title:
The complex-mass scheme for perturbative calculations with unstable
  particles

abstract:
  Perturbative calculations with unstable particles require the inclusion of
their finite decay widths. A convenient, universal scheme for this purpose is
the complex-mass scheme. It fully respects gauge-invariance, is
straight-forward to apply, and has been successfully used for the calculation
of various tree-level processes and of the electroweak radiative corrections to
e+ e- -> 4f and H -> 4f.


title: We need lab experiments to look for axion-like particles

abstract:
  The PVLAS signal has renewed the interest in light bosons coupled to the
electromagnetic field. However, astrophysical bounds coming from the lifetime
of the sun and the CAST experiment are seemingly in conflict with this result.
We discuss effective models that allow to suppress production of axion-like
particles in the sun and thereby relax the bounds by some orders of magnitude.
This stresses the importance of laboratory searches.


title: Novel Collider Signatures for Little Higgs Dark Matter Models

abstract:
  Little Higgs models with $T$-parity provide a stable neutral particle $A_H$,
the lightest $T$-odd particle (LTP), which was recently proposed to explain the
cold dark matter of the Universe. In the coannihilation region of the LTP with
the Little Higgs partner of the light quark $Q_H$, we propose novel signatures
for its detection at hadronic colliders by searching for monojet and dijet plus
missing energy events due to the associated production of $Q_H A_H$ and direct
production of $Q_H \bar{Q}_H$, respectively. Using the most recent WMAP data,
we show that the coupling of $A_H$-$Q_H$-$q$ is tightly constrained in the
coannihilation region. This implies that the monojet signal is too small to be
discernible but the dijet plus missing energy signal is potentially measurable
at the LHC.


title: A Stable Proton without R-Parity--Implications for the LSP--

abstract:
  The proton decays too rapidly in supersymmetric theories if a dimension-4
operator \bar{5}.10.\bar{5} exists in the superpotential. The conventional idea
is to impose the R-parity to kill this operator with a stable lightest
supersymmetry particle (LSP) as a direct consequence. However, the SUSY-zero
mechanism is also able to kill the operator without an unbroken R-parity. In
this article, we provide a firm theoretical justification for the absence of
the dimension-4 proton decay operator under the SUSY-zero mechanism, by using
some input from string theory. The LSP may be unstable without the R-parity
and, indeed, some dimension-5 R-parity violating operators may be generated in
effective theories. This suggests that the dark matter is an axion in this
string theory inspired model. An insight on the SUSY-zero mechanism is also
obtained.


title: The Crystallography of Three-Flavor Quark Matter

abstract:
  We analyze and compare candidate crystal structures for the crystalline color
superconducting phase that may arise in cold, dense but not asymptotically
dense, three-flavor quark matter. We determine the gap parameter Delta and free
energy Omega(Delta) for many possible crystal structures within a
Ginzburg-Landau approximation, evaluating Omega(Delta) to order Delta^6. In
contrast to the two-flavor case, we find a positive Delta^6 term and hence an
Omega(Delta) that is bounded from below for all the structures that we analyze.
This means that we are able to evaluate Delta and Omega as a function of the
splitting between Fermi surfaces for all the structures we consider. We find
two structures with particularly robust values of Delta and the condensation
energy, within a factor of two of those for the CFL phase which is known to
characterize QCD at asymptotically large densities. The robustness of these
phases results in their being favored over wide ranges of density. However, it
also implies that the Ginzburg-Landau approximation is not quantitatively
reliable. We develop qualitative insights into what makes a crystal structure
favorable, and use these to winnow the possibilities. The two structures that
we find to be most favorable are both built from condensates with face-centered
cubic symmetry: in one case, the <ud> and <us> condensates are separately face
centered cubic; in the other case <ud> and <us> combined make up a face
centered cube.

categories: hep-ph astro-ph cond-mat.supr-con nucl-th


title: Is the Y(4260) just a coupled-channel signal?

abstract:
  The Ds-Ds*, D*-D*, and Ds*-Ds*, P-wave channels in the energy region of the
Y(4260) charmonium structure are studied in a coupled-channel model applied to
JPC=1-- c-cbar resonances. The three channels exhibit enhancements that peak at
4.27 GeV, 4.26 GeV, and 4.33 GeV, respectively, having widths ranging from 80
to 200 MeV. However, no S-matrix poles are found, other than those associated
with the psi(2D,4160) and psi(4S,4415). The conclusion is that the observed
Y(4260) signal(s) in pi-pi J/psi is (are) probably associated with the opening
of the aforementioned channels, resulting in a resonance-like structure caused
by the tail of the psi(3S,4040) resonance, roughly midway between the mentioned
P-wave thresholds and a sharp kinematical minimum at about 4.4 GeV present in
both the experimental and the model scattering amplitude.


title:
Pion transition form factor and distribution amplitudes in large-Nc
  Regge models

abstract:
  We analyze the pi -> gamma* gamma* amplitude in the framework of radial Regge
models in the large-Nc limit. With the assumption of similarity of the
asymptotic Regge rho and omega meson spectra we find that the pion distribution
amplitude is constant in the large-$N_c$ limit at the scale Q0 where the QCD
radiative corrections are absent -- a result found earlier in a class of chiral
quark models. We discuss the constraints on the couplings from the anomaly and
from the limit of large photon virtualities, and find that the coupling of the
pion to excited rho and omega mesons must be asymptotically constant. We also
discuss the effects of the QCD evolution on the pion electromagnetic transition
form factor. Finally, we use the Regge model to evaluate the slope of the form
factor at zero momentum and compare the value to the experiment, finding very
reasonable agreement.


title: A Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering Amplitude

abstract:
  A factorized Regge-pole model for deeply virtual Compton scattering is
suggested. The use of an effective logarithmic Regge-Pomeron trajectory
provides for the description of both ``soft'' (small $|t|$) and ``hard'' (large
$|t|$) dynamics. The model contains explicitly the photoproduction and the DIS
limits and fits the existing HERA data on deeply virtual Compton scattering.


title: QCD factorizations in gamma* gamma* -> rho rho

abstract:
  We calculate the lowest order QCD amplitude, i.e. the quark exchange
contribution, to the forward production amplitude of a pair of longitudinally
polarized $\rho$ mesons in the scattering of two virtual photons $\gamma^*(Q_1)
\gamma^*(Q_2) \to \rho^0_L \rho^0_L$. We show that the scattering amplitude
simultaneously factorizes in two quite different ways: the part with transverse
photons is described by the QCD factorization formula involving the generalized
distribution amplitude of two final $\rho$ mesons, whereas the part with
longitudinally polarized photons takes the QCD factorized form with the
  $\gamma^*_L \to \rho^0_L$ transition distribution amplitude. Perturbative
expressions for these, in general, non-perturbative functions are obtained in
terms of the $\rho-$meson distribution amplitude.


title: The DIS(chi) Scheme for Heavy Quark Production at Small x

abstract:
  In order to successfully describe DIS data, one must take heavy quark mass
effects into account. This is often achieved using so called variable flavour
number schemes, in which a parton distribution for the heavy quark species is
defined above a suitable matching scale. At small x, one must also potentially
include high energy corrections to this framework arising from the BFKL
equation. We outline the definition of a variable flavour scheme which allows
such corrections to be consistently implemented alongside a fixed order QCD
expansion. Results of a global fit using this scheme are presented. We also
discuss an extension of the resummation to NLL order.


title: In-medium formation of quarkonium

abstract:
  We confront preliminary RHIC data on J/Psi production in nuclear interactions
with expectations which follow in scenarios involving charm quark recombination
in a region of color deconfinement. The focus is on transverse momentum and
rapidity spectra of the J/Psi, which carry a memory of the spectra of the charm
quarks. In such a scenario, one predicts that both spectra will be narrower
than those expected without recombination. Preliminary results for the
transverse momentum spectra point toward a preference for the recombination
picture, while the rapidity spectra do not exhibit any narrowing within present
large uncertainties. We present new calculations in the recombination model for
the centrality behavior of these signals, which map out the necessary
experimental precision required for a definitive test.


title: Manifestation of Instabilities in Nambu-Jona-Lasinio type models

abstract:
  We study a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type model with two-flavor quark matter
in $\beta$-equilibrium. It turns out that the system develops instabilities in
the dispersion relations of the diquark fields, i.e., the velocity squared
$v^2$ becomes negative in a certain region of the electron chemical potential.
The critical point is the same as that of the chromomagnetic instability. The
results imply the existence of spatially inhomogeneous diquark condensates in
the genuine vacuum. We also discuss gauge equivalent classes between the
inhomogeneous diquark condensates and gluon condensates.


title:
Application of the Gibbs equilibrium conditions to the QGP-Hadron
  transition curve

abstract:
  A method is developed to consistently satisfy the Gibbs equilibrium
conditions between the quark-gluon and hadronic phase, although each phase has
been formulated in separate grand canonical partition functions containing
three quark flavours. The sector in the space of thermodynamic variables, where
the transition takes place, is restricted to a curve, according to the phase
diagram of QCD. The conservation laws of quantum numbers are also imposed on
the transition curve. The effect of the inclusion of the newly discovered
pentaquark states is considered. The freeze-out conditions of S+S, S+Ag (SPS)
and Au+Au (RHIC) are found compatible with a primordial QGP phase, but the
conditions indicated by Pb+Pb (SPS) are not.


title: TASI 2004 Lectures on the Phenomenology of Extra Dimensions

abstract:
  The phenomenology of large, warped, and universal extra dimensions is
reviewed. Characteristic signals are emphasized rather than an extensive
survey. This is the writeup of lectures given at the Theoretical Advanced Study
Institute in 2004.


title:
Probing Brane-World Scenarios with Vacuum Refraction of Light Using
  Gamma-Ray Bursts

abstract:
  We argue that in fat brane-world scenarios the light propagating in vacuum
will, because of massive ``Kaluza-Klein'' (KK) excitations, experience a
refraction. The motion of a photon inside a fat brane can be decomposed in the
longitudinal and transverse directions with respect to the surface of the
brane. Since the light observable propagation is related only with the
longitudinal motion, the observed speed of light depends on the value of the
momentum transverse fraction contributing as the massive KK excitations. This
is directly connected with the energy of the particles emitting the light, and
hence with the frequency of the light itself. Using recent results on the
arrival times of radiation of different energies from the measurements of
gamma-ray bursters with known redshifts, we establish the limit M>620 TeV on
the inverse thickness of the brane, and thus on the masses of the KK
excitations. This limit exceeds by at least one order of magnitude the typical
energy scale currently in use to characterize brane phenomena in the realm of
future colliders.


title: Selected topics in e^+e^- collisions

abstract:
  Content : 1) The leading twist pion wave function, 2) "Improved" QCD sum
rules with non-local condensates, 3) Pion and kaon form factors and charmonium
decays: theory vs experiment, 4) \gamma^{*}\gamma\pi^{o} - form factor, 5) The
new non-local axial anomaly, 6) Cross sections \gamma\gamma --> \pi^+\pi^-,
K^+K^-, K_S K_S .


