Isolated tau leptons in events with large missing transverse momentum at HERA

A search for events containing isolated tau leptons and large missing transverse momentum, not originating from the tau decay, has been performed with the ZEUS detector at the electron-proton collider HERA, using 130 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity. A search was made for isolated tracks coming from hadronic tau decays. Observables based on the internal jet structure were exploited to discriminate between tau decays and quark- or gluon-induced jets. Three tau candidates were found, while 0.40 +0.12 -0.13 were expected from Standard Model processes, such as charged current deep inelastic scattering and single W-boson production. To search for heavy-particle decays, a more restrictive selection was applied to isolate tau leptons produced together with a hadronic final state with high transverse momentum. Two candidate events survive, while 0.20 +-0.05 events are expected from Standard Model processes.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted by Phys. Lett. B. Updated with minor changes to the text requested by the journal refere

Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA

Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) events over a large range of $x$ and $Q^2$ using the ZEUS detector. The evolution of the scaled momentum, $x_p$, with $Q^2,$ in the range 10 to 1280 $GeV^2$, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling violations in scaled momenta as a function of $Q^2$.Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B. Two references adde

Measurement of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function

Production of D*+/-(2010) mesons in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 82 pb^{-1}. Diffractive events were identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state. Differential cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 1.5 < Q^2 < 200 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, x_{IP} < 0.035, beta 1.5 GeV and |\eta(D*+/-)| < 1.5. The measured cross sections are compared to theoretical predictions. The results are presented in terms of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function. The data demonstrate a strong sensitivity to the diffractive parton densities.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

Evidence for a narrow baryonic state decaying to K0Sp and KOSp in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

A resonance search has been made in the K0Sp and KOSp invariant-mass spectrum measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 121 pb−1. The search was performed in the central rapidity region of inclusive deep inelastic scattering at an ep centre-of-mass energy of 300–318 GeV for exchanged photon virtuality, Q2, above 1 GeV2. Recent results from fixed-target experiments give evidence for a narrow baryon resonance decaying to K+n and K0Sp, interpreted as a pentaquark. The results presented here support the existence of such state, with a mass of 1521.5±1.5(stat.)+2.8−1.7(syst.) MeV and a Gaussian width consistent with the experimental resolution of 2 MeV. The signal is visible at high Q2 and, for Q2>20 GeV2, contains 221±48 events. The probability of a similar signal anywhere in the range 1500–1560 MeV arising from fluctuations of the background is below 6×10−5

Hypernuclear physics legacy and heritage of Dick Dalitz

The major contributions of Richard H. Dalitz to hypernuclear physics, since his first paper in 1955 to his last one in 2005 covering a span of 50 years during which he founded and led the theoretical study of hypernuclei, are reviewed from a personal perspective. Topical remarks on the search for quasi-bound antikaon-nuclear states and on kaon condensation are made.Comment: prepared for NPA vol. 804 (2008), Recent Advances in Strangeness Nuclear Physics, edited by A. Gal and R.S. Hayano; a preliminary version appeared in the proceedings of HYP0