Evidence for B+ ---> anti-K*0 K*+
We present measurements of the branching fraction and fraction of longitudinal polarization for the decay B+→K*0K*+ with a sample of (467±5)×106 BB pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We obtain the branching fraction B(B+→K *0K*+)=(1.2±0.5±0.1)×10-6 with a significance of 3.7 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties. We measure the fraction of longitudinal polarization fL=0.75-0.26+0.16±0.03. The first error quoted is statistical and the second is systematic.

title: Branching fraction for $B^{+} \to \pi^0 \ell^{+} \nu$, measured in $\upsilon_{4S} \to B \bar{B}$ events tagged by $B^{-} \to D^0 \ell^{-}$ anti-v ($X$) decays

title: Improved Measurement of CP Violation in Neutral B Decays to c cs

title: Measurements of branching fractions and CP-violating asymmetries in B-meson decays to the charmless two-body states K0 pi+, anti-K0 K+, and K0 anti-K0

title: Measurement of the CKM matrix element $|V_{ub}|$ with $B \to \rho e \nu$ decays

title: Operation of the Cherenkov detector DIRC of BABAR at high luminosity
abstract: The DIRC (acronym for Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov (light)) is the ring imaging Cherenkov detector of the BABAR detector at the PEP-II ring of SLAC. It provides the identification of pions, kaons and protons for momenta up to 4 GeV/c with high efficiency. This is needed to reconstruct CP-violating B-decay final states and to provide B-meson flavour tagging for time dependent asymmetry measurements. The DIRC radiators consists of long rectangular bars made of synthetic fused silica and the photon detector is a water tank equipped with an array of 10.752 conventional photomultipliers. At the end of the year 2000 BABAR has recorded about 22 million B~B pairs reaching the design luminosity of L=3/spl middot/10/sup 33//cm/sup 2/s. The ability to keep the beam background level low at highest collision rates and the long term reliability of the DIRC components during continuous data taking are requirements of BABAR to accomplish its physics program.

title: 2D growth processes: SLE and Loewner chains
abstract: This review provides an introduction to two dimensional growth processes. Although it covers a variety of processes such as diffusion limited aggregation, it is mostly devoted to a detailed presentation of stochastic Schramm–Loewner evolutions (SLE) which are Markov processes describing interfaces in 2D critical systems. It starts with an informal discussion, using numerical simulations, of various examples of 2D growth processes and their connections with statistical mechanics. SLE is then introduced and Schramm's argument mapping conformally invariant interfaces to SLE is explained. A substantial part of the review is devoted to reveal the deep connections between statistical mechanics and processes, and more specifically to the present context, between 2D critical systems and SLE. Some of the remarkable properties of SLE are explained, together with the tools for computing with it. This review has been written with the aim of filling the gap between the mathematical and the physical literature on the subject.

title: The Gaussian Free Field and SLE4 on Doubly Connected Domains
abstract: The level lines of the Gaussian free field are known to be related to SLE4. It is shown how this relation allows to define chordal SLE4 processes on doubly connected domains, describing traces that are anchored on one of the two boundary components. The precise nature of the processes depends on the conformally invariant boundary conditions imposed on the second boundary component. Extensions of Schramm’s formula to doubly connected domains are given for the standard Dirichlet and Neumann conditions and a relation to first-exit problems for Brownian bridges is established. For the free field compactified at the self-dual radius, the extended symmetry leads to a class of conformally invariant boundary conditions parametrised by elements of SU(2). It is shown how to extend SLE4 to this setting. This allows for a derivation of new passage probabilities à la Schramm that interpolate continuously from Dirichlet to Neumann conditions.

title: An insulating grid spacer for large-area MICROMEGAS chambers
abstract: We present a novel design for large-area gaseous detectors based on the MICROMEGAS technology. This technology incorporates an insulating grid, sandwiched between the micro-mesh and the anode-pad plane, which provides a uniform 200 μm amplification gap. The uniformity of the amplification gap thickness has been verified. The gain performances of the detector are presented and compared to the values obtained with detectors using cylindrical micro spacers. The new design presents several technical and financial advantages.

title: Vertex operator representations of the quantum affine algebra Uq(Br(1))
abstract: We construct the level one vertex operator representations of the q-deformation Uq(Br(1)) of the affine Kac-Moody algebra Br(1). Beside the q-deformed vertex operators introduced by Frenkel and Jing, this construction involves a q-deformation of free fermionic fields.

title: Scrutinizing the Cosmological Constant Problem and a possible resolution
abstract: We suggest a new perspective on the Cosmological Constant Problem by scrutinizing its standard formulation. In classical and quantum mechanics without gravity, there is no definition of the zero point of energy. Furthermore, the Casimir effect only measures how the vacuum energy {\it changes} as one varies a geometric modulus. This leads us to propose that the physical vacuum energy in a Friedman-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker expanding universe only depends on the time variation of the scale factor $a(t)$. Equivalently, requiring that empty Minkowski space is gravitationally stable is a principle that fixes the ambiguity in the zero point energy. On the other hand, if there is a meaningful bare cosmological constant, this prescription should be viewed as a fine-tuning. 
We describe two different choices of vacuum, one of which is consistent with the current universe consisting only of matter and vacuum energy. The resulting vacuum energy density $\rhovac$ is constant in time and approximately $k_c^2 H_0^2$, where $k_c$ is a momentum cut-off and $H_0$ is the current Hubble constant; for a cut-off close to the Planck scale, values of $\rhovac$ in agreement with astrophysical measurements are obtained. Another choice of vacuum is more relevant to the early universe consisting of only radiation and vacuum energy, and we suggest it as a possible model of inflation.