We report the measurement of the baryonic $B$ decay $B^{-}\to {\mathit{\Sigma }}_c^{++}\overline{p}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^{-}$. Using a data sample of $467\times {10}^6$ $B\overline{B}$ pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage ring at SLAC, the measured branching fraction is $(2.98\pm {0.16}_{(\mathrm{stat})}\pm {0.15}_{(\mathrm{syst})}\pm {0.77}_{({\Lambda }_{\mathrm{c}})})\times {10}^{-4}$, where the last error is due to the uncertainty in $\mathcal{B}({\mathit{\Lambda }}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+}\to p{K}^{-}{\pi }^{+})$. The data suggest the existence of resonant subchannels $B^{-}\to {\mathit{\Lambda }}_c(2595{)}^{+}\overline{p}{\pi }^{-}$ and, possibly, $B^{-}\to {\mathit{\Sigma }}_c^{++}{\overline{\mathit{\Delta }}}^{--}{\pi }^{-}$. We see unexplained structures in $m({\mathit{\Sigma }}_c^{++}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^{-})$ at $3.25\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$, $3.8\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$, and $4.2\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$.

Solutions of $(d+1)$-dimensional gravity coupled to a scalar field are obtained, which holographically realize interface and boundary conformal field theories (CFTs). The solution utilizes a Janus-like ${\mathrm{AdS}}_d$ slicing ansatz and corresponds to a deformation of the CFT by a spatially-dependent coupling of a relevant operator. The boundary conformal field theory solutions are singular in the bulk, but physical quantities such as the holographic entanglement entropy can be calculated.

In the framework of the minimal cosmological standard model, the $\Lambda \mathrm{CDM}$ model, the dark matter density is now known within an error of a few percent; this error is expected to shrink even further once PLANCK data are analyzed. Matching this precision by theoretical calculations implies that at least leading radiative corrections to the annihilation cross section of the dark matter particles have to be included. Here we compute one kind of large corrections in the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model: corrections associated with two-point function corrections on chargino and neutralino (collectively denoted by $\tilde{\chi }$) lines. These can be described by effective $\tilde{\chi }$-fermion-sfermion and $\tilde{\chi }\mathrm{\text{−}}\tilde{\chi }$-Higgs couplings. We also employ one-loop corrected $\tilde{\chi }$ masses, using a recently developed version of the on-shell renormalization scheme. The resulting correction to the predicted dark matter density depends strongly on parameter space, but it can easily reach 3%.

We study quantization of a gauge analogon of the Grosse-Wulkenhaar scalar field model. We calculate divergent first-order one-loop contributions to the tadpoles and the propagators: we find that there are no UV divergences while all IR divergences are logarithmic. Divergent terms which we obtain can be included in the initial action either by a shift of the vacuum or by adding the Chern-Simons term. Our results, though partial, indicate renormalizability: they need to be complemented by calculation of the second-order divergent contributions to the propagators and vertices.

We compute the Casimir energy of a spherical region using a surface impedance approach. We characterize the surface impedance of the boundary using a plasma model. Exact analytical formulas are obtained by means of the zeta function regularization method and all the divergencies are explicitly computed. We find that it is possible to have negative Casimir energy for some range of values of the relevant parameter $y_a={\omega }_{p}a\sqrt{ϵ\mu }$. Limits of applicability of the model are discussed.

We consider the massive vector $N$-component $(\lambda {\phi }^4{)}_D$ theory defined on a Euclidean space with a toroidal topology. Using recently developed methods to perform a compactification of a $d$-dimensional subspace at finite chemical potential, we treat jointly the effects of temperature and spatial boundaries, setting forth grounds for an analysis of spontaneous symmetry restoration driven by temperature and spatial boundaries, as a function of the chemical potential. We restrict ourselves to $d=2$, which corresponds to the heated system confined between two parallel planes (separation $L$) in dimensions $D=3$ and $D=4$. We present results, in the large-$N$ limit, which exhibit how finite size and chemical potential affect spontaneous symmetry restoration.

We compute the conservative piece of the gravitational self-force (GSF) acting on a particle of mass $m_1$ as it moves along an (unstable) circular geodesic orbit between the innermost stable orbit and the light ring of a Schwarzschild black hole of mass $m_2\gg m_1$. More precisely, we construct the function $h_{uu}^{R,L}(x)\equiv h_{\mu \nu }^{R,L}{u}^{\mu }{u}^{\nu }$ (related to Detweiler’s gauge-invariant “redshift” variable), where $h_{\mu \nu }^{R,L}(\propto m_1)$ is the regularized metric perturbation in the Lorenz gauge, $u^{\mu }$ is the four-velocity of $m_1$ in the background Schwarzschild metric of $m_2$, and $x\equiv [G{c}^{-3}(m_1+m_2)\Omega {]}^{2/3}$ is an invariant coordinate constructed from the orbital frequency $\Omega$. In particular, we explore the behavior of $h_{uu}^{R,L}$ just outside the “light ring” at $x=\frac{1}{3}$ (i.e., $r=3G{m}_2/c^2$), where the circular orbit becomes null. Using the recently discovered link between $h_{uu}^{R,L}$ and the piece $a(u)$, linear in the symmetric mass ratio $\nu \equiv m_1{m}_2/(m_1+m_2{)}^2$, of the main radial potential $A(u,\nu )=1-2u+\nu a(u)+O({\nu }^2)$ of the effective-one-body (EOB) formalism, we compute from our GSF data the EOB function $a(u)$ over the entire domain $0<u<\frac{1}{3}$ (thereby extending previous results limited to $u\le \frac{1}{5}$). We find that $a(u)$ diverges like $a(u)\approx 0.25(1-3u{)}^{-1/2}$ at the light-ring limit, $u\to (\frac{1}{3}{)}^{-}$, explain the physical origin of this divergent behavior, and discuss its consequences for the EOB formalism. We construct accurate global analytic fits for $a(u)$, valid on the entire domain $0<u<\frac{1}{3}$ (and possibly beyond), and give accurate numerical estimates of the values of $a(u)$ and its first three derivatives at the innermost stable circular orbit $u=\frac{1}{6}$, as well as the associated $O(\nu )$ shift in the frequency of that orbit. In previous work we used GSF data on slightly eccentric orbits to compute a certain linear combination of $a(u)$ and its first two derivatives, involving also the $O(\nu )$ piece of a second EOB radial potential $\overline{D}(u)=1+\nu \overline{d}(u)+O({\nu }^2)$. Combining these results with our present global analytic representation of $a(u)$, we numerically compute $\overline{d}(u)$ on the interval $0<u\le \frac{1}{6}$.

The two-point correlation function is calculated in the Lorentzian Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine spinfoam model and shown to match with the one in Regge calculus in a proper limit: large boundary spins $j\to \infty$ and small Barbero-Immirzi parameter $\gamma \to 0$, keeping the size of the quantum geometry $A\sim \gamma j$ finite and fixed. Compared to the Euclidean case, the definition of a Lorentzian boundary state involves a new feature: the notion of past- and future-pointing intertwiners. The semiclassical correlation function is obtained for a time-oriented semiclassical boundary state.

We consider static spherically symmetric stellar configurations in Palatini theories of gravity in which the Lagrangian is an unspecified function of the form $f(R,R_{\mu \nu }{R}^{\mu \nu })$. We obtain the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations corresponding to this class of theories and show that they recover those of $f(R)$ theories and general relativity in the appropriate limits. We show that the exterior vacuum solutions are of Schwarzschild-de Sitter type and comment on the possible expected modifications, as compared to general relativity, of the interior solutions.

