Overview of theoretical precision of the luminosity at future electron-positron colliders

For both the FCC-ee and the ILC, to exploit properly the respective precision physics program, the theoretical precision tag on the respective luminosity will need to be improved from the analogs of the 0.054%(0.061%) results at LEP at $M_{Z}$, where the former (latter) LEP result has (does not have) the pairs correction. At the FCC-ee at $M_{Z}$ one needs improvement to 0.01%, for example. We present an overview of the roads one may take to reach the required 0.01% precision tag at the FCC-ee and of what the corresponding precision expectations would be for the FCC-ee$_{350}$, ILC$_{500}$, ILC$_{1000}$ and CLIC$_{3000}$ setups

Ramond-Ramond (boundary) states

The description of D-branes as boundary states for type II string theories (in the covariant formulation) requires particular care in the R-R sector. Also the vertices for R-R potentials that can couple to D-branes need a careful handling. As an illustration of this, the example of the D0-D8 system is reviewed, where a ``microscopic'' description of the interaction via exchange of R-R potentials becomes possible.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, no figures. Talk presented at the 2nd Conference on Quantum aspects of Gauge Theories, Supersymmetry and Unification, Corfu, Greece, 21-26 September 199

New Results on the Theoretical Precision of the LEP/SLC Luminosity

We consider the error budget for the calculation of the LEP/SLC luminosity in the Monte Carlo event generator BHLUMI4.04 from the standpoint of new calculations of the exact result for the O(alpha) correction to the process e+ e- -> e+ e- + gamma in the low angle luminosity regime at SLC/LEP energies, for the double bremsstrahlung effect e+ e- -> e+ e- + gamma gamma in this regime, and for the size of the two-loop virtual correction to e+ e- -> e+ e- in this regime in context of Yennie-Frautschi-Suura exponentiation. We find that the error on the O(alpha**2) photonic correction can be reduced from the currently published value 0.1% to the value 0.027%. This leads to an over-all precision tag for the currently available program BHLUMI4.04 of 0.061%. This reduction of the precision of the calculation is important for the final LEP1 EW precision Z physics tests of the Standard Model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, 1998 Rochester Conference presentation, corrected Ref. 12, improved reference to Ref. 10, corrected Ref. 1

Bhabha Process at LEP - Theoretical Calculations

In this contribution we give a short overview of the situation in the precision calculation of the Bhabha process and we present a preliminary numerical result on the second-order sub-leading correction to the small angle Bhabha process.Comment: 11 pages LaTeX, 7 Postscript figures, uses amstex. Presented by S. Jadach at Zeuthen Workshop, April 1996, Rheinsberg, Germany. Correction fixes incorrect preprint number: no change in content

Multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth and the all-order epsilon-expansion of generalized hypergeometric functions with one half-integer value of parameter

We continue the study of the construction of analytical coefficients of the epsilon-expansion of hypergeometric functions and their connection with Feynman diagrams. In this paper, we show the following results: Theorem A: The multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth (see Eq. (1.1)) are expressible in terms of Remiddi-Vermaseren functions. Theorem B: The epsilon expansion of a hypergeometric function with one half-integer value of parameter (see Eq. (1.2)) is expressible in terms of the harmonic polylogarithms of Remiddi and Vermaseren with coefficients that are ratios of polynomials. Some extra materials are available via the www at this http://theor.jinr.ru/~kalmykov/hypergeom/hyper.htmlComment: 24 pages, latex with amsmath and JHEP3.cls; v2: some typos corrected and a few references added; v3: few references added

The Centurion 18 telescope of the Wise Observatory

We describe the second telescope of the Wise Observatory, a 0.46-m Centurion 18 (C18) installed in 2005, which enhances significantly the observing possibilities. The telescope operates from a small dome and is equipped with a large-format CCD camera. In the last two years this telescope was intensively used in a variety of monitoring projects. The operation of the C18 is now automatic, requiring only start-up at the beginning of a night and close-down at dawn. The observations are mostly performed remotely from the Tel Aviv campus or even from the observer's home. The entire facility was erected for a component cost of about 70k$ and a labor investment of a total of one man-year. We describe three types of projects undertaken with this new facility: the measurement of asteroid light variability with the purpose of determining physical parameters and binarity, the following-up of transiting extrasolar planets, and the study of AGN variability. The successful implementation of the C18 demonstrates the viability of small telescopes in an age of huge light-collectors, provided the operation of such facilities is very efficient.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, some figures quality was degraded, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

United classification of cosmic gamma-ray bursts and their counterparts

United classification of gamma-ray bursts and their counterparts is established on the basis of measured characteristics: photon energy E and emission duration T. The founded interrelation between the mentioned characteristics of events consists in that, as the energy increases, the duration decreases (and vice versa). The given interrelation reflects the nature of the phenomenon and forms the E-T diagram, which represents a natural classification of all observed events in the energy range from 10E9 to 10E-6 eV and in the corresponding interval of durations from about 10E-2 up to 10E8 s. The proposed classification results in the consequences, which are principal for the theory and practical study of the phenomenon.Comment: Keywords Gamma rays: burst

Modelling harmonic generation measurements in solids

Harmonic generation measurements typically make use of the plane wave result when extracting values for the nonlinearity parameter, beta, from experimental measurements. This approach, however, ignores the effects of diffraction, attenuation, and receiver integration which are common features in a typical experiment. Our aim is to determine the importance of these effects when making measurements of beta over different sample dimensions, or using different input frequencies. We describe a three-dimensional numerical model designed to accurately predict the results of a typical experiment, based on a quasi-linear assumption. An experiment is designed to measure the axial variation of the fundamental and second harmonic amplitude components in an ultrasonic beam, and the results are compared with those predicted by the model. The absolute b values are then extracted from the experimental data using both the simulation and the standard plane wave result. A difference is observed between the values returned by the two methods, which varies with axial range and input frequency. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.</p

Phenomenology of the Interplay between IR-Improved DGLAP-CS Theory and NLO ME Matched Parton Shower MC Precision

We present the current status of the application of our approach of {\it exact} amplitude-based resummation in quantum field theory to precision QCD calculations, by realistic MC event generator methods, as needed for precision LHC physics.In this ongoing program of research, we discuss recent results as they relate to the interplay of the attendant IR-Improved DGLAP-CS theory of one of us and the precision of exact NLO matrix element matched parton shower MC's in the Herwig6.5 environment in relation to recent LHC experimental observations. There continues to be reason for optimism in the attendant comparison of theory and experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; now 12 pages, 4 figures -- explanatory material added and title changed for publication in Phys. Lett.

GRB 010921: Discovery of the first high energy transient explorer afterglow

We report the discovery of the optical and radio afterglow of GRB 010921, the first gamma-ray burst afterglow to be found from a localization by the High Energy Transient Explorer satellite. We present optical spectroscopy of the host galaxy, which we find to be a dusty and apparently normal star-forming galaxy at z = 0.451. The unusually steep optical spectral slope of the afterglow can be explained by heavy extinction, Av &gt; 0.5 mag, along the line of sight to the GRB. Dust with similar Av for the host galaxy as a whole appears to be required by the measurement of a Balmer decrement in the spectrum of the host galaxy