Atmospheric CH4 and N2O measurements near Greater Houston area landfills using a QCL-based QEPAS sensor system during DISCOVER-AQ 2013

A quartz-enhanced photoacoustic absorption spectroscopy (QEPAS)-based gas sensor was developed for methane (CH4) and nitrous-oxide (N 2O) detection. The QEPAS-based sensor was installed in a mobile laboratory operated by Aerodyne Research, Inc. to perform atmospheric CH 4 and N2O detection around two urban waste-disposal sites located in the northeastern part of the Greater Houston area, during DISCOVER-AQ, a NASA Earth Venture during September 2013. A continuous wave, thermoelectrically cooled, 158 mW distributed feedback quantum cascade laser emitting at 7.83 μm was used as the excitation source in the QEPAS gas sensor system. Compared to typical ambient atmospheric mixing ratios of CH4 and N2O of 1.8 ppmv and 323 ppbv, respectively, significant increases in mixing ratios were observed when the mobile laboratory was circling two waste-disposal sites in Harris County and when waste disposal trucks were encountered. © 2014 Optical Society of America

Search for CP violation in D+→K−K+π+D^{+} \to K^{-}K^{+}\pi^{+} decays

A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed decay $D^+ \to K^- K^+\pi^+$ in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb$^{-1}$. The normalized Dalitz plot distributions for $D^+$ and $D^-$ are compared using four different binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation. No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment

The calibration and performance of the oppositeside flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment are described. The algorithms have been developed using simulated events and optimized and calibrated with B + →J/ψK +, B0 →J/ψK ∗0 and B0 →D ∗− μ + νμ decay modes with 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside tagging power is determined in the B + → J/ψK + channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Measurement of the Bs0→J/ψKS0B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0 branching fraction

The $B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0$ branching fraction is measured in a data sample corresponding to 0.41$fb^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. This channel is sensitive to the penguin contributions affecting the sin2$\beta$ measurement from $B^0\to J/\psi K_S^0$ The time-integrated branching fraction is measured to be $BF(B_s^0\to J/\psi K_S^0)=(1.83\pm0.28)\times10^{-5}$. This is the most precise measurement to date

Strong constraints on the rare decays Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu-

A search for Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu- decays is performed using 1.0 fb^-1 of pp collision data collected at \sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. For both decays the number of observed events is consistent with expectation from background and Standard Model signal predictions. Upper limits on the branching fractions are determined to be BR(Bs -> mu+ mu-) mu+ mu-) < 1.0 (0.81) x 10^-9 at 95% (90%) confidence level.Comment: 2+6 pages; 4 figures; Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Observation of excited Lambda_b0 baryons

Using pp collision data corresponding to 1.0 fb-1 integrated luminosity collected by the LHCb detector, two narrow states are observed in the Lambda_b0pi+pi- spectrum with masses 5911.97 +- 0.12(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +- 0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2 and 5919.77 +- 0.08(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +- 0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2. The significances of the observations are 5.2 and 10.2 standard deviations, respectively. These states are interpreted as the orbitally-excited Lambda_b0 baryons, Lambda_b*0(5912) and Lambda_b*0(5920).Comment: Replaced by version published in Phys. Rev. Lett, modified fit with better mass resolution treatmen

Measurements of the branching fractions of the decays B°s → D∓s K± and B°s → D¯sπ+

The decay mode B°s → D∓s K± allows for one of the theoretically cleanest measurements of the CKM angle γ through the study of time-dependent CP violation. This paper reports a measurement of its branching fraction relative to the Cabibbo-favoured mode B°s → D¯sπ+ based on a data sample corresponding to 0.37 fb¯¹ of proton-proton collisions at √s = 7TeV collected in 2011 with the LHCb detector. In addition, the ratio of B meson production fractions fs/fd, determined from semileptonic decays, together with the known branching fraction of the control channel B°s → D¯sπ+ is used to perform an absolute measurement of the branching fractions: B(B°s → D¯sπ+) = (2.95 ± 0.05 ± 0.17 -0.22 +0.18) × 10¯³ ; B(B°s → D∓s K±) = (1.90 ± 0.12 ± 0.13 -0.14 +0.12) × 10¯4 ; where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second the experimental systematic uncertainty, and the third the uncertainty due to f s/f

Measurement of the CP-violating phase phi_s in the decay Bs->J/psi phi

We present a measurement of the time-dependent CP-violating asymmetry in B_s -> J/psi phi decays, using data collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. The decay time distribution of B_s -> J/psi phi is characterized by the decay widths Gamma_H and Gamma_L of the heavy and light mass eigenstates of the B_s-B_s-bar system and by a CP-violating phase phi_s. In a sample of about 8500 B_s -> J/psi phi events isolated from 0.37 fb^-1 of pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV we measure phi_s = 0.15 +/- 0.18 (stat) +/- 0.06 (syst) rad. We also find an average B_s decay width Gamma_s == (Gamma_L + Gamma_H)/2 = 0.657 +/- 0.009 (stat) +/- 0.008 (syst) ps^-1 and a decay width difference Delta Gamma_s == Gamma_L - Gamma_H} = 0.123 +/- 0.029 (stat) +/- 0.011 (syst) ps^-1. Our measurement is insensitive to the transformation (phi_s,DeltaGamma_s --> pi - phi_s, - Delta Gamma_s.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

First evidence of direct CP violation in charmless two-body decays of Bs mesons

Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.35 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by LHCb in 2011, we report the first evidence of CP violation in the decays of $B^0_s$ mesons to $K^\pm \pi^\mp$ pairs, $A_{CP}(B^0_s \rightarrow K \pi)=0.27 \pm 0.08\,\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.02\,\mathrm{(syst)}$, with a significance of 3.3$\sigma$. Furthermore, we report the first observation of CP violation in $B^0$ decays at a hadron collider, $A_{CP}(B^0 \rightarrow K\pi)=-0.088 \pm 0.011\,\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.008\,\mathrm{(syst)}$, with a significance exceeding 6$\sigma$.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; v2 with minor changes after journal revie

Inclusive W and Z production in the forward region at √s=7TeV

Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross-sections in p p collisions at root s = 7TeV using final states containing muons are presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. The W and Z bosons are reconstructed from muons with a transverse momentum above 20 GeV/c and pseudorapidity between 2.0 and 4.5, and, in the case of the Z cross-section, a dimuon invariant mass between 60 and 120 GeV/c(2). The cross-sections are measured to be 831 +/- 9 +/- 27 +/- 29 pb for W+, 656 +/- 8 +/- 19 +/- 23 for W- and 76.7 +/- 1.7 +/- 3.3 +/- 2.7 pb for Z, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic and the third is due to the luminosity. Differential cross-sections, W and Z cross-section ratios and the lepton charge asymmetry are also measured in the same kinematic region. The ratios are determined to be sigma W+->mu(+)nu/sigma W-->mu-(nu) over bar = 1.27 +/- 0.02 +/- 0.01 and (sigma W+->mu+nu+sigma W-->mu-(nu) over bar)/sigma Z ->mu mu = 19.4 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.9. The results are in general agreement with theoretical predictions, performed at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recently calculated parton distribution functions