The time-of-propagation counter for Belle II

The Belle II detector operating at the future upgrade to the KEKB accelerator will perform high-statistics precision investigations into the flavor sector of the Standard Model. As charged hadron identification is a vital element of the experiment's success, the time-of-propagation (TOP) counter has been chosen as the primary particle identification device in the barrel region of Belle II. The TOP counter is a compact variant of the detection of internally reflected Cherenkov light (DIRC) technique and relies heavily on exquisite single photon timing resolution with micro-channel plate photomultiplier tubes. We discuss the general principles of TOP operation and optimization of the Belle II TOP configuration, which is expected to provide 4 sigma or better separation of kaons and pions up to momenta of approximately 4 GeV/c.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; Submitted to special edition of NIMA, Proceedings of RICH201

Implications of the non-universal Z boson in FCNC mediated rare decays

We analyze the effect of the non-universal $Z$ boson in the rare decays $B_s \to l^+ l^-$, $B_s \to l^+ l^- \gamma$ and $Z \to b \bar s$ decays. These decays involve the FCNC mediated $b \to s$ transitions, and are found to be very small in the standard model. The smallness of these decays in the standard model makes them sensitive probe for new physics. We find an enhancement of at least an order in these branching ratios because of the non-universal $Zbs$ coupling.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, minor changes in the text, references added, to appear in PR

Reflection K-Matrices of the 19-Vertex Model and XXZ Spin-1 Chain with General Boundary Terms

We derive and classify all solutions of the boundary Yang-Baxter equation (or the reflection equation) for the 19-vertex model associated with $U_q(\widehat{sl_2})$. Integrable $XXZ$ spin-1 chain hamiltonian with general boundary interactions is also obtained.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, no figur

Topics in Nonlinear Sigma Models in D=3

Nonlinear sigma models (NLSM) in d=3 have many interesting and non-trivial features, which were explored poorly in contrast with NLSM in d=2 and d=4. We present a few results from our study of the perturbative and non-perturbative properties of three-dimensional (3D) NLSM. i) We have shown that cancellation of ultra-violet (UV) divergences takes place in 3D extended (N=2,4) supersymmetric NLSM in low orders of the 1/n expansion. ii) We consider noncommutative extension of the 3D CP(n) model, and study low-energy dynamics of BPS solitons in this model. We also discuss briefly dynamics of non-BPS solutions.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures; v2 minor changes, references added, Contributed talk given at: Workshop on Integrable Theories, Solitons and Duality, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1-6 Jul 200

Vector Meson Exchanges and CP Asymmetry in K±→π±π0K^{\pm}\rightarrow\pi^{\pm}\pi^0

Using a current algebra framework, we discuss the contribution of vector meson exchanges to the CP violating asymmetry in the decay $K^{\pm}\rightarrow\pi^{\pm}\pi^0$, resulting from the interference of the $K\rightarrow\pi\pi$ amplitude with the radiative correction $K\rightarrow\pi\pi\gamma$.Comment: 9 pages (plain-TEX), IC/93/186, UTS-DFT-93-18, (two figures not included

On duality and reflection factors for the sinh-Gordon model

The sinh-Gordon model with integrable boundary conditions is considered in low order perturbation theory. It is pointed out that results obtained by Ghoshal for the sine-Gordon breather reflection factors suggest an interesting dual relationship between models with different boundary conditions. Ghoshal's formula for the lightest breather is checked perturbatively to $O(\beta^2)$ in the special set of cases in which the $\phi\to -\phi$ symmetry is maintained. It is noted that the parametrisation of the boundary potential which is natural for the semi-classical approximation also provides a good parametrisation at the `free-fermion' point.Comment: 17 pages, harvmac(b