This paper presents cosmological results from the final data release of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. We perform full analyses of different cosmological models using the WiggleZ power spectra measured at $z=0.22$, 0.41, 0.60, and 0.78, combined with other cosmological data sets. The limiting factor in this analysis is the theoretical modeling of the galaxy power spectrum, including nonlinearities, galaxy bias, and redshift-space distortions. In this paper we assess several different methods for modeling the theoretical power spectrum, testing them against the Gigaparsec WiggleZ simulations (GiggleZ). We fit for a base set of six cosmological parameters, $\{{\Omega }_b{h}^2,{\Omega }_{\mathrm{CDM}}{h}^2,H_0,\tau ,A_s,n_s\}$, and five supplementary parameters $\{n_{\mathrm{run}},r,w,{\Omega }_k,\sum _{}^{}{m}_{\nu }\}$. In combination with the cosmic microwave background, our results are consistent with the $\Lambda \mathrm{CDM}$ concordance cosmology, with a measurement of the matter density of ${\Omega }_m=0.29\pm 0.016$ and amplitude of fluctuations ${\sigma }_8=0.825\pm 0.017$. Using WiggleZ data with cosmic microwave background and other distance and matter power spectra data, we find no evidence for any of the extension parameters being inconsistent with their $\Lambda \mathrm{CDM}$ model values. The power spectra data and theoretical modeling tools are available for use as a module for CosmoMC, which we here make publicly available at http://smp.uq.edu.au/wigglez-data. We also release the data and random catalogs used to construct the baryon acoustic oscillation correlation function.

Working in $D=4$, $N=1$ supergravity, we utilize relations between holomorphic sectional and bisectional curvatures of Kahler manifolds to constrain Affleck-Dine baryogenesis. We show the following no-go result: Affleck-Dine baryogenesis cannot be performed if the holomorphic sectional curvature at the origin is isotropic in tangent space; as a special case, this rules out spaces of constant holomorphic sectional curvature (defined in the above sense) and in particular maximally symmetric coset spaces. We also investigate scenarios where inflationary supersymmetry breaking is identified with the supersymmetry breaking responsible for mass splitting in the visible sector, using conditions of sequestering to constrain manifolds where inflation can be performed.

As soon as the geometry expands quasiexponentially, the plasma sources are customarily tuned to zero as if the duration of the inflationary phase was immaterial for the gauge field fluctuations at large scale. The serendipitous disappearance of the plasma (or even the partial neglect of its effects) depends on the symmetries of the system that are, in four space-time dimensions and in the simplest Abelian case, the invariance under Weyl rescaling and the electromagnetic duality symmetry. The quantum, thermal, and conducting initial conditions of inflationary magnetogenesis are classified and discussed with the aim of determining when plasma effects can be effectively disregarded. The speculative implications of a nondegenerate monopole plasma for the conservation of the large-scale electric flux are briefly examined.

The effective interaction for two neutrino-two photon coupling is used to find an approximate width for the decay of the $Z$ boson into the $\nu \overline{\nu }\gamma \gamma$ final state.

The cosmological origin of both dark and baryonic matter can be explained through a unified mechanism called hylogenesis where baryon and antibaryon numbers are divided between the visible sector and a GeV-scale hidden sector, while the Universe remains net baryon symmetric. The “missing” antibaryons, in the form of exotic hidden states, are the dark matter. We study model-building, cosmological, and phenomenological aspects of this scenario within the framework of supersymmetry, which naturally stabilizes the light hidden sector and electroweak mass scales. Inelastic dark matter scattering on visible matter destroys nucleons, and nucleon decay searches offer a novel avenue for the direct detection of the hidden antibaryonic dark matter sea.

