Rare b hadron decays at the LHC

With the completion of Run~I of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, particle physics has entered a new era. The production of unprecedented numbers of heavy-flavoured hadrons in high energy proton-proton collisions allows detailed studies of flavour-changing processes. The increasingly precise measurements allow to probe the Standard Model with a new level of accuracy. Rare $b$ hadron decays provide some of the most promising approaches for such tests, since there are several observables which can be cleanly interpreted from a theoretical viewpoint. In this article, the status and prospects in this field are reviewed, with a focus on precision measurements and null tests.Comment: Invited review for Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Physics. v2 as publishe

Heavy Flavour Physics at the LHC

A summary of results in heavy flavour physics from Run 1 of the LHC is presented. Topics discussed include spectroscopy, mixing, CP violation and rare decays of charmed and beauty hadrons.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures (total 17 subfigures). Invited review for Comptes Rendus de Physique de l'Academie des Science

CP violation in the B system

The phenomenon of CP violation is crucial to understand the asymmetry between matter and antimatter that exists in the Universe. Dramatic experimental progress has been made, in particular in measurements of the behaviour of particles containing the b quark, where CP violation effects are predicted by the Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism that is embedded in the Standard Model. The status of these measurements and future prospects for an understanding of CP violation beyond the Standard Model are reviewed.Comment: Invited review for Rep. Prog. Phys. v2 corresponds to published versio

Contributions to the width difference in the neutral DD system from hadronic decays

Recent studies of several multi-body $D^0$ meson decays have revealed that the final states are dominantly $CP$-even. However, the small value of the width difference between the two physical eigenstates of the $D^0$-$\overline{D}{}^0$ system indicates that the total widths of decays to $CP$-even and $CP$-odd final states should be the same to within about a percent. The known contributions to the width difference from hadronic $D^0$ decays are discussed, and it is shown that an apparent excess of quasi-$CP$-even modes is balanced, within current uncertainty, by interference effects in quasi-flavour-specific decays. Decay modes which may significantly affect the picture with improved measurements are considered.Comment: 17 pages including 3 tables. v2: Updated with published version including new comments in summar

Observation of the rare decay B+ -> K+π0π0 and measurement of the quasi-two-body contributions B+ -> K*(892)+π0, B+ -> f0(980)K+, and B+ -> χc0K+

We report an analysis of charmless hadronic decays of charged B mesons to the final state K(+) pi(0)pi(0), using a data sample of (470.9 +/- 2.8) x 10(6) B (B) over bar events collected with the BABAR detector at the Y(4S) resonance. We observe an excess of signal events, with a significance above 10 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties, and measure the branching fraction and CP asymmetry to be B(B(+) -> K(+) pi(0)pi(0)) = (16.2 +/- 1.2 +/- 1.5) x 10(-6) and A(CP)(B(+) -> K(+) pi(0)pi(0)) = -0.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.04, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Additionally, we study the contributions of the B(+) -> K*(892)(+) pi(0), B(+) -> f(0)(980)K(+), and B(+) -> chi(c0)K(+) quasi-two-body decays. We report the world's best measurements of the branching fraction and CP asymmetry of the B(+) -> K(+) pi(0)pi(0) and B(+) -> K(+)(892)(+) pi(0) channels

Physics at SuperB

Flavour will play a crucial role in understanding physics beyond the Standard Model. Progress in developing a future programme to investigate this central area of particle physics has recently passed a milestone, with the completion of the conceptual design report for SuperB, a very high luminosity, asymmetric e+e- collider. This article summarizes the important role of SuperB in understanding new physics in the LHC era.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS-HEP2007), Manchester, England, 19-25 July 200

Translational Entanglement of Dipole-Dipole Interacting Atoms in Optical Lattices

We propose and investigate a realization of the position- and momentum-correlated Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states [Phys. Rev. 47, 777 (1935)] that have hitherto eluded detection. The realization involves atom pairs that are confined to adjacent sites of two mutually shifted optical lattices and are entangled via laser-induced dipole-dipole interactions. The EPR "paradox" with translational variables is then modified by lattice-diffraction effects, and can be verified to a high degree of accuracy in this scheme.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in PR

Distinct subpopulations of enteric neuronal progenitors defined by time of development, sympathoadrenal lineage markers and Mash-1-dependence

Enteric and sympathetic neurons have previously been proposed to be lineally related. We present independent lines of evidence that suggest that enteric neurons arise from at least two lineages, only one of which expresses markers in common with sympathoadrenal cells. In the rat, sympathoadrenal markers are expressed, in the same order as in sympathetic neurons, by a subset of enteric neuronal precursors, which also transiently express tyrosine hydroxylase. If this precursor pool is eliminated in vitro by complement-mediated lysis, enteric neurons continue to develop; however, none of these are serotonergic. In the mouse, the Mash-1−/− mutation, which eliminates sympathetic neurons, also prevents the development of enteric serotonergic neurons. Other enteric neuronal populations, however, including those that contain calcitonin gene related peptide are present. Enteric tyrosine hydroxylase-containing cells co-express Mash-1 and are eliminated by the Mash-1−/− mutation, consistent with the idea that in the mouse, as in the rat, these precursors generate serotonergic neurons. Serotonergic neurons are generated early in development, while calcitonin gene related peptide-containing enteric neurons are generated much later. These data suggest that enteric neurons are derived from at least two progenitor lineages. One transiently expresses sympathoadrenal markers, is Mash-1-dependent, and generates early-born enteric neurons, some of which are serotonergic. The other is Mash-1-independent, does not express sympathoadrenal markers, and generates late-born enteric neurons, some of which contain calcitonin gene related peptide