118429632
Higgs Boson Cross Section from CTEQ-TEA Global Analysis
We study the uncertainties of the Higgs boson production cross section through the gluon fusion subprocess at the LHC (with $\sqrt s=7, 8$ and $14$ TeV) arising from the uncertainties of the parton distribution functions (PDFs) and of the value of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s(M_Z)$. These uncertainties are computed by two complementary approaches, based on the Hessian and the Lagrange Multiplier methods within the CTEQ-TEA global analysis framework. We find that their predictions for the Higgs boson cross section are in good agreement. Furthermore, the result of the Lagrange Multiplier method supports the prescriptions we have previously provided for using the Hessian method to calculate the combined PDF and $\alpha_s$ uncertainties, and to estimate the uncertainties at the $68\%$ confidence level by scaling them from the $90\%$ confidence level.
17272111
Effects of fermion localization in Higgsless theories and electroweak constraints
Abstract Extra-dimensional Higgsless models with electroweak symmetry breaking through boundary conditions generically have difficulties with electroweak precision constraints, when the fermions are localized to the “branes” in the fifth dimension. In this Letter we show that these constraints can be relaxed by allowing the light fermions to have a finite extent into the bulk of the fifth dimension. The T and U electroweak parameters can be naturally suppressed by a custodial symmetry, while the S parameter can be made to vanish through a cancellation, if the leakage into the bulk of the light gauge fields and the light left-handed fermion fields are of the same size. This cancellation is possible while allowing realistic values for the first two generations of fermion masses, although special treatment is probably required for the top quark. We present this idea here in the context of a specific continuum theory-space model; however, it can be applied to any five-dimensional Higgsless model, either with a flat or a warped background.
17537588
Lattice simulations with chemical potential
After giving an overview of recently invented methods for simulating lattice QCD at small mu/T, we discuss some results for bulk thermodynamic quantities of QCD matter coming from those methods. We focus on the transition line and the critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram.
118744572
Baryon number and charge fluctuations from lattice QCD
Abstract We calculate electric and baryonic charge fluctuations on the lattice. Results have been obtained with the highly improved staggered quark action (HISQ) and almost physical quark masses on lattices with spacial extent of N τ = 6 , 8 , 12 . Higher order cumulants of the net-charge distributions are increasingly dominated by a universal scaling behavior, which is arising due to a critical point of QCD in the chiral limit. Considering cumulants up to the sixth order, we observe that they generically behave as expected from universal scaling laws, which is quite different from the cumulants calculated within the hadron resonance gas model. Taking ratios of these cumulants, we obtain volume independent results that can be compared to the experimental measurements. Such a comparison will unambiguously relate the QCD transition temperature that has been determined on the lattice with the freeze out temperature of heavy ion collision at LHC and RHIC.
119207360
The QCD equation of state from improved staggered fermions
We calculate the equation of state in 2+1 flavor QCD at finite temperature with physical strange quark mass and almost physical light quark masses using lattices with temporal extent $N_{\tau}=8$. Calculations have been performed with two different improved staggered fermion actions, the asqtad and p4 actions. Overall, we find good agreement between results obtained with these two $O(a^2)$ improved staggered fermion discretization schemes. A comparison with earlier calculations on coarser lattices is performed to quantify systematic errors in current studies of the equation of state. We also present results for observables that are sensitive to deconfining and chiral aspects of the QCD transition on $N_\tau=6$ and 8 lattices. We find that deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration happen in the same narrow temperature interval.
16876997
QCD thermodynamics with 2 and 3 quark flavors
We discuss the flavor dependence of the pressure and critical temperature calculated in QCD with 2, 2+1 and 3 flavors using improved gauge and staggered fermion actions on lattices with temporal extent Nt=4. For T > 2 Tc we find that bulk thermodynamics of QCD with 2 light and a heavier strange quark is well described by 3-flavor QCD while the transition temperature is closer to that of 2-flavor QCD. Furthermore, we present evidence that the chiral critical point of 3-flavor QCD, i.e. the second order endpoint of the line of first order chiral phase transitions, belongs to the universality class of the 3d Ising model.
12747283
Experimental demonstration of relativistic electron cooling.
We report on an experimental demonstration of electron cooling of high-energy antiprotons circulating in a storage ring. In our experiments, electron cooling, a well-established method at low energies (<500 MeV/nucleon), was carried out in a new region of beam parameters, requiring a multi-MeV dc electron beam and an unusual beam transport line. In this Letter, we present the results of the longitudinal cooling force measurements and compare them with theoretical predictions.