title: String deformations induced by retardation effects

abstract:
  The rotating string model is an effective model of mesons, in which the quark
and the antiquark are linked by a straight string. We previously developed a
new framework to include the retardation effects in the rotating string model,
but the string was still kept straight. We now go a step further and show that
the retardation effects cause a small deviation of the string from the straight
line. We first give general arguments constraining the string shape. Then, we
find analytical and numerical solutions for the string deformation induced by
retardation effects. We finally discuss the influence of the curved string on
the energy spectrum of the model.


title:
Quantum loops in the Resonance Chiral Theory: improving the vector form
  factor

abstract:
  Quantum loops in the Resonance Chiral Theory are needed to improve the
implementation of non-perturbative QCD. Furthermore, the one-loop computations
can predict chiral low-energy couplings at next-to-leading order, a very
appealing task. We present a first calculation of the vector form factor of the
pion at subleading order in the 1/N_C expansion. From the analysis of the
result at large energies we justify the requirement of considering
short-distance constraints from form factors with resonances in the final
state. The long-distance limit of our results allows to get a next-to-leading
order estimate of \ell_6.


title:
The rapidity structure of Mach cones and other large angle correlations
  in heavy-ion collisions

abstract:
  The pattern of angular correlations of hadrons with a (semi-)hard trigger
hadron in heavy-ion collisions has attracted considerable interest. In
particular, unexpected large angle structures on the away side (opposite to the
trigger) have been found. Several explanations have been brought forward, among
them Mach shockwaves and Cherenkov radiation. Most of these scenarios are
characterized by radial symmetry around the parton axis, thus angular
correlations also determine the rapidity dependence of the correlation. If the
observed correlations are remnants of an away side parton after interaction
with the medium created in the collision, pQCD allows to calculate the
distribution $P(y)$ of the away side partons in rapidity.
  The measured correlation then arises as a folding of $P(y)$ and the rapidity
structure of the correlation taking into account the detector acceptance. This
places non-trivial and rather stringent constraints on the underlying scenario.
We investigate these dependences and demonstrate that Mach shockwaves survive
this folding procedure well whereas Cherenkov radiation scenarios face new
challenges.


title: Puzzles in $B$ physics

abstract:
  I discuss some puzzles observed in exclusive $B$ meson decays, concentrating
on the large difference between the direct CP asymmetries in the $B^0\to
\pi^\mp K^\pm$ and $B^\pm\to \pi^0 K^\pm$ modes, the large $B^0\to\pi^0\pi^0$
branching ratio, and the large deviation of the mixing-induced CP asymmetries
in the $b\to sq\bar q$ penguins from those in the $b\to c\bar c s$ trees.


title: Motivations and ideas behind hadron--hadron event shapes

abstract:
  We summarize the main motivations to study event shapes at hadron colliders.
In addition we present classes of event shapes and show their complementary
sensitivities to perturbative and non-perturbative effects, namely jet
hadronization and underlying event.


title: Tetraquark spectroscopy

abstract:
  A complete classification of $qq \bar q \bar q$ tetraquark states in terms of
the spin-flavour, colour and spatial degrees of freedom has been constructed.
The permutational symmetry properties of both the spin-flavour and orbital
parts of the $qq$ and $\bar{q}\bar{q}$ subsystems are discussed. This complete
classification is general and model independent and it is useful both for model
builders and experimentalists. The total wave functions are also explicitly
constructed in the hypothesis of ideal mixing; this basis for tetraquark states
will enable the eigenvalue problem to be solved for a definite dynamical model.
An evaluation of the tetraquark spectrum is obtained from the Iachello mass
formula for normal mesons, here generalized to tetraquark systems. This mass
formula is a generalization of the Gell-Mann Okubo mass formula, whose
coefficients have been upgraded by a study of the latest PDG data. The ground
state tetraquark nonet is identified with $f_{0}(600),\kappa(800), f_{0}(980),
a_{0}(980)$. The mass splittings predicted by the Iachello mass formula are in
agreement with the KLOE, Fermilab E791 and BES experimental data.


title: Recent PQCD calculations of heavy quark production

abstract:
  We summarize the results of a recent study of heavy quark production and
attenuation in cold nuclear matter. In p+p collisions, we investigate the
relative contribution of partonic sub-processes to $D$ meson production and $D$
meson-triggered inclusive di-hadrons to lowest order in perturbative QCD. While
gluon fusion dominates the creation of large angle $D\bar{D}$ pairs, charm on
light parton scattering determines the yield of single inclusive $D$ mesons.
The distinctly different non-perturbative fragmentation of $c$ quarks into $D$
mesons versus the fragmentation of quarks and gluons into light hadrons results
in a strong transverse momentum dependence of anticharm content of the
away-side charm-triggered jet. In p+A reactions, we calculate and resum the
coherent nuclear-enhanced power corrections from the final-state partonic
scattering in the medium. We find that single and double inclusive open charm
production can be suppressed as much as the yield of neutral pions from
dynamical high-twist shadowing. Effects of energy loss in p+A collisions are
also investigated in the incoherent Bertsch-Gunion limit and may lead to
significantly weaker transverse momentum dependence of the nuclear attenuation.


title: FCNC Top Quark Decays in Extra Dimensions

abstract:
  The flavor changing neutral top quark decay t -> c X is computed, where X is
a neutral standard model particle, in a extended model with a single extra
dimension. The cases for the photon, X= \gamma$, and a Standard Model Higgs
boson, X = H, are analyzed in detail in a non-linear$R_\xi gauge. We find that
the branching ratios can be enhanced by the dynamics originated in the extra
dimension. In the limit where 1/R >> ->, we have found Br(t -> c \gamma) \simeq
10^{-10} for 1/R = 0.5 TeV. For the decay t -> c H, we have found Br(t -> cH)
\simeq 10^{-10} for a low Higgs mass value. The branching ratios go to zero
when 1/R -> \infty.


title: Quarks, diquarks and QCD mixing in the $N^*$ resonance spectrum

abstract:
  We identify a "$\Lambda$ selection rule" for $N^*$ resonances in the presence
of QCD mixing effects. We quantify these mixing effects from existing data and
predict amplitudes for exciting {\bf 20} representations in SU(6), which are
forbidden in strict diquark models. By classifying Particle-Data-Group (PDG)
states at N=2, we show that $\gamma N\to K\Lambda$, $K^*\Lambda$, $K\Sigma$,
$K^*\Sigma$, and $J/\psi \to \bar{p}N^*$ are ideal probes of baryon dynamics
and for establishing whether strongly correlated diquarks survive for $L > 0$.


title:
Proposing a new constraint for predictions of pp, pbar p total cross
  sections and rho ratio at LHC

abstract:
  We propose a new constraint(1) corresponding to the FESR (with the moment
n=-1) free from unphysical regions. Using this constraint(1) together with the
constraint(2) (with the moment n=1), we search for the simultaneous best fit to
the data points of sigma-tot and rho ratio up to the SPS energies to determine
those values at higher energies. We then predict sigma-tot=107.1 +- 2.6 mb,
rho=0.127 +- 0.004 at the LHC energy(E=14 TeV).


title:
The small $x$ behavior of the gluon structure function from total cross
  sections

abstract:
  Within a QCD-based eikonal model with a dynamical infrared gluon mass scale
we discuss how the small $x$ behavior of the gluon distribution function at
moderate $Q^{2}$ is directly related to the rise of total hadronic cross
sections. In this model the rise of total cross sections is driven by
gluon-gluon semihard scattering processes, where the behavior of the small $x$
gluon distribution function exhibits the power law $xg(x,Q^2)=
h(Q^2)x^{-\epsilon}$. Assuming that the $Q^{2}$ scale is proportional to the
dynamical gluon mass one, we show that the values of $h(Q^2)$ obtained in this
model are compatible with an earlier result based on a specific nonperturbative
Pomeron model. We discuss the implications of this picture for the behavior of
input valence-like gluon distributions at low resolution scales.


title: Bosonic Corrections to The Effective Weak Mixing Angle at O(alpha^2)

abstract:
  We present the complete bosonic contributions to the effective weak mixing
angle, $\seff$, at the two-loop level in the electroweak interactions. We find
their size to be about three times smaller than inferred from simple estimates
from lower orders. In particular, for a Higgs boson mass, $M_H$, of 100 GeV
they amount to $4 \times 10^{-6}$, and drop down by about an order of magnitude
for $M_H = 200$ GeV. We estimate the intrinsic error of the theory prediction
of $\seff$ to be $4.7 \times 10^{-5}$.


title: Neutrino scattering as a probe for the strange content of the nucleon

abstract:
  We consider different methods and observables which can be obtained by the
measurement of neutrino scattering off nucleons and nuclei with the purpose of
finding evidence for the strange form factors of the nucleon, which enter into
structure of the nucleonic weak neutral current.


title: A custodial symmetry for Zbb

abstract:
  We show that a subgroup of the custodial symmetry O(3) that protects delta
rho from radiative corrections can also protect the Zbb coupling. This allows
one to build models of electroweak symmetry breaking, such as Higgsless, Little
Higgs or 5D composite Higgs models, that are safe from corrections to Z-> bb.
We show that when this symmetry protects Zbb it cannot simultaneously protect
Ztt and Wtb. Therefore one can expect to measure sizable deviations from the SM
predictions of these couplings at future collider experiments. We also show
under what circumstances Zb_R b_R can receive corrections in the right
direction to explain the anomaly in the LEP/SLD forward-backward asymmetry
A^b_{FB}.


title: Spin-Dependent Macroscopic Forces from New Particle Exchange

abstract:
  Long-range forces between macroscopic objects are mediated by light particles
that interact with the electrons or nucleons, and include spin-dependent static
components as well as spin- and velocity-dependent components. We parametrize
the long-range potential between two fermions assuming rotational invariance,
and find 16 different components. Applying this result to electrically neutral
objects, we show that the macroscopic potential depends on 72 measurable
parameters. We then derive the potential induced by the exchange of a new gauge
boson or spinless particle, and compare the limits set by measurements of
macroscopic forces to the astrophysical limits on the couplings of these
particles.


title: Chiral symmetry breaking and vacuum polarization in a bag

abstract:
  We study the effects of a finite quark mass in the hedgehog configuration in
the two phase chiral bag model. We discuss the chiral properties, such as the
fractional baryon number and the chiral Casimir energy, by using the Debye
expansion for the analytical calculation and the Strutinsky's smearing method
for the numerical computation. It is shown that the fractional baryon number
carried by massive quarks in the vacuum is canceled by that in the meson
sector. A finite term of the chiral Casimir energy is obtained with subtraction
of the logarithmic divergence term.


