Higgs boson production with one bottom quark including higher-order soft-gluon corrections

A Higgs boson produced in association with one or more bottom quarks is of great theoretical and experimental interest to the high-energy community. A precise prediction of its total and differential cross-section can have a great impact on the discovery of a Higgs boson with large bottom-quark Yukawa coupling, like the scalar (h^0 and H^0) and pseudoscalar (A^0) Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) in the region of large \tan\beta. In this paper we apply the threshold resummation formalism to determine both differential and total cross-sections for b g \to b\Phi (where \Phi = h^0, H^0), including up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (NNNLO) soft plus virtual QCD corrections at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy. We present results for both the Fermilab Tevatron and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC).Comment: revtex4, 13 pages, 11 figures; new references and additional comment

One-loop Corrections to the S Parameter in the Four-site Model

We compute the leading chiral-logarithmic corrections to the S parameter in the four-site Higgsless model. In addition to the usual electroweak gauge bosons of the Standard Model, this model contains two sets of heavy charged and neutral gauge bosons. In the continuum limit, the latter gauge bosons can be identified with the first excited Kaluza-Klein states of the W^\pm and Z bosons of a warped extra-dimensional model with an SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_X bulk gauge symmetry. We consider delocalized fermions and show that the delocalization parameter must be considerably tuned from its tree-level ideal value in order to reconcile experimental constraints with the one-loop results. Hence, the delocalization of fermions does not solve the problem of large contributions to the S parameter in this class of theories and significant contributions to S can potentially occur at one-loop.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figure

SUSY QCD Corrections to Higgs-b Production : Is the \Delta_b Approximation Accurate?

The associated production of a Higgs boson with a b quark is a discovery channel for the lightest MSSM neutral Higgs boson. We consider the SUSY QCD contributions from squarks and gluinos and discuss the decoupling properties of these effects. A detailed comparison of our exact order(alpha_s) results with those of a widely used effective Lagrangian approach, the \Delta_b approximation, is presented. The \Delta_b approximation is shown to accurately reproduce the exact one-loop SQCD result to within a few percent over a wide range of parameter space.Comment: figures added, version to be published in Phys Rev

Legacy data and cosmological constraints from the angular-size/redshift relation for ultra-compact radio sources

We have re-examined an ancient VLBI survey of ultra-comact radio sources at 2.29 GHz, which gave fringe amplitudes for 917 such objects with total flux density >0.5 Jy approximately. A number of cosmological investigations based upon this survey have been published in recent years. We have updated the sample with respect to both redshift and radio information, and now have full data for 613 objects, significantly larger than the number (337) used in earlier investigations. The corresponding angular-size/redshift diagram gives Omega_m=0.25+0.04/-0.03, Omega_\Lambda=0.97+0.09/-0.13 and K=0.22+0.07/-0.10. In combination with supernova data, and a simple-minded approach to CMB data based upon the angular size of the acoustic horizon, our best figures are Omega_m=0.298+0.025/-0.024, Omega_\Lambda=0.702+0.035/-0.036 and K= 0.000+0.021/-0.019. We have examined simple models of dynamical vacuum energy; the first, based upon a scalar potential V(phi)=omega_C^2 phi^2/2, gives w(0)=-1.00+0.06/-0.00, (dw/dz)_0=+0.00/-0.08; in this case conditions at z=0 require particular attention, to preclude behaviour in which phi becomes singular as z -->infinity. For fixed w limits are w=-1.20+0.15/-0.14. The above error bars are 68% confidence limits.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Dark energy models toward observational tests and data

A huge amount of good quality astrophysical data converges towards the picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing the today observed phase of accelerated expansion. This new observational trend is commonly addressed as Precision Cosmology. Despite of the quality of astrophysical surveys, the nature of dark energy dominating the matter-energy content of the universe is still unknown and a lot of different scenarios are viable candidates to explain cosmic acceleration. Methods to test these cosmological models are based on distance measurements and lookback time toward astronomical objects used as standard candles. I discuss the characterizing parameters and constraints of three different classes of dark energy models pointing out the related degeneracy problem which is the signal that more data at low (z= 0- 1), medium (1<z<10) and high (10 <z< 1000) redshift are needed to definitively select realistic models.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, Lectures for 42nd Karpacz Winter School of Theoretical Physics: Current Mathematical Topics in Gravitation and Cosmology, Ladek, Poland, 6-11 Feb 200

"Quantum Interference with Slits" Revisited

Marcella [arXiv:quant-ph/0703126] has presented a straightforward technique employing the Dirac formalism to calculate single- and double-slit interference patterns. He claims that no reference is made to classical optics or scattering theory and that his method therefore provides a purely quantum mechanical description of these experiments. He also presents his calculation as if no approximations are employed. We show that he implicitly makes the same approximations found in classical treatments of interference and that no new physics has been introduced. At the same time, some of the quantum mechanical arguments Marcella gives are, at best, misleading.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Associated Emission in Collisionless Relativistic Jets

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., active galactic nuclei (AGNs), gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and Galactic microquasar systems usually have power-law emission spectra. Recent PIC simulations using injected relativistic electron-ion (electro-positron) jets show that acceleration occurs within the downstream jet. Shock acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysical plasmas. Plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Buneman instability, other two-streaming instability, and the Weibel instability) created in the shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. The simulation results show that the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying highly nonuniform, small-scale magnetic fields. These magnetic fields contribute to the electron's transverse deflection behind the jet head. The ``jitter'' radiation from deflected electrons has different properties than synchrotron radiation which assumes a uniform magnetic field. This jitter radiation may be important to understanding the complex time evolution and/or spectral structure in gamma-ray bursts, relativistic jets, and supernova remnants.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, contributed talk at the workshop: High Energy Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows (HEPRO), Dublin, 24-28 September 2007. Fig. 3 is replaced by the correct versio

Optical nonlinearity enhancement of graded metallic films

The effective linear and third-order nonlinear susceptibility of graded metallic films with weak nonlinearity have been investigated. Due to the simple geometry, we were able to derive exactly the local field inside the graded structures having a Drude dielectric gradation profile. We calculated the effective linear dielectric constant and third-order nonlinear susceptibility. We investigated the surface plasmon resonant effect on the optical absorption, optical nonlinearity enhancement, and figure of merit of graded metallic films. It is found that the presence of gradation in metallic films yields a broad resonant plasmon band in the optical region, resulting in a large enhancement of the optical nonlinearity and hence a large figure of merit. We suggest experiments be done to check our theoretical predictions, because graded metallic films can be fabricated more easily than graded particles.Comment: 11 pages, 2 eps figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter