Accurate QCD predictions for heavy-quark jets at the Tevatron and LHC

Heavy-quark jets are important in many of today's collider studies and searches, yet predictions for them are subject to much larger uncertainties than for light jets. This is because of strong enhancements in higher orders from large logarithms, ln(p_t/m_Q). We propose a new definition of heavy-quark jets, which is free of final-state logarithms to all orders and such that all initial-state collinear logarithms can be resummed into the heavy-quark parton distributions. Heavy-jet spectra can then be calculated in the massless approximation, which is simpler than a massive calculation and reduces the theoretical uncertainties by a factor of three. This provides the first ever accurate predictions for inclusive b- and c-jets, and the latter have significant discriminatory power for the intrinsic charm content of the proton. The techniques introduced here could be used to obtain heavy-flavour jet results from existing massless next-to-leading order calculations for a wide range of processes. We also discuss the experimental applicability of our flavoured jet definition.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Footprints of the Beyond in flavor physics: Possible role of the Top Two Higgs Doublet Model

The B-factories results provide an impressive confirmation of the Standard Model (SM) description of flavor and CP violation. Nevertheless, as more data were accumulated, deviations in the 2.5-3.5 sigma range have emerged pointing to the exciting possibility of new CP-odd phase(s) and flavor violating parameters in B-decays. Primarily this seems to be the case in the time dependent CP asymmetries in penguin dominated modes (e.g. B -> phi (eta') Ks). We discuss these and other deviations from the SM and, as an illustration of possible new physics scenarios, we examine the role of the Top Two Higgs Doublet Model. This is a simple extension of the SM obtained by adding second Higgs doublet in which the Yukawa interactions of the two Higgs doublets are assigned in order to naturally account for the large top-quark mass. Of course, many other extensions of the Standard Model could also account for these experimental deviations. Clearly if one takes these deviations seriously then some new particles in the 300 GeV to few TeV with associated new CP-odd phase(s) are needed.Comment: 40 pages, 17 figures (png format), uses pdflate

Implications for the Constrained MSSM from a new prediction for b to s gamma

We re-examine the properties of the Constrained MSSM in light of updated constraints, paying particular attention to the impact of the recent substantial shift in the Standard Model prediction for BR(B to X_s gamma). With the help of a Markov Chain Monte Carlo scanning technique, we vary all relevant parameters simultaneously and derive Bayesian posterior probability maps. We find that the case of \mu>0 remains favored, and that for \mu<0 it is considerably more difficult to find a good global fit to current constraints. In both cases we find a strong preference for a focus point region. This leads to improved prospects for detecting neutralino dark matter in direct searches, while superpartner searches at the LHC become more problematic, especially when \mu<0. In contrast, prospects for exploring the whole mass range of the lightest Higgs boson at the Tevatron and the LHC remain very good, which should, along with dark matter searches, allow one to gain access to the otherwise experimentally challenging focus point region. An alternative measure of the mean quality-of-fit which we also employ implies that present data are not yet constraining enough to draw more definite conclusions. We also comment on the dependence of our results on the choice of priors and on some other assumptions.Comment: JHEP versio

Hadron Spectroscopy: Theory and Experiment

Many new results on hadron spectra have been appearing in the past few years thanks to improved experimental techniques and searches in new channels. New theoretical techniques including refined methods of lattice QCD have kept pace with these developments. Much has been learned about states made of both light (u, d, and s) and heavy (c, b) quarks. The present review treats light-quark mesons, glueballs, hybrids, particles with a single c or b quark, charmonium, and bottomonium states. Some prospects for further study are noted.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Journal of Physics G. Further updating of reference