Search for narrow resonances and quantum black holes in inclusive and b-tagged dijet mass spectra from pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV
A bstractA search for narrow resonances and quantum black holes is performed in inclusive and b-tagged dijet mass spectra measured with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to 5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity collected in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV. No narrow resonances or quantum black holes are observed. Model-independent upper limits at the 95% confidence level are obtained on the product of the cross section, branching fraction into dijets, and acceptance for three scenarios: decay into quark-quark, quark-gluon, and gluon-gluon pairs. Specific lower limits are set on the mass of string resonances (4.31 TeV), excited quarks (3.32 TeV), axigluons and colorons (3.36 TeV), scalar color-octet resonances (2.07 TeV), E6 diquarks (3.75 TeV), and on the masses of W′ (1.92 TeV) and Z′ (1.47 TeV) bosons. The limits on the minimum mass of quantum black holes range from 4 to 5.3 TeV. In addition, b-quark tagging is applied to the two leading jets and upper limits are set on the production of narrow dijet resonances in a model-independent fashion as a function of the branching fraction to b-jet pairs.

title: Search for Excited Electrons in ep Collisions at HERA
abstract: A search for excited electrons is performed using the full e±p data sample collected by the H1 experiment at HERA, corresponding to a total luminosity of 475 pb−1. The electroweak decays of excited electrons e*→eγ, e*→eZ and e*→νW with subsequent hadronic or leptonic decays of the W and Z bosons are considered. No evidence for excited electron production is found. Mass dependent exclusion limits on e* production cross sections and on the ratio f/Λ of the coupling to the compositeness scale are derived within gauge mediated models. These limits extend the excluded region compared to previous excited electron searches. The e* production via contact interactions is also addressed for the first time in ep collisions.

title: Search for new physics in events with same-sign dileptons and b-tagged jets in pp collisions at $ \sqrt {s} = 7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractA search for new physics is performed using isolated same-sign dileptons with at least two b-quark jets in the final state. Results are based on a 4.98 fb−1 sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS detector. No excess above the standard model background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the number of events from non-standard-model sources. These limits are used to set constraints on a number of new physics models. Information on acceptance and efficiencies are also provided so that the results can be used to confront additional models in an approximate way.

title: Measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel cross section in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractA measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel production cross section in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. Two different and complementary approaches have been followed. The first approach exploits the distributions of the pseudorapidity of the recoil jet and reconstructed top-quark mass using background estimates determined from control samples in data. The second approach is based on multivariate analysis techniques that probe the compatibility of the candidate events with the signal. Data have been collected for the muon and electron final states, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.17 and 1.56 fb−1, respectively. The single-top-quark production cross section in the t-channel is measured to be 67.2±6.1 pb, in agreement with the approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order standard model prediction. Using the standard model electroweak couplings, the CKM matrix element |Vtb| is measured to be 1.020 ± 0.046 (meas.) ± 0.017 (theor.).

title: Search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7\;TeV $
abstract: A bstractResults are presented from a search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in a sample of proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7\;TeV $ collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb−1. A scenario where the new particles are pair produced and each decays to a b quark plus a tau neutrino or neutralino is considered. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the standard model prediction. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross sections. Leptoquarks with masses below ~450 GeV are excluded. Upper limits in the mass plane of the scalar quark and neutralino are set such that scalar bottom quark masses up to 410 GeV are excluded for neutralino masses of 50 GeV.