To obtain a standard model-like Higgs boson around 125 GeV in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with minimal gauge mediation of supersymmetry breaking (GMSB), a heavy stop at multi-TeV level is needed and incurs severe fine-tuning, which can be ameliorated in the framework of the deformed GMSB with visible-hidden direct Yukawa interactions (YGMSB). We examine some general features of the YGMSB and focus on the scenario with Higgs-messenger couplings (HYGMSB) which can automatically maintain the minimal flavor violation. It turns out that such a Yukawa mediation scenario can give a large $-A_t$ and $-m_{{\tilde{t}}_{L,R}}^2$, leading to a maximal stop mixing, and thus can readily give a light stop (${\tilde{t}}_1$) below the TeV scale. However, we find that in the minimal HYGMSB scenario, $m_{H_u}^2$ is too large and then the electroweak symmetry breaking is inconsistent with the large stop mixing. To solve this problem, we modify the hidden sectors in two ways, adding a new strong gauge dynamics or introducing the $(10,\overline{10})$ messengers. For each case we present some numerical studies.

Hidden sectors with light extra U(1) gauge bosons, so-called hidden photons, have recently attracted some attention because they are a common feature of physics beyond the Standard Model like string theory and supersymmetry and additionally are phenomenologically of great interest regarding recent astrophysical observations. The hidden photon is already constrained by various laboratory experiments and presently searched for in running as well as upcoming experiments. We summarize the current status of limits on hidden photons from past electron beam dump experiments including two new limits from such experiments at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan (KEK) and the Laboratoire de l’accelérateur linéaire (LAL, Orsay) that have so far not been considered. All our limits take into account the experimental acceptances obtained from Monte Carlo simulations.

The ATLAS and CMS experiments have recently discovered a new 125 GeV boson. We show that the properties of this particle, including the enhancement of its diphoton decay rate, can be explained in a model with an isospin symmetric Higgs boson. The predictions of the model relevant for future experiments are also discussed.

We analyze the phenomenology of the top-pion and top-Higgs states in models with strong top dynamics, and translate the present LHC searches for the Standard Model Higgs into bounds on these scalar states. We explore the possibility that the new state at a mass of approximately 125 GeV observed at the LHC is consistent with a neutral pseudoscalar top-pion state. We demonstrate that a neutral pseudoscalar top pion can generate the diphoton signal at the observed rate. However, the region of model parameter space where this is the case does not correspond to classic top-color-assisted technicolor scenarios with degenerate charged and neutral top pions and a top-Higgs mass of order $2m_t$; rather, additional isospin violation would need to be present and the top dynamics would be more akin to that in top seesaw models. Moreover, the interpretation of the new state as a top pion can be sustained only if the $ZZ$ (four-lepton) and $WW$ (two-lepton plus missing energy) signatures initially observed at the $3\sigma$ level decline in significance as additional data are accrued.

The response of the QCD vacuum to a constant external (electro)magnetic field is studied through the tensor polarization of the chiral condensate and the magnetic susceptibility at zero and at finite temperature. We determine these quantities using lattice configurations generated with the tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action and $N_f=1+1+1$ flavors of stout smeared staggered quarks with physical masses. We carry out the renormalization of the observables under study and perform the continuum limit both at $T>0$ and at $T=0$, using different lattice spacings. Finite size effects are studied by using various spatial lattice volumes. The magnetic susceptibilities ${\chi }_f$ reveal a spin-diamagnetic behavior; we obtain at zero temperature ${\chi }_u=-(2.08\pm 0.08){\mathrm{GeV}}^{-2}$, ${\chi }_d=-(2.02\pm 0.09){\mathrm{GeV}}^{-2}$ and ${\chi }_s=-(3.4\pm 1.4){\mathrm{GeV}}^{-2}$ for the up, down and strange quarks, respectively, in the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ scheme at a renormalization scale of 2 GeV. We also find the polarization to change smoothly with the temperature in the confinement phase and then to drastically reduce around the transition region.

We extend our previous study of the vector charmonium states within a renormalization approach with boundary conditions to the full spectrum of charmonium and bottomonium. In light of the predicted spectrum we comply with assignments suggested in the literature. A comparison with the regularized quark model is also included.