A next-to-leading order study of photon-pion and pion pair hadro-production in the light of the Higgs boson search at the LHC

We discuss the production of photon-pion and pion pairs with a large invariant mass at collider energies. We present a study based on a perturbative QCD calculation at full next-to-leading order accuracy, implemented in the computer programme DIPHOX. We give estimations for various observables, which concern the reducible background to the Higgs boson search in the channel H --> gamma gamma, in the mass range 80-140 GeV at the LHC. We critically discuss the reliability of these estimates due to our imperfect knowledge of fragmentation functions at high z and a subtle interplay between higher order corrections and realistic experimental cuts. We conclude that, whereas the invariant mass spectrum of photon-pion pairs is theoretically better under control, in the dipion case large uncertainties remain.Comment: 26 pages Latex, 14 eps figures, replaced by published versio

A full Next to Leading Order study of direct photon pair production in hadronic collisions

We discuss the production of photon pairs in hadronic collisions, from fixed target to LHC energies. The study which follows is based on a QCD calculation at full next-to-leading order accuracy, including single and double fragmentation contributions, and implemented in the form of a general purpose computer program of "partonic event generator" type. To illustrate the possibilities of this code, we present the comparison with observables measured by the WA70 and D0 collaborations, and some predictions for the irreducible background to the search of Higgs bosons at LHC in the channel $h \to \gamma \gamma$. We also discuss theoretical scale uncertainties for these predictions, and examine several infrared sensitive situations which deserve further study.Comment: 45 pages Latex, 16 eps files plus some metafont files; replaced by the version to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Spin-Exchange Interaction in ZnO-based Quantum Wells

Wurtzitic ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O quantum wells grown along the (0001) direction permit unprecedented tunability of the short-range spin exchange interaction. In the context of large exciton binding energies and electron-hole exchange interaction in ZnO, this tunability results from the competition between quantum confinement and giant quantum confined Stark effect. By using time-resolved photoluminescence we identify, for well widths under 3 nm, the redistribution of oscillator strengths between the A and B excitonic transitions, due to the enhancement of the exchange interaction. Conversely, for wider wells, the redistribution is cancelled by the dominant effect of internal electric fields, which dramatically reduce the exchange energy.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Resonant excitonic emission of a single quantum dot in the Rabi regime

We report on coherent resonant emission of the fundamental exciton state in a single semiconductor GaAs quantum dot. Resonant regime with picoseconde laser excitation is realized by embedding the quantum dots in a waveguiding structure. As the pulse intensity is increased, Rabi oscillation is observed up to three periods. The Rabi regime is achieved owing to an enhanced light-matter coupling in the waveguide. This is due to a \emph{slow light effect} ($c/v_{g}\simeq 3000$), occuring when an intense resonant pulse propagates in a medium. The resonant control of the quantum dot fundamental transition opens new possibilities in quantum state manipulation and quantum optics experiments in condensed matter physics.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

The effect of baryons on the variance and the skewness of the mass distribution in the Universe at small scales

We study the dissipative effects of baryon physics on cosmic statistics at small scales using a cosmological simulation of a (50 Mpc h−1)3 volume of universe. The MareNostrum simulation was performed using the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code ramses, and includes most of the physical ingredients which are part of the current theory of galaxy formation, such as metal-dependent cooling and UV heating, subgrid modelling of the interstellar medium, star formation and supernova feedback. We reran the same initial conditions for a dark matter only universe, as a reference point for baryon-free cosmic statistics. In this paper, we present the measured small-scale amplification of σ2 and S3 due to baryonic physics and their interpretation in the framework of the halo model. As shown in recent studies, the effect of baryons on the matter power spectrum can be accounted for at scales k≲ 10 h Mpc−1 by modifying the halo concentration parameter. We propose to extend this result by using a composite halo profile, which is a linear combination of a Navarro, Frenk and White profile for the dark matter component and an exponential disc profile mimicking the baryonic component at the heart of the halo. This halo profile form is physically motivated and depends on two parameters, the mass fraction f d of baryons in the disc and the ratio λd of the disc's characteristic scale to the halo's virial radius. We find this composite profile to reproduce both the small-scale variance and skewness boosts measured in the simulation up to k∼ 102 h Mpc−1 for physically meaningful values of the parameters f d and λd. Although simulations like the one presented here usually suffer from various problems when compared to observations, our modified halo model could be used as a fitting model to improve the determination of cosmological parameters from weak lensing convergence spectra and skewness measurement

Spontaneously appearing vector vortex beams in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with feedback

[Abstract unavailable

Local disorder and optical properties in V-shaped quantum wires : towards one-dimensional exciton systems

The exciton localization is studied in GaAs/GaAlAs V-shaped quantum wires (QWRs) by high spatial resolution spectroscopy. Scanning optical imaging of different generations of samples shows that the localization length has been enhanced as the growth techniques were improved. In the best samples, excitons are delocalized in islands of length of the order of 1 micron, and form a continuum of 1D states in each of them, as evidenced by the sqrt(T) dependence of the radiative lifetime. On the opposite, in the previous generation of QWRs, the localization length is typically 50 nm and the QWR behaves as a collection of quantum boxes. These localization properties are compared to structural properties and related to the progresses of the growth techniques. The presence of residual disorder is evidenced in the best samples and explained by the separation of electrons and holes due to the large in-built piezo-electric field present in the structure.Comment: 8 figure

Next-to-leading order multi-leg processes for the Large Hadron Collider

In this talk we discuss recent progress concerning precise predictions for the LHC. We give a status report of three applications of our method to deal with multi-leg one-loop amplitudes: The interference term of Higgs production by gluon- and weak boson fusion to order O(alpha^2 alpha_s^3) and the next-to-leading order corrections to the two processes pp -> ZZ jet and u ubar -> d dbar s sbar. The latter is a subprocess of the four jet cross section at the LHC.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Talk given at the 8th international Symposium on Radiative Corrections (RADCOR), October 1-5 2007, Florence, Ital