Prospect for the Higgs searches with the ATLAS detector

The investigation of the electroweak symmetry breaking is one of the primary tasks of the experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The potential of the ATLAS experiment for the discovery of the Higgs boson(s) in Standard Model and Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is presented, with emphasis on studies which have been completed recently.Comment: Presented at Cracow Epiphany Conference on Hadron Interactions at the Dawn of the LHC, dedicated to memory of J. Kwiecinski, Krakow, Poland, 5-7 January 2009, 22page

Separating Electroweak and Strong interactions in Drell-Yan processes at LHC: leptons angular distributions and reference frames

Among the physics goals of LHC experiments, precision tests of the Standard Model in the Strong and Electroweak sectors play an important role. Because of nature of the proton-proton processes, observables based on the measurement of the direction and energy of leptons provide the most precise signatures. In the present paper, we concentrate on the angular distribution of Drell-Yan process leptons, in the lepton-pair rest-frame. The vector nature of the intermediate state imposes that distributions are to a good precision described by spherical polynomials of at most second order. We show that with the proper choice of the coordinate frames, only one coefficient in this polynomial decomposition remains sizable, even in the presence of one or two high $p_T$ jets. The necessary stochastic choice of the frames relies on probabilities independent from any coupling constants. This remains true when one or two partons accompany the lepton pairs. In this way electroweak effects can be better separated from strong interaction ones for the benefit of the interpretation of the measurements. Our study exploits properties of single gluon emission matrix elements which are clearly visible if a conveniently chosen form of their representation is used. We rely also on distributions obtained from matrix element based Monte Carlo generated samples of events with two leptons and up to two additional partons in test samples. Incoming colliding protons' partons are distributed accordingly to PDFs and are strictly collinear to the corresponding beams.Comment: 22 pages 9 figure

Random Matrices and Chaos in Nuclear Physics: Nuclear Reactions

The application of random-matrix theory (RMT) to compound-nucleus (CN) reactions is reviewed. An introduction into the basic concepts of nuclear scattering theory is followed by a survey of phenomenological approaches to CN scattering. The implementation of a random-matrix approach into scattering theory leads to a statistical theory of CN reactions. Since RMT applies generically to chaotic quantum systems, that theory is, at the same time, a generic theory of quantum chaotic scattering. It uses a minimum of input parameters (average S-matrix and mean level spacing of the CN). Predictions of the theory are derived with the help of field-theoretical methods adapted from condensed-matter physics and compared with those of phenomenological approaches. Thorough tests of the theory are reviewed, as are applications in nuclear physics, with special attention given to violation of symmetries (isospin, parity) and time-reversal invariance.Comment: 50 pages, 26 figure

Technology development program for an advanced microsheet glass concentrator

Solar Dynamic Space Power Systems are candidate electrical power generating systems for future NASA missions. One of the key components in a solar dynamic power system is the concentrator which collects the sun's energy and focuses it into a receiver. In 1985, the NASA Lewis Research Center initiated the Advanced Solar Dynamic Concentrator Program with funding from NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST). The objectives of the Advanced Concentrator Program is to develop the technology that will lead to lightweight, highly reflective, accurate, scaleable, and long lived (7 to 10 years) space solar dynamic concentrators. The Advanced Concentrator Program encompasses new and innovative concepts, fabrication techniques, materials selection, and simulated space environmental testing. The Advanced Microsheet Glass Concentrator Program, a reflector concept, that is currently being investigated both in-house and under contract is discussed

The spin 1/2 Heisenberg star with frustration II: The influence of the embedding medium

We investigate the spin 1/2 Heisenberg star introduced in J. Richter and A. Voigt, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. {\bf 27}, 1139 (1994). The model is defined by $H=J_1 \sum_{i=1}^{N}{{\bf s}_0{\bf s}_i} + J_2 H_{R}\{{\bf s}_i\}$ ; $J_1,J_2 \ge 0$ , $i=1,...,N$. In extension to the Ref. we consider a more general $H_{R}\{{\bf s}_i\}$ describing the properties of the spins surrounding the central spin ${\bf s}_0$. The Heisenberg star may be considered as an essential structure element of a lattice with frustration (namely a spin embedded in a magnetic matrix $H_R$) or, alternatively, as a magnetic system $H_R$ with a perturbation by an extra spin. We present some general features of the eigenvalues, the eigenfunctions as well as the spin correlation $\langle {\bf s}_0{\bf s}_i \rangle$ of the model. For $H_R$ being a linear chain, a square lattice or a Lieb-Mattis type system we present the ground state properties of the model in dependence on the frustration parameter $\alpha=J_2/J_1$. Furthermore the thermodynamic properties are calculated for $H_R$ being a Lieb--Mattis antiferromagnet.Comment: 16 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file, accepted to J. Phys. A: Math. Ge

Next Generation Higgs Bosons: Theory, Constraints and Discovery Prospects at the Large Hadron Collider

Particle physics model building within the context of string theory suggests that further copies of the Higgs boson sector may be expected. Concerns regarding tree-level flavor changing neutral currents are easiest to allay if little or no couplings of next generation Higgs bosons are allowed to Standard Model fermions. We detail the resulting general Higgs potential and mass spectroscopy in both a Standard Model extension and a supersymmetric extension. We present the important experimental constraints from meson-meson mixing, loop-induced $b\to s\gamma$ decays and LEP2 direct production limits. We investigate the energy range of valid perturbation theory of these ideas. In the supersymmetric context we present a class of examples that marginally aids the fine-tuning problem for parameter space where the lightest Higgs boson mass is greater than the Standard Model limit of 114 GeV. Finally, we study collider physics signatures generic to next generation Higgs bosons, with special emphasis on $Ah\to hhZ\to 4b+2l$ signal events, and describe the capability of discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures; v3: minor corrections, published in Physical Review

Factorizations induced by complete Nevanlinna-Pick factors

We prove a factorization theorem for reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces whose kernel has a normalized complete Nevanlinna-Pick factor. This result relates the functions in the original space to pointwise multipliers determined by the Nevanlinna-Pick kernel and has a number of interesting applications. For example, for a large class of spaces including Dirichlet and Drury-Arveson spaces, we construct for every function $f$ in the space a pluriharmonic majorant of $|f|^2$ with the property that whenever the majorant is bounded, the corresponding function $f$ is a pointwise multiplier.Comment: 35 pages; minor change

Preparation and photoemission investigation of bulk-like a-Mn films on W(110)

We report the successful stabilization of a thick bulk-like, distorted $\alpha$-Mn film with (110) orientation on a W(110) substrate. The observed $(3\times3)$ overstructure for the Mn film with respect to the original W(110) low-energy electron diffraction pattern is consistent with the presented structure model. The possibility to stabilize such a pseudomorphic Mn film is supported by density functional total energy calculations. Angle-resolved photoemission spectra of the stabilized $\alpha$-Mn(110) film show weak dispersions of the valence band electronic states in accordance with the large unit cell.Comment: 11 pages; 5 figure