title:
Analysis of the vertices $D^*D_sK$, $D^*_sDK$,$D_0D_sK$ and $D_{s0}DK$
  with the light-cone QCD sum rules

abstract:
  In this article, we analyze the vertices $D^*D_sK$, $D^*_sDK$, $D_0D_sK$ and
$D_{s0}DK$ within the framework of the light-cone QCD sum rules approach in an
unified way. The strong coupling constants $G_{D^*D_sK}$ and $G_{D^*_sDK}$ are
important parameters in evaluating the charmonium absorption cross sections in
searching for the quark-gluon plasmas, our numerical values of the
$G_{D^*D_sK}$ and $G_{D^*_sDK}$ are compatible with the existing estimations
although somewhat smaller, the SU(4) symmetry breaking effects are very large,
about 60%. For the charmed scalar mesons $D_0$ and $D_{s0}$, we take the point
of view that they are the conventional $c\bar{u}$ and $c\bar{s}$ mesons
respectively, and calculate the strong coupling constants $G_{D_0 D_s K}$ and
$G_{D_{s0} D K}$ with the vector interpolating currents. The numerical values
of the scalar-$D_sK$ and -$DK$ coupling constants $G_{D_0 D_s K}$ and
$G_{D_{s0} D K}$ are compatible with the existing estimations, the large values
support the hadronic dressing mechanism. Furthermore, we study the dependence
of the four strong coupling constants $G_{D^*D_sK}$, $G_{D^*_sDK}$,
$G_{D_0D_sK}$ and $G_{D_{s0}DK}$ on the non-perturbative parameter $a_4$ of the
twist-2 $K$ meson light-cone distribution amplitude.


title: Once more about gauge invariance in \phi\to\gamma\pi0\pi0

abstract:
  It is argued that the realization of gauge invariance condition as a
consequent of cancellation between the \phi\to\gamma f0\to\gamma\pi0\pi0
resonance contribution and a \phi\to\gamma\pi0\pi0 background one, suggested in
Ref. [1], is misleading.


title:
Measuring C-odd correlations at lepton-proton and photon-proton
  collisions

abstract:
  We consider the charge-odd correlations (COC) in cross sections of processes
of production of charged particles. The cases of a muonic pair and pion systems
$\pi^{+}\pi^{-},\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}$ are considered in detail for
electron-proton or photon-proton collisions in the proton fragmentation region
kinematics. COC arise from interference of amplitudes which describe the
different mechanisms of charged leptons (pions) creation. One of them
corresponds to production of particles in the charge-odd state (one virtual
photon or vector meson annihilation to this system of particles) and the other
corresponds to the charge-even state of produced particles (creation by two
photons). COC for muon-antimuon pair creation have a pure QED nature and can be
considered as a normalization process. The processes with pion production are
sensitive to some characteristics of proton wave functions and, besides, can be
used for checking the anomalous and normal parts of the effective pionic
lagrangian.
  Three electromagnetic currents operator matrix element can be measured in
photon-proton interactions with lepton pair production. For this aim a
charge-odd combination of cross sections can be constructed as a conversion of
leptonic 3-rank tensor with hadronic ones. These experiments can be considered
as an alternative to deep virtual Compton scattering.


title:
Enhancement of the K --> pi Transition by the Instantaneous Weak
  Interactions

abstract:
  The hadrodynamics of the instantaneous weak interactions (IWI) in Standard
Model is considered supposing the resonance nature of the chiral hadronization
of quark currents in QCD. Exploiting this supposition and QCD symmetries the
IWI mechanism of enhancement of the K+ --> pi+ transition probability is
obtained and relations between electroweak meson form factors and the
amplitudes of the processes K+ --> pi+ e+ e-(mu+ mu-,nu anti-nu) and K+ pi- -->
e+ e-(mu+ mu-, nu anti-nu) are estalished. We estimate possible parameters of
the K+ --> pi+ e+ e- decay rate in NA48/2 CERN experiment using the chiral
perturbation theory.


title: Overview of the heavy ion session: Moriond 2006

abstract:
  We review recent theoretical ideas and experimental data in high-energy heavy
ion collisions with special emphasis in the hard probes.


title: Sub-eV upper limits on neutrino masses from cosmology

abstract:
  Upper limits on neutrino masses from cosmology have been reported recently to
reach the impressive sub-eV level, which is competitive with future terrestrial
neutrino experiments. In this brief review of the latest limits from cosmology
we point out some of the caveats that should be borne in mind when interpreting
the significance of these limits.


title: NNLO corrections to 2-jet observables in electron-positron annihilation

abstract:
  I report on a numerical program, which can be used to calculate any infra-red
safe two-jet observable in electron-positron annihilation to
next-to-next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant alpha_s. The
calculation is based on the subtraction method. The result for the two-jet
cross section is compared to the literature.


title: Electroweak Baryogenesis in a Two-Higgs Doublet Model

abstract:
  Electroweak baryogenesis fails in the SM because of too small CP violation
and the lack of a strong first-order phase transition. It has been shown that
supersymmetric models allow for successful baryogenesis, where the Higgsinos
play an important role in the transport processes that generate the asymmetry.
I will demonstrate that also non-supersymmetric models can provide the observed
baryon asymmetry. The top quark takes the role of the Higgsinos. Focusing on
the two-Higgs doublet model, I will discuss details of the phase transition and
consequences for Higgs physics and EDM searches.


title:
A temporary violation of color gauge invariance as a source of the
  Jaffe-Witten mass gap in QCD

abstract:
  We propose to realize a mass gap in QCD by not imposing the transversality
condition on the full gluon self-energy, while preserving the color gauge
invariance condition for the full gluon propagator. This is justified by the
nonlinear and nonperturbative dynamics of QCD. None of physical
observables/processes in low-energy QCD will be directly affected by such a
temporary violation of color gauge invariance/symmetry. No
truncations/approximations and no special gauge choice are made for the
regularized skeleton loop integrals, contributing to the full gluon
self-energy, which enters the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the full gluon
propagator. In order to make the existence of a mass gap perfectly clear the
corresponding subtraction procedure is introduced. All this allows one to
establish the general structure of the full gluon propagator and the
corresponding gluon Schwinger-Dyson equation in the presence of a mass gap. It
is mainly generated by the nonlinear interaction of massless gluon modes.The
physical meaning of the mass gap is to be responsible for the large-scale
(low-energy/momentum), i.e., nonperturbative structure of the true QCD vacuum.
In the presence of a mass gap two different types of solutions for the full
gluon propagator are possible. The massive solution leads to an effective gluon
mass, which explicitly depends on the gauge-fixing parameter. This solution
becomes smooth at small gluon momentum in the Landau gauge. The general
iteration solution is always severely singular at small gluon momentum, i.e.,
the gluons remain massless, and this does not depend on the gauge choice. We
also formulate a general method how to restore the transversality of the gluon
propagator relevant for nonperturbative QCD.


title: Reply to hep-ph/0605114

abstract:
  The claim of preprint hep-ph/0605114 that there is "no neutrino spin light
because of photon dispersion in medium" is wrong.


title: Unifying gauge couplings at the string scale

abstract:
  Using the current precision electroweak data, we look for the minimal
particle content which is necessary to add to the standard model in order to
have a complete unification of gauge couplings and gravity at the weakly
coupled heterotic string scale. We find that the addition of a vector-like
fermion at an intermediate scale and a non-standard hypercharge normalization
are in general sufficient to achieve this goal at two-loop level. Requiring the
extra matter scale to be below the TeV scale, it is found that the addition of
three vector-like fermion doublets with a mass around 700 GeV yields a perfect
string-scale unification, provided that the affine levels are $(k_Y, k_2
,k_3)=(13/3, 1, 2) $, as in the $SU(5) \times SU(5)$ string-GUT. Furthermore,
if supersymmetry is broken at the unification scale, the Higgs mass is
predicted in the range 125 GeV - 170 GeV, depending on the precise values of
the top quark mass and $\tan \beta$ parameter.


title: Will MINOS see new physics?

abstract:
  The effect of non-standard neutrino interactions with matter at long baseline
neutrino experiments is examined in a model independent way, taking into
account the constraints from all the experiments. It is found that such a
non-standard interaction can enhance the flavor transition probability so
significantly that the ongoing experiment MINOS may see the signal of
$\nu_\mu\to\nu_e$ which is much more than the prediction by the standard
scenario. It is also found that the silver channel $\nu_e\to\nu_\tau$ at a
neutrino factory could have a huge enhancement.


title: The Search for Dark Matter Axions

abstract:
  Axions solve the Strong CP Problem and are a cold dark matter candidate. The
combined constraints from accelerator searches, stellar evolution limits and
cosmology suggest that the axion mass is in the range $3 \cdot 10^{-3} > m_a >
10^{-6}$ eV. The lower bound can, however, be relaxed in a number of ways. I
discuss the constraint on axion models from the absence of isocurvature
perturbations. Dark matter axions can be searched for on Earth by stimulating
their conversion to microwave photons in an electromagnetic cavity permeated by
a magnetic field. Using this technique, limits on the local halo density have
been obtained by the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment.


title: $\Lambda_{c}^{+}(2940)$: A Possible Molecular State?

abstract:
  A new baryonic state $\Lambda_{c}(2940)^{+}$ has recently been discovered by
the Babar collaboration in the $D^{0}p$ channel. Later Belle collaboration also
observed this state in the $\Sigma_c(2455)^{0,++} \pi^{\pm}\to
\Lambda_{c}^{+}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ channel. The mass of $\Lambda_{c}(2940)^{+}$ is
just a few MeV below the sum of $D^{*0}$ and $p$ masses suggesting a
possibility that this state may be a $D^{*0} p$ molecular state. In this paper
we study whether such a molecular state can be consistent with data. We find
that the molecular structure can explain data and that if $\Lambda_c(2940)^+$
is a $D^{*0} p$ molecular state it is likely a $1/2^-$ state. Several other
decays modes are also suggested to further test the molecular structure of
$\Lambda_c^+(2940)$.


title:
Searching for the Bottom Counterparts of X(3872) and Y(4260) via
  $\pi^+\pi^-\Upsilon$

abstract:
  The X(3872) and Y(4260), among a host of charmonium-like mesons, have rather
unusual properties: the former has very small total width, the latter has large
rate into $\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi$ channel. It would not be easy to settle between
the many suggested explanations for their composition. We point out that
discovering the bottom counterparts should shed much light on the issue. The
narrow state can be searched for at the Tevatron via $p\bar p \to
\pi^+\pi^-\Upsilon + X$, but the LHC should be much more promising. The state
with large overlap with $\Upsilon$ can be searched for at B factories via
radiative return $e^+e^- \to \gamma_{\rm ISR} + \pi^+\pi^-\Upsilon$ on
$\Upsilon(5S)$, or by $e^+e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-\Upsilon$ direct scan.


title:
Semi-Leptonic Decay of a Polarized Top Quark in the Noncommutative
  Standard Model

abstract:
  In this paper we study the noncommutative effects to the lepton spectrum from
the decay of a polarized top quark. It is shown that the lowest contribution
comes from the quadratic terms of the noncommutative parameter. The deviations
from the standard model are significant for small values of the noncommutative
characteristic scale. However, the charged lepton spin correlation coefficient
has a remarkable deviation from the standard model from very low values of the
noncommutative characteristic scale to 1 TeV.


