Properties of Heavy B Hadrons

We review recent measurements of heavy B hadron states including masses and lifetimes of the Bc meson as well as excited B states (B**, Bs**). We discuss properties of the Bs meson such as lifetime, lifetime difference delta_Gamma/Gamma and CP violation in Bs -> J/Psi Phi decays. We also summarize new measurements of the masses and lifetimes of bottom baryons including the Lambda_b baryon, the Sigma_b baryon states as well as the Xi_b and Omega_b baryons.Comment: Plenary talk at ICHEP08, Philadelphia, USA, July 2008. 15 pages with 10 figures and 1 table. Fixed typo

Measurement of CP Violation at the Υ(4S)\Upsilon(4S) without Time Ordering or Δt\Delta t

I derive the expressions for the CP-violating asymmetry arising from interference between mixed and direct decays in the Upsilon(4S) system, for the case in which only one of the B decay times is observed, integrating over the decay time of the other B. I observe that neither the difference of the decay times Delta t, nor even their time-ordering, need be detected. A technique for measurement of the CP-violating weak decay parameter sin(2beta) is described which exploits this observation.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Operator Product Expansion for Exclusive Decays: B^+ ->Ds^+ e+e- and B^+ -> Ds^{*+} e+e-

The decays $B^+\to D_{s,d}^+e^+e^-$ and $B^+\to D_{s,d}^{*+}e^+e^-$ proceed through a weak and an electromagnetic interaction. This is a typical ``long distance'' process, usually difficult to compute systematically. We propose that over a large fraction of phase space a combination of an operator product and heavy quark expansions effectively turns this process into one in which the weak and electromagnetic interactions occur through a local operator. Moreover, we use heavy quark spin symmetry to relate all the local operators that appear in leading order of the operator expansion to two basic ones. We use this operator expansion to estimate the decay rates for $B^+\to D_{s,d}^{(*)+}e^+e^-$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Latex, published version in PR

Cytoskeleton structure, pattern of mitochondrial activity and ultrastructure of frozen or vitrified sheep embryos.

Even though sheep embryo cryopreservation is a commonly used procedure the survival and pregnancy outcomes can vary greatly. This study investigated whether cryopreservation was causing subtle changes in ultrastructure, mitochondrial activity or cytoskeletal integrity. Sheep embryos were either slow cooled in 1.5 M EG (n = 22), or vitrified in 20% EG + 20% DMSO with 0.5 M sucrose in Open Pulled Straws (OPS) (n = 24). One hour after warming the cryopreserved embryos differed from control embryos in that they had no mitochondrial activity combined with cytoskeletal disorganization and large vesicles. Vitrified embryos also showed many points of cytoskeleton disruption. Ultrastructural alterations resulting from actin filaments disorganization were observed in both cryopreserved groups. This includes areas presenting no cytoplasmic organelles, Golgi complex located far from the nucleus and a decrease of specialized intercellular junctions. Additionally, large vesicles were observed in vitrified morulae and early blastocysts. The alterations after cryopreservation were proportional to embryo quality as assessed using the stereomicroscope. Even in the absence of mitochondrial activity, grade I and II cryopreserved embryos contained mitochondria with normal ultrastructure. Embryos classified as grade I or II in the stereomicroscope revealed mild ultrastructural alterations, meaning that this tool is efficient to evaluate embryos after cryopreservation

The Semileptonic Decays D→π(ρ)eνD\to \pi(\rho) e \nu and B→π(ρ)eνB\to \pi (\rho) e \nu from QCD Sum Rules

