Relative phases in Dalitz plot amplitudes for D0→KSπ+π−D^0 \to K_S \pi^+ \pi^- and D0→π0K+K−D^0 \to \pi^0 K^+ K^-

Relative phases of amplitudes for $D$ meson decays to a light pseudoscalar meson $P$ and a light vector meson $V$ decaying to two pseudoscalar mesons will lead to characteristic interferences on the three-body Dalitz plot. These phases may be compared with predictions of a flavor-symmetric treatment which extracts contributing amplitudes and their relative phases from a fit to $D \to PV$ decay rates. Good agreement was found previously for the cases of $D^0 \to K^- \pi^+ \pi^0$ and $D^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^- \pi^0$. The present work is devoted to the decays $D^0 \to K_S \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $D^0 \to \pi^0 K^+ K^-$, for which agreement is not found. Several suggestions are offered for this discrepancy.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. D. Additonal figure, text, and references; minor correction

Dynamic critical behavior of the worm algorithm for the Ising model

We study the dynamic critical behavior of the worm algorithm for the two- and three-dimensional Ising models, by Monte Carlo simulation. The autocorrelation functions exhibit an unusual three-time-scale behavior. As a practical matter, the worm algorithm is slightly more efficient than Swendsen-Wang for simulating the two-point function of the three-dimensional Ising model

Exploring the flavour structure of the MSSM with rare K decays

We present an extensive analysis of rare K decays, in particular of the two neutrino modes K+->pi+ nu nu-bar and KL->pi0 nu nu-bar, in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. We analyse the expectations for the branching ratios of these modes, both within the restrictive framework of the minimal flavour violation hypothesis and within a more general framework with new sources of flavour-symmetry breaking. In both scenarios, the information that can be extracted from precise measurements of the two neutrino modes turn out to be very useful in restricting the parameter space of the model, even after taking into account the possible information on the mass spectrum derived from high-energy colliders, and the constraints from B-physics experiments. In the presence of new sources of flavour-symmetry breaking, additional significant constraints on the model can be derived also from the two KL->pi0 l+l- modes.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures (high quality figures available on request

Improved KL->pi e nu Form Factor and Phase Space Integral with Reduced Model Uncertainty

Using the published KTeV sample of 2 million KL-> pi e nu decays and a new form factor expansion with a rigorous bound on higher order terms, we present a new determination of the KL->pi e nu form factor and phase space integral. Compared to the previous KTeV result, the uncertainty in the new form factor expansion is negligible and results in an overall uncertainty in the phase space integral (IKe) that is a factor of two smaller: IKe = 0.15392 +- 0.00048 \.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRD Rapid Communicatio

Measurements of the Decay KL→e+e−γK_L \to e^+e^-\gamma

The E799-II (KTeV) experiment at Fermilab has collected 83262 $K_L \to e^+e^-\gamma$ events above a background of 79 events. We measure a decay width, normalized to the $K_L \to \pi^0\pi^0\pi^0_D$ (\pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma, \pi^0 to \gamma\gamma, \pi^0_D \to e^+e^-\gamma) decay width, of $\Gamma($K_L \to e^+e^-\gamma$)/\Gamma(K_L \to \pi^0\pi^0\pi^0_D) = (1.3302 \pm 0.0046_{stat} \pm 0.0102_{syst}) \times 10^{-3}$. We also measure parameters of two $K_L \gamma^{\ast}\gamma$ form factor models. In the Bergstrom, Masso, and Singer (BMS) parametrization, we find \caks = -0.517 \pm 0.030_{stat} \pm 0.022_{syst}. We separately fit for the first parameter of the D'Ambrosio, Isidori, and Portoles (DIP) model and find \adip = -1.729 \pm 0.043_{stat} \pm 0.028_{syst}.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR

Determination of the Parity of the Neutral Pion via the Four-Electron Decay

We present a new determination of the parity of the neutral pion via the double Dalitz decay pi^0 -> e+ e- e+ e-. Our sample, which consists of 30511 candidate decays, was collected from K_L -> pi0 pi0 pi0 decays in flight at the KTeV-E799 experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We confirm the negative pi^0 parity, and place a limit on scalar contributions to the pi^0 -> e+ e- e+ e- decay amplitude of less than 3.3% assuming CPT conservation. The pi^0 gamma* gamma* form factor is well described by a momentum-dependent model with a slope parameter fit to the final state phase space distribution. Additionally, we have measured the branching ratio of this mode to be B(pi^0 -> e+ e- e+ e-) = (3.26 +- 0.18) x 10^(-5).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Typographical error in radiative branching ratio (Eq. 6) correcte

Search for the Rare Decay K_{L}\to\pi^{0}\pi^{0}\gamma

The KTeV E799 experiment has conducted a search for the rare decay $K_{L}\to\pi^{0}\pi^{0}\gamma$ via the topology $K_{L}\to\pi^{0}\pi^{0}_D\gamma$ (where $\pi^0_D\to\gamma e^+e^-$). Due to Bose statistics of the $\pi^0$ pair and the real nature of the photon, the $K_{L}\to\pi^{0}\pi^{0}\gamma$ decay is restricted to proceed at lowest order by the CP conserving direct emission (DE) of an E2 electric quadrupole photon. The rate of this decay is interesting theoretically since chiral perturbation theory predicts that this process vanishes at level $O(p^4)$. Therefore, this mode probes chiral perturbation theory at $O(p^6)$. In this paper we report a determination of an upper limit of $2.43\times 10^{-7}$ (90% CL) for $K_{L}\to\pi^{0}\pi^{0}\gamma$. This is approximately a factor of 20 lower than previous results.Comment: six pages and six figures in the submission. Reformatted for Physics Review

Search for the Rare Decays KL->pi0pi0mu+mu- and KL->pi0pi0X0->pi0pi0mu+mu-

The KTeV E799 experiment has conducted a search for the rare decays KL->pi0pi0mu+mu- and KL->pi0pi0X0->pi0pi0mu+mu-, where the X0 is a possible new neutral boson that was reported by the HyperCP experiment with a mass of (214.3 pm 0.5) MeV/c^{2}. We find no evidence for either decay. We obtain upper limits of Br(KL->pi0pi0X0->pi0pi0mu+mu-) pi0pi0mu+mu-) < 9.2 x 10^{-11} at the 90% confidence level. This result rules out the pseudoscalar X0 as an explanation of the HyperCP result under the scenario that the \bar{d}sX0 coupling is completely real

Detailed Study of the KL -> 3pi0 Dalitz Plot

Using a sample of 68 million KL -> 3pi0 decays collected in 1996-1999 by the KTeV (E832) experiment at Fermilab, we present a detailed study of the KL -> 3pi0 Dalitz plot density. We report the first observation of interference from KL->pi+pi-pi0 decays in which pi+pi- rescatters to 2pi0 in a final-state interaction. This rescattering effect is described by the Cabibbo-Isidori model, and it depends on the difference in pion scattering lengths between the isospin I=0 and I=2 states, a0-a2. Using the Cabibbo-Isidori model, we present the first measurement of the KL-> 3pi0 quadratic slope parameter that accounts for the rescattering effect.Comment: accepted by Phys. Rev