title: Hadronic B decays from SCET

abstract:
  In this talk I will discuss non-leptonic B decays, in particular how
soft-collinear effective field theory (SCET) can be used to constrain the
non-perturbative hadronic parameters required to describe the various
observables.


title: Higgsless Models: Lessons from Deconstruction

abstract:
  This talk reviews recent progress in Higgsless models of electroweak symmetry
breaking, and summarizes relevant points of model-building and phenomenology.


title: Radiative Corrections in K, D, and B decays

abstract:
  In this talk I review recent developments in the calculation of radiative
corrections to $K, D, B$ meson decays and discuss their impact on precision
phenomenology.


title:
Probing the Randall-Sundrum geometric origin of flavor with lepton
  flavor violation

abstract:
  The ``anarchic'' Randall-Sundrum model of flavor is a low energy solution to
both the electroweak hierarchy and flavor problems. Such models have a warped,
compact extra dimension with the standard model fermions and gauge bosons
living in the bulk, and the Higgs living on or near the TeV brane. In this
paper we consider bounds on these models set by lepton flavor violation
constraints. We find that loop-induced decays of the form l->l'+gamma are
ultraviolet sensitive and uncalculable when the Higgs field is localized on a
four-dimensional brane; this drawback does not occur when the Higgs field
propagates in the full five-dimensional space-time. We find constraints at the
few TeV level throughout the natural range of parameters, arising from
muon-electron conversion in the presence of nuclei, rare muon decays, and rare
tau decays. A "tension" exists between loop-induced dipole decays such as
mu->e+gamma and tree-level processes such as muon-electron conversion; they
have opposite dependences on the five-dimensional Yukawa couplings, making it
difficult to decouple flavor-violating effects. We emphasize the importance of
the future experiments MEG and PRIME. These experiments will definitively test
the Randall-Sundrum geometric origin of hierarchies in the lepton sector at the
TeV-scale.


title: The nature of $\sigma$, $\kappa$, $a_0(980)$ and $f_0(980)$

abstract:
  Masses and widths of the four light scalar mesons $\sigma$, $\kappa$,
$a_0$(980) and $f_0$(980) may be reproduced in a model where mesons scatter via
a $q\bar{q}$ loop. A transition potential is used to couple mesons to
$q\bar{q}$ at a radius of $\sim 0.57$ fm. Inside this radius, there is an
infinite bare spectrum of confined $q\bar{q}$ states, for which a harmonic
oscillator is chosen here. The coupled-channel system approximately reproduces
the features of both light and heavy meson spectroscopy. The generation of
$\sigma$, $\kappa$, $a_0(980)$ and $f_0(980)$ is a balance between attraction
due to the $q\bar q$ loop and suppression of the amplitudes at the Adler zeros.
Phase shifts increase more rapidly as the coupling constant to the mesons
increases. This leads to resonant widths which decrease with increasing
coupling constant - a characteristically non-perturbative effect.


title: The modern description of semileptonic meson form factors

abstract:
  I describe recent advances in our understanding of the hadronic form factors
governing semileptonic meson transitions. The resulting framework provides a
systematic approach to the experimental data, as a means of extracting
precision observables, testing nonperturbative field-theory methods, and
probing a poorly understood limit of QCD.


title: Lepton Family Symmetry and the Neutrino Mixing Matrix

abstract:
  I review some of the recent progress (up to September 2005) in applying
non-Abelian discrete symmetries to the family structure of leptons, with
particular emphasis on the tribimaximal mixing ansatz of Harrison, Perkins, and
Scott.


title:
PQCD Calculation for $\Lambda_{b}\to \Lambda \gamma$ in the Standard
  Model

abstract:
  We calculate the branching ratio of $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda \gamma$ in the
standard model using the PQCD method. The predicted branching ratio
$B(\Lambda_b \to \Lambda \gamma)$ is about $(4.3\sim 8.6)\times 10^{-8}$, with
reasonable parameter ranges in the heavy baryon distribution amplitude. This
branching ratio is much smaller than those obtained in other hadronic model
calculations. Future experimental data can provide important information on
applicability of the PQCD method to heavy baryon radiative decay.


title: The Kohn-Luttinger Effect in Gauge Theories

abstract:
  Kohn and Luttinger showed that a many body system of fermions interacting via
short range forces becomes superfluid even if the interaction is repulsive in
all partial waves. In gauge theories such as QCD the interaction between
fermions is long range and the assumptions of Kohn and Luttinger are not
satisfied. We show that in a U(1) gauge theory the Kohn-Luttinger phenomenon
does not take place. In QCD attractive channels always exist, but there are
cases in which the primary pairing channel leaves some fermions ungapped. As an
example we consider the unpaired fermion in the 2SC phase of QCD with two
flavors. We show that it acquires a very small gap via a mechanism analogous to
the Kohn-Luttinger effect. The gap is too small to be phenomenologically
relevant.


title: Spectra of Quarkonia at Finite Temperature

abstract:
  Finite-temperature spectra of heavy quarkonia are calculated by combining
potential model and thermofield dynamics formalisms. The mass spectra of the
heavy quarkonia with various quark contents are calculated. It is found that
binding mass of the quarkonium decreases as temperature increases.


title:
Dileptons from vector mesons with dropping masses in a nonequilibrium
  quantum field theoretical framework

abstract:
  The influence of time dependent medium modifications of low mass vector
mesons on dilepton production is investigated using nonequilibrium quantum
field theory. By working in the two-time representation memory effects are
fully taken into account. For different scenarios the resulting dilepton yields
are compared to quasi-equilibrium calculations and remarkable differences are
found leading to the conclusion that memory effects can not be neglected when
calculating dilepton yields from heavy ion collisions. Emphasis is put on a
dropping mass scenario since it was recently claimed to be ruled out by the
NA60 data. Here the memory effects turn out to be particularly important.


title: Quark and pion condensation in a chromomagnetic background field

abstract:
  The general features of quark and pion condensation in dense quark matter
with flavor asymmetry have been considered at finite temperature in the
presence of a chromomagnetic background field modelling the gluon condensate.
In particular, pion condensation in the case of a constant abelian
chromomagnetic field and zero temperature has been studied both analytically
and numerically. Under the influence of the chromomagnetic background field the
effective potential of the system is found to have a global minimum for a
finite pion condensate even for small values of the effective quark coupling
constant. In the strong field limit, an effective dimensional reduction has
been found to take place.


title: Gluonic phase versus LOFF phase in two-flavor quark matter

abstract:
  We study the gluonic phase in a two-flavor color superconductor as a function
of the ratio of the gap over the chemical potential
mismatch,$\Delta/\delta\mu$. We find that the gluonic phase resolves the
chromomagnetic instability encountered in a two-flavor color superconductor for
$\Delta/\delta \mu < \sqrt{2}$. We also calculate approximately the free
energies of the gluonic phase and the single plane-wave LOFF phase and show
that the former is favored over the latter for a wide range of coupling
strengths.


title: On the electroweak symmetry breaking in the Littlest Higgs model

abstract:
  In the SU(5)/SO(5) little Higgs models radiative corrections give rise to the
SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y symmetry breaking. In this work we start a program for a
detailed determination of the relevant terms of the Higgs effective potential
by computing the contribution of the b, t and T quarks at the one-loop level,
as an starting point for higher-loops computation. In spite of the fact that
some two-loop level contributions are well known to be important, we use our
preliminary one-loop result to illustrate that, by demanding the effective
potential to reproduce exactly the Standard Model Higgs potential, and in
particular the relation m_H^2= 2 lambda v^2= 2 mu^2, it will be possible to set
new constraints on the parameter space of the Littlest Higgs model when the
computation of all the relevant contributions to the Higgs effective potential
is completed.


title: Review of Theoretical Status: the Long and Short of High Energy Jets

abstract:
  High energy jets and their associated event shapes provide a window into the
transition between elementary and composite degrees of freedom in quantum
chromodynamics. This talk reviews some methods and a few principles that have
led to progress in this area.


title:
Evidence for infrared finite coupling in Sudakov resummation: a revised
  view-point

abstract:
  I show that Sudakov resummation takes a particularly transparent form if one
deals with the second logarithmic derivative of the short distance coefficient
functions for deep inelastic scattering and the Drell-Yan process. A uniquely
defined Sudakov exponent emerges, and I conjecture that the leftover constant
terms not included in the exponent are given by the second logarithmic
derivative of the massless quark form factor. The meaning of a previously
obtained large $N_f$ evidence for an infrared finite perturbative Sudakov
coupling is reconsidered. This coupling is reinterpreted as a Minkowskian
coupling, making the introduction of a low-energy non-perturbative modification
of the corresponding Euclidean coupling a priori necessary. Some hints for a
Banks-Zaks type of fixed point in the Euclidean coupling at finite $N_f$ are
nevertheless pointed out, and strong evidence is provided in favor of its
universality. A criterion to select in a unique way the proper Euclidean
Sudakov coupling relevant to the issue of power corrections is suggested.


title: CKM Physics from Lattice QCD

abstract:
  I discuss the lattice calculations relevant to recent advances in CKM
phenomenology, focusing on those relevant to new experimental results reported
at this workshop.


title:
Signal of New Physics and Test of Isospin-SU(3) Relations and CP
  Violation in Charmless B Decays

abstract:
  A model-independent analytical analysis for charmless B decays is presented.
It is demonstrated that the CP-averaging branching ratio difference $\Delta R =
R_c - R_n$ in $B\to \pi K$ decays with $R_c = 2Br(\pi^0K^-)/Br(\pi^-\bar{K}^0)$
and $R_n =Br(\pi^+K^-)/2Br(\pi^0\bar{K}^0)$ defines a sensitive quantity for
probing new physics as $\Delta R$ is dominated by the second order of
electroweak penguin contributions. A large discrepancy between experimental
data and standard model (SM) prediction $\Delta R^{exp}/\Delta R^{SM} > 9.0\pm
5.0$ strongly indicates a signal of new physics in the electroweak penguin
sector. Within the SM, the current $\pi K$ data favor a very large
color-suppressed tree amplitude $|C'/T'|\sim 2$, large CP violations
($A_{CP}(\pi^0\bar{K}^0)\sim 0.69$ and $A_{CP}(\pi^0\bar{K}^-)\sim 0.56$),
which is connected to $\Delta R$ and be solved simultaneously with extra
electroweak penguin contributions. More accurate measurements on the ratio
difference $\Delta R$ and CP violation in $B\to \pi \pi, \pi K$ decays may
provide a window for probing new physics and testing the isospin and SU(3)
symmetries.


title: Determination of Nucleon Form factors from Baryonic B Decays

abstract:
  It is the first time that the study of three-body baryonic B decays offers an
independent determination of the nucleon form factors for the time-like four
momentum transfer $(t>0)$ region, such as $G^{p,n}_M(t)$ of vector currents and
those of axial ones. Explicitly, from the data of $\bar B^0\to n\bar p D^{*+}$
and $\Lambda\bar p\pi^+$ we find a constant ratio of
$G^n_M(t)/G^p_M(t)=-1.3\pm0.4$, which supports the FENICE experimental result.
The vector and axial-vector form factors of $p\bar n$, $p\bar p$ and $n\bar n$
pairs due to weak currents are also presented, which can be tested in future
experiments.


