B Physics at the TeVatron

The CDF and D\O\ experiments at the Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ collider established that extensive and detailed exploration of the $b$--quark dynamics is possible in hadron collisions, with results competitive and supplementary to those from $e^+e^-$ colliders. This provides a rich, and highly rewarding program that is currently reaching full maturity. I report a few recent world-leading results on rare decays, CP-violation in $B^0_s$ mixing, $b\to s$ penguin decays, and charm physics.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, proceedings for IFAE2011. To be published in the Nuovo Cimento C - Colloquia on Physic

Measurement of CP Violation in D0/Dˉ0D^0/\bar{D}^0

Charm physics has played all along a central role in particle physics, however the level of attention on it has tremendously increased in the last years because of the observation of "fast" $D^0-\bar{D}^0$ flavour oscillations and because of very recent observed hints of CP violation. While in the past these would have been unambiguously interpreted as signs of New Physics, the revisitation of theoretical expectations, prompted by the latest experimental measurements, makes the picture not clear. This brief review covers the current status of CP-violating measurements in the $D^0-\bar{D}^0$ system, both on the experimental and theoretical side.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by Modern Physics Letters A journa

Mixing and CPCP violation in D0→K−π+D^0 \to K^- \pi^+ decays

The theoretical parametrisation of mixing and time-dependent $CP$ violation for $D^0$decays into two hadrons is reviewed, along with the experimental methods to measure them. While these phenomena are usually neglected for $D^0 \to K^- \pi^+$ decays, this approximation is not always justified at the current level of experimental precision. In particular, it is shown to produce a bias on the measurement of the parameter $y_{CP}$, when this is performed by relying on $D^0 \to K^- \pi^+$ decays as normalisation channel, whose size is around 40% of the precision of the current world average. The sensitivity to $CP$ violation in the mixing achievable by studying $D^0 \to K^- \pi^+$ and untagged $D \to K^- \pi^+$ decays, where $D$ stands for either of $D^0$ or $\bar{D}^0$ mesons, is also estimated.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures; fitting code available at https://github.com/tpajero/charm-fitter; v2 prepared for submission to JHEP (added 2 figures, fixed minor typos in equations, updated the values of charm mixing parameters

AQUIFER Nano-Electrofuel Energy Economy and Powered Aircraft Operations

The Aqueous, QUick-charging battery Integration For Electric flight Research project is explained and the major subsystems are described, including nano-electric fluid, rim-driven motors, and integration concepts. The nano-electric fluid concept is a new type of aqueous flow battery that could reduce or retire the fire and explosion hazards of conventional batteries and fuel cells. The nano-electric fluid itself could enable energy storage and increased available energy per fuel weight ratios. The rim-driven motor is being developed to improve propulsion system safety and stability and to reduce noise. The rim-driven motor concept could enable motors that are more efficient both electrically and aerodynamically. The Energy Economy of the project concept is presented as a potential renewable or green energy sustainment for utilizing in-place infrastructure. The nano-electric fluid energy charge-use-recharge cycle is presented using renewable energy input from solar, wind, and hydroelectricity. Powered aircraft operations are presented, and the logistics of the new nano-electric fluid technology are explored. Powered aircraft operations topics include weight and balance, fueling, recharging, safety, and derivative considerations

Measurements of CP asymmetries and branching fractions of two-body charmless decays of B^0 and B^0_s mesons

The thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 1 describes the theoretical framework of non-leptonic B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} H{sup +}h{prime}{sup -} decays, with a simple overview of the CP violation mechanism within the Standard Model and of the most used phenomenological approaches in the evaluation of strong interaction contributions. The chapter contains also a review of the theoretical expectations and the current experimental measurements along with a discussion about the importance of studying such decays. Chapter 2 contains a general description of the Tevatron collider and of the CDF II detector. Chapter 3 is devoted to the description of the data sample used for the measurement and the method used in extracting the signal from the background. Particular attention is dedicated to the on-line trigger selection, which is crucial to collect a sample enriched in B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} h{sup +}h{prime}{sup -} decays. Chapter 4 shows how the information from kinematics and particle identification was used to achieve a statistical discrimination amongst modes to extract individual measurements. The available resolutions in mass or in particle identification are separately insufficient for an event-by-event separation of B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} h{sup +}h{prime}{sup -} modes. The choice of observables and the technique used to combine them is an important and innovative aspect of the analysis described in this thesis. Chapter 5 is devoted to the accurate determination of the invariant mass lineshape. This is a crucial ingredient for resolving overlapping mass peaks. This chapter details all resolution effects with particular attention at the tails due to the emission of low-energy photons from charged kaons and pions in the final state (FSR). For the first time the effect of FSR has been accurately accounted for in a CDF analysis. Chapter 6 describes how kinematic and PID information, discussed in chap. 4 and chap. 5 were combined in a maximum Likelihood fit to statistically determine the composition of the B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} h{sup +}h{prime}{sup -} sample. This kinematics-PID combined fit has been developed and performed for the first time at CDF in the analysis presented in this thesis and this methodology was later inherited by several other analyses. Chapter 7 is devoted to the study of the isolation variable, which is a crucial handle to enhance the signal-to-background ratio in the off-line selection. It exploits the property that the b-hadrons tend to carry a larger fraction of the transverse momentum of the particles produced in the fragmentation, with respect to lighter hadrons. Since the simulators do not accurately reproduce the fragmentation processes, this chapter is devoted to the study of the control data sample of B{sub (s)}{sup 0} {yields} J/{psi}X decays to probe the characteristics of this variable. Chapter 8 describes an innovative procedure used to optimize the selection to minimize the statistical uncertainty on the quantities one wishes to measure. The procedure is based on the fit of composition described in chap. 6. Chapter 9 reports the results of the fit of composition described in chap. 6 and the cross-checks performed to verify the goodness of the fit of composition. In order to translate the parameters returned from the fit into physics measurements the relative efficiency corrections between the various decay modes need to be applied. Chapter 10 is devoted to the description of these corrections. Chapter 11 describes the measurement of the detector-induced charge asymmetry between positively and negatively charged kaons and pions, due to their different probability of strong interaction in the tracker material using the real data. This allows to extract the acceptance correction factor for the CP asymmetries measurement without any external inputs from the simulation, and to perform a powerful check of whole analysis. Chapter 12 describes the main sources of systematic uncertainties and the method used to evaluate the significance of the results on rare modes. The final results of the measurements and their interpretation are discussed in chap. 13

Early Release Science of the exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRISS

Transmission spectroscopy provides insight into the atmospheric properties and consequently the formation history, physics, and chemistry of transiting exoplanets. However, obtaining precise inferences of atmospheric properties from transmission spectra requires simultaneously measuring the strength and shape of multiple spectral absorption features from a wide range of chemical species. This has been challenging given the precision and wavelength coverage of previous observatories. Here, we present the transmission spectrum of the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b obtained using the SOSS mode of the NIRISS instrument on the JWST. This spectrum spans $0.6 - 2.8 \mu$m in wavelength and reveals multiple water absorption bands, the potassium resonance doublet, as well as signatures of clouds. The precision and broad wavelength coverage of NIRISS-SOSS allows us to break model degeneracies between cloud properties and the atmospheric composition of WASP-39b, favoring a heavy element enhancement ("metallicity") of $\sim 10 - 30 \times$ the solar value, a sub-solar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio, and a solar-to-super-solar potassium-to-oxygen (K/O) ratio. The observations are best explained by wavelength-dependent, non-gray clouds with inhomogeneous coverage of the planet's terminator.Comment: 48 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Under review at Natur

Nightside clouds and disequilibrium chemistry on the hot Jupiter WASP-43b

Hot Jupiters are among the best-studied exoplanets, but it is still poorly understood how their chemical composition and cloud properties vary with longitude. Theoretical models predict that clouds may condense on the nightside and that molecular abundances can be driven out of equilibrium by zonal winds. Here we report a phase-resolved emission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b measured from 5 μm to 12 μm with the JWST’s Mid-Infrared Instrument. The spectra reveal a large day–night temperature contrast (with average brightness temperatures of 1,524 ± 35 K and 863 ± 23 K, respectively) and evidence for water absorption at all orbital phases. Comparisons with three-dimensional atmospheric models show that both the phase-curve shape and emission spectra strongly suggest the presence of nightside clouds that become optically thick to thermal emission at pressures greater than ~100 mbar. The dayside is consistent with a cloudless atmosphere above the mid-infrared photosphere. Contrary to expectations from equilibrium chemistry but consistent with disequilibrium kinetics models, methane is not detected on the nightside (2σ upper limit of 1–6 ppm, depending on model assumptions). Our results provide strong evidence that the atmosphere of WASP-43b is shaped by disequilibrium processes and provide new insights into the properties of the planet’s nightside clouds. However, the remaining discrepancies between our observations and our predictive atmospheric models emphasize the importance of further exploring the effects of clouds and disequilibrium chemistry in numerical models.Peer reviewe