Observables in the Decays of B to Two Vector Mesons

In general there are nine observables in the decay of a B meson to two vector mesons defined in terms of polarization correlations of these mesons. Only six of these can be detected via the subsequent decay angular distributions because of parity conservation in those decays. The remaining three require the measurement of the spin polarization of one of the decay products.Comment: 12 pages, no figur

New Physics Effects From B Meson Decays

In this talk, we point out some of the present and future possible signatures of physics beyond the Standard Model from B-meson decays, taking R-parity conserving and violating supersymmetry as illustrative examples.Comment: Talk given at the Sixth Workshop on High Energy Particle Phenomenology (WHEPP-6), Chennai (Madras), India. Includes 2 epsf figure

Spin flip lifetimes in superconducting atom chips: BCS versus Eliashberg theory

We investigate theoretically the magnetic spin-flip transitions of neutral atoms trapped near a superconducting slab. Our calculations are based on a quantum-theoretical treatment of electromagnetic radiation near dielectric and metallic bodies. Specific results are given for rubidium atoms near a niobium superconductor. At the low frequencies typical of the atomic transitions, we find that BCS theory greatly overestimates coherence effects, which are much less pronounced when quasiparticle lifetime effects are included through Eliashberg theory. At 4.2 K, the typical atomic spin lifetime is found to be larger than a thousand seconds, even for atom-superconductor distances of one micrometer. This constitutes a large enhancement in comparison with normal metals.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Dispersive force between dissimilar materials: geometrical effects

We calculate the Casimir force or dispersive van der Waals force between a spherical nanoparticle and a planar substrate, both with arbitrary dielectric properties. We show that the force between a sphere and a plane can be calculated through the interacting surface plasmons of the bodies. Using a Spectral Representation formalism, we show that the force of a sphere made of a material A and a plane made of a material B, differ from the case when the sphere is made of B, and the plane is made of A. We found that the difference depends on the plasma frequency of the materials, the geometry, and the distance of separation between sphere and plane. The differences show the importance of the geometry, and make evident the necessity of realistic descriptions of the sphere-plane system beyond the Derjaguin Approximation or Proximity Theorem Approximation

Bounds on New Physics from B -> V1 V2 Decays

We consider the possibility that physics beyond the standard model contributes to the decays B -> V1 V2, where V1 and V2 are vector mesons. We show that a time-dependent angular analysis of B -> V1 V2 decays provides many tests for this new physics (NP). Furthermore, although one cannot solve for the NP parameters, we show that this angular analysis allows one to put bounds on these parameters. This can be useful in estimating the scale of NP, and can tell us whether any NP found directly at future high-energy colliders can be responsible for effects seen in B -> V1 V2 decays.Comment: 23 pages, plain LaTeX, 5 figures (included

Improved Quantum Hard-Sphere Ground-State Equations of State

The London ground-state energy formula as a function of number density for a system of identical boson hard spheres, corrected for the reduced mass of a pair of particles in a sphere-of-influence picture, and generalized to fermion hard-sphere systems with two and four intrinsic degrees of freedom, has a double-pole at the ultimate \textit{regular} (or periodic, e.g., face-centered-cubic) close-packing density usually associated with a crystalline branch. Improved fluid branches are contructed based upon exact, field-theoretic perturbation-theory low-density expansions for many-boson and many-fermion systems, appropriately extrapolated to intermediate densities, but whose ultimate density is irregular or \textit{random} closest close-packing as suggested in studies of a classical system of hard spheres. Results show substantially improved agreement with the best available Green-function Monte Carlo and diffusion Monte Carlo simulations for bosons, as well as with ladder, variational Fermi hypernetted chain, and so-called L-expansion data for two-component fermions.Comment: 15 pages and 7 figure

Widespread dysregulation of MiRNAs by MYCN amplification and chromosomal imbalances in neuroblastoma: association of miRNA expression with survival

MiRNAs regulate gene expression at a post-transcriptional level and their dysregulation can play major roles in the pathogenesis of many different forms of cancer, including neuroblastoma, an often fatal paediatric cancer originating from precursor cells of the sympathetic nervous system. We have analyzed a set of neuroblastoma (n = 145) that is broadly representative of the genetic subtypes of this disease for miRNA expression (430 loci by stem-loop RT qPCR) and for DNA copy number alterations (array CGH) to assess miRNA involvement in disease pathogenesis. The tumors were stratified and then randomly split into a training set (n = 96) and a validation set (n = 49) for data analysis. Thirty-seven miRNAs were significantly over-or under-expressed in MYCN amplified tumors relative to MYCN single copy tumors, indicating a potential role for the MYCN transcription factor in either the direct or indirect dysregulation of these loci. In addition, we also determined that there was a highly significant correlation between miRNA expression levels and DNA copy number, indicating a role for large-scale genomic imbalances in the dysregulation of miRNA expression. In order to directly assess whether miRNA expression was predictive of clinical outcome, we used the Random Forest classifier to identify miRNAs that were most significantly associated with poor overall patient survival and developed a 15 miRNA signature that was predictive of overall survival with 72.7% sensitivity and 86.5% specificity in the validation set of tumors. We conclude that there is widespread dysregulation of miRNA expression in neuroblastoma tumors caused by both over-expression of the MYCN transcription factor and by large-scale chromosomal imbalances. MiRNA expression patterns are also predicative of clinical outcome, highlighting the potential for miRNA mediated diagnostics and therapeutics

R-parity-violating SUSY and CP violation in B --> phi K_s

Recent measurements of CP asymmetry in B --> phi K_S appear to be inconsistent with Standard Model expectations. We explore the effect of R-parity-violating SUSY to understand the data.Comment: Equations corrected. Conclusions unchanged. Latex, 6 pages, one fi

The two-fluid model with superfluid entropy

The two-fluid model of liquid helium is generalized to the case that the superfluid fraction has a small entropy content. We present theoretical arguments in favour of such a small superfluid entropy. In the generalized two-fluid model various sound modes of He$\;$II are investigated. In a superleak carrying a persistent current the superfluid entropy leads to a new sound mode which we call sixth sound. The relation between the sixth sound and the superfluid entropy is discussed in detail.Comment: 22 pages, latex, published in Nuovo Cimento 16 D (1994) 37

Electroweak Radiative Corrections To Polarized M{\o}ller Scattering Asymmetries

One loop electroweak radiative corrections to left-right parity violating M{\o}ller scattering ($e^-e^-\to e^-e^-$) asymmetries are presented. They reduce the standard model (tree level) prediction by 40$\pm 3$ \% where the main shift and uncertainty stem from hadronic vacuum polarization loops. A similar reduction also occurs for the electron-electron atomic parity violating interaction. That effect can be attributed to an increase of $\sin^2\theta_W(q^2)$ by $3\%$ in running from $q^2=m_Z^2$ to 0. The sensitivity of the asymmetry to ``new physics'' is also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, Revtex, postscript file including figures is available at ftp://ttpux2.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/ttp95-14/ttp95-14.ps or via WWW at http://ttpux2.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/cgi-bin/preprints/ (129.13.102.139