title:
Two-jet inclusive cross sections in heavy-ion collisions in the
  perturbative QCD

abstract:
  In the framework of perturbative QCD, double inclusive cross sections for
high $p_t$ parton production in nucleus-nucleus collisions are computed with
multiple rescattering taken into account. The induced long-range correlations
between numbers of jets at forward and backward rapidities are found to reach
$10\div 20$% for light nuclei at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV/c and to be suppressed for
heavy nuclei and LHC energies.


title:
Restoration of chiral and U(1)_A symmetries in excited hadrons in the
  semiclassical regime

abstract:
  Restoration of chiral and $U(1)_A$ symmetries in excited hadrons is reviewed.
Implications of the OPE as well as of the semiclassical expansion for this
phenomenon are discussed. A solvable model of the 't Hooft type in 3+1
dimensions is presented, which demonstrates a fast restoration of both chiral
and $U(1)_A$ symmetries at larger spins and radial excitations.


title: Lepton family symmetries for neutrino masses and mixing

abstract:
  I review some of the recent progress (up to December 2005) in applying
non-Abelian discrete symmetries to the family structure of leptons, with
particular emphasis on the tribimaximal mixing ansatz of Harrison, Perkins, and
Scott.


title: Sum rules of four-neutrino mixing in matter

abstract:
  Assuming the existence of one light sterile neutrino, we investigate the
neutrino flavor mixing matrix in matter. Sum rules between the mixing
parameters in vacuum and their counterparts in matter are derived. By using
these new sum rules, we obtain the simple but exact expressions of the
effective flavor mixing matrix in matter in terms of neutrino masses and the
mixing parameters in vacuum. The rephasing invariants, sides of unitarity
quadrangles and oscillation probabilities in matter are also achieved. Our
model-independent results will be very helpful for analyzing flavor mixing and
CP violation in the future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.


title: The Scalar Mesons, Symmetry Breaking, Three Colors and Confinement

abstract:
  The same, well known, det(Sigma)+ h.c. term in effective theories, which 't
Hooft showed is generated by instantons in QCD and which resolves the UA(1)
problem giving mass, in particular to the $\eta'$ is for three light flavors
shown to give three classical minima along the UA(1) circle. The three minima
are related to the Z(3) center of SU(3). The term also contributes, in a
similar way as the diquark model of Jaffe, to an inverted scalar mass spectrum
for the light scalars. The three vacua suggests a connection to the strong CP
problem and confinement.


title: Composite model of quark-leptons and duality

abstract:
  In the present investigation the model of preons and their composites is
constructed in the framework of the superstring-inspired flipped E_6\times
\tilde E_6 gauge group of symmetry which reveals a generalized dual symmetry.
We assume that preons are dyons, which in our model are confined by
hyper-magnetic strings - composite N = 1 supersymmetric non-Abelian flux tubes
created by the condensation of spreons near the Planck scale. We show that the
six types of strings having fluxes \Phi_n = n\Phi_0 (n = \pm 1,\pm 2,\pm 3)
produce three generations of composite quark-leptons and bosons. We give an
explanation of hierarchies of masses in the Standard Model. The following
values of masses obtained in our preonic model: m_t\approx 173 GeV, m_c\approx
1 GeV and m_u\approx 4 MeV, m_b \approx 4 GeV, m_s\approx 140 MeV and
m_d\approx 4 MeV, m_\tau\approx 2 GeV \quad and m_\mu \approx 100 MeV, are in
agreement with the experimentally known results. The following left-handed
neutrino masses are predicted: m_1\approx 1.3\times 10^{-3} eV, m_2\approx
9.2\times 10^{-3} eV, m_3\approx 5.0\times 10^{-2} eV - for direct hierarchy,
m_1\approx 0.73\times 10^{-2} eV, m_2\approx 7.4\times 10^{-2} eV, m_3\approx
5.5\times 10^{-2} eV - for inverted hierarchy.


title: Dyons near the Planck scale

abstract:
  In the present letter we suggest a new model of preons-dyons making composite
quark-leptons and bosons, described by the supersymmetric string-inspired
flipped E_6\times \tilde E_6 gauge group of symmetry. This investigation
predicts the possible extension of the Standard Model to the Family replicated
gauge group model of type G^{N_{fam}}, where N_{fam} is the number of families.
Here E_6 and \tilde E_6 are non-dual and dual sectors of theory with
hyper-electric g and hyper-magnetic \tilde g charges, respectively. Our model
is based on the recent theory of composite non-Abelian flux tubes in SQCD.
Considering the breakdown of E_6 (and \tilde E_6) at the Planck scale into the
SU(6)\times U(1) gauge group, we have shown that the six types of composite N =
1 supersymmetric non-Abelian flux tubes are created by the condensation of
spreons-dyons near the Planck scale and have fluxes quantized according to the
Z_6 center group of SU(6): \Phi_n = n\Phi_0 (n = \pm 1,\pm 2,\pm 3). These
fluxes give three types of k-strings with tensions T_k = kT_0, where k = 1,2,3,
and produce three generations of composite quark-leptons and bosons. Thus, the
present model predicts N_{gen} = N_{fam} = 3. The condensation of spreons near
the Planck scale gives the phase transition at scales M_{crit} and \tilde
M_{crit}, and we have calculated the critical values of gauge coupling
constants.


title:
$\psi(3770)$ and $B$ meson exclusive decay $B \to \psi(3770) K$ in QCD
  factorization

abstract:
  Belle has observed surprisingly copious production of $\psi(3770)$ in $B$
meson decay $B\to \psi(3770)K$, of which the rate is comparable to that of
$B\to \psi(3686)K$. We study this puzzling process in the QCD factorization
approach with the effect of S-D mixing considered. We find that the soft
scattering effects in the spectator interactions play an essential role. With a
proper parametrization for the higher twist soft end-point singularities
associated with kaon, and with the S-D mixing angle $\theta=-12^{\circ}$, the
calculated decay rates can be close to the data. Implications of these soft
spectator effects to other charmonium production in $B$ exclusive decays are
also emphasized.


title:
Soft Gluon Resummation Effects in Single Graviton Production at the CERN
  Large Hadron Collider in the Randall-Sundrum Model

abstract:
  We study QCD effects in single graviton production at the CERN Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) Model. We present in detail the
complete next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to the inclusive total
cross sections. The NLO QCD corrections enhance significantly the total cross
sections and decrease efficiently the dependence of the total cross sections on
the factorization and renormalization scales. We also examine the uncertainty
of the total cross sections due to the parton distribution function (PDF)
uncertainties. For the differential cross sections on the transverse momentum
($q_T$) of the graviton, within the CSS resummation formalism, we resum the
logarithmically-enhanced terms at small $q_T$ to all orders up to NLO
logatithmic accuracy. Combined with the fixed order calculations, we give
consistent predictions for both small $q_T$ and large $q_T$.


title: Constraints on the CKM Matrix

abstract:
  We update the analyses of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, both within
the Standard Model and for arbitrary New Physics contributions to the mixing
amplitudes, using new inputs from the Winter 2006 conferences.


title: Flavor Physics with light quarks and leptons

abstract:
  The impact of rare K decays and lepton-flavor violating processes in shedding
light on physics beyond the Standard Model is reviewd. To this purpose, I first
recall the formulation of the Minimal Flavor Violation hypothesis --both in the
quark and in the lepton sector-- and then use it as guiding principle in
comparing the new-physics sensitivity of different rare processes. On the
phenomenological side, the discussion is focused mainly on the impact of K ->
pi nu nu-bar, mu -> e gamma, and lepton-flavor universality tests with Kl2 and
Pl2 decays.


title:
Methods of approaching decoherence in the flavour sector due to
  space-time foam

abstract:
  In the first part of this work we discuss possible effects of stochastic
space-time foam configurations of quantum gravity on the propagation of
``flavoured'' (Klein-Gordon and Dirac) neutral particles, such as neutral
mesons and neutrinos. The formalism is not the usually assumed Lindblad one,
but it is based on random averages of quantum fluctuations of space time
metrics over which the propagation of the matter particles is considered. We
arrive at expressions for the respective oscillation probabilities between
flavours which are quite distinct from the ones pertaining to Lindblad-type
decoherence, including in addition to the (expected) Gaussian decay with time,
a modification to oscillation behaviour, as well as a power-law cutoff of the
time-profile of the respective probability. In the second part we consider
space-time foam configurations of quantum-fluctuating charged black holes as a
way of generating (parts of) neutrino mass differences, mimicking appropriately
the celebrated MSW effects of neutrinos in stochastically fluctuating random
media. We pay particular attention to disentangling genuine quantum-gravity
effects from ordinary effects due to the propagation of a neutrino through
ordinary matter. Our results are of interest to precision tests of quantum
gravity models using neutrinos as probes.


title: Ampere's Law and Energy Loss in AdS/CFT Duality

abstract:
  We note that the energy loss in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM measures directly the
spatial string tension $\sigma_S=\pi\sqrt{\lambda}T^2/2$ which is at the origin
of the area law for large spatial Wilson loops. We show that the latter
reflects on the nonperturbative nature of Ampere's law in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM both
in vacuum and at finite temperature.


title: The Role of Invariant Functions in Understanding Masses and Mixings

abstract:
  One of the central questions in theoretical particle physics, since already
several decades, has been that of "masses and mixings of the quarks. With the
entry of neutrino oscillations into the field, the issue of lepton masses has
added a new dimension to the problem. In the literature one finds many models
of quark and lepton mass matrices. However, the mass and mixing problems remain
unsolved.
  In this talk I will present my own contributions to this field, however as
you may expect without offering a solution. I encourage you to go ahead and
think about the problem but be aware of the pitfalls.


title: Noncommutative Inspired Black Holes in Extra Dimensions

abstract:
  In a recent string theory motivated paper, Nicolini, Smailagic and Spallucci
(NSS) presented an interesting model for a noncommutative inspired,
Schwarzschild-like black hole solution in 4-dimensions. The essential effect of
having noncommutative co-ordinates in this approach is to smear out matter
distributions on a scale associated with the turn-on of noncommutativity which
was taken to be near the 4-d Planck mass. In particular, NSS took this smearing
to be essentially Gaussian. This energy scale is sufficiently large that in 4-d
such effects may remain invisible indefinitely. Extra dimensional models which
attempt to address the gauge hierarchy problem, however, allow for the
possibility that the effective fundamental scale may not be far from $\sim$ 1
TeV, an energy regime that will soon be probed by experiments at both the LHC
and ILC. In this paper we generalize the NSS model to the case where flat,
toroidally compactified extra dimensions are accessible at the Terascale and
examine the resulting modifications in black hole properties due to the
existence of noncommutativity. We show that while many of the
noncommutativity-induced black hole features found in 4-d by NSS persist, in
some cases there can be significant modifications due the presence of extra
dimensions. We also demonstrate that the essential features of this approach
are not particularly sensitive to the Gaussian nature of the smearing employed
by NSS.


