Probing New Physics using top quark polarization in the e+e- -> t \bar{t} process at future Linear Colliders

We investigate the sensitivity to new physics of the process e+e- -> t bar{t} when the top polarization is analyzed using leptonic final states e+e- -> t \bar{t} -> l+l- b \bar{b} nu_l \bar{nu}_l. We first show that the kinematical reconstruction of the complete kinematics is experimentally tractable for this process. Then we apply the matrix element method to study the sensitivity to the Vt\bar{t} coupling (V being a vector gauge boson), at the tree level and in the narrow width approximation. Assuming the ILC baseline configuration, sqrt{S}=500 GeV, and a luminosity of 500 fb^{-1}, we conclude that this optimal analysis allows to determine simultaneously the ten form factors that parameterize the Vt\bar{t} coupling, below the percent level. We also discuss the effects of the next leading order (NLO) electroweak corrections using the GRACE program with polarized beams. It is found that the NLO corrections to different beam polarization lead to significantly different patterns of contributions.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings for the TYL-FJPPL workshops on "Top Physics at ILC

Subtle but significant effects of CO<inf>2</inf> acidified seawater on embryos of the intertidal snail, Littorina obtusata

Our understanding of the effects of ocean acidification on whole organism function is growing, but most current information is for adult stages of development. Here, we show the effects of reduced pH seawater (pH 7.6) on aspects of the development, physiology and behaviour of encapsulated embryos of the marine intertidal gastropod Littorina obtusata. We found reduced viability and increased development times under reduced pH conditions, and the embryos had significantly altered behaviours and physiologies. In acidified seawater, embryos spent more time stationary, had slower rotation rates, spent less time crawling, but increased their movement periodicity compared with those maintained under control conditions. Larval and adult heart rates were significantly lower in acidified seawater, and hatchling snails had an altered shell morphology (lateral length and spiral shell length) compared to control snails. Our findings show that ocean acidification may have multiple, subtle effects during the early development of marine animals that may have implications for their survival beyond those predicted using later life stages. © Inter-Research 2009

Initial-state parton shower kinematics for NLO event generators

We are developing a consistent method to combine tree-level event generators for hadron collision interactions with those including one additional QCD radiation from the initial-state partons, based on the limited leading-log (LLL) subtraction method, aiming at an application to NLO event generators. In this method, a boundary between non-radiative and radiative processes necessarily appears at the factorization scale (mu_F). The radiation effects are simulated using a parton shower (PS) in non-radiative processes. It is therefore crucial in our method to apply a PS which well reproduces the radiation activities evaluated from the matrix-element (ME) calculations for radiative processes. The PS activity depends on the applied kinematics model. In this paper we introduce two models for our simple initial-state leading-log PS: a model similar to the "old" PYTHIA-PS and a p_T-prefixed model motivated by ME calculations. PS simulations employing these models are tested using W-boson production at LHC as an example. Both simulations show a smooth matching to the LLL-subtracted W + 1 jet simulation in the p_T distribution of W bosons, and the summed p_T spectra are stable against a variation of mu_F, despite that the p_T-prefixed PS results in an apparently harder p_T spectrum.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; minor changes in the abstract and the text according to the comments from the refere