Fundamental of cryogenics (for superconducting RF technology)

This review briefly illustrates a few fundamental concepts of cryogenic engineering, the technological practice that allows reaching and maintaining the low-temperature operating conditions of the superconducting devices needed in particle accelerators. To limit the scope of the task, and not to duplicate coverage of cryogenic engineering concepts particularly relevant to superconducting magnets that can be found in previous CAS editions, the overview presented in this course focuses on superconducting radio-frequency cavities.Comment: 20 pages, contribution to the CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Course on High Power Hadron Machines; 24 May - 2 Jun 2011, Bilbao, Spai

Spin-Particles Entanglement in Robertson-Walker Spacetime

We study the entanglement between two modes of Dirac field in an expanding spacetime characterized by the Robertson-Walker metric. This spacetime model turns out to be asymptotically (in the remote past and far future regions) Minkowskian. Then, on the one hand we show entanglement creation between particles and anti-particles when passing from remote past to far future. On the other hand we show that particles entanglement in the remote past degrades into the far future. These effects are traced back to particles creation. In our analysis we highlight the role of spin (polarization) of particles and compare the results with those obtainable without accounting for it

Theoretical uncertainty in sin 2beta: An update

The source of theoretical uncertainty in the extraction of sin 2beta from the measurement of the golden channel Bd -> J/psi K0 is briefly reviewed. An updated estimate of this uncertainty based on SU(3) flavour symmetry and the measurement of the decay Bd -> J/psi pi0 is also presented.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, Proceedings of CKM2010, the 6th International Workshop on the CKM Unitarity Triangle, University of Warwick, UK, 6-10 September 201

Preserving Information from the Beginning to the End of time in a Robertson-Walker Spacetime

Preserving information stored in a physical system subjected to noise can be modeled in a communication-theoretic paradigm, in which storage and retrieval correspond to an input encoding and output decoding, respectively. The encoding and decoding are then constructed in such a way as to protect against the action of a given noisy quantum channel. This paper considers the situation in which the noise is not due to technological imperfections, but rather to the physical laws governing the evolution of the universe. In particular, we consider the dynamics of quantum systems under a 1+1 Robertson-Walker spacetime and find that the noise imparted to them is equivalent to the well known amplitude damping channel. Since one might be interested in preserving both classical and quantum information in such a scenario, we study trade-off coding strategies and determine a region of achievable rates for the preservation of both kinds of information. For applications beyond the physical setting studied here, we also determine a trade-off between achievable rates of classical and quantum information preservation when entanglement assistance is available.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures. Presentation updated, matches the published versio

Model Inference with Reference Priors

We describe the application of model inference based on reference priors to two concrete examples in high energy physics: the determination of the CKM matrix parameters rhobar and etabar and the determination of the parameters m_0 and m_1/2 in a simplified version of the CMSSM SUSY model. We show how a 1-dimensional reference posterior can be mapped to the n-dimensional (n-D) parameter space of the given class of models, under a minimal set of conditions on the n-D function. This reference-based function can be used as a prior for the next iteration of inference, using Bayes' theorem recursively.Comment: Proceedings of PHYSTAT1

B_s to K^(*)0 \bar K^(*)0 decays: the golden channels for new physics searches

We point out that time-dependent CP asymmetries in B_s to K^{*0} \bar K^{*0} decays probe the presence of new physics in b to s transitions with an unprecedented theoretical accuracy. We show that, contrary to the case of B_d to phi K_S, it is possible to obtain a model-independent prediction for the coefficient S(B_s to K^{*0} \bar K^{*0}) in the Standard Model. We give an estimate of the experimental precision achievable with the next generation of B physics experiments. We also discuss how this approach can be extended to the case of B_s to \bar K^{*0} K^0, B_s to K^{*0} \bar K^0 and B_s to K^0 \bar K^0 decays and the different experimental challenges for these channels.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. v2: Corrected dependence on CKM angles, expanded discussion of multiple polarizations, conclusions strengthened. Final version to appear in PR

Two Body B Decays, Factorization and LambdaQCD/mb Corrections

By using the recent experimental measurements of B -> pi pi and B -> K pi branching ratios, we find that the amplitudes computed at the leading order of the LambdaQCD/mb expansion disagree with the observed BRs, even taking into account the uncertainties of the input parameters. Beyond the leading order, Charming and GIM penguins allow to reconcile the theoretical predictions with the data. Because of these large effects, we conclude, however, that it is not possible, with the present theoretical and experimental accuracy, to determine the CP violation angle gamma from these decays. We compare our results with those obtained with the parametrization of the chirally enhanced non-perturbative contributions by BBNS. We also predict large asymmetries for several of the particle--antiparticle BRs, in particular BR(B+ -> K+ pi0), BR(Bd -> K+ pi-) and BR(Bd -> pi+ pi-).Comment: 14 pages 3 figures uses aippro

Physical Sources of Scatter in the Tully-Fisher Relation

We analyze residuals from the Tully-Fisher relation for the emission-line galaxies in the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, a broadly representative survey designed to fairly sample the variety of galaxy morphologies and environments in the local universe. For spirals brighter than M_R^i=-18, we find strong correlations between Tully-Fisher residuals and both B-R color and EW(Halpha). The extremes of the correlations are populated by Sa galaxies, which show consistently red colors, and spirals with morphological peculiarities, which are often blue. If we apply an EW(Halpha)-dependent or B-R color-dependent correction term to the Tully-Fisher relation, the scatter in the relation no longer increases from R to B to U but instead drops to a nearly constant level close to the scatter we expect from measurement errors. We argue that these results probably reflect correlated offsets in luminosity and color as a function of star formation history. Broadening the sample in morphology and luminosity, we find that most non-spirals brighter than M_R^i=-18 follow the same correlations as do spirals, albeit with greater scatter. However, the color and EW(Halpha) correlations do not apply to galaxies fainter than M_R^i=-18 or to emission-line S0 galaxies with anomalous gas kinematics. For the dwarf galaxy population, the parameters controlling Tully-Fisher residuals are instead related to the degree of recent disturbance: overluminous dwarfs have higher rotation curve asymmetries, brighter U-band effective surface brightnesses, and shorter gas consumption timescales than their underluminous counterparts. As a result, sample selection strongly affects the measured faint-end slope of the Tully-Fisher relation. Passively evolving, rotationally supported galaxies display a break toward steeper slope at low luminosities.Comment: 58 pages including 21 figures, AJ, accepte

Charming Penguins Saga

We briefly recall the main formulae for computing the B -> K pi branching ratios within the "charming penguin" approach, present an updated fit to the data, and explain why we believe that, in general, these fits can hardly be used to extract gamma.Comment: Invited talk at FPCP '02 given by M. Ciuchini, uses econfmacros.tex. Final version with minor changes to appear in the proceeding