title:
Using Spin Correlations to Distinguish Zh from ZA at the International
  Linear Collider

abstract:
  We investigate how to exploit the spin information imparted to the Z boson in
associated Higgs production at a future linear collider as an aid in
distinguishing between CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons. We apply a generalized
spin-basis analysis which allowsus to study the possibilities offered by
non-traditional choices of spin projection axis. In particular, we find that
the Z bosons produced in association with a CP-even Higgs via polarized
collisions are in a single transverse spin-state (>90% purity) when we use the
Zh-transverse basis, provided that the Z~bosons are not ultra-relativistic
(speed <0.9c). This same basis applied to the associated production of a CP-odd
Higgs yields Z's that are an approximately equal mixture of longitudinal and
transverse polarizations. We present a decay angular distribution which could
be used to distinguish between the CP-even and CP-odd cases. Finally, we make a
few brief remarks about how this distribution would be affected if the Higgs
boson turns out to not be a CP-eigenstate.


title: S-Wave Quarkonia in Potential Models

abstract:
  We discuss S-wave quarkonia correlators and spectral function using the
Wong-potential, and show that these do not agree with the lattice results.


title: Neutrino masses and mixings and...

abstract:
  We review the main experimental and theoretical results related to neutrino
physics and outline possible lines of developement.
  The main topics covered are: neutrino masses, oscillations, solar and
atmospheric evidences, the LSND/MiniBoone, HM, NuTeV anomalies, future
oscillation experiments, beta and 0nu2beta decays, leptogenesis, supernovae,
astrophysics, cosmology, flavour models, RGE corrections, violations of lepton
flavor in charged leptons, statistics.


title: SO(10) SUSY GUT for Fermion Masses : Lepton Flavor and CP Violation

abstract:
  We discuss the results of a global $\chi^2$ analysis of a simple SO(10) SUSY
GUT with $D_3$ family symmetry and low energy R parity. The model describes
fermion mass matrices with 14 parameters and gives excellent fits to 20
observable masses and mixing angles in both quark and lepton sectors, giving 6
predictions. Bi-large neutrino mixing is obtained with hierarchical quark and
lepton Yukawa matrices; thus avoiding the possibility of large lepton flavor
violation. The model naturally predicts small 1-3 neutrino mixing, with $\sin
\theta_{13} \simeq 0.05 - 0.06$. In this paper we evaluate the predictions for
the lepton flavor violating processes, $\mu \to e \gamma$, $\tau \to \mu
\gamma$ and $\tau \to e \gamma$ and also the electric dipole moment of the
electron, $d_e$, muon and tau, assuming universal squark and slepton masses,
$m_{16}$, and a universal soft SUSY breaking A parameter, $A_0$, at the GUT
scale. We find $Br(\mu \to e \gamma)$ is naturally below present bounds, but
may be observable by MEG. Similarly, $d_e$ is below present bounds; but is
within the range of future experiments. We also give predictions for the light
Higgs mass (using FeynHiggs). We find an upper bound given by $m_h \leq 127$
GeV, with an estimated $\pm 3$ GeV theoretical uncertainty. Finally we present
predictions for SUSY particle masses in the favored region of parameter space.


title:
Generalized Emission Functions for Photon Emission from Quark-Gluon
  Plasma

abstract:
  The Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effects on photon emission from the quark gluon
plasma have been studied as a function of photon mass, at a fixed temperature
of the plasma. The integral equations for the transverse vector function (${\bf
\tilde{f}(\tilde{p}_\perp)}$) and the longitudinal function ($\tilde{g}({\bf
\tilde{p}_\perp})$) consisting of multiple scattering effects are solved by the
self consistent iterations method and also by the variational method for the
variable set \{$p_0,q_0,Q^2$\}, considering the bremsstrahlung and the $\bf
aws$ processes. We define four new dynamical scaling variables,
$x^b_T$,$x^a_T$,$x^b_L$,$x^a_L$ for bremsstrahlung and {\bf aws} processes and
analyse the transverse and longitudinal components as a function of
\{$p_0,q_0,Q^2$\}. We generalize the concept of photon emission function and we
define four new emission functions for massive photon emission represented by
$g^b_T$, $g^a_T$, $g^b_L$, $g^a_L$. These have been constructed using the exact
numerical solutions of the integral equations. These four emission functions
have been parameterized by suitable simple empirical fits. In terms of these
empirical emission functions, the virtual photon emission from quark gluon
plasma reduces to one dimensional integrals that involve folding over the
empirical $g^{b,a}_{T,L}$ functions with appropriate quark distribution
functions and the kinematic factors. Using this empirical emission functions,
we calculated the imaginary part of the photon polarization tensor as a
function of photon mass and energy.


title:
Transverse Ward-Takahashi Relation for the Fermion-Boson Vertex Function
  in 4-dimensional QED

abstract:
  I present a general expression of the transverse Ward-Takahashi relation for
the fermion-boson vertex function in momentum space in 4-dimensional QED, from
which the corresponding one-loop expression is derived straightforwardly. Then
I deduce carefully this transverse Ward-Takahashi relation to one-loop order in
d-dimensions, with $d = 4 + \epsilon$. The result shows that this relation in
d-dimensions has the same form as one given in 4-dimensions and there is no
need for an additional piece proportional to $(d-4)$ to include for this
relation to hold in 4-dimensions. This result is confirmed by an explicit
computation of terms in this transverse WT relation to one-loop order. I also
make some comments on the paper given by Pennington and Williams who checked
the transverse Ward-Takahashi relation at one loop order in d-dimensions.


title:
Revisiting Bremsstrahlung emission associated with Light Dark Matter
  annihilations

abstract:
  We compute the single bremsstrahlung emission associated with the pair
annihilation of spin-0 particles into electrons and positrons, via the
t-channel exchange of a heavy fermion. We compare our result with the work of
Beacom et al. . Unlike what is stated in the literature, we show that the
Bremsstrahlung cross section is not necessarily given by the tree-level
annihilation cross section (for a generalized kinematics) times a factor
related to the emission of a soft photon. Such a factorization appears only in
the soft photon limit or in the approximation where the masses of the particles
in the initial and final states are negligible with respect to the mass of the
internal particle. However, in the latter case, we do not recover the same
factor as for e^+ e- --> mu^+ mu^- gamma. Numerically the difference, in the
hard photon limit, is as large as a factor 3.6. However the effect on the upper
limit of the dark matter mass is not significant. Using gamma ray observations,
we obtain an upper limit on the dark matter mass of 30 or 100 MeV (depending on
the region that is considered for the 511 keV analysis) while Beacom et al.
found 20 MeV.


title: Enhancement of vacuum polarization effects in a plasma

abstract:
  The dispersive effects of vacuum polarization on the propagation of a strong
circularly polarized electromagnetic wave through a cold collisional plasma are
studied analytically. It is found that, due to the singular dielectric features
of the plasma, the vacuum effects on the wave propagation in a plasma are
qualitatively different and much larger than those in pure vacuum in the regime
when the frequency of the propagating wave approaches the plasma frequency. A
possible experimental setup to detect these effects in plasma is described.


title: Global fits to neutrino oscillation data

abstract:
  I summarize the determination of neutrino oscillation parameters within the
three-flavor framework from world neutrino oscillation data with date of May
2006, including the first results from the MINOS long-baseline experiment. It
is illustrated how the determination of the leading "solar" and "atmospheric"
parameters, as well as the bound on $\theta_{13}$ emerge from an interplay of
various complementary data sets. Furthermore, I discuss possible implications
of sub-leading three-flavor effects in present atmospheric neutrino data
induced by $\Delta m^2_{21}$ and $\theta_{13}$ for the bound on $\theta_{13}$
and non-maximal values of $\theta_{23}$, emphasizing, however, that these
effects are not statistically significant at present. Finally, in view of the
upcoming MiniBooNE results I briefly comment on the problem to reconcile the
LSND signal.


title: R-parity violation: Hide & Seek

abstract:
  We point out that, if R-parity is broken spontaneously, the neutralino can
decay to the final state majoron plus neutrino, which from the experimental
point of view is indistinguishable from the standard missing momentum signal of
supersymmetry. We identify the regions of parameter space where this decay mode
is dominant and show that they are independent of R-parity conserving SUSY
parameters. Thus, (a) only very weak limits on R-parity violating couplings can
be derived from the observation of missing momentum events and (b) at future
collider experiments huge statistics might be necessary to establish that
R-parity indeed is broken. Parameter combinations which give calculated relic
neutralino density larger than the measured dark matter density in case of
conserved R-parity are valid points in this scenario and their phenomenology at
the LHC deserves to be studied.


title: Unification versus proton decay in SU(5)

abstract:
  We investigate unification constraints in the simplest renormalizable
non-supersymmetric SU(5) framework. We show that in the scenario where the
Higgs sector is composed of the 5, 24, and 45 dimensional representations the
proton could be practically stable. We accordingly demonstrate that of all the
SU(5) scenarios only the non-renormalizable one with the 5, 24, and 15
dimensional Higgs multiplets can be verify if low-energy supersymmetry is not
realized in Nature.


title:
The phase diagram of neutral quark matter with pseudoscalar condensates
  in the color-flavor locked phase

abstract:
  We calculate the phase diagram of color and electrically neutral quark matter
in weak equilibrium using the NJL model at high baryon densities. We extend
previous analyses by taking into account the possibility of formation of
pseudoscalar meson condensates in the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase. We find
that the kaon condensed phase (CFL-K0) is preferred over the CFL phase at low
temperatures. It is found that the CFL-K0 phase contains no gapless modes. The
results we have obtained should be of relevance for the modeling of compact
stars.


title:
On the strong energy dependence of the e^+e^- to ppbar amplitude near
  threshold

abstract:
  We study the energy dependence of the e^+e^- to ppbar cross section close to
the two-nucleon threshold, recently reported by the BaBar collaboration. Our
analysis also includes the pbarp to e^+e^- data collected by PS170
collaboration and the e^+e^- to NNbar data from the FENICE collaboration. We
show that the near-threshold enhancement in the e^+e^- to ppbar cross section
can be explained by the final-state interaction between proton and antiproton
in the 3S1 partial wave, utilizing the Juelich nucleon-antinucleon model. As a
consequence, the strong dependence of the proton electromagnetic form factors
on the momentum transfer close to the two-nucleon threshold is presumably also
driven by this final-state interaction effect. This result is in line with our
previous studies of the near-threshold enhancement of the ppbar invariant mass
spectrum seen in the J/Psi to gamma ppbar decay by the BES collaboration and in
the B+ to ppbar K+ decay by the BaBar collaboration.