We investigate the semileptonic decays of B and D mesons into $\pi$ and $\rho$ mesons, respectively, by means of QCD sum rules. We find that for the vector formfactors involved the pole dominance hypothesis is valid to good accuracy with pole masses in the expected range. Pole dominance, however, does not apply to the axial formfactors which results in specific predictions for the predominant polarization of the $\rho$ meson and the shape of the lepton spectrum. For the total decay rates we find $\Gamma (\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ e^- \bar\nu) = (5.1\pm 1.1)\,|V_{ub}|^2\, 10^{12}\,{\rm s^{-1}}$, $\Gamma ( D^0 \to \pi^- e^+ \nu) = (8.0\pm 1.7)\,|V_{cd}|^2\, 10^{10}\,{\rm s^{-1}}$, $\Gamma (\bar B^0 \to \rho^+ e^- \bar\nu) = (1.2\pm 0.4\,)\,|V_{ub}|^2\, 10^{13}\,{\rm s^{-1}}$ and $\Gamma (D^0 \to \rho^- e^+\nu) = (2.4\pm 0.7)\,|V_{cd}|^2\, 10^{9}\,{\rm s^{-1}}$.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures included as uu-encoded file, needs REVTEX, TUM--T31--39/9

Determination of the Jet Energy Scale at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

A precise determination of the energy scale of jets at the Collider Detector at Fermilab at the Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ collider is described. Jets are used in many analyses to estimate the energies of partons resulting from the underlying physics process. Several correction factors are developed to estimate the original parton energy from the observed jet energy in the calorimeter. The jet energy response is compared between data and Monte Carlo simulation for various physics processes, and systematic uncertainties on the jet energy scale are determined. For jets with transverse momenta above 50 GeV the jet energy scale is determined with a 3% systematic uncertainty

B Physics at the Tevatron: Run II and Beyond

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the prospects for B physics at the Tevatron. The work was carried out during a series of workshops starting in September 1999. There were four working groups: 1) CP Violation, 2) Rare and Semileptonic Decays, 3) Mixing and Lifetimes, 4) Production, Fragmentation and Spectroscopy. The report also includes introductory chapters on theoretical and experimental tools emphasizing aspects of B physics specific to hadron colliders, as well as overviews of the CDF, D0, and BTeV detectors, and a Summary.Comment: 583 pages. Further information on the workshops, including transparencies, can be found at the workshop's homepage: http://www-theory.lbl.gov/Brun2/. The report is also available in 2-up http://www-theory.lbl.gov/Brun2/report/report2.ps.gz or chapter-by-chapter http://www-theory.lbl.gov/Brun2/report

A mild alkali treated jute fibre controlling the hydration behaviour of greener cement paste

To reduce the antagonistic effect of jute fibre on the setting and hydration of jute reinforced cement, modified jute fibre reinforcement would be a unique approach. The present investigation deals with the effectiveness of mild alkali treated (0.5%) jute fibre on the setting and hydration behaviour of cement. Setting time measurement, hydration test and analytical characterizations of the hardened samples (viz., FTIR, XRD, DSC, TGA and free lime estimation) were used to evaluate the effect of alkali treated jute fibre. From the hydration test, the time (t) required to reach maximum temperature for the hydration of control cement sample is estimated to be 860 min, whilst the time (t) is measured to be 1040 min for the hydration of a raw jute reinforced cement sample. However, the time (t) is estimated to be 1020 min for the hydration of an alkali treated jute reinforced cement sample. Additionally, from the analytical characterizations, it is determined that fibre-cement compatibility is increased and hydration delaying effect is minimized by using alkali treated jute fibre as fibre reinforcement. Based on the analyses, a model has been proposed to explain the setting and hydration behaviour of alkali treated jute fibre reinforced cement composite

Search for Chargino-Neutralino Associated Production at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider

We have searched in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 1.8 TeV for events with three charged leptons and missing transverse energy. In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, we expect trilepton events from chargino-neutralino (\chione \chitwo) pair production, with subsequent decay into leptons. We observe no candidate $e^+e^-e^\pm$, $e^+e^-\mu^\pm$, $e^\pm\mu^+\mu^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-\mu^\pm$ events in 106 pb$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity. We present limits on the sum of the branching ratios times cross section for the four channels: \sigma_{\chione\chitwo}\cdot BR(\chione\chitwo\to 3\ell+X) 81.5 \mgev\sp and M_\chitwo > 82.2 \mgev\sp for $\tan\beta=2$, $\mu =-600$~\mgev\sp and M_\squark= M_\gluino.Comment: 9 pages and 3 figure