CP violation in charm and beauty decays at LHCb

LHCb is a dedicated heavy flavour physics precision experiment at the LHC searching for New Physics (NP) beyond the Standard Model (SM) through the study of very rare decays of beauty and charm-flavoured hadrons and precision measurements of CP-violating observables. In this review I will present a selection of recent precision measurements of CP-violating observables in the decays of beauty and charm-flavoured hadrons. These measurements are based on an integrated luminosity of up to $1.0 \rm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by LHCb in 2011.Comment: Invited talk at Fourth Workshop on Theory, Phenomenology and Experiments in Flavour Physics, 11 - 13 June 2012, Anacapri, Ital

Exotic charmonium-like spectroscopy at LHCb: a study of the X(3872) and of the Z(4430)^-

I will report on the recent LHCb results on the evidence for the decay $X(3872)\rightarrow\psi(2S) \gamma$, and on the improved measurement of the mass and width of the $Z(4430)^-$, the determination of its quantum numbers and the observation of its resonant character.Comment: Presented at The Second Annual Conference on Large Hadron Collider Physics Columbia University, New York, U.S.A June 2-7, 201

Results on charged kaon and hyperon decays from NA48

Recent results from the NA48/1 and NA48/2 experiments at the CERN SPS are presented. NA48/2 carried out data taking in 2003 and 2004 collecting charged kaon decays: branching ratios and form factors have been measured for the rare K+- to pi+-e+e-, K+- to pi+-gammagamma and K+- to pi+-e+e-gamma decays. The NA48/1 experiment has taken data in 2002 using only the Ks beam at an increased intensity measuring neutral hyperon radiative decays. Using this data, which exceeds present statistics by about one order of magnitude, a new precise measurement of the Csi_0 decay asymmetries has been obtained

The NA62 RICH Detector

Abstract The CERN NA62 experiment aims to measure the ultra-rare charged kaon decay K + → π + νν (branching fraction O(10 -10 )) with a 10% accuracy. The detector must be able to reject background events from decay channels of which the branching fractions are up to 10 orders of magnitude larger than the signal and with similar experimental signature. To totally suppress the main background from K + →μ + ν decay (BR ∼ 63%), NA62 will need a further μ rejection factor better than 5x10 -3 . This will be provided by a gas RICH detector for π/μ separation in a momentum range between 15 and 35 GeV/c. The details of the RICH project will be described and the results of two beam tests performed at CERN with prototypes will be presented

LHCb: detector performance and first physics results

LHCb is a dedicated detector for $b$ and $c$ physics at the LHC. I will present a concise review of the detector design and performance together with a selection of early physics results and prospects. The integrated luminosity of $37 \rm{pb}^{-1}$ collected in 2010 has already allowed LHCb to perform a number of a very significant measurements, while the data expected for 2011 have the potential of revealing New Physics effects in the $B_s$ sector.Comment: Proceedings for CORFU2010-WEEK

Precision Physics at the LHC

A large number of precision measurements will be possible with the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Examples from W physics, Drell-Yan production of lepton pairs, Triple-Gauge Couplings,top physics, Higgs and Supersymmetry are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, presented ate the 5th Zeuthen Workshop on Elementary Particle Theory on "Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory" Bastel/Konigstein, Germany, April 200

HIGH ENERGY GAMMA PHYSICS WITH GLAST

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a space mission that will detect photons from the sky in the energy range between 10 keV and 300 GeV, scheduled for launch by NASA in 2007. Compared to previous missions, GLAST will have greatly improved sensitivity and ability to resolve γ-ray point sources. This report describes the detector design and performance and presents an overview of the physics goals of the GLAST observatory

Retinal micro-vascular and aortic macro-vascular changes in postmenopausal women with primary hyperparathyroidism

Aim of the study was to evaluate the micro and macro-vascular changes in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) compared to controls. 30 postmenopausal PHPT women (15 hypertensive and 15 normotensive) and 30 normotensive controls underwent biochemical evaluation of mineral metabolism and measurements of arterial stiffness by 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Retinal microcirculation was imaged by a Retinal Vessel Analyzer. PHPT patients also underwent bone mineral density measurements and kidney ultrasound. PHPT patients had higher mean calcium and parathyroid hormone values compared to controls. Evaluating macro-vascular compartment, we found higher values of 24 hours-systolic, diastolic blood pressure, aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and aortic augmentation index (Aix) in hypertensive PHPT, but not in normotensive PHPT compared to controls. The eye examination showed narrowing arterial and venular diameters of retinal vessels in both hypertensive and normotensive PHPT compared to controls. In hypertensive PHPT, 24 hours systolic blood pressure was associated only with parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels (beta = 0.36, p = 0.04). aPWV was associated with retinal diameter (beta = −0.69, p = 0.003), but not with PTH. Retinal artery diameter was associated with PTH (beta = −0.6, p = 0.008). In the normotensive PHPT, only PTH was associated with retinal artery diameter (beta = −0.60, p = 0.01) and aortic AIx (beta = 0.65, p = 0.02). In conclusion, we found macro-vascular impairment in PHPT and that micro-vascular impairment is negatively associated with PTH, regardless of hypertension in PHPT