title: DARK MATTER AND MASSIVE NEUTRINOS

title: Chaos and Noise in Galactic Potentials
abstract: This paper summarizes an investigation of the effects of weak friction and noise in time-independent, nonintegrable two-dimensional potentials that admit both regular and stochastic orbits. The aim is to understand the qualitative effects of internal and external irregularities associated with discreteness effects or couplings to an external environment, which stars in any real galaxy must experience. It is found that these irregularities can be important already on timescales much shorter than the natural relaxation timescale tR associated with two-body relaxation. In particular, for stochastic orbits friction and noise result in an exponential divergence from the unperturbed Hamiltonian trajectory, at a rate set by the value of the local Lyapunov exponent, which persists even for relatively large deviations from the unperturbed trajectory. Friction and noise can also have significant effects on the statistical properties of ensembles of stochastic orbits. Stochastic orbits may be divided into two classes, confined or sticky stochastic orbits which are trapped near islands of regularity, and unconfined or filling stochastic orbits that travel unimpeded throughout a stochastic sea. In the absence of friction and noise, transitions between confined and filling stochastic orbits are very slow. However, even very weak friction and noise can drastically accelerate such transitions, leading to an approach toward a statistical equilibrium on timescales tR. In the two-dimensional models studied in this paper, there are cases for which tR exceeds 106 crossing times where friction and noise can induce transitions for more than half the orbits within 100 crossing times, this corresponding in galaxies to a Hubble time tH. Implications for galactic dynamics are discussed.

title: QUANTUM FLUCTUATIONS WITH STRONG CURVATURE COUPLING
abstract: We compute the quantum fluctuations of a non-minimally coupled self-interacting scalar field around a classical self-consistent inflationary solution; this system is free of the instability usually associated with negative curvature couplings. By conformally transforming the original system it is possible to eliminate the direct coupling of the field to the curvature. Investigating the quantum fluctuations in this "conformal frame," where it is possible to do a more complete calculation, and using the same criteria for selecting the quantum state in both frames, we find the results in the two frames to be incompatible with each other. This illustrates, in a specific example, the inherent ambiguity in relating the quantum behavior of two systems that are connected by a field-dependent conformal transformation at the classical level if one follows the usual naive approach. for estimating density perturbations in inflation. Possible ways to get around this problem are discussed.

title: Cosmic calibration : Constraints from the matter power spectrum and the cosmic microwave background
abstract: Several cosmological measurements have attained significant levels of maturity and accuracy over the past decade. Continuing this trend, future observations promise measurements of the cosmic mass distribution at an accuracy level of 1% out to spatial scales with $k\ensuremath{\sim}10h\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ and even smaller, entering highly nonlinear regimes of gravitational instability. In order to interpret these observations and extract useful cosmological information from them, such as the equation of state of dark energy, very costly high precision, multiphysics simulations must be performed. We have recently implemented a new statistical framework with the aim of obtaining accurate parameter constraints from combining observations with a limited number of simulations. The key idea is the replacement of the full simulator by a fast emulator with controlled error bounds. In this paper, we provide a detailed description of the methodology and extend the framework to include joint analysis of cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure measurements. Our framework is especially well suited for upcoming large-scale structure probes of dark energy such as baryon acoustic oscillations and, especially, weak lensing, where percent level accuracy on nonlinear scales is needed.

title: The inflationary perturbation spectrum.
abstract: Motivated by the prospect of testing inflation from precision cosmic microwave background observations, we present analytic results for scalar and tensor perturbations in single-field inflation models, based on the application of uniform approximations. This technique is systematically improvable, possesses controlled error bounds, and does not rely on assuming the slow-roll parameters to be constant. We provide closed form expressions for the power spectra and the corresponding scalar and tensor spectral indices.

title: Capturing halos at high redshifts
abstract: We study the evolution of the mass function of dark matter halos in the concordance ΛCDM model at high redshift. We employ overlapping (multiple realization) numerical simulations to cover a wide range of halo masses, 107-1015 h-1 M☉, with redshift coverage beginning at z = 20. The Press-Schechter mass function is significantly discrepant from the simulation results at high redshifts. Of the more recently proposed mass functions, our results are in best agreement with those of Warren and coworkers. The statistics of the simulations—along with good control over systematics—allow for fits accurate to the level of 20% at all redshifts. We provide a concise discussion of various issues in defining and computing the halo mass function and how these are addressed in our simulations.