title: Weak Radiative B Decays

abstract:
  We study the (tree-level) weak radiative decays of $B$ mesons. We present a
numerical estimate for the inclusive $b \to X_c \gamma (\gamma)$ modes based on
the free-quark decay. We then review what is known for the $B \to D^\star
\gamma$ modes in the framework of heavy quark effective theory and chiral
perturbation theory. Finally, we extend these ideas to the double radiative
decay modes $B \to D \gamma \gamma$. We find that the $b \to X_c \gamma \gamma$
rate is about an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding $b \to X_s
\gamma \gamma$ rate. We also find the branching ratio for the $B \to D \gamma
\gamma$ mode with most favorable CKM angles at the few $\times10^{-8}$ level,
comparable to predictions for $B \to K \gamma \gamma$.


title: The Crystallography of Strange Quark Matter

abstract:
  Cold three-flavor quark matter at large (but not asymptotically large)
densities may exist as a crystalline color superconductor. We explore this
possibility by calculating the gap parameter Delta and free energy Omega(Delta)
for possible crystal structures within a Ginzburg-Landau approximation,
evaluating Omega(Delta) to order Delta^6. We develop a qualitative
understanding of what makes a crystal structure stable, and find two structures
with particularly large values of Delta and the condensation energy, within a
factor of two of those for the CFL phase known to characterize QCD at
asymptotically large densities. The robustness of these phases results in their
being favored over wide ranges of density and though it also implies that the
Ginzburg-Landau approximation is not quantitatively reliable, previous work
suggests that it can be trusted for qualitative comparisons between crystal
structures. We close with a look ahead at the calculations that remain to be
done in order to make contact with observed pulsar glitches and neutron star
cooling.


title:
Spin constraints on Regge predictions and perturbative evolution in high
  energy collisions

abstract:
  Two key issues in the application of perturbative QCD and Regge predictions
to high energy processes are whether the hard and soft pomerons should be
considered as two separate distinct exchanges and whether the Regge intercepts
are Q^2 independent or not. Models involving a distinct hard pomeron exchange
predict much larger values for the LHC total cross-section. Here we argue that
there is a polarized analogue of this issue in the isovector part of the spin
structure function g_1 and that the spin data appear to favour a distinct hard
exchange.


title: Measuring the W-t-b Interaction at the ILC

abstract:
  The large top quark mass suggests that the top plays a pivotal role in
Electroweak symmetry-breaking dynamics and, as a result, may have modified
couplings to Electroweak bosons. Hadron colliders can provide measurements of
these couplings at the ~10% level, and one of the early expected triumphs of
the International Linear Collider is to reduce these uncertainties to the per
cent level. In this article, we propose the first direct measurement of the
Standard Model W-t-b coupling at the ILC, from measurements of t tbar-like
signals below the t tbar production threshold. We estimate that the ILC with
100 fb^{-1} can measure a combination of the coupling and top width to high
precision, and when combined with a direct measurement of the top width from
the above-threshold scan, results in a model-independent measurement of the
W-t-b interaction of the order of ~ 3%.


title:
Exclusive and inclusive muon pair production in collisions of
  relativistic nuclei

abstract:
  The exclusive production of one $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair in collisions of two
ultra-relativistic nuclei is considered. We present a simple method for the
calculation of the Born cross section for this process based on an improved
equivalent photon approximation. We find that the Coulomb corrections to this
cross section (corresponding to multi-photon exchange of the produced
$\mu^{\pm}$ with the nuclei) are small while the unitarity corrections
(corresponding to the exchange of light-by-light blocks between nuclei) are
large. This is in sharp contrast to the exclusive $e^+e^-$ pair production
where the Coulomb corrections to the Born cross section are large while the
unitarity corrections are small. We calculate also the cross section for the
production of one $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair and several $e^+e^-$ pairs in the leading
logarithmic approximation. Using this cross section we find that the inclusive
production of $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair coincides in this approximation with its Born
value.


title: Phenomenology of symmetry breaking from extra dimensions

abstract:
  Motivated by the electroweak hierarchy problem, we consider theories with two
extra dimensions in which the four-dimensional scalar fields are components of
gauge boson in full space. We explore the Nielsen-Olesen instability for SU(N)
on a torus, in the presence of a magnetic background. A field theory approach
is developed, computing explicitly the minimum of the complete effective
potential, including tri-linear and quartic couplings and determining the
symmetries of the stable vacua. We also develop appropriate gauge-fixing terms
when both Kaluza-Klein and Landau levels are present and interacting,
discussing the interplay between the possible six and four dimensional choices.
The equivalence between coordinate dependent and constant Scherk-Schwarz
boundary conditions -associated to either continuous or discrete Wilson lines-
is analyzed.


title:
A Possible Relation between the Neutrino Mass Matrix and the Neutrino
  Mapping Matrix

abstract:
  we explore the consequences of assuming a simple 3-parameter form, first
without T-violation, for the neutrino mass matrix M in the basis $\nu_e,
\nu_\mu, \nu_\tau$ with a new symmetry. This matrix determines the three
neutrino masses m_1, m_2, m_3, as well as the mapping matrix U that
diagonalizes M. Since U, without T-violation, yields three measurable
parameters $s_{12}, s_{23}, s_{13}$, our form expresses six measurable
quantities in terms of three parameters, with results in agreement with the
experimental data. More precise measurements can give stringent tests of the
model as well as determining the values of its three parameters. An extension
incorporating T-violation is also discussed.


title:
Neutrinoless double beta decay: Electron angular correlation as a probe
  of new physics

abstract:
  The angular distribution of the final electrons in the so-called long range
mechanism of the neutrinoless double beta decay ($0\nu2\beta$) is derived for
the general Lorentz invariant effective Lagrangian. Possible theories beyond
the SM are classified from their effects on the angular distribution, which
could be used to discriminate among various particle physics models inducing
$0\nu2\beta$ decays. However, additional input on the effective couplings will
be required to single out the light Majorana-neutrino mechanism. Alternatively,
measurements of the effective neutrino mass and angular distribution in
$0\nu2\beta$ decays can be used to test the correlations among the parameters
of the underlying physics models. This is illustrated for the left-right
symmetric model, taking into account current phenomenological bounds.


title:
Single top production at HERA in the Standard Model and its minimal
  supersymmetric extension

abstract:
  The H1 Collaboration at the DESY electron-proton collider HERA has observed,
in photoproduction and neutral-current deep-inelastic scattering, an unexpected
excess of events with isolated leptons and missing transverse momentum,
especially at large values of hadronic transverse momentum - a signature
typical for single top-quark production. This observation is being
substantiated in the HERA II run. Motivated by this, we evaluate the cross
section of single top-quark photo- and electroproduction both in the standard
model and its minimal supersymmetric extension, considering both minimal and
non-minimal flavour-violation scenarios in the latter case.


title: Longitudinal fluid dynamics for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

abstract:
  We develop a 1+1 dimensional hydrodynamical model for central heavy-ion
collisions at ultrarelativistic energies. Deviations from Bjorken's scaling are
taken into account by implementing finite-size profiles for the initial energy
density. The calculated rapidity distributions of pions, kaons and antiprotons
in central Au+Au collisions at the c.m. energy 200 AGeV are compared with
experimental data of the BRAHMS Collaboration. The sensitivity of the results
to the choice of the equation of state, the parameters of initial state and the
freeze-out conditions is investigated. Experimental constraints on the total
energy of produced particles are used to reduce the number of model parameters.
The best fits of experimental data are obtained for soft equations of state and
Gaussian-like initial profiles of the energy density. It is found that initial
energy densities required for fitting experimental data decrease with
increasing critical temperature of the phase transition.


title:
Non-thermal Production of Dark Matter from Late-Decaying Scalar Field at
  Intermediate Scale

abstract:
  We examine non-thermal dark matter production from a late-decaying scalar
field, with a particular attention on non-renormalizable operators of D=5
through which the scalar field decays into the standard model particles and
their superpartners. We show that almost the same number of superparticles as
that of particles are generally produced from the decay. To avoid the gravitino
overproduction problem, the decay is favored to proceed via interactions with
an intermediate cut-off scale M << M_P. This should be contrasted to the
conventional scenario using the modulus decay. The bosonic supersymmetry
partner of the axion, i.e., saxion, is proposed as a natural candidate for such
late-decaying scalar fields. We find that a right amount of the wino/higgsino
dark matter with a mass of O(100) GeV is obtained for the saxion mass around
the weak scale and axion decay constant, F_A = O(10^{9-12}) GeV.


title: The mass distribution of quark matter

abstract:
  We analyze lattice QCD results on the equation of state in terms of
infinitely many non-interacting massive ideal gas components. We find that the
entire pressure-temperature curve can be described by a temperature independent
mass distribution at vanishing chemical potential. We collect strong
indications for a mass gap in this distribution, conjectured to be related
confinement.


title:
Transition magnetic moments of Majorana neutrinos in supersymmetry
  without R-parity in light of neutrino oscillations

abstract:
  The transition magnetic moments of Majorana neutrinos are calculated in grand
unified theory (GUT) constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM)
with explicit R-parity violation. It is assumed that neutrinos acquire masses
via one-loop (quark-squark and lepton-slepton) radiative corrections. The
mixing of squarks, sleptons, and quarks is considered explicitly. The
connection between neutrino magnetic moments and the entries of neutrino mass
matrix is studied. The current upper limits on neutrino magnetic moments are
deduced from the elements of phenomenological neutrino mass matrix, which is
reconstructed using the neutrino oscillation data and the lower bound on the
neutrinoless double beta decay half-life. Further, the results for transitional
magnetic moments of Majorana neutrinos are presented for the cases of inverted
and normal hierarchy of neutrino masses and different SUSY scenarios. The
largest values are of the order of 10^{-17} in units of Bohr magneton.


title:
Quark-Lepton Unification and Eight-Fold Ambiguity in the Left-Right
  Symmetric Seesaw Mechanism

abstract:
  In many extensions of the Standard Model, including a broad class of
left-right symmetric and Grand Unified theories, the light neutrino mass matrix
is given by the left-right symmetric seesaw formula $M_\nu = f v_L -
\frac{v^2}{v_R} Y_\nu f^{-1} Y_\nu$, in which the right-handed neutrino mass
matrix and the $SU(2)_L$ triplet couplings are proportional to the same matrix
f. We propose a systematic procedure for reconstructing the $2^n$ solutions (in
the n-family case) for the matrix f as a function of the Dirac neutrino
couplings $(Y_\nu)_{ij}$ and of the light neutrino mass parameters, which can
be used in both analytical and numerical studies. We apply this procedure to a
particular class of supersymmetric SO(10) models with two 10-dimensional and a
pair of $126 + \bar{126}$ representations in the Higgs sector, and study the
properties of the corresponding 8 right-handed neutrino spectra. Then, using
the reconstructed right-handed neutrino and triplet parameters, we study
leptogenesis and lepton flavour violation in these models, and comment on
flavour effects in leptogenesis in the type I limit. We find that the mixed
solutions where both the type I and the type II seesaw mechanisms give a
significant contribution to neutrino masses provide new opportunities for
successful leptogenesis in SO(10) GUTs.


