A search for diphoton events with large missing transverse energy produced in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV is presented. The data were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider between 2002 and 2010, and correspond to 6.3 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity. The observed missing transverse energy distribution is well described by the Standard Model prediction, and 95% C.L. limits are derived on two realizations of theories beyond the Standard Model. In a gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking scenario, the breaking scale {Lambda} is excluded for {Lambda} < 124 TeV. In a universal extra dimension model including gravitational decays, the compactification radius R{sub c} is excluded for R{sub c}{sup -1} < 477 GeV.

We have presented results in two different yet strongly linked aspects of Higgs boson physics. We have learned about the importance of the Higgs boson for the fate of the Standard Model, being either only a theory limited to explaining phenomena at the electroweak scale or, if the Higgs boson lies within a mass range of 130 < m_H < 160 GeV the SM would remain a self consistent theory up to highest energy scales O(m_Pl). This could have direct implications on theories of cosmological inflation using the Higgs boson as the particle giving rise to inflation in the very early Universe, if it couples non-minimally to gravity, an effect that would only become significant at very high energies. After understanding the immense meaning of proving whether the Higgs boson exists and if so, at which mass, we have presented a direct search for a Higgs boson in associated production with a W boson in a mass range 100 < m_H < 150 GeV. A light Higgs boson is favored regarding constraints from electroweak precision measurements. As a single analysis is not yet sensitive for an observation of the Higgs boson using 5.3 fb^-1 of Tevatron data, we set limits …

We measure the branching fraction of the exclusive charmless semileptonic decay B {yields} {omega}{ell}{nu}{sub {ell}}, where {ell} is either an electron or a muon, with the charged B meson recoiling against a tag B meson decaying in the charmed semileptonic modes B {yields} D{ell}{nu}{sub {ell}} or B {yields} D*{ell}{nu}{sub {nu}}. The measurement is based on a dataset of 426.1 fb{sup -1} of e{sup +}e{sup -} collisions at a CM energy of 10.58 GeV recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We also calculate the relevant B {yields} {omega} hadronic form factors to determine the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |V{sub ub}|.

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This dissertation presents the first search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) in decay topologies containing a muon, an imbalance in transverse momentum (E{sub T}) and jets, using p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.3 fb{sup -1} recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. This analysis is sensitive primary to contributions from Higgs bosons produced through gluon fusion, with subsequent decay H {yields} WW {yields} {mu}{nu}jj where W represents a real or virtual W boson. In the absence of signal, limits are set at 95% confidence on the production and decay of the standard model Higgs boson for M{sub H} in the range of 115-200 GeV. For M{sub H} = 165 GeV, the observed and expected limits are factors of 11.2 larger than the standard model value. Combining this channel with e{nu}jj final states and including earlier data to increase the integrated luminosity to 5.4 fb{sup -1} produces observed(expected) limits of 5.5(3.8) times the standard model value.

The MINOS experiment is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in the the NuMI beamline at Fermilab, USA. Using a near detector at 1 km distance from the neutrino production target, and a far detector at 735 km from the target, it is designed primarily to measure the disappearance of muon neutrinos. This thesis presents an analysis using MINOS data of the possibility of oscil- lation of the neutrinos in the NuMI beam to a hypothetical sterile flavour, which would have no Standard Model couplings. Such oscillations would result in a deficit in the neutral current interaction rate in the MINOS far detector relative to the expectation derived from the near detector data. The method used to identify neutral current and charged current events in the MINOS detectors is described and a new method of predicting and fitting the far detector spectrum presented, along with the effects of systematic uncertainties on the sterile neutrino oscillation analysis. Using this analysis, the fraction f{sub s} of the disappearing neutrinos that go to steriles is constrained to be below 0.15 at the 90% confidence level in the absence of electron neutrino appearance in the NuMI beam. With electron appearance at the CHOOZ limit, f{sub …

We report on the measurement of the top quark electric charge using the jet charge tagging method on events containing a single lepton collected by the CDF II detector at Fermilab between February 2002 and February 2010 at the center-of-mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. There are three main components to this measurement: determining the charge of the W (using the charge of the lepton), pairing the W with the b-jet to ensure that they are from the same top decay branch and finally determining the charge of the b-jet using the Jet Charge algorithm. We found, on a sample of 5.6 fb{sup -1} of data, that the p-value under the standard model hypothesis is equal to 13.4%, while the p-value under the exotic model hypothesis is equal to 0.014%. Using the a priori criteria generally accepted by the CDF collaboration, we can say that the result is consistent with the standard model, while we exclude an exotic quark hypothesis with 95% confidence. Using the Bayesian approach, we obtain for the Bayes factor (2ln(BF)) a value of 19.6, that favors very strongly the SM hypothesis over the XM one. The presented method has the highest sensitivity to the top quark …

This thesis presents the results a search for chargino and neutralino supersymmetric particles yielding same signed dilepton final states including one hadronically decaying tau lepton using 6.0 fb{sup -1} of data collected by the the CDF II detector. This signature is important in SUSY models where, at high tan {beta}, the branching ratio of charginos and neutralinos to tau leptons becomes dominant. We study event acceptance, lepton identification cuts, and efficiencies. We set limits on the production cross section as a function of SUSY particle mass for certain generic models.

