Constraints on the Gluon Density from Lepton Pair Production

The hadroproduction of lepton pairs with mass Q and finite transverse momentum Q_T is described in perturbative QCD by the same partonic subprocesses as prompt photon production. We demonstrate that, like prompt photon production, lepton pair production is dominated by quark-gluon scattering in the region Q_T>Q/2. This feature leads to sensitivity to the gluon density in kinematical regimes accessible in collider and fixed target experiments, and it provides a new independent method for constraining the gluon density.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the Fermilab Physics at Run II Workshop on ``QCD and Weak Boson Physics

A minimal model for two-component dark matter

We propose and study a new minimal model for two-component dark matter. The model contains only three additional fields, one fermion and two scalars, all singlets under the Standard Model gauge group. Two of these fields, one fermion and one scalar, are odd under a $Z_2$ symmetry that renders them simultaneously stable. Thus, both particles contribute to the observed dark matter density. This model resembles the union of the singlet scalar and the singlet fermionic models but it contains some new features of its own. We analyze in some detail its dark matter phenomenology. Regarding the relic density, the main novelty is the possible annihilation of one dark matter particle into the other, which can affect the predicted relic density in a significant way. Regarding dark matter detection, we identify a new contribution that can lead either to an enhancement or to a suppression of the spin-independent cross section for the scalar dark matter particle. Finally, we define a set of five benchmarks models compatible with all present bounds and examine their direct detection prospects at planned experiments. A generic feature of this model is that both particles give rise to observable signals in 1-ton direct detection experiments. In fact, such experiments will be able to probe even a subdominant dark matter component at the percent level.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Calculating two- and three-body decays with FeynArts and FormCalc

The Feynman diagram generator FeynArts and the computer algebra program FormCalc allow for an automatic computation of 2->2 and 2->3 scattering processes in High Energy Physics. We have extended this package by four new kinematical routines and adapted one existing routine in order to accomodate also two- and three-body decays of massive particles. This makes it possible to compute automatically two- and three-body particle decay widths and decay energy distributions as well as resonant particle production within the Standard Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model at the tree- and loop-level. The use of the program is illustrated with three standard examples: h->b\bar{b}, \mu->e\bar{\nu}_e\nu_\mu, and Z->\nu_e\bar{\nu}_e.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Next-to-leading Order SUSY-QCD Calculation of Associated Production of Gauginos and Gluinos

Results are presented of a next-to-leading order calculation in perturbative QCD of the production of charginos and neutralinos in association with gluinos at hadron colliders. Predictions for cross sections are shown at the energies of the Fermilab Tevatron and CERN Large Hadron Collider for a typical supergravity (SUGRA) model of the sparticle mass spectrum and for a light gluino model.Comment: 3 pages, latex, 4 figures, paper presented by E. L. Berger at ICHEP 2000, the XXXth International Conference on High Energy Physics July 27 - August 2, 2000, Osaka, Japa

Exotic Rickettsiae in Ixodes ricinus: fact or artifact?

Several pathogenic Rickettsia species can be transmitted via Ixodes ricinus ticks to humans and animals. Surveys of I. ricinus for the presence of Rickettsiae using part of its 16S rRNA gene yield a plethora of new and different Rickettsia sequences. Interpreting these data is sometimes difficult and presenting these findings as new or potentially pathogenic Rickettsiae should be done with caution: a recent report suggested presence of a known human pathogen, R. australis, in questing I. ricinus ticks in Europe. A refined analysis of these results revealed that R. helvetica was most likely to be misinterpreted as R. australis. Evidence in the literature is accumulating that rickettsial DNA sequences found in tick lysates can also be derived from other sources than viable, pathogenic Rickettsiae. For example, from endosymbionts, environmental contamination or even horizontal gene transfer