title: Geometric scaling in diffractive deep inelastic scattering

abstract:
  The geometric scaling property observed in the HERA data at small x, that the
deep inelastic scattering (DIS) total cross-section is a function of only the
variable Q^2*x^\lambda, has been argued to be a manifestation of the saturation
regime of QCD and of the saturation scale Q^2_s(x) x^{-\lambda}. We show that
this implies a similar scaling in the context of diffractive DIS and we
observe, for several diffractive observables, that the experimental data from
HERA confirm the expectations of this scaling.


title: Inclusive distributions near kinematic thresholds

abstract:
  The main challenge in computing inclusive cross sections and decay spectra in
QCD is posed by kinematic thresholds. The threshold region is characterized by
stringent phase-space constraints that are reflected in large perturbative
corrections due to soft and collinear radiation as well as large
non-perturbative effects. Major progress in addressing this problem was made in
recent years by Dressed Gluon Exponentiation (DGE), a formalism that combines
Sudakov and renormalon resummation in moment space. DGE has proven effective in
extending the range of applicability of perturbation theory well into the
threshold region and in identifying the relevant non-perturbative corrections.
Here we review the method from a general perspective using examples from deep
inelastic structure functions, event-shape distributions, heavy-quark
fragmentation and inclusive decay spectra. A special discussion is devoted to
the applications of DGE to radiative and semileptonic B decays that have proven
valuable for the interpretation of data from the B factories.


title:
KL to pi0 e+ e- and KL to pi0 mu+ mu- : A binary star on the stage of
  flavor physics

abstract:
  A systematic analysis of New Physics impacts on the rare decays KL to pi0 l+
l- is performed. Thanks to their different sensitivities to flavor-changing
local effective interactions, these two modes could provide valuable
information on the nature of the possible New Physics at play. In particular, a
combined measurement of both modes could disentangle scalar/pseudoscalar from
vector or axial-vector contributions. For the latter, model-independent bounds
are derived. Finally, the KL to pi0 mu+ mu- forward-backward CP-asymmetry is
considered, and shown to give interesting complementary information.


title:
Minimal supergravity radiative effects on the tri-bimaximal neutrino
  mixing pattern

abstract:
  We study the stability of the Harrison-Perkins-Scott (HPS) mixing pattern,
assumed to hold at some high energy scale, against supersymmetric radiative
corrections. We work in the framework of a reference minimal supergravity model
(mSUGRA) where supersymmetry breaking is universal and flavor-blind at
unification. The radiative corrections considered include both RGE running as
well as threshold effects. We find that in this case the solar mixing angle can
only increase with respect to the HPS reference value, while the atmospheric
and reactor mixing angles remain essentially stable. Deviations from the solar
angle HPS prediction towards lower values would signal novel contributions from
physics beyond the simplest mSUGRA model.


title:
Depuzzling B -> Kpi: constraints on the Unitarity Triangle from B, Bs ->
  pipi, Kpi, KK decays in the SU(3) limit

abstract:
  Constraining CKM parameters from charmless hadronic B decays requires methods
for addressing the hadronic uncertainties. A complete technique is presented,
using relations between amplitudes in the B, Bs -> pipi, Kpi, KK system
obtained in the exact SU(3) symmetry limit, without having to neglect
annihilation/exchange topologies. Naive SU(3)-breaking effects in the decay
amplitudes are taken into account, through the inclusion of pi and K decay
constants in the normalisations and conservative theoretical errors. Already
with the limited set of observables currently available, significant
constraints on the CKM parameters are obtained. Also, subsets of observables
are shown to bring non trivial constraints on the CKM angles alpha and beta, in
agreement with analytical solutions that we derive. Finally, the future physics
potential of this method is estimated, in light of the increased precision of
measurements from the current B-factories, and the inclusion of several new
observables from Bs decays expected to be provided by the LHC experiments.


title:
Doubly heavy hadrons and the domain of validity of doubly heavy
  diquark--anti-quark symmetry

abstract:
  In the limit of heavy quark masses going to infinity, a symmetry is known to
emerge in QCD relating properties of hadrons with two heavy quarks to analogous
states with one heavy anti-quark. A key question is whether the charm mass is
heavy enough so that this symmetry is manifest in at least an approximate
manner. The issue is crucial in attempting to understand the recent reports by
the SELEX Collaboration of doubly charmed baryons. We argue on very general
grounds that the charm quark mass is substantially too light for the symmetry
to emerge automatically via colour coulombic interactions. However, the
symmetry could emerge approximately depending on the dynamical details.


title:
Analytic and semi-analytic solution of the coupled DGLAP equations at
  small x by the method of characteristics

abstract:
  In this paper we present solutions of the coupled DGLAP equations for quark
and gluon singlet by applying the method of characteristics. Solutions are
presented both in analytic and semi-analytic forms, compared with the exact
results and the validity range obtained.


title: A negative S parameter from Holographic Technicolor

abstract:
  We present a new class of 5D models, Holographic Technicolor, which fulfills
the basic requirements for a candidate of comprehensible 4D strong dynamics at
the electroweak scale. It is the first Technicolor-like model able to provide a
vanishing or even negative tree-level S parameter, avoiding any no-go theorem
on its sign. The model is described in the large-N regime. S is therefore
computable: possible corrections coming from boundary terms follow the 1/N
suppression, and generation of fermion masses and the S parameter issue do
split up. We investigate the model's 4D dual, probably walking Technicolor-like
with a large anomalous dimension.


title: Embedding Flipped SU(5) into SO(10)

abstract:
  We embed the flipped SU(5) models into the SO(10) models. After the SO(10)
gauge symmetry is broken down to the flipped SU(5) \times U(1)_X gauge
symmetry, we can split the five/one-plets and ten-plets in the spinor
\mathbf{16} and \mathbf{\bar{16}} Higgs fields via the stable sliding singlet
mechanism. As in the flipped SU(5) models, these ten-plet Higgs fields can
break the flipped SU(5) gauge symmetry down to the Standard Model gauge
symmetry. The doublet-triplet splitting problem can be solved naturally by the
missing partner mechanism, and the Higgsino-exchange mediated proton decay can
be suppressed elegantly. Moreover, we show that there exists one pair of the
light Higgs doublets for the electroweak gauge symmetry breaking. Because there
exist two pairs of additional vector-like particles with similar
intermediate-scale masses, the SU(5) and U(1)_X gauge couplings can be unified
at the GUT scale which is reasonably (about one or two orders) higher than the
SU(2)_L \times SU(3)_C unification scale. Furthermore, we briefly discuss the
simplest SO(10) model with flipped SU(5) embedding, and point out that it can
not work without fine-tuning.


title: How can we test seesaw experimentally?

abstract:
  The seesaw mechanism for the small neutrino mass has been a popular paradigm,
yet it has been believed that there is no way to test it experimentally. We
present a conceivable outcome from future experiments that would convince us of
the seesaw mechanism. It would involve a variety of data from LHC, ILC,
cosmology, underground, and low-energy flavor violation experiments to
establish the case.


title: Grand Unification as a Bridge Between String Theory and Phenomenology

abstract:
  In the first part of the talk, I explain what empirical evidence points to
the need for having an effective grand unification-like symmetry possessing the
symmetry SU(4)-color in 4D. If one assumes the premises of a future predictive
theory including gravity--be it string/M theory or a reincarnation--this
evidence then suggests that such a theory should lead to an effective grand
unification-like symmetry as above in 4D, near the string-GUT-scale, rather
than the standard model symmetry. Advantages of an effective supersymmetric
G(224) = SU(2)$_L \times$ SU(2)$_R \times$ SU(4)$^c$ or SO(10) symmetry in 4D
in explaining (i) observed neutrino oscillations, (ii) baryogenesis via
leptogenesis, and (iii) certain fermion mass-relations are noted. And certain
distinguishing tests of a SUSY G(224) or SO(10)-framework involving CP and
flavor violations (as in $\mu \to e\gamma$, $\tau \to\mu\gamma$, edm's of the
neutron and the electron) as well as proton decay are briefly mentioned.
  Recalling some of the successes we have had in our understanding of nature so
far, and the current difficulties of string/M theory as regards the large
multiplicity of string vacua, some comments are made on the traditional goal of
understanding {\em vis a vis} the recently evolved view of landscape and
anthropism.


title: Chemical composition of the decaying glasma

abstract:
  The the initial stage of a relativistic heavy ion collision can be described
by a classical color field configuration known as the Glasma. The production of
quark pairs from this background field is then computed nonperturbatively by
numerically solving the Dirac equation in the classical background. The result
seems to point towards an early chemical equilibration of the plasma.


title:
Soft Contribution to Quark-Quark Scattering Induced by an Anomalous
  Chromomagnetic Interaction

abstract:
  We calculate the soft contribution to high energy quark-quark scattering that
arises from an instanton-induced quark anomalous chromomagnetic moment. We
demonstrate that this is a large contribution, which cannot be neglected for
transverse momenta of a few GeV. We discuss the influence of this effect on
inclusive particle production.


title:
Role of electromagnetic dipole operator in the electroweak penguin
  dominated vector meson decays of $B$ meson

abstract:
  The pure annihilation type decays $B^0_d\to\phi\gamma$ and $B_s\to\rho\gamma$
receive only color suppressed penguin contributions with a very small branching
ratio in the standard model. When we include the previously neglected
electromagnetic dipole operator, the branching ratios can be enhanced one order
magnitude larger than previous study using QCD factorization approach. That is
${\cal BR}(\bar B^0_d\to\phi\gamma)\simeq 1 \times 10^{-11}$ and ${\cal
BR}(B_s\to\rho\gamma) \sim (6-16)\times 10^{-10}$. The new effect can also give
a large contribution, of order $10^{-9}$, to transverse polarization of
$B\to\phi\rho$ and $B\to \omega\phi$ which is comparable to the longitudinal
part. These effects can be detected in the LHCb experiment and the Super-B
factories.


title:
New gauge boson $B_{H}$ production associated with W boson pair via
  $\gamma\gamma$ collision in the littlest Higgs model

abstract:
  The littlest Higgs model is the most economical little Higgs model. The
observation of the new gauge bosons predicted by the littlest Higgs model could
serve as a robust signature of the model. The ILC, with the high energy and
luminosity, can open an ideal window to probe these new gauge bosons,
specially, the lightest $B_H$. In the framework of the littlest Higgs model, we
study a gauge boson $B_{H}$ production process $\gamma\gamma\to W^{+}W^{-}B_H$.
The study shows that the cross section of the process can vary in a wide
range($10^{-1}-10^1$ fb) in most parameter spaces preferred by the electroweak
precision data. The high c.m. energy(For example, $\sqrt{s}=1500$ GeV) can
obviously enhance the cross section to the level of tens fb. For the favorable
parameter spaces, the sufficient typical events could be assumed at the ILC.
Therefore, our study about the process $\gamma\gamma\to W^{+}W^{-}B_H$ could
provide a useful theoretical instruction for probing $B_H$ experimentally at
ILC. Furthermore, such process would offer a good chance to study the triple
and quartic gauge couplings involving $B_H$ and the SM gauge bosons which shed
important light on the symmetry breaking features of the littlest Higgs model.