A search for Higgs bosons in multijet data from the D0 detector is reported in this thesis. The Higgs boson is the only remaining undiscovered particle in the Standard Model of particle physics, and plays an integral role in this model. It is known that this model is not a complete description of fundamental physics (it does not describe gravity, for example), and so searches for physics beyond the Standard Model are an important part of particle physics. One extension of the Standard Model, the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), predicts the existence of five Higgs bosons, two of which can show an enhanced coupling to bottom quarks. For this reason, a search in the bbb (multijet) channel is a sensitive test of Higgs boson physics. The analysis described in this thesis was conducted over 6.6 fb{sup -1} of data. At the time of writing, the best limits on tan {beta} (a key parameter of the MSSM) in the multijet channel were set by D0. The new analysis described in this thesis included more data than the previous analysis in the channel, and made use of a new trigger and event-based analysis method. An improved Multivariate Analysis technique was used …

Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) has been developed as a method to measure relative uranium isotope abundances. In this approach, RIMS is used as an element-selective ionization process to provide a distinction between uranium atoms and potential isobars without the aid of chemical purification and separation. We explore the laser parameters critical to the ionization process and their effects on the measured isotope ratio. Specifically, the use of broad bandwidth lasers with automated feedback control of wavelength was applied to the measurement of {sup 235}U/{sup 238}U ratios to decrease laser-induced isotopic fractionation. By broadening the bandwidth of the first laser in a 3-color, 3-photon ionization process from a bandwidth of 1.8 GHz to about 10 GHz, the variation in sequential relative isotope abundance measurements decreased from >10% to less than 0.5%. This procedure was demonstrated for the direct interrogation of uranium oxide targets with essentially no sample preparation. A rate equation model for predicting the relative ionization probability has been developed to study the effect of variation in laser parameters on the measured isotope ratio. This work demonstrates that RIMS can be used for the robust measurement of uranium isotope ratios.

Asymmetry measurements were conducted in Jefferson Lab's experimental Hall A through electron scattering from a polarized {sup 3}He target in the quasi-elastic polarized-{sup 3}He(e,e'n) reaction. Measurements were made with the target polarized in the longitudinal direction with respect to the incoming electrons A_L, in a transverse direction that was orthogonal to the beam-line and parallel to the q-vector A_T, and in a vertical direction that was orthogonal to both the beam-line and the q-vector (A_y^0). The experiment measured $A_y^0$ at four-momentum transfer squared Q^2 of 0.127 (GeV/c)^2, 0.456 (GeV/c)^2, and 0.953 (GeV/c)^2. The A_T and A_L asymmetries were both measured at Q^2 of 0.505 (GeV/c)^2 and 0.953 (GeV/c)^2. This is the first time that three orthogonal asymmetries have been measured simultaneously. Results from this experiment are compared with the plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA) and Faddeev calculations. These results provide important tests of models that use 3He as an effective neutron target and show that the PWIA holds above Q^2 of 0.953 (GeV/c)^2.

Extensive studies of high-energy deuteron photodisintegration over the past two decades have probed the limits of meson-baryon descriptions of nuclei and nuclear reactions. At high energies, photodisintegration cross sections have been shown to scale as a power law in s (the total cm energy squared), which suggests that quarks are the relevant degrees of freedom. In an attempt to more clearly identify the underlying dynamics at play, JLab/Hall A experiment 03-101 measured the hard photodisintegration of {sup 3}He into p-p and p-d pairs at θ{sub c.m.} = 90◦ and E{sub {gamma}} = 0.8 - 4.7 GeV. The basic idea is that the measurement should be able to test theoretical predictions for the relative size of pp versus pn disintegrations. This document presents data for the energy dependence of the high energy 90◦ c.m. photodisintegration of {sup3]He: dσ/dt(γ + {sup3}He → p + p + n{sub spectator}), and dσ/dt(γ + {sup 3}He → p + d). The cross sections were observed to scale as a function of s{sup −n} where n was found to be 11.1±0.1 and 17.4±0.5 for the two reactions respectively. The degree of scaling found for d#27;{sigma}/dt (γ + {sup 3}He → p + d) is the highest …

Large extra dimensions (LED) have been proposed to account for the apparent weakness of gravitation. These theories also indicate that the postulated massive Kaluza-Klein (KK) gravitons may be produced by nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung in the course of core collapse of supernovae. Hannestad and Raffelt have predicted energy spectra of gamma ray emission from the decay of KK gravitons trapped by the gravity of the remnant neutron stars (NS). These and other authors have used EGRET data on NS to obtain stringent limits on LED. Fermi-LAT is observing radio pulsar positions obtained from radio and x-ray catalogs. NS with certain characteristics are unlikely emitter of gamma rays, and emit in radio and perhaps x-rays. This talk will focus on the blind analysis we plan to perform, which has been developed using the 1st 2 months of all sky data and Monte Carlo simulations, to obtain limits on LED based on about 1 year of Fermi-LAT data. Preliminary limits from this analysis using these first 2 months of data will be also be discussed.