Measurements of Diffractive Processes at CDF

We review the results of measurements on hard diffractive processes performed by the CDF Collaboration and report preliminary CDF results on two soft diffractive processes with a leading antiproton and a rapidity gap in addition to that associated with the antiproton. All results have been obtained from data collected in Run I of the Fermilab Tevatron $\bar pp$ collider.Comment: 7 pages, Presented at 14$^{th}$ Topical Conference on Hadron Collider Physics, HCP-2002, Karlsruhe, Germany, 29 Sep - 4 Oct 200

Energy Level Diagrams for Black Hole Orbits

A spinning black hole with a much smaller black hole companion forms a fundamental gravitational system, like a colossal classical analog to an atom. In an appealing if imperfect analogy to atomic physics, this gravitational atom can be understood through a discrete spectrum of periodic orbits. Exploiting a correspondence between the set of periodic orbits and the set of rational numbers, we are able to construct periodic tables of orbits and energy level diagrams of the accessible states around black holes. We also present a closed form expression for the rational q, thereby quantifying zoom-whirl behavior in terms of spin, energy, and angular momentum. The black hole atom is not just a theoretical construct, but corresponds to extant astrophysical systems detectable by future gravitational wave observatories.Comment: 8 page

Diffractive Higgs boson production at Tevatron and LHC: an experimental review

We discuss the different models of central diffractive production of the Higgs boson at the Tevatron and the LHC. We also describe how the models can be tested using diffractive production data being taken at the Tevatron. We finally discuss the advantages of using diffractive events to reconstruct the mass of the Higgs boson especially at the LHC.Comment: short review to be published in Mod. Phys. Let

Triangular mass matrices for quarks and leptons

We assume that all quark and lepton $3 \times 3$ mass matrices which appear in the standard model lagrangian (after spontaneous symmetry breaking) with neutrinos treated as Dirac patricles have the triangular form. Such matrices have not only less non-zero elements (three of them are equal to zero) but also lead to very asymmetrical decomposition into one diagonal and two unitary matrices for quarks and leptons. We also assume that unitary matrices which transform flavor into definite mass states for right handed components (weakly non-interacting) in the same weak isodoublet are equal. Using all available experimental data on quark and lepton masses and mixing angles, treating in the universal way quarks and leptons, we determine the triangular mass matrices for up and down type quarks, neutrinos and charged leptons and as a consequence mixing matrices for left-handed and right handed components. As the result of the fit we get predictions for the neutrino masses including smallest neutrino mass. The calculations without CP violation and with inclusion of this effect in quark sector are also presented.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

The Ratio of W + N jets To Z/gamma + N jets As a Precision Test of the Standard Model

We suggest replacing measurements of the individual cross-sections for the production of W + N jets and Z/gamma + N jets in searches for new high-energy phenomena at hadron colliders by the precision measurement of the ratios (W+0 jet)/(Z+0 jet), (W+1 jet)/(Z+1 jet), (W+2 jets)/(Z+2 jets),... (W+N jets)/(Z+N jets), with N as large as 6 (the number of jets in ttbarH). These ratios can also be formed for the case where one or more of the jets is tagged as a b or c quark. Existing measurements of the individual cross sections for Wenu + N jets at the Tevatron have systematic uncertainties that grow rapidly with N, being dominated by uncertainties in the identification of jets and the jet energy scale. These systematics, and also those associated with the luminosity, parton distribution functions (PDF's), detector acceptance and efficiencies, and systematics of jet finding and b-tagging, are expected to substantially cancel in calculating the ratio of W to Z production in each N-jet channel, allowing a greater sensitivity to new contributions in these channels in Run II at the Tevatron and at the LHC.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, added reference

On signals of new physics in global event properties in pp collisions in the TeV energy domain

In the framework of the weighted superposition mechanism of different classes of minimum bias events (or substructures), described by the negative binomial multiplicity distribution, in possible scenarios for pp collisions in the TeV energy domain, we explore global properties of an eventual new class of events, characterised by high hadron and clan densities, to be added to the soft (without minijets) and semihard (with minijets) ones. It turns out that the main signal of the mentioned new physical expectations at 14 TeV c.m. energy would be an ``elbow structure'' in the tail of the total charged particle multiplicity distribution in complete disagreement with the second shoulder structure predicted by Pythia Monte Carlo calculations: a challenging problem for new experimental work.Comment: 14 pages, 6 ps figures include

Polarization of Upsilon(nS) at the Tevatron

The polarization of inclusive Upsilon(nS) at the Fermilab Tevatron is calculated within the nonrelativistic QCD factorization framework. We use a recent determination of the NRQCD matrix elements from fitting the CDF data on bottomonium production from Run IB of the Tevatron. The result for the polarization of Upsilon(1S) integrated over the transverse momentum bin 8 < p_T < 20 GeV is consistent with a recent measurement by the CDF Collaboration. The transverse polarization of Upsilon(1S) is predicted to increase steadily for p_T greater than about 10 GeV. The Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) are predicted to have significantly larger transverse polarizations than Upsilon(1S).Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Squark Mixing in Electron-Positron Reactions

Squark mixing plays a large role in the phenomenology of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, determining the mass of the lightest Higgs boson and the electroweak interactions of the squarks themselves. We examine how mixing may be investigated in high energy $e^+ e^-$ reactions, both at LEP-II and the proposed linear collider. In particular, off-diagonal production of one lighter and one heavier squark allows one to measure the squark mixing angle, and would allow one to test the mass relations for the light Higgs boson. In some cases off-diagonal production may provide the best prospects to discover supersymmetry. In the context of the light bottom squark scenario, we show that existing data from LEP-II should show definitive evidence for the heavier bottom squark provided that its mass $m_{\tilde{b}_2} \le 120$ GeV.Comment: 22 pages, latex, 6 figure

Heavy Flavours in Collider Experiments

Current issues in the studies of Heavy Flavours in colliders are described with particular emphasis on experiments in which the UK is involved. Results on charm production at HERA are examined and compared to those at the Tevatron. B production rates at the Tevatron as well as the status of B lifetimes and mixing in the LEP collaborations and at the Tevatron are highlighted. The measurement of sin2beta from CDF is described as well as the most recent results on top physics at the Tevatron