The NuTeV Anomaly, Neutrino Mixing, and a Heavy Higgs Boson

Recent results from the NuTeV experiment at Fermilab and the deviation of the Z invisible width, measured at LEP/SLC, from its Standard Model (SM) prediction suggest the suppression of neutrino-Z couplings. Such suppressions occur naturally in models which mix the neutrinos with heavy gauge singlet states. We postulate a universal suppression of the Z-nu-nu couplings by a factor of (1-epsilon) and perform a fit to the Z-pole and NuTeV observables with epsilon and the oblique correction parameters S and T. Compared to a fit with S and T only, inclusion of epsilon leads to a dramatic improvement in the quality of the fit. The values of S and T preferred by the fit can be obtained within the SM by a simple increase in the Higgs boson mass. However, if the W mass is also included in the fit, a non-zero U parameter becomes necessary which cannot be supplied within the SM. The preferred value of epsilon suggests that the seesaw mechanism may not be the reason why neutrinos are so light.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX4, 8 postscript figures. Updated references. Typos correcte

Theoretical study of lepton events in the atmospheric neutrino experiments at SuperK

Super-Kamiokande has reported the results for the lepton events in the atmospheric neutrino experiment. These results have been presented for a 22.5kT water fiducial mass on an exposure of 1489 days, and the events are divided into sub-GeV, multi-GeV and PC events. We present a study of nuclear medium effects in the sub-GeV energy region of atmospheric neutrino events for the quasielastic scattering, incoherent and coherent pion production processes, as they give the most dominant contribution to the lepton events in this energy region. We have used the atmospheric neutrino flux given by Honda et al. These calculations have been done in the local density approximation. We take into account the effect of Pauli blocking, Fermi motion, Coulomb effect, renormalization of weak transition strengths in the nuclear medium in the case of the quasielastic reactions. The inelastic reactions leading to production of leptons along with pions is calculated in a $\Delta$- dominance model by taking into account the renormalization of $\Delta$ properties in the nuclear medium and the final state interaction effects of the outgoing pions with the residual nucleus. We present the results for the lepton events obtained in our model with and without nuclear medium effects, and compare them with the Monte Carlo predictions used in the simulation and the experimentally observed events reported by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure

Search for the lepton-family-number nonconserving decay \mu -> e + \gamma

The MEGA experiment, which searched for the muon- and electron-number violating decay \mu -> e + \gamma, is described. The spectrometer system, the calibrations, the data taking procedures, the data analysis, and the sensitivity of the experiment are discussed. The most stringent upper limit on the branching ratio of \mu -> e + \gamma) < 1.2 x 10^{-11} was obtained

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is a second generation water Cherenkov detector designed to determine whether the currently observed solar neutrino deficit is a result of neutrino oscillations. The detector is unique in its use of D2O as a detection medium, permitting it to make a solar model-independent test of the neutrino oscillation hypothesis by comparison of the charged- and neutral-current interaction rates. In this paper the physical properties, construction, and preliminary operation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are described. Data and predicted operating parameters are provided whenever possible.Comment: 58 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Nucl. Inst. Meth. Uses elsart and epsf style files. For additional information about SNO see http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca . This version has some new reference

Search for Neutrinoless tau Decays Involving the K_S^0 Meson

We have searched for lepton flavor violating decays of the tau lepton with one or two KS0 mesons in the final state. The data used in the search were collected with the CLEO II and II.V detectors at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 13.9 fb^-1 at the Upsilon(4S) resonance. No evidence for signals were found, therefore we have set 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper limits on the branching fractions B(tau -> e KS0) mu KS0) e 2KS0) < 2.2e-6, and B(tau -> mu 2KS0) < 3.4e-6. These represent significantly improved upper limits on the two-body decays and first upper limits on the three-body decays.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD Rapid Communication

An Observational Overview of Solar Flares

We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations.Comment: This is an article for a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011

Collider aspects of flavour physics at high Q

This review presents flavour related issues in the production and decays of heavy states at LHC, both from the experimental side and from the theoretical side. We review top quark physics and discuss flavour aspects of several extensions of the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, little Higgs model or models with extra dimensions. This includes discovery aspects as well as measurement of several properties of these heavy states. We also present public available computational tools related to this topic.Comment: Report of Working Group 1 of the CERN Workshop ``Flavour in the era of the LHC'', Geneva, Switzerland, November 2005 -- March 200

Size-dependent predation risk in cryptic prey

Visual crypsis of prey is determined by the interaction between an individual’s physical appearance to their predators and visual aspects of their environment. Physical size will impact visual appearance and thus potentially influence crypsis. However, research on this topic is limited, leaving the effect of size in cryptic prey largely unexplored. To identify if the success of cryptic phenotypes is size-dependent, we conducted a series of field experiments in which we exposed two types of cryptic artificial prey (uniform colored and disruptively patterned) of different sizes to free-living avian predators and recorded attack rate. Despite similar statistical power and methodology, we found increasing predation risk with increasing size only for disruptive phenotypes. Our results suggest that large sizes may break down ability for disruptive patterns to effectively break up the body outline. However, further research in more controlled conditions would be needed to distinguish the effects of initial detection and post-detection preferences on attack rates.</p

Size-dependent predation risk in cryptic prey

Visual crypsis of prey is determined by the interaction between an individual’s physical appearance to their predators and visual aspects of their environment. Physical size will impact visual appearance and thus potentially influence crypsis. However, research on this topic is limited, leaving the effect of size in cryptic prey largely unexplored. To identify if the success of cryptic phenotypes is size-dependent, we conducted a series of field experiments in which we exposed two types of cryptic artificial prey (uniform colored and disruptively patterned) of different sizes to free-living avian predators and recorded attack rate. Despite similar statistical power and methodology, we found increasing predation risk with increasing size only for disruptive phenotypes. Our results suggest that large sizes may break down ability for disruptive patterns to effectively break up the body outline. However, further research in more controlled conditions would be needed to distinguish the effects of initial detection and post-detection preferences on attack rates.</p