Studies of Top Quark properties at the LHC

The LHC collider plans to start in 2007, after which millions of top quarks will be produced at the collision points. In the first period of data taking these events will provide an essential calibration tool for the ATLAS and CMS detectors. During a later stage, as part of the precision measurement programme, both detectors will determine the top mass and properties like spin, charge and couplings. Top physics also plays a central role in the search for new particles, both as source of a possible signal and as source of background.}Comment: Moriond conference writeu

QED radiative corrections for elastic e(mu)p scattering in hadronic variables

A numerical analysis of QED radiative corrections for elastic e(mu)p cattering in hadronic variables at energies of the current experiment at JLab is performed. The explicit formulas from the review of Akhundov et al. resulting from the integration over the phase space of leptonic variables plus photon are used to obtain the values of the cross sections and the radiative correction factor for unpolarized lepton-proton scattering. Our numerical results agree with the corresponding results arising from the formulas of Afanasev et al.Comment: 4 Pages, 4 figure

Special Supersymmetric features of large invariant mass unpolarized and polarized top-antitop production at LHC

We consider the top-antitop invariant mass distributions for production of unpolarized and polarized top quark pairs at LHC, in the theoretical framework of the MSSM. Assuming a "moderately" light SUSY scenario, we derive the leading logarithmic electroweak contributions at one loop in a region of large invariant mass, $M_{t\bar t}\simeq1$ TeV, for the unpolarized differential cross section $d\sigma/dM_{t\bar t}$ and for the differential longitudinal top polarization asymmetry $A_t(M_{t\bar t})$. We perform a realistic evaluation of the expected uncertainties of the two quantities, both from a theoretical and from an experimental point of view, and discuss the possibility of obtaining, from accurate measurements of the two mass distributions, stringent consistency tests of the model, in particular identifications of large $\tan\beta$ effects.Comment: 23 pages, 9 eps figure

After the Standard Model: New Resonances at the LHC

Experiments will soon start taking data at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with high expectations for discovery of new physics phenomena. Indeed, the LHC's unprecedented center-of-mass energy will allow the experiments to probe an energy regime where the standard model is known to break down. In this article, the experiments' capability to observe new resonances in various channels is reviewed.Comment: Preprint version of a Brief Review for Modern Physics Letters A. Changes w.r.t. the fully corrected version are smal

Deterministic Annealing as a jet clustering algorithm in hadronic collisions

We show that a general purpose clusterization algorithm, Deterministic Annealing, can be adapted to the problem of jet identification in particle production by high energy collisions. In particular we consider the problem of jet searching in events generated at hadronic colliders. Deterministic Annealing is able to reproduce the results obtained by traditional jet algorithms and to exhibit a higher degree of flexibility.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

On saturation of charged hadron production in pp collisions at LHC

First results on charged hadron transverse momentum spectra in pp collisions obtained by the CMS Collaboration at LHC were analyzed in z-scaling approach. The first LHC data confirm z-scaling. The saturation regime of the scaling function psi(z) observed in pp and antp-pp interactions at lower energy sqrt s = 19-1960 GeV is verified. The saturation of psi(z) for charged hadrons is found down to z=0.05 at the highest energy sqrt s = 2360 GeV reached till now at colliders. A microscopic scenario of hadron production is discussed in connection with search for new signatures of phase transitions in hadron matter. Constituent energy loss and its dependencies on the transverse momentum of charged hadrons and collision energy are estimated. The beam energy scan at LHC in the saturation region is suggested.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 6 figure

Jet analysis by Deterministic Annealing

We perform a comparison of two jet clusterization algorithms. The first one is the standard Durham algorithm and the second one is a global optimization scheme, Deterministic Annealing, often used in clusterization problems, and adapted to the problem of jet identification in particle production by high energy collisions; in particular we study hadronic jets in WW production by high energy electron positron scattering. Our results are as follows. First, we find that the two procedures give basically the same output as far as the particle clusterization is concerned. Second, we find that the increase of CPU time with the particle multiplicity is much faster for the Durham jet clustering algorithm in comparison with Deterministic Annealing. Since this result follows from the higher computational complexity of the Durham scheme, it should not depend on the particular process studied here and might be significant for jet physics at LHC as well.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Effect evaluation of a vocational rehabilitation program for young adults with chronic physical conditions at risk for unemployment:A controlled clinical trial

Background: The work participation of young adults with chronic physical conditions lag behind compared to healthy age-mates. ‘At Work’ is a vocational rehabilitation intervention provided by occupational therapists, that supports them for entering the competitive labour market after graduating post-secondary education. Aim: To evaluate the effects of ‘At Work’ on self-efficacy, work-ability and employment status as compared to usual care. Materials and methods: In total, 88 young adults were included in a multicentre controlled trial; 49 entered ‘At Work’, 39 received usual care. GEE-analyses were applied. Results:Scores on all outcome measures substantially improved over time in the intervention group, but no significant effects were found as compared to the control group. The effect on general self-efficacy showed a positive trend in favour of the intervention group. Conclusions and significance: Unlike previous study results pointing to positive outcomes of At Work’, the current study did not support the effectiveness of this program on work-related self-efficacy, work-ability and paid employment, as compared to usual care. Yet, we did find an indication for positive intervention effect on general self-efficacy, which is known to be an important capacity to achieve social participation.</p

Standard Model Physics at LEP

Selected topics on precision tests of the Standard Model of the Electroweak and the Strong Interaction at the LEP $e^+e^-$ collider are presented, including an update of the world summary of measurements of $\alpha_s$, representing the state of knowledge of summer 1999. This write-up of lecture notes consists of a reproduction of slides, pictures and tables, supplemented by a short descriptive text and a list of relevant references.Comment: lecture given at Intern. Summer School at Nijmegen, August 1999, 44 pages, 36 (mostly coloured) figures, LaTeX, needs crckapb.st