n spectral sum rules at order alpha_s^2 is given including charm mass effects and secondary b production. The experimental continuum region above 11.1 GeV is treated conservatively. An inconsistency of the PDG averages for the electronic partial widths of Upsilon(4S) and Upsilon(5S) is pointed out. From our analysis we obtain m_b(m_b)=4.20\pm 0.09 GeV. The impact of future CLEO data is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, late

Top Mass Measurements from Jets and the Tevatron Top-Quark Mass

Theoretical issues are discussed for the measurement of the top-mass using jets, including perturbative and non-perturbative effects that relate experimental observables to the Lagrangian mass, and appropriate choices for mass schemes. Full account for these issues is given for e+e--> t-tbar using a factorization theorem for event shapes for massive quarks. Implications for the Tevatron top-mass measurement are discussed. A mass-scheme, the "MSR-mass", is introduced which allows for a precise description of observables sensitive to scales R << m, but at the same time does not introduce perturbative matching uncertainties in conversion to the MSbar mass.Comment: 7 pages, proceedings for the International Workshop on Top Quark Physics, and the 2nd Workshop on Theory, Phenomenology and Experiment in Heavy Flavor Physics, 2008. v2: reference